Hey it may seem like it took longer to get out than the last, but to me these chapters are going out fast. I was camping last week so you got your chapter early, but I waited a little longer this week, since I decided I'll try and make the update day Thursday from now on.
Remember to review
Ulrich was surprised to find Aelita in the room he shared- used to share, with Odd. She lay on the bed that their absent friend once slept in, clutching some items to her chest. Upon further inspection, she was holding an old pair of Jeremy's glasses in her hand, Jeremy's pillow from his room was squished in her left arm, and lastly a sweatshirt Yumi forgot in Aelita's room several days ago under her right. Her exhausted eyes were puffy and red but she attempted to smother them into Odd's sheets that she was buried under. A little lump under the covers by her feet told Ulrich that Kiwi was trying to comfort the girl.
He only took a moment to give his princess a sad, knowing look before making his way to his desk to rummage around for bandages that were usually needed for his soccer playing.
Aelita watched her friend with interest, seeing the blood drip off his fingertips. She wanted to tend to the wounds, make sure her last friend wouldn't leave her if he spontaneously died from his injuries. Aelita's heart truly thumped to do it, but her body wouldn't respond. It wanted to lie, folded into the sheets of her funny friend, where her feet took her after Yolanda grudgingly let her leave.
The only thing her mouth managed to say was, "Delmas wants to speak with us tomorrow morning."
He let the hypnotic movement of wrapping his bandages take his mind. He had heard her, and his brain processed it, but was too drained to respond.
Ulrich turned, flicked the light off and got into bed, not minding the blood still on his palms, or that he was still fully clothed. Neither cared that they skipped lunch and dinner, the later still in session. Neither cared that she was obviously going to be sleeping in there.
"Aelita?"
The girl in question hummed in response.
Ulrich stuttered, "What h-happened. To them-their b-bodies?"
Aelita swallowed thickly, simultaneously trying to remember what the possibilities would be as well as not thinking of anything too painful.
"W-well, they could be exactly where they w-were when i-it happened," she said meekly. "The one that we know couldn't have happened is their b-bodies going back in time as well. Or the last chance is that their b-bodies were lost in the v-void of time… to put it simply they are n-nonexistent."
He didn't say anything, hearing the girl's voice begin to break by the end.
That night both warriors stared at the darkened ceiling for hours, not daring to speak any further in case the other had managed to catch a few blissful moments of rest. Ulrich pretended he didn't hear the princess' cries in the night. He already felt bad enough for himself.
"You can probably imagine why I've wanted to talk to you since yesterday," said the principal after ushering the two near-dead teens into his office early the next morning. He looked worn.
Mr. Delmas looked between the two before looking at the clock on the wall. Niether of the two said anything, or even gave an indication they heard the headmaster.
He cleared his thoat, and decided to start gently. "Yesterday morning, Mr. and Mrs. Ishiyama called and asked if I had seen their daughter, who was not in her room, and had left all her belongings at home. Mr. Della Robbia and Mr. Belpois have also not been seen since last night, and all three have skipped their classes," he seemed to be getting more frustrated by the word. "Next, we find the two of you passed out in Mr. Belpois' room- I'm sure you can imagine our concern."
As they were given the run down of the situation, Ulrich and Aelita listened intently. Then they both realized- they hadn't come up with an excuse.
Aelita contemplated telling him everything- the supercomputer, the return to the past program, who she really was. Had things gotten to far? Saving the world and no one being able to remember it was one thing, but three people dying was a whole other matter. But Ulrich had other ideas.
"It was a dare," the boy said before Aelita could confess anything. She looked at her companion, confused.
Ulrich continued. "Odd wanted to sneak out to the woods last night. He called Yumi and she agreed apparently. It was whoever lasted the longest out there. He asked me but I refused."
He took a shakey breath and swallowed hard.
"Odd…- he left all his stuff. Said it would make the experience 'more realistic' to not have his…phone- or shoes. He said that he would try and get Jeremy and Aelita to do it with him." Ulrich's hands shook slightly. Lying had never been this hard before. He felt as if he would be physically ill in seconds. "I suppose Aelita decided not to go with them."
Mr. Delmas didn't look like he believed the boy. The older man eyed Ulrich over his glasses, his eyebrows creased in thought before he caught sight of the clock.
"So you're saying our own Jeremy Belpois and Yumi Ishiyama decided to see how long they could last in the woods?" The teens nodded in unison. "Mr. Della Robbia I believe would do that, but the unlikelyness of my star pupil and close runner up is staggering. Plus, I believe you two know more than Mr. Stern has shared, based on the condition you both have been in for the last day."
Ulrich scoffed, sudden anger. He leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms. Aelita wanted to hide away from the conflict.
"That's the only story you'll get out of us, so you'd better believe it."
A vein throbbed in Mr. Delmas' forehead as he attempted to ignore Ulrich's tone. "You children must understand. In minutes your friends will have been missing for 24 hours. By then they can and will be legally declared missing. Don't you want to lend a hand in hopes of finding your friends?" the headmaster reasoned, working the guilt angle.
Both Lyoko warrior's bodies tensed. That wasn't an option. They couldn't find their friends. It was either impossible or unexplainable.
Suddenly, Aelita begun to sob into her hands. Her cries turned into hyperventilating pants soon enough as both males were stunned at the turn of events. She threw her arms around Ulrich crying into his chest dramatically. He began rubbing her back, but was still somewhat confused.
"We- we just w-want our friends found!" the girl cried out and buried her face into her companion.
"Ah- my apologies Ms. Stones. I was too harsh," Mr. Delmas stuttered. "That is all I need I believe. You and Mr. Stern can leave now. I suggest you take Ms. Stones to the infirmary or her dorm to calm down. Thank you for all your help." The principal seemed uncomfortable and frazzled with the girl in his office and quickly shooed them out.
Ulrich held onto the weeping girl as they exited the main building, attempting to counsel her. As soon as they were out of earshot of any adults however, Aelita pulled out of his arms and sniffed her nose, erasing any evidence that she had been crying moments before.
"Wha- how?" Ulrich was amazed at the turn of events.
"It's acting. We needed to get out of there without any more questions asked," she replied as if it were the simplest thing to understand. "Now come on. Unfortunately, we need to check the woods before the police get there first."
The remaining Lyoko warrior's hearts throbbed in their chests as they searched through the forest for their oriental friend's body. If Ulrich thought he was going to be sick lying to the principal, he didn't know what he was talking about before, because now he literally felt the vomit trying to rise in his throat. What would they even do with her if they found her? Make it look like an accident? Move Jeremy and Odd's bodies nearby? Ulrich needed to stop thinking about this before he passed out for the second time in two days.
Aelita wasn't doing much better, but most of her hoped not to find Yumi, because then they wouldn't arrive at the factory and see…- the others. Both kept their ears open, listening for any footsteps or police sirens. For nearly fifteen minutes they looked everywhere in the woods before police alarms could be heard quickly approaching from the street. Delmas had called.
Ulrich and Aelita shared a panicked look. Thankfully the sewer passage was very close, and they took refuge, racing on their scooter and skateboard, respectfully, to the factory, to find the answer to their problem.
The elevator hummed with their hearts as it came to life; sliding open to reveal to Ulrich and Aelita that Odd wasn't on it. Aelita sank to her knees in relief and let out a sigh, splaying her fingers against the dirty factory floor. Ulrich did feel relieved in a sense, but it was short lived.
"In the video," he began, "Jeremy was typing something."
She looked up at him from her knees with a questioning gaze. "…Yes?"
"Did you know what he was typing?"
Aelita turned her head away from him, considering. He hesitated, wondering if he should take back the question. The yearning in his chest was begging him to find the girl he had a crush on for so long, just to make sure… it happened.
"I didn't recognize most of the programs he was using actually," Aelita's eyes were glazed over in thought.
"Doesn't it," Ulrich voice broke her out of her trance, "seem more likely- not that I put much thought into this- that there b-bodies would be… here still?"
She mulled it over for a second before Ulrich impatiently snapped, "Well?"
Aelita cringed at the harshness but silently forgave him. She knew how he got after a fight with Yumi. Losing her had to be hundreds of times more painful.
"Ulrich, I really don't know the chance of the possibilities, but if their bodies aren't here then-"she was cut off by Ulrich letting out a snarl and swinging, hitting the closest factory pillar with his still injured right hand. The boy was desperate to see Yumi again.
Aelita flinched again at her companion. She thought for a second that even though Ulrich's thoughts were a little misguided, he did have a good idea. The programs Jeremy typed had to have done something; otherwise he wouldn't have used his last moments alive to put them in.
"-but we can go look and see what he did," she finished as if she hadn't been interrupted.
Ulrich face was set into a frown, and he didn't meet her compassionate eyes, but nodded after a moment. They took the elevator down, uncomfortable with the small area after watching the video. When the doors opened to the computer room, Aelita hesitated. She imagined Jeremy sitting at the chair, typing away, hearing the elevator, and beaming over the monitor when he saw it was her. Then the image changed, Jeremy on the floor, at the feet of the cop, blood draining out of his lifeless body.
Ulrich grabbed her shoulder to regain her attention, and ignored her eyes becoming misty while steering her to the keyboard.
She shakily got into the seat, careful not to look at the floor beneath her. She attempted to bring up some programs, but a red exclamation point flashed, denying her access. Ulrich hovered over her shoulder in hopes of understanding what she was doing.
"Well? What's it doing?" he asked impatiently.
Aelita tried to think, ignoring Ulrich for the time being. Jeremy must have had some sort of plan, he must have known that they would need to access to the computer again. Aelita's mind whirled with thoughts, codes and conversations that might clue her in. Suddenly, a thought struck her. What if it wasn't as complex as she was thinking?
Despite not being on the proper page to run the program, she entered the code 'SCIPIO' into the interface. Immediately the red exclamation point disappeared and the computer returned to normal.
Ulrich and Aelita shared a wide smile, the later even laughing a little bit.
For nearly an hour Aelita rummage through the supercomputer. The data for the programs he used were guarded, and were going to take some work to get into. Shortly after she had found them and begun hacking them, Ulrich had wandered away from her shoulder. Aelita glanced up from her work after nearly four hours and rubbed her eyes from the glare of the screen.
She looked over- next to the elevator Ulrich sat, his mouth open slightly and head drooping as he was sleeping. Aelita smiled warmly at the other Lyoko Warrior, before returning back to work at decoding the names of the programs Jeremy had used.
After seeing Ulrich last night when she was heading to dinner, Sissi had heard the rumors. The girl had already noticed that Odd and Jeremy were missing, since they didn't come to class, and Yolanda had already confirmed for her that Aelita wasn't missing, plus seeing Ulrich assured her that Sissi needn't worry about him being gone. After an interrogation with William this morning, she had found out that Yumi was missing as well.
The rumors ranged from the group pissing off someone of power and being kidnapped, to Yumi not being able to decide who to date, Jeremy or Odd, and ended up running away with both. Sissi believed neither. She always saw them sneak off and disappear for hours, and this was not the first time, even for Jeremy, that the group had skipped a class. So something big was definitely up for all of them to miss two days' worth of classes, and only Ulrich and Aelita to be spotted in that time. Not to mention how screwed up both of them seemed to be, and the cops that were crawling around all day.
"Sissi! My dear!" Mr. Delmas exclaimed as his daughter roughly opened the door to his office.
"I need answers," the girl said bluntly. "Where are Odd, Yumi and Jeremy?" She closed the door in the secretaries', who tried to stop her from coming in, face
Her father nervously swallowed, setting down the papers he was furiously scribbling on moments ago. "Sissi, I don't think as a professional, I should share that information, even if you are my-"
"Three of my classmates are missing, rumors are going around like crazy, and you expect me to leave here without knowing the truth as to what happened to them?" Sissi interrupted harshly. Her father gave her a kinder look of pity, before nodding slightly. He always gave into his only child.
"Well," the principal cleared his throat. "I suppose a few details would be okay, just so that any rumors can go away, as to not upset Mr. Stern and Ms. Stones."
The girl crossed her arms expectantly.
"Yes, well, your classmates went into the woods last night- a dare that Mr. Della Robbia came up with- and they never returned. From what we know, there are no dangers about, so the chances of finding them unharmed are very likely, but the police told me this afternoon that the entirety of the woods on campus have been searched thoroughly but haven't found any of the children- let alone a clue as to their whereabouts." The stress on his face was easy to see.
Feeling content with the information she had got out of him, and maybe a little compassion, she hesitated a moment then mumbled, "Thank you."
Sissi walked to the cafeteria quickly. In truth she didn't care about the rumors or putting them to rest. All she wanted was fact. Now that she had it, it made the situation of three students in Kadic, the safest place she could think of, disappearing so much scarier. No traces. A not-quite-believable story. Beyond heartbroken friends.
The last thought struck her so hard she stopped walking just outside the cafeteria doors. Ulrich literally was killing his hands in despair. Yolanda said they were both in the nurses off from shock. Sissi was absolutely certain they knew something.
In line for dinner, she worked up the nerve to ask the lunch lady, "When is the last time Odd and his friends got something?" Hervé, who stood next to her in line, adjusted his glasses and gave her a confused look.
The adult was surprised. She thought back before confessing, "I haven't seen Odd in here since Monday! But his guy friend- oh what's his name, and the girl- the younger one. They came in here… what was it? Tuesday morning?" She mulled it over before nodding to go with her statement.
Sissi didn't even think about what she did next.
Ulrich and Aelita came back after dinner was already done, both downcast from not yet being able to hack the files. Aelita walked a little ahead of her friend, more in a rush to get to her Einstein's glasses. She came to a stop when something blocked her path to Ulrich's dorm room though.
The boy, not paying attention, ran into the girl. He let out an irritated huff and tried to go around her when he glanced over her head and first caught sight of the sticky notes that were all over his door, stating that police, the Ishiyamas, and the Belpois'(by phone) were looking to have a word with him. Then Ulrich looked down.
On the floor directly in front of the room were two trays, piled up with all sorts of foods that were served for dinner that night, complete with desserts. Both trays were wrapped up tightly and it was easy to tell they were still warm.
"Who…?" Ulrich started.
Aelita looked up and down the hallway, contemplating. She leaned down by the food to find a note that just had written on it in loopy writing, 'Remember to eat something'.
The princess smiled warmly at the kindness of the unknown person that was looking out for them.