Well, after nervously waiting for it, I'm here. I'm now at Kadic Academy, and trying my best not to look like some hopeless fool. While all by myself in the empty space of the school campus, I will admit, I felt like a fish out of water: out of my natural environment, worrying about where I was, and wanting back in the water. Well, in this particular case, wanting to go back home and quickly complete the mission. But I managed to keep on a pretty solid poker face and found myself carrying on to my destination.

So far today, I've gotten my assigned dormitory and my classroom schedule. Mr. Delmas, the principal of Kadic, told me that I could take care of my luggage and place them in my given dormitory, which was the last room to the right. And since the Kadic staff isn't able to tell which learning level I'm at, they decided to put me with the eighth graders and see how things went on from there. What? No placement exam of any sort? Yeah, that's real nice. Putting someone in solely because of age. Isn't that sort of like hiring a cop but only hiring them based on how well they look in the uniform? Not to sound like a jerk or anything, but still, it would be a bit more organized to have new students take an entrance learning exam.

At first, I thought the dorm was going to be one big barrage of pink. But on the contrary, that wasn't it. The room was actually colored a nice cerulean blue, which made it out to be sort of a calm environment, which actually felt kind of right. I placed my things on top of the bed on the empty, right side of the room, and left the building in silence.

When I was out on campus once again, I found myself all alone, with the wind passing gently through the air. I clutched by sling bag and headed for the cafeteria, which was said to be a relatively small building, like a trailer home. I looked around some more of the campus on the way, and I have to admit, this place doesn't look half bad. Even though I did like the academy's interior and outdoor appearance, I still felt a big ping of nervousness.

When I found my way to the cafeteria building, it was a bit smaller than I expected it to be, and couldn't get the following question out of my head: How can a building so small serve food to a student body population that's double it's size?

Okay, Solana, let's get this over with. Just in with lunch and out with classes and getting the codes into the Lyoko supercomputer. Simple as that. I thought to myself as I entered the cafeteria.

When I entered the cafeteria, there were an array of students in the room, yet amazingly there was still enough room to hold about six people to a table, in which there were, I'm guessing around four each row, in which there were two.

I then made my way to the end of what I was assuming to be the lunch line, since I haven't had a bite to eat since this morning. Today they were serving croissants with some spaghetti with a drink. The lunch lady seemed rather nice, so I gave a gentle nod to her as I left to find a table, hopefully one that's empty.

And just my luck, there was an empty table in the far right end of the room. Good. I thought. Empty and reserved.

When I sat down at the table, I started eating my lunch while pondering over how my day was going to go over. Hmm, okay. So, obviously, right now's lunch time. So, after lunch, it's off to my classes, then afterwards I head straight to the Lyoko Supercomputer, turn it on, go to the lab in the same location, and install the Xanadu access codes from both the outside and the inside of Lyoko. I'll be in and out of there in no time. But, where does Ulrich fit into all of this? I mean, I've only just heard of the guy, and I want to know more of him apart from the fact that we're cousins and what little things that my dad's told me. I just want to get to know him on a mutual standing, since we will be allies on Lyoko. Nothing more, nothing less. However, that did seem a bit harsh of me to think that. So maybe, just maybe, I can let him in a bit further into my zone, but not too much, of course.

"Solana?" I heard a voice come up in front of me. I looked up to find a brown haired, brown eyed male. He was wearing an army jacket over a black shirt, blue jeans, and black shoes. Something about his presence seemed familiar. Is this Ulrich? I thought to myself. Well, maybe no, but I decided to go with my gut instinct.

"Ulrich?" I heard myself say.

There was a bit of an awkward pause between the both of us, until he had managed to say something to help break the silence. The silence was due to the fact that we had, of course, just met each other, and it was starting to take a little bit to get used to each others presence.

"You're Solana Stern, right?" The male asked me.

"Yeah." I confirmed. "And you're Ulrich Stern, aren't you?"

"Yeah." Ulrich said. Good, I thought. At least I'm talking to the right guy.

Ulrich then took a seat in front of me. "So, how are you liking Kadic so far?"

"Hmm, it looks okay." I said. "A bit bigger than I'm used to, though."

"Don't worry. You'll get used to it." Ulrich smiled, which I gave him one back. "Hey, I was wondering if you'd like to sit with me and my friends." Ulrich invited.

No. Stay by yourself, Solana. I thought. Remember: friends equal defeat. However, he has been nice to me so far for the short time that I've been here, I'll give him that. Okay, I'll take the offer, but I won't get too friendly.

"Okay, sure." I said. We then got up from the table and moved toward a table that was closer to the cafeteria opening. I then saw the group of people they were moving toward: a blonde haired boy with glasses, an Asian girl with short black hair, a boy who was blonde as well, but whose hair was spiked upwards and had a purple diamond in the center, and finally, Aelita.

Once Ulrich saw the somewhat nervous demeanor on my face, he turned back to me and said, "Don't worry, they won't bite. I promise." With this comment, I smiled as we continued on our way.

When we made it to the table, Ulrich then started to introduce me to the people that I had observed from afar, and vise versa. "Hey guys, this is Solana." Ulrich introduced me, then pointed to each of his friends.

"Solana, these are my friends: Yumi," he pointed to the black haired girl. "Aelita, Jeremy," the boy with the glasses. "and Odd." and lastly the boy with the purple diamond in his hair. It took me a while for me to realize that his actual name was Odd, and not odd as In different. I have no idea why, but there was sort of a bewitching quality to his presence. I then took a seat between Ulrich and the window.

I was tossed some questions by Ulrich and his friends, some of it being the usual 'where are you from' and 'how do like Kadic so far?' questions that I was expecting to get before I took my first step on campus. I gave out honest answers for each question, until came the question that I was unsure about.

"Hey, maybe after lunch we can give you a tour of the school." Odd offered. I noticed the others nodding in agreement to this, but how was I going to get past this one?

"Oh, that sounds nice, but I already have some stuff that I need to take care of today." I made up on the spot. Hopefully, this argument should hopefully

"Are you sure? Kadic's a pretty big place, and you might get lost trying to find where you need to be." Odd said to me. Sure, it's a big place, but I'm pretty sure I can find my way here pretty fast.

"I'm pretty sure I can find my way." I said to Odd to reassure him.

"Are you sure?" Ulrich asked.

"I'm sure." I said. At this time, I noticed that the bell had wrung and that the other students in the cafeteria were beginning to leave. I snuck in with the crowd as I was exiting, hoping not to get noticed.

But once I was at a distance away from Ulrich and his friends, I started to feel guilty. Maybe I do need some guidance around this place after all. I thought. I shouldn't have come off as distant to them. Okay, it's settled. I'll accept their offer, but I won't try anything.

I then made my way to Ulrich and his friends. "Okay, I give. Can I have a tour of the place?"

"I knew it!" Odd exclaimed. "See, guys? I told you she come around."

"Okay, now that we have that settled, let's begin, shall we?" Ulrich said, and I gave an approving nod.

Well, at least I get to spend time with Ulrich and that Odd guy.

LATER THAT DAY:

Me, Yumi, Odd and Ulrich were almost at the Administrative Building that I was at earlier today. I had managed to find out where the other buildings and rooms were, and I also got to meet some of the other students and faculty here, like Sissi Delmas, William Dunbar, and Mr. Jim Morales. When I met these individuals, they mistook me and Ulrich for brother and sister. But when we mentioned that we were cousins, they all felt sort of embarrassed yet interested at the same time.

Just then, the earth below our feet started to shake, but then the shaking stopped after a few seconds. The others and I looked at each other in confusion, wondering what had just happened.

"What just happened?" Odd asked.

Then, Yumi's phone began to ring. "Yeah, Jeremy?" she answered. She kept silent for a while, until her eyes went wide in surprise. "Okay, we'll be there ASAP." she said before hanging up.

"That was Jeremy. He said to get to you-know-where, because you-know-who is back." Yumi said, and then that's when it hit me: XANA's launched an attack. But then Ulrich turned to me, thinking that I didn't know.

"Hey, Solana. All three of us have to go. Jeremy needs us. You understand, right?" Ulrich asked.

All I did was nod in the situation. "I understand completely." I said.

"We can re-do the tour again! I promise!" Ulrich shouted to me just before taking off with the others into the forest.

I waited until the three were out of eyesight, and that was when I decided to make my move. I then ran out onto the closest street sidewalk and began running to the Lyoko factory, while also trying to keep myself hidden from the three. When I followed them, they began to make their way inside an abandoned car factory. Hmm, strange place to hold it. I thought as I quickly, but stealthily, made my way to the same location they were at. When I was there, I kept myself hidden nearby a local shop. But then, I noticed something somewhat strange: a cloud of smoke appeared in front of Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich, and it formed into the shape of three men in black suits. I had been told what these being were before: they were polymorphic specters.

And before I knew it, the three specters began to attack Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi, and they were challenged to a three-on-three melee attack. I then decided to come closer to the entrance, hoping to hide under the factory bridge until the fight was over. But then, one of the specters looked in my direction, and pointed to where I was at. The other two noticed this as well, and before I could even blink, a polymorphic specter showed up behind me and grabbed me tight.

"Hey! Let me go!" I shouted to warn him. Instead, both it and I were both teleported to the bridge where the action was going on, and there I was, in front of three of the Lyoko warriors, all of them shocked to see my presence.

"Solana!" Yumi gasped.

"So, she's one you, isn't she?" The specter spoke in a dark, monotone voice.

Then, by instinct, I shoved both of my elbows into the specter's abdomen, which caused it to be pushed back, and then I kicked my leg into it's side. It's a good thing my battle instincts came on, or else I wouldn't know what to do.

The specters then stood by each other, and all three disappeared as one back into the form of smoke, and disappeared into thin air.

I let out a sigh as I looked toward the factory enterance.

"Solana, what were you thinking?" I turned to Ulrich, with a strict tone to his voice and his expression. "You could have gotten yourself seriously hurt from that. And for that matter, what do you think you were doing spying?"

From his current demeanor, he was acting just like my dad in these types of situations: overprotective and laying on the rules.

I obviously can't say why I was spying on them, but I blurted out an acceptable answer that might let me into the Lyoko Warriors sooner, with one of the steps of the mission calling out at me: become one of them.

"I know that Jeremy and Aelita are hiding something." I said seriously. "And I'm not gonna go until I know what's up."

Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich looked at each other, wondering what to do in this situation.

That's when Yumi took in a breath and looked to Ulrich. "We should tell her, Ulrich."

"No, we can't. No way, no how." Ulrich said stubbornly. "After the tower's deactivated, we'll make a return to the past and it'll be as if it never happened."

"But Ulrich, she's gonna find out eventually anyway." Odd said. "And besides, you saw how she fought that specter. She could be useful on Lyoko."

Ulrich just closed his eyes and groaned. "Okay fine, she can be a Lyoko Warrior. But only temporarily."

Yes, I thought. Temporary.

"Good. Now that we have that settled, we gotta go help Aelita." Yumi said, while me, Odd, and Ulrich followed her to the entrance.

When I looked straight ahead, I noticed that there weren't any stairs, just three ropes in it's place. Great. Now I have to climb down. Alright, Solana, just don't look down and it'll be over sooner.

The truth is, I've had vertigo ever since I could remember. When I was a kid and was way up high someplace, I would get really dizzy, even nauseous, and start bawling. That was before I started my Xanadu training. I don't cry anymore, but I still get dizzy to this day because of it. However, I just try my best to ignore it and focus on what really matters at that moment.

After the others went down first, I grabbed the middle rope, kept my eyes shut, swung down and landed to the concrete bottom. When I opened my eyes, I was on both of my feet, and next to Odd. I then turned my head to the elevator, which looked like it hadn't been used in years. But when we all were inside, and after a code number closed the elevator door and started to go down, the elevator to my surprise was working just fine.

When the elevator door opened, I noticed the hues of green inside the dimly lit room. As I was walking inside, I noticed a holomap right beside a computer. This must be the holomap of Lyoko, I thought.

"We're here, Jeremy." Ulrich said to him, who was in the chair, facing the computer screen.

"About time you got here." When Jeremy turned to me, he had almost the same reaction the others had when they discovered that I was following them. "What's Solana…?"

"We'll explain later." Odd said, cutting him off. "What'd we miss?"

"Aelita's in the Ice Sector, and she needs backup, and fast." Jeremy informed.

"We'll get to the scanner room." Ulrich said. "Solana, you stay up here with Jeremy."

A part of me wanted to fight him on the issue, but since time of was the essence, I decided to do what I was told and stay with Jeremy.

After some time in silence, I then got to see how the virtualization process worked from the computer screen. I saw three screens pop up, one for each Lyoko Warrior. As the screens were loading, I heard Jeremy say:

"Transfer Yumi,"

"Transfer Odd,"

"Transfer Ulrich,"

"Scanner Yumi,"

"Scanner Odd,"

"Scanner Ulrich,"

"Virtualization." He completed.

As I pondered over why he even needed to sat that, Jeremy was guiding the other Lyoko Warriors to the destination of the activated tower. I was also surprised that Jeremy would be able to communicate to anyone on Lyoko and vise versa.

While I was observing how things were doing, I noticed from both the screen and the other's voices, things weren't doing so hot as the fight intensed. Apparently, there were hoards of creatures surrounding them, and that they kept showing up out of nowhere. Probably because XANA wants to make a lasting first impression from his return. Then, Ulrich's life bar was down to zero, and he was no longer shown on the screen.

"What happened to Ulrich?" I asked Jeremy, concerned for his welfare.

"It's okay, Solana." He said. "He's just devirtualized from Lyoko. He should be out with us on Earth in a few moments."

Sure enough, Ulrich came out from the elevator and came towards me and Jeremy. I sighed in relief as soon as I realized that he was okay.

"Guys," Jeremy asked. "Is Aelita in the tower yet?"

"No, but we're trying to hold them off," Odd said. "But I'd be really nice to have some back up over here."

It was silent in the lab for a while, and I had my eyes closed, thinking. Aelita's in danger, and both Yumi and Odd would eventually devirtualize. It was at that moment that I decided to step up to the plate.

"Send me in."

Jeremy and Ulrich both turned to me, a bit surprised that I'd be Yumi and Odd's back up.

"But Solana-"

"Look, Aelita's in danger in there, and soon there may not be anyone else to help her." I cut off Jeremy, with a determined expression on my face. "I'll do whatever I can in there for as long as possible."

Jeremy looked to Ulrich, then back at me. Ulrich did the same thing with Jeremy, although I could tell he was hesitant about it.

"Okay, Solana. Ulrich, guide her to the scanner room." Jeremy ordered while returning back to the computer screen.

Ulrich then took me down one floor, where I saw that the color in the room had changed to a light gold. Also in this room were three pod like structures. These must be the scanners. I thought.

"Now, just enter one of the scanners and Jeremy will take care of the rest." Ulrich instructed.

I then entered the scanner in the middle, and once inside, I faced Ulrich.

"Just be careful for me, okay?" Ulrich asked of me.

"I'll try." I said. "Not saying I will, but I'll try."

Then the doors started closing in front of me, and I felt air from below the scanner lift me from the ground, and I was engulfed in a white light. Somehow, this reminded me of the day I got the Dragon's Flame.

One more light flashed before my eyes, and I could only see white and feel the wind on my body and my hair.

/

I then felt myself falling into a new environment, but I managed to come down feet first. I looked around where I was at, and it was my favorite color as far as the eye could see: blue, in nearly every hue.

I then took a look at my Lyoko outfit. I vaguely resembled a Japanese priestess, or a miko in other words. The colors consisted mainly of red, white, and blue, and the loose fitting pants were up to my waist. I then looked at my finger, and noticed a ring on it. Is that… my weapon? I thought.

I shook myself from my thoughts and ran over to where the action was, and I took a look at what Yumi and Odd both looked like on Lyoko.

Yumi, for one thing, looked like a futuristic geisha. She was wearing a form-fitting pink and purple body suit with flowered shoulder pads with a yellow sash.

Odd, on the other hand, was another story. He essentially looked like a giant purple cat. He was wearing a full body suit with highlights on them. He also had cat ears in addition to his human ones, face markings, and, to complete the cat motif, he had only four fingers and claws. The bewitching quality about him was stronger, but I just ignored this and went over to them.

"Glad you could join the party, Sol." Odd said after he took down a strange looking creature.

I was in confusion of why he chose to call my 'Sol', but I just ignored this and braced myself for battle.

"Solana, you go escort Aelita to the tower," Yumi instructed, pointing to the tower with the red aura surrounding it. "and we'll take care of the monsters."

I nodded, and managed to find Aelita with her back against a wall. Her outfit consisted of a pink form-fitting suit. She also had elf like ears with one small earring dangling on her left ear. In this form, Aelita was starting to remind me of Kai.

"Aelita, are you okay?" I asked, making sure she was well enough to deactivate the tower.

"I'm fine for now," Aelita responded. "All I have to do is deactivate the tower to stop all of this."

I then took a look at the tower nearby. I saw three strange looking creatures: two monsters with square shapes, and one that looked like a slug mixed with a spider. They sort of remined me of Matroids, Martix's personal creations apart from Taxxons and Parasites. Unlike Taxxons and Parasites, Matroids come in all different forms and are the equivalent of XANA's monsters.

"Looks like we're going to have to get past those things, huh?" I said, and Aelita nodded in response.

I then started to look around where me and Aelita were at. What can I use to fight those things. Then, I noticed a dim light coming from my ring on my left hand. The ring was glowing, almost like it was sensing it was time for battle. I took off the ring, and all of a sudden it morphed into a metallic bo staff, with the center of the head looking like a small crystal. "Whoa," I said to myself.

I clutched the bo staff in my hands and looked at the current enemies in front of me. "Stay behind me, Aelita." I said to her.

That's when I knew what to do. I charged at the three enemies, and starting with the square monster to the right, I stabbed it in the eye, and moved away from it before it exploded. I did the same with the other one, and dodged the explosion by doing a back flip. Now, all that was left was the slug thing. I decided to give it two punches to the head and forced my leg onto it's side. I didn't know how effective that was, but it was all I could think of at the moment. But then, the slug opened it's mouth and fired a laser at my shoulder. I put my hand to my shoulder trying to calm the sting.

"Solana, you now only have sixty life points left." Jeremy told me from Earth.

Wow, sixty points left? That fast? Man, this isn't like Xanadu at all.

"Laser Arrow!" Odd exclaimed as he finished off the last Tarantula. "Alright, Princess, it's all clear."

After Aelita entered the tower, I took a look at it in amazement. We have something similar to these Lyoko towers, but they're much larger. And when one's activated, black aura surrounds it instead of red.

"Nice job dealing with the Bloks and that Creeper." I turned around and found out that the voice had belonged to Odd, who was right behind me with a grin on his face.

"Thanks." I responded. "I just acted on instinct is all."

"Instinct? Solana, you were like the Karate Kid back there." Odd smiled once again at me while throwing a few invisible punches, and I managed to smile back at him, even though I didn't understand his joke. Even here, his bewitching self never failed to impress.

"Looks like the tower's deactivated." Yumi pointed to the tower, which it's aura has changed from red to white.

I looked over to It, and sure enough, the aura had changed color, from red to white. It looked rather beautiful, to say the least.

"Phew." Jeremy sighed. "Now that that's over with, let's make a return to the past before anyone notices."

T/T

After the Return to the Past, I was sitting with the others at the table Ulrich showed me. The Lyoko Warriors were telling me all of the facts and information they had on them, even facts that I didn't know about. At the same time, Me, Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd were explaining why I spied on them in the first place.

During the conversation, I couldn't help but look to William, who was north of our position, and I looked back to the others.

"So, wait, if William's a Lyoko Warrior as well, but got possessed by XANA, why not just let him back in?" I asked them.

"Because he got too carried away and thought he could defeat the Schypizoa on his own." Jeremy said. "But unlike William, you Solana have showed some real promise on Lyoko."

"Really?" I asked, surprised that they were thanking me for my role on Lyoko. "You think so?"

"Of course." Yumi said. "You did what you were said, and made sure that Aelita was safe."

"And we've been doing some talking before you came here," Jeremy said. "And most of us have made the decision to make you a Lyoko Warrior. That is, if your cousin Ulrich gives the okay on it."

I then looked to Ulrich, hoping that he'll allow me to become one of them. If he said no, not only would that mean damaging causes to the mission, but damaging causes to Lyoko and Xanadu as well. When he says no, I'll be ready to persist my way into being a Lyoko Warrior.

Ulrich then opened his eyes and looked at me after looking around the table. "Are you sure you can handle what might happen?"

"I'm one hundred percent sure." I told him.

"Are you sure you won't get too reckless and become one of XANA's toys?" He asked again.

"Ulrich, I'll be fine," I reassured him. "I promise."

I then let both our eyes connect with one another as I anticipated Ulrich's upcoming answer. After a moment of silence, he smiled at me. "Then the answer is yes."

I honestly felt like doing a lap around the gym track, I was so happy. I grinned at Ulrich in happiness. But wait, what if it's a test? "Really?" I asked him.

"Yes, really." Ulrich said. "And about the whole 'temporary' thing.. It's been lifted. You'll stay a Lyoko Warrior until the battle is done."

"And your training will start tomorrow." Jeremy informed.

The bell then began to ring, and all of us began to exit the cafeteria.

Wow, I thought to myself. I'm a Lyoko Warrior. This'll definitely help out with the mission a lot. But I have to thank Ulrich and the others in some way.

"Hey, Ulrich?" I said to him after leaving the cafeteria.

"Yeah, Solana?" He asked.

"Th-Thanks. For letting me be a warrior, that is." I tried to thank him while trying to sound composed.

"No problem." Ulrich said to me warmly.

"And I'll make sure I won't let any of you down." I said to him before leaving to my dorm to e-mail my father a status report of what has happened:

Dear Father,

Today, I have managed to get to know the Lyoko Warriors and who they are. The warriors consist of five, formerly six, people: Yumi Ishiyama, Aelita, Ulrich, Odd Della Robia, Jeremy Belpois, and formerly, William Dunbar. Now, it's back to being six since I have joined today. I had helped them on a mission in the Ice Sector before making a Return to the Past. Now that I have become one of the Lyoko Warriors, I can finally settle down on the mission. Sometime on Monday, I will try to enter the Xanadu data codes into the supercomputer, lab interface, and inside Lyoko itself. During this time, I will also try to set up some firewalls on the Metaxy Sector. I have also taken the liberty of also trying to get to know Ulrich and Odd on a mutual standing, nothing more. Ulrich a bit more since he is my cousin. Odd, on the other hand, somehow has a strange quality to him that I can't figure out. I have training tomorrow, so I will give another status report whenever possible.

Sincerely, Solana.