The Double Faced Moon
A Code Lyoko Fan Fiction
Chapter 1
The drawer below a single, twin sized bed slid out, bringing with it a bit of steam (you know, the steam that billows out when an electronic works really hard?). A dark strawberry blonde teenager sat up with a grunt, then a groan. Her T-shirt– black with the words FBI: SPECIAL OPS– and dark green PE shorts were wet from the steam, and the fact she had slept under her bed in that small scanner chamber yet again. This made the count up to 12 days in a row. Her bed– made up with blue and white sheets– lay perfect and neat as the day she had arrived at the boarding school– she didn't sleep in it at all.
The first few months she had been there, she had dedicated most of her time– when not doing schoolwork– building the scanner shelf beneath her bed. The drawer had been lined with a few yoga mats for comfort; a flat computer screen fit beneath her bed frame, the wiring so thick, it made up most of the bed frame.
"Ugh!" she moaned. "Better get ready."
She pulled her tired feet over to the small wardrobe, taking a pair of black, flexible jeans from their hanger, then a black net undershirt (complete with built in bra), then a dark, Elf green tunic top. Brushing her hair, she grabbed her book bag– complete with finished homework assignments– and headed out the door.
Her boots made a thump thump on the carpeted floor as she made her way over to the mess hall. When the bell rang, the thumpsbecame repetitive and faster. Outside the mess hall doors, she crashed into someone, causing them both to fall backwards.
"Watch it, punk!" Luna swore, checking her laptop inside of her bag. Nothing broken.
"You watch it! I was walking here!" the boy– for that was indeed whome she had crashed into– shot back.
Luna Gene stood up, her storm blue eyes looking the boy up and down. He wore a purple over shirt over a lighter, more pink shirt. The over shirt only showed the undershirt through the slight V-neck. His pants were the same color as the over shirt. His hair drew back into a...almost a blonde teardrop from his head, ending in a point. It had a purple, similar teardrop in front of it, only smaller.
"Great, I'm going to be late, again." Luna pushed passed him into the cafeteria.
She got in line for breakfast, grabbing a tray and following the person in front of her.
"Morning, Ms. Early Bird," the lunch lady, Rosa, greeted her.
"Morning ma'am," Luna replied.
"Cereal and a banana today?"
"The usual, yeah."
"Really, Luna, you need more variety in your diet."
"Why change what works?" She got her food and went to sit at her usual table by the window.
She sat down and started slicing her banana. She had gotten halfway through when the boy she had crashed into in the hallway sat down in front if her. Luna saw a group of four give him a questioning look from across the room.
"Hi," he said. "Remember me, crashed in the hallway?"
"Not hard," she replied, curtly. "You made me late."
"By a few seconds!"
"Timing is key in life." Luna finished slicing her banana. "Without a proper meter, there is no order, and the order must be obeyed."
"What are you, a robot?" He asked this through a big bite of bagel. "I'm Odd by the way."
"You'd have to be to dress like that."
"I didn't catch your name."
"It's Luna."
He nodded. The group of four joined their table. They all sat around Odd, and Luna didn't care.
"You new to the school?"
"My father sent me here a few months ago, I just recently got accepted here after a bit of private tutoring."
"Wow, are you a genius or something?"
"Not in the least."
The three girls and two boys around Odd gave him a piercing look. He shrugged and scratched the back of his head.
"Uh, this is Yumi, Ulrich, Jeremy, and Aileta." He introduced. "Everyone, this is Luna."
"Pleasure," Luna said, talking out her laptop, she slid her cereal bowl to the side.
Jeremy, a blonde youth with big, round glasses, noticed almost immediately.
"Nice model, where's it from?"
"Not here," Luna responded.
An alarm beep began sounding from the computer.
"Dammit!" Luna swore. "Not again."
"What?" Odd asked.
"Oh, I'm going to be late again. And I didn't even finish breakfast."
Yumi looked at Luna crossly.
"It's your own fault," she said. "Don't waste so much time with your computer."
"I would have had time," Luna shot back. "If your Odd pal hadn't made me a minute or so late!"
Yumi scowled. She turned on her black-booted heel and walked off with the rest of the group.
Odd looked between his group and Luna. "See you later, then, Luna." Then he too, ran off.
Luna looked after him for a moment. Why wasn't he phased by her obvious annoyance with him? She could usually get guys to stay away from her, but this boy was different. Had she been too harsh, or not enough? If it were either he would have picked up on it and made a move accordingly. Although, if he took it another way...
"Gross!" Luna nearly barfed.
Shouldering her book bag, she headed off to class.
Her head slumped further into her hand as the teacher went on and on about who did this is such-and-such year. It was all so BORING.
She heard a stifled laugh and looked around to see Sissy, the principal's daughter, talking to one of her friends. Luna sat up a little straighter as the teacher turned around.
"Is something funny, Sissy?" he asked.
"No, sir!" she replied in a sweet tone. "I was simply saying how pale the new girl looks, and how if she's so pale, she should go to the infirmary."
At this the teacher peered closely at Luna. It was true she had a pale sheen to her face, but that was due to lack of sleep.
"Have you been sleeping well, Ms. Gene?" he asked.
"Well, sir, I– no, sir."
"I see," he looked around. "Della Robbia, please escort Ms. Gene to the infirmary."
Odd looked up from his almost-subtly executed paper football game.
"But sir," he began.
"That's not optional," the teacher said sternly.
Odd got up.
Luna walked with her head down, hands in pockets. She had on a pair of dark blue sunglasses. Her eyes kept flicking back and forth behind them, like she was reading a computer screen.
Carrying her bag, Odd walked beside her. Both were as silent as a ghost town. Odd spoke after a while:
"So, what school did you go to before this?"
"I was home schooled."
"By who?"
"My mother."
"What happened that you came here?"
"She died, and my dad didn't want me and my sister around the house when my brothers were off in colleges. So he sent me and her to different schools far away, where he wouldn't see us."
"Sounds like he doesn't like you."
"No, he doesn't. Once he got my brothers, he was happy."
"Harsh."
They arrived at the infirmary.
"Hey Dorothy," Odd said, poking his head in the door. "Luna needs a lie down, she isn't feeling well."
"Of course," Dorothy, the school nurse, helped ease Luna onto a bed. "Any fever, lack of nutrition?"
"I feel fine," Luna mumbled, not meeting either of their eyes.
"You don't look fine," Dorothy looked at Luna's pale pallor. "You look like you're a living zombie. How much sleep have you been getting?"
Luna paused. Her eyes widened a bit as she slid the glasses she wore to the top of her head– sufficing for a headband. She said the first number that popped into her head:
"Six hours."
"No wonder you're so pale!" Dorothy sighed.
Taking out a thermometer, she stuck it under Luna's tongue.
"Temp is normal," she read the meter. "Odd, what did she have for breakfast this morning?"
"Uhh..." Odd stammered. "Cereal with a banana."
"Did she finish it?"
Odd looked from Dorothy to Luna. Luna's head was down, and her eyes were glassy. Asleep sitting up.
"No, ma'am, she didn't."
"I see." Dorothy looked at Luna's sleeping doll form.
She put Luna in a horizontal position, and covered her with the bed sheets up to her chin.
"She'll need a few hours rest, Odd. Come check in at lunch break."
She looked aver at the man sitting on an iceberg in the center of the small island they seemed to be floating on in...the digital sea?
"Where are we, Damion?" Luna asked him.
"In a suspended dream sequence," he answered, "made by me out of your memories of the Heart of Ko."
"But this looks like the back entrance to Ko, through the Chi dome."
"It is...you havetaken this route before."
"I'm not saying I haven't, brother, but–"
"But nothing. I have come to give you some advice."
"Oh yeah? An ex-demonic Saturnian giving meadvice?"
"Laugh all you want; you have to start opening up to the Lyoko Warriors."
"How?"
"I don't care how! You figure it out!"
In a spark from his snapped fingers, he vanished–
– and she woke up in the infirmary.
"You gave us a scare," Odd said from the chair beside her bed.
Luna looked aver at him. The chair was backwards, and he leaned forward on it, concerned.
"They didn't worry," she sighed. "No one ever does."
"I did."
"You shouldn't. It would make you look crazy."
"Then maybe I am!" Odd frowned. "Isn't the world allowed to care about someone? If it can, then why can't I?"
"You're not the world, Odd!" Luna sat up. "We can't play God!"
Her fists clenched as a wave of nausea swept over her. She refused to lie back down, instead she supported herself on an arm as she swung her legs off of the bed.
"We may not be able to, but we try, and that's got to count for something."
"Running around stopping all the weird shit that happens here is only savingthispart of the world. It's a small portion."
"It's all we can save right now."
Luna shook her head, smiling.
"What if he starts too many things, in different places, what then?"
Odd stared at her.
"Why do you think it has anything to do with a 'he'?"
"Follow me."
They left just as Dorothy popped out of her office. Before she could say anything, they had disappeared down the hall.
"We're in your room." Odd looked around. "So what?"
"So this," Luna opened up the drawer beneath her bed.
Odd looked underneath. He saw the wiring, the computer, the yoga mats, and the headset connected to the flat screen of the computer.
"What's all of this for?" he asked, still looking.
"Saving the world. At least all of the world I can through the sectors, and worlds I've uncovered."
Odd nearly hit his head coming out of the scanner. He gawked at her.
"You don't mean– ?"
"Lyoko warrior, ring a bell?"
"This is so cool!" Odd exclaimed as they walked to class.
"It's not a game, and the others can't find out."
"Why not?"
Luna stopped. Crossing her arms, she gave Odd a 'you've got to be kidding' look.
"One: Yumi seems to hate my guts right now. Two: I work alone. I can help you guys on Lyoko, but there's only so much of you I can handle. I won't spend my school career failing every class because I choose to take the easy way out. Even with a return to the past, you still manage to fail, Odd. I work my butt off at this school. I've convinced the principal and a court judge to write me a letter to allow me to get my drivers' license early so I can stay on top of everything."
"What?! You can drive?"
"Yes, and very well. The point is, Odd: If I mingle with a suspicious lot, I won't be able to keep my cover. Eventually I'll be found out, and they'll put me in a lab."
Odd cocked his head to the side, looking puzzled, then he smiled.
"Not from around Earth, are ya?"
"No."
"Where from?"
"Not a digital world, if that's what you're asking. Now stop asking questions, we need to get to class."
Later that night, Luna lay on the floor looking up at the ceiling, when her cell phone rang.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Hey, Luna!" Odd's annoyingly chipper voice replied.
"Where did you get this number?" she sat up abruptly, peeved. "Only the principal has this number."
"I snuck in and copied it from his files," Odd said. "Look, I didn't call to argue; the gang and I are going to Lyoko to take care of a replica tonight if you want to come and help. I could talk to Jeremy about it–"
"No, Odd, I'll come in my own way. Where's the replica?"
"I don't know, can you track a signal?"
"Yeah."
They hung up, and Luna climbed into her scanner.
"Why must I come along?" Damion asked, as he and Luna made their way through the tunnel.
"Because," Luna answered, "I can't go through the Chi Tunnel without you; it only recognizes you."
"But other than that, there's no other reason I'm here? No other reason you'd be hanging out with me?"
Luna stopped, eyes downcast.
"That's not what I meant."
"It was implied."
They moved forward. At the end of the tunnel, Luna saw Sector Five, and the skid. The four Lyoko warriors were getting into position to get on. Using her power of invisibility, Luna ran forward and got on the fifth dock, just as the others were being transported in.
Till we meet again, brother. She said silently.
Until then. His presence disappeared.
Odd!Luna yelled.
"What the?!" Odd looked around in his skid-pod.
"Something wrong Odd?" Aileta asked.
"No, nothing. Just thought I heard something."
The skid continued on in silence for a moment, before:
"There's someone else in the skid!" Aileta said.
"Who?" Yumi asked.
"I can't tell," Aileta answered, "but it isn't something from Lyoko. It's from Earth!"
"Blue Moon?" Odd asked.
Silence. No one talked as the skid moved silently through the digital sea.
"Yeah, it's me," Luna answered.
"Who is she, Odd?" Ulrich asked.
"A friend I made last time we were here," Odd lied. "She's been fighting on another part of the digital spectrum for a while now, and when I told her about our replica spree, she offered to help."
Aileta maneuvered the skid into position in front of the replica.
"She can help, but you watch her, Odd."
"You betcha!" Odd beamed