It was cold. Or maybe it wasn't, it just looked like it should be cold and therefor, I felt cold.

There were formations of ice everywhere with small and large platforms. Some were moving; sliding left and right, up and down. Others stood still. Some were large slopes and slides that led to a variation of places. Some simply stopped and over the edge was the large dark blue sea. I knew there were three other areas much like this one: A desert, a forest, and mountains.

I didn't have a name for this place, nor did I know what its purpose was. If my assumption was correct this was my second week since I woke up underneath a cave behind a waterfall in the mountain area. It was a vast land with nothing to show for it. I spent my time trekking forward hoping to find some answers. Instead, all I found were more questions.

"Odd! Look out!" My ears perked up at the voices. Running quickly and quietly I hid behind a nearby large ice formation, then slowly peaked over the side. I had seen these people a couple of times before, and something told in my head told me to stay away from them. However, I wanted to approach them. Maybe they could provide for me the answers that I was looking for. Or better, maybe they could get me out of this place. But my shyness prevented any of those things from happening, so I simply watched them from a distance.

There was a boy with short brown hair in a intricate yellow and brown samurai outfit. He was waving his sword back and forth deflecting blows from a nearby monster. It was block shaped and yellow with a large white eye in the center of all four sides. Next to him was another boy with blonde hair that seemed to stand almost straight up. He wore a purple cat-like outfit and jumped around expertly shooting arrows at the enemy.

Every time I spotted them they were fighting some sort of creature. In my travels I was never bothered by these monsters. I glanced down at my own attire. It was a long black dress torn slightly on one side with fishnet sleeves and stockings. Instead of fingers I had razor sharp claws that could be extended, retracted, detached, and even regenerated. From studying my reflection several times in the pools of water I also learned that I have short black hair that almost grazed my shoulders and a patch over my left eye that looked to be sewn on. Sitting atop my head were two large bat ears that twitched back and forth to the slightest sound. When the warriors were fighting with the monsters I could hear them from several miles away. I had even learned that I had a pair of small bat wings attached to my back that I could use to fly where ever I wanted. So when I got wind of the battles I could quickly arrive and watch.

More often than not they brought along a girl with black hair who wore a deep maroon suit and carried oriental fans as her weapons. Always with them was the girl with bright pink hair and an outfit to match. She shot small balls of energy at her opponents and more often than not froze them as well.

I was too distracted with watching these people battle that I almost didn't hear the block shaped monster sneak up on me, which was completely odd since I had perfect hearing. I turned around at the last second and let out a scream, jumping out of the way of the laser and out from my hiding place.

I wasn't accustomed to fighting, so I didn't really know what to do. Instead, I extending my wings and flew a few feet into the sky. Here it was easier to doge the blows.

"Uh, Jeremie, we've got a problem here." I heard the brown-headed boy speak.

Suddenly, a voice erupted from all around. "What do you mean?"

Looking down at my claws, I pointed them at the block. "Fire!" I yelled, my voice raspy and cracking from lack of use. The claw shot from my hand like lightning and sliced directly through the block's entire square frame. It stumbled awkwardly for a moment, then exploded into small pieces. "Regenerate." I said quietly and the claw instantly regrew, completely painless.

I didn't have much fighting experience, but the instincts seemed to come almost naturally to me. It was completely strange. What was this place?

"Who was that?" The voice overhead spoke.

"That's what we were hoping you could tell us."

I retracted my wings and landed flawlessly on the ground. Slowly, I turned to face the warriors. They both stared at me with a shocked and confused expressions on their face. They didn't know who I was. Well, neither did I.

The three of us stared at each other in silence until the boy named Jeremie's voice spoke again. "Odd, Ulrich, I don't really know what to tell you."

"Who is she?" The blonde questioned. I spotted a tail attached to him from behind sway back and forth in curiosity. "Why is she here?" He turned to the person beside him. "What do you think Ulrich?"

But the brown-haired boy simply shook his head.

"Uhm..." I stared, stumbling over my words furiously. Ulrich, and who I assumed was Odd, looked up at me. "I don't... really know...why I'm here...either. " I sighed deeply and tried to find my voice. "I woke up in the mountains a week ago... I don't know who I am. All I know is my name."

They watched me for a moment, until Ulrich said, "What's your name?"

"Luanabell Mykas. But I just call myself Lulubell."

"Lulubell eh? What a cool name~" Odd grinned widely.

Jeremie's voice rang overhead. "I don't know how she got there, or where she came from, but I don't think she's from Earth. I can't find a Luanabell Mykas anywhere in any system."

Ulrich placed his sword back inside it's sheath. "So does that mean she's the same as Aelita? Or just an Artificial Intelligence or whatever you called it."

"It looks to be that way." There was a pause. "She doesn't have a human equivalent so I'm seeing if the same materialization code that worked on Aelita will work on her. If not, then she is an A.I. created somehow right under our noses."

Odd shook his head. "Oh wow, things for us just keep getting weirder everyday."

My ears twitched and I glanced around. Everything seemed to be quiet but I could hear more monsters from far off in the distance.

"Aelita has already deactivated the tower, so I'm bringing you two back." Moments later the two boys that stood before me denigrated into small particles until they simply disappeared.

I was lying if I wasn't a bit sad that they left. Now I was alone again. Or at least that's what I thought, but within seconds, I felt myself disappear and be pulled through several large pipe looking cylinders that twisted up and down, left and right. I felt as if I was going to be sick. Suddenly, it all stopped and I collapsed to the ground, passing out.

The first thing I heard were voices that seemed to be arguing. "No we can't take her to the infirmary she isn't a student at the school!"

"Well we've got to do something!"

"I'm telling you guys it's that first return trip. It can really take a lot out of you."

Slowly, I forced my eyes open to see five worried faces staring down at me. I shot up in surprise and slammed my head into the boy's who wore rounded black glasses. He fell back in shock and pain, and someone beside me busted out laughing. It was Odd.

I glanced down at my body. I wore a large black and white striped long sleeve shirt with simple tight black pants. Instead of claws I had small nimble fingers. I touched my face to discover that both of my eyes were uncovered and in full use. I pat my head, but no large ears. "Where am I...?" I asked feebly, looking around at everyone slowly.

The oldest girl with black hair approached me. "You're on Earth."

"...Earth?" I asked, still completely confused. Is this the place I originated from? Maybe so. In appearance I looked similar to those around me, but I was still unsure.

"Oh man!" Odd slapped his hand to his forehead. "It's like starting with Aelita all over again."

The pink haired girl who I was assuming was Aelita let out a small giggle at this.

The boy I knocked down sat up and I recognized his voice as Jeremie's. "Right well welcome. I believe names are in order." He cleared his throat. "I'm Jeremie Belpois."

The girl to his right smiled sweetly. "I'm Yumi Ishiyama."

"Ulrich Stern."

The blonde boy grinned mischievously. "Odd Della Robia at your service~"

Then the girl with pink hair spoke. "And I'm Aelita Stones."

"Well uh..." I glanced around at the large room. In the center looked to be a holographic map next to an extremely large computer. "I don't know... if it's a good thing that you brought me here." I turned my attention back to the five. "But I have to say thanks. It was getting extremely boring where ever I was at."

Everyone laughed slightly and Jeremie pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "You were on Lyoko. A virtual world."

"Hmm..." I nodded, then yawned loudly, unable to control the reaction.

"So," Ulrich turned to face Jeremie. "What are we going to do about her?"

"Same thing we always do." He smiled confidently.

"You said your name is Luanabell Mykas?" The principle, Mr. Delmas, asked, glancing at me over a sheet of paper that was supposedly a recommendation and application form from my "parents" that Jeremie conjured up.

"Yes sir. But I'd prefer it if you'd call me Lulubell." I dug my shoe into the carpet with nervousness.

He nodded at this. "Alright Miss Lulubell, you'll be sharing a room with Aelita Stones." He gestured to the girl in pink sitting beside me. She looked over and gave a reassuring smile. I wish I could feel that confident. "Please pick up your schedule from the front desk outside my office."

I nodded and we both excited to find the rest of the group waiting outside. I walked over to the blonde haired lady who was typing away at her computer. Without even looking up, she handed me a sheet of paper with my classes that I would be taking from tomorrow on out. We quickly left.

"I'm still confused..." I said, looking over at everyone else.

Yumi put her hand on my shoulder sympathetically. "Don't worry. For now, go get settled in with Aelita. I know this a lot to drop on you in one day, but I promise everything will be explained soon." Yumi had the kind of calm and reassuring voice to where I couldn't help but agree to her.

They headed off in another direction while Aelita led me to our shared dorm, and my new life.

"The journey of a thousand leagues begins with a single step."