Memoirs of a Sissi

Note: The president of France institutes a "Memoir Week" and hopes that everyone gets involved in some fashion to recall pleasant memories they have shared in their lives. At Kadic and at the Academie everyone is getting in the spirit of things as old time capsules are dug up from their original burial plots, new ones are made and other activities are partaken in. This story arc takes place before XANA retrieves his memory of being overtaken by Umbra. He possesses Sissi's stuffed moose Niny and it's up to the Warriors to use a new technique called translation to stop Niny from destroying everything in his pathway. The only trouble is, will people recognize who the Warriors are in the real world and will this blow their cover ? (Apparently the attack with Niny is a dream, but…)

Chapter 1—Principal Turmeric's Announcement

Recently, many people had heard the President's decree of beginning a "Memoir Week" for all the people of France. It would be a week in which everyone could do activities to stir up old recollections of moments they thought they had long since forgotten. History lessons would be very important as well, because every second in time had a story behind it and different perceptions of how that story should be told.

Gusteau sat at his desk, adjusted his bow-tie and cleared his throat. Grabbing his microphone, he began to make an important announcement over the PA.

"Students and faculty of Paris Academie University, your attention please. Starting this Monday, we will be starting a Memoir Week. All of us will be participating in activities designed to help us reminisce about the past and get to know each other a bit more in the coming days. I feel this is a splendid opportunity and hope it becomes an honored and cherished tradition for all of us. Oh, and students wishing to participate in this year's artistic competition, please contact Mr. LeFranc. Good luck to all of the entrants.", Gusteau said, actually sounding upbeat and enthusiastic for once.

"This sounds exciting, doesn't it ? I have many things I could share from the old country.", Taelia said, sounding whimsical.

"I'd love to see them.", Michael said, becoming interested.

"I myself would be interested in Michael's collection of Celtic jewelry.", Emily added, her voice melodious and cheerful.

All of the friends had become very animated speaking about what items they would bring with them when Memoir Week began. Odd was more excited about the art contest that was beginning the same week and prayed that his entry, "Princess in the Garden" would be considered as a blue ribbon finalist. Even if it hadn't, his past entries the many years before more than made up for that, and he had talent and a keen eye to thank for that.

Chapter 2—Spirited Exchanges

At Kadic, the same order of business was being conducted and even Jim and Susanne were getting into the spirit of things. Susanne was going to share her memories of Kadic when she was younger and would reveal that the institution hadn't changed much since she had been a student to her transition of becoming a teacher. Jim, also, would share his memories of war-torn Vietnam, as well as his purple hearts and stories of bravery, but his fondest memory was meeting Susanne and reuniting with her. Susanne wouldn't know that until he gave his speech and shared his slides that he had taken before getting a piece of shrapnel lodged in his cheek (where he still has a scar now) and saving his Sergeant's life, Mr. Timothy Biggs.

Before the week actually began, both Kadic and Paris Academie were abuzz with excitement about the different activities that would take place. They would be taking field trips to different historical locales, digging up time capsules, making some capsules of their own, bringing memories from home, scrap-booking, drawing illustrations of memories and much more that would fill in their entire week. By the time the weekend came, everyone would be exhausted, but the times shared by each person would be intriguing and eye-opening in their own ways. One by one, everyone on the campus was having their eyes opened to how important memories were and how they should never dismiss them and hold onto them as much as they could. They were bringing themselves closer together and learning more about themselves and others.

When Monday finally arrived everyone was thrilled. All the students had their presentations and items prepared for sharing their own unique memories to their classes. Even the teachers and faculty were joining in and were looking forward to sharing pieces of their lives with the students and anyone else who was listening.

The first day reminded many academy alums of their days in kindergarten "show and tell". Truthfully, it was similar, but it would be more personal and some stories would be given with some tears, but it would give everyone insight to each other and why they acted the way they did.

When the presentations began, Jeramie was the first to present his slides and told his friends of the times he recalled entering science fairs. Not every invention he had supplied had been a success, and he wasn't reluctant to admit that.

"Still to this day, I'm inventing. Maybe someday with the items I create I can help others in need.", Jeramie said, as he was finishing up the remainder of his slides. Aelita had never known Jeramie's inventing stemmed from his childhood but evidentially it had begun as a hobby and it was something he had continued to do into his adulthood. As he approached his classmates, greeted by applause, Aelita put her hand upon his shoulder.

"I believe you will change the world, Jer. Don't stop inventing !", she said, with gusto, which caused Jeramie to blush crimson. His friends were happy for him and impressed with his innovative mind, but he, just as well as everyone else, wondered what everyone else's presentations would be.

Odd began his with items from Florence as well as progressive rock from a band he loved from home. He wasn't embarrassed to share his old pieces of artwork, even though he hadn't gotten the basics of perception, light and shadow. He was pleased to demonstrate his evolution in artwork as well as the locale that started it all; the art museums and natural settings that surrounded him. He also mentioned his latest entry, Princess in the Garden as the last slide premiered his hard work. His friends hoped it won a blue ribbon and the prize money because his attention to detail was nothing less than spectacular.

Sam's memories came from a trip to Africa one year from a contest the family won that everyone believed was too good to be true. It was a good thing that they had gone on the trip; because they were given all the accommodations they could've wanted. At last, they knew what being "spoiled" truly meant, but they learned something much more. They had been able to connect to their ancestral roots and observe animals in the wild. On the screen, as Sam narrated, photos of gorgeous big cats appeared and the audience gave hushed "wows" or gasps of surprise. She had never shared that she had been outside of France before, but it was her most cherished holiday ever. To this day, there was an African tribal mask that she held onto as a souvenir.

Yumi's presentation contained many different items from her native Japan and ended with a dazzling fan dance that Yumi was more than happy to perform. She had learned this art from her grandmother, and was glad to be one of the few girls keeping this gorgeous ancient practice alive as well as knowledge of the even older practice of tea ceremonies. She explained how important this tradition was and how even with the modern conveniences that had permeated the everyday existence of the Japanese, these tried and true practices would continue to remain so long as they had diligent students to initiate them.

Aelita described a time when she had gone to her first theme park with her friends and how she had never tasted cotton candy before. Some students were tickled that she had never known the sticky pleasure of eating "fairy floss" or "spun sugar" as it was called in some countries, but it made them remember their childhoods and how she had never let that little child inside of her completely grow up. She had mentioned that even to the present day, cotton candy was one of her favorite occasional indulgences. Jeramie had never known this about his pink-haired angel before, and he felt inspired to buy her a cotton candy perfume for her birthday, which was coming up in a few days.

William's treasured memory was watching his first soccer game at a rather young age. From that time, he could remember his father enrolling him in a soccer camp in which he had to train and endure somewhat arduous exercises before becoming a stupendous champion. It was a rather difficult challenge to become truly "great", but William had no trouble becoming the first French Beckham.

Herve had shared his first electron microscope, while Nicholas shared his first rock concert and his realization that he wanted to play drums and perhaps become a great musician.

Michael shared his collection of Celtic relics and jewelry, Emily shared her experience in the theatre in her favorite roles over the years. Each and every student shared their unique story, and Sissi could see how everything interconnected. In the most unusual way, the stories seemed to come back to the central theme of childhood in most instances. Others spoke of holidays like Christmas, family gatherings and most importantly, fun. Everyone had their own idea of diversion, but the outcome was always the same.

And on and on it went until the faculty had shared their wisdom and personal experiences. It was now time for dinner, and soon it would be time for everyone to settle into sleep for the evening. After such a full, invigorating day, everyone was feeling a bit sleepy and couldn't wait to go to sleep for the night.

Chapter 3—Sissi's Horrid Nightmare

After everyone had said goodnight, Sissi and her friends had gone to their quarters and settled down into their beds for a quiet slumber. They had all been enervated from the day's previous activities, and the presentations had left them with feelings of warmth and elation. The peace that filled their hearts was coupled by the tranquility that enveloped them as they slept. That was, everyone except Sissi.

Sissi tossed and turned as she endured torturous visions of her prized toy moose Niny being possessed by XANA and reeking havoc upon everything within its path. The other Warriors were powerless against the moose's newfound fangs (which rotted anything Niny bit) and his monstrous claws felled many trees and destroyed buildings as he stormed into nearby cities and towns with an earthquake inducing Godzilla roar. Despite the fact that Sissi tried to stop her childhood toy from destroying France, she couldn't bring herself to kill something that held so much sentimental value.

"No. Nooo ! NO !", Sissi cried aloud as she awoke with a start. The whole Academie had heard her shouting and told her to quiet down. Odd was awakened himself and immediately called her as soon as he could.

"Dear, what's the matter ?", he questioned.

"It's…my dream. No. A nightmare. It felt as if it was actually happening. Niny was possessed by XANA and none of us could do anything to stop him.", Sissi said, actually trembling. She felt a little silly for being so scared about a stuffed toy coming to life, but it had felt as if it had actually occurred to her. Odd try to rationalize this, and prayed it wasn't another one of Sissi's premonitions. Sometimes her forecasts came in rather cryptic ways, and not even Aelita, Jeramie or Emily could decipher the meaning of the symbols in them. Odd reassured her that they would look into the matter the following morning and to sleep as well as she could. Feeling a little calmer, she slept on her opposite side, facing away from Niny. She was certain that everything would fall into place, and strangely felt calmer. Closing her eyes, she fell back into a deep sleep, but she still had that crippling sense of foreboding in the back of her mind.

Chapter 4—Confronting XANA

After speaking about Sissi's nightmare when the friends were gathered together in the track and field gridiron of the Academie, the Warriors realized that Sissi's nightmare was a premonition. All around them, the air had grown chilly and their breath could be seen before them. A terrifying creak could be heard from the Academie itself, as if had started to groan. It was unusual, because the building wasn't that old. Slowly, and eerily, there came a huge, furry mass from Sissi's dormitory room and landed a few yards in front of the Warriors. The glob of hair grew larger and larger until it finally took form. It was Niny, being controlled by XANA.

"Why Niny ? Why did he have to use Niny for his plan !", Sissi said, trembling and sobbing.

"Pull yourself together, Sissi. We have to battle him before he destroys everything in sight !", Susanne said, in a maternal tone. Sissi sniveled and smiled as her surrogate mother patted her on the shoulder. She realized this would be difficult for her, but they would stick together to fell the beast before he did any harm.

Even though there were students who were witnessing the beginning battle between the Warriors and the monster version of Niny, the Warriors had to use translation to fight him. It was just like fighting on Lyoko, except they had a live audience watching them. Fortunately for them, the crowd watching believed they were seeing a film being shot from the Academie and were impressed with the reality of the special effects.

Odd swooped in above on his overboard, and the rest of the team attacked the large moose from their vehicles as well. Apparently, Jeramie had programmed all the vehicles for flight capabilities so Odd hadn't been the only one who could surf in the air just like he did. Niny seemed affected by the attacks of the team, but he still wasn't falling down.

"Niny, stop it ! Don't cause anymore trouble !", Sissi shouted as she shot arrows into the symbol between Niny's eyes. Suddenly, Niny began to howl and revert to his normal size before the shadow of XANA had dissipated. There had been a reverent cry of "help me" as the shadow was pulled back into Lyoko violently.

"Help me ?", Sissi asked herself. The voice sounded like XANA's but it had been so quiet and indistinct it was difficult to tell.

"Did anyone else hear that voice ?", Emily questioned.

"I heard it too, Emily. Although I have no idea what it could mean, but we can't stick around if you know what I mean. We've drawn too much attention…", Taelia mentioned.

"Exactly. We have to go. Now.", Jeramie said, a bit sharply. Not paying much attention to the people who had gathered around to see the fight, the Warriors had followed the blonde's leave as they returned to a quieter locale. Most of them had gone, returning to their usual activities, while others stood around and chatted about what they had just seen, bewildered and bedazzled.

Epilogue

Many people had wondered about the mysterious actors and actresses that came to shoot the horror movie at the Academie, but soon the buzz died down and it was business as usual. Memoir Week was still in affect, and everyone was relishing the events of the celebration. Only recently had the alums dug up time capsules and made some of their own. They had discovered what life was like for students 10 years ago, and even further back than that. The Academie had been standing for quite a long time, but it wasn't as old as Kadic was.

Despite this, both institutions had rich history and were savoring each moment as the week continued. It would be finished with the sewing of a "memory quilt" to hang in the library as a commemorative project of all of the effort that the students and faculty had put forth in making Memoir Week a truly memorable one, and the beginning of a cherished tradition.

Although the friends, students and faculty were bittersweet over the end of Memoir Week, they were glad that it was back to business as usual. Sissi still remembered the cries of "help me" and wondered who had said those words and why. Although she knew she couldn't worry or fixate herself too much on this issue. Uttering a small prayer before consuming dinner with her friends that evening, she had a calm that went beyond anything she ever felt or experienced before. Another answer was breathed upon the wind, even though she was the only one that could hear it…

"Every question has an answer. Every problem has a solution. Some answers come in manners we do not understand, for matters of the metaphysical and paranormal are often difficult to decipher. Do not trouble yourself. Eventually, all will become clear. Love and peace always prevail."

She thought she was crazy for hearing this cosmic voice, but it gave her such tranquility that she had nothing to worry about any longer. She continued to enjoy the rest of her evening and breathe a heartfelt thanks to the power that brought her to this place in her life, surrounded by such adoring friends and family. She could only hope that one day XANA would be a part of that family as well. Perhaps Lyoko could be restored one day. Heavens only knew when that would happen, but when it did, the Warriors would be there when it was.

The End