The Ghosts of Lyoko
Summary: The creation of Lyoko wasn't without its victims.
A/N: This was supposed to be posted on Halloween. Well, hope you had a good one! I don't foresee this becoming anything other than this minific but you never know.
They meet each other's eyes one day in the Desert Sector. Her smile is small and coy and her dark eyes contrast with her pale skin. She wears a yellow sweater that seems unnecessary in the barren landscape. She seems pretty enough, if it weren't for the fact that her smile is haunting: bitter but understanding, like she knows something he doesn't.
He blinks and she's gone.
She comes back later in the Ice Sector. Her feet dangle off a glacier. And just like last time, no one else can see her. She shares a secret smile before she vanishes right before his eyes.
More start appearing. A middle aged woman in a shredded skirt and shirt. A bald man who crosses his arms, scowls, and checks his watch. There's a kid a few years younger than him. He looks like Johnny and has the same innocence and when he looks towards Odd, he seems so confused and lost and for some reason it hurts.
Yumi and Ulrich can't see them. Period. Aelita really can't either. But sometimes, Odd will see her double take and rub her eyes and stare at one spot as if she's contemplating the universe. And then she shrugs it off.
The people become constant. They stand on the sideline and watch while he faces the things of nightmares. Their expressions don't change, but he can feel their encouragement in the way their stares never waver (barring the crotchety old man who would really much rather be checking his watch).
It makes sense, he thinks. Anthea isn't the only person to mysteriously go missing during the creation of Lyoko. Lyoko history's, though short, was bloody and shrouded in more mysteries than any of them care to think about.
One day, they're clearer than usual. More alive, Odd's mind whispers. But he shrugs it off- it doesn't make any sense.
That day, they all stand and watch, solemn but content, as he's pushed back, closer and closer to the edge. Their whispers mix with his friends' screams. He doesn't feel an impact.
The ghosts of Lyoko are restless and unappeased. Odd had known that even before he became one of them.