CHAPTER 3: SHELL HARBOR
Location: Nowhere
Date: July 21 2006
Time: Midnight
It was mere moments later Aelita heard the voice.
"Can you hear little one" Aelita opened her eyes, she was sitting in a strong tree overlooking a vast starry sky….but she didn't need to look to know who was addressing her. "Mom!" Antea Hopper was cloaked from head to toe in the clothes Aelita had seen her wear in old photos (a brown Jedi robe, black boots, Lightsaber at her belt, pink hair pulled back in a ponytail), and she a grayish hue all around her. "Are you truly the One" Aelita held her breath, she still believed that the prophecy wrong that she could not be the Final Dreamer.
"I don't know" Antea moved closer,
"Everything the Lyoko Warriors have been through has led them here. If there has everbeen a time to fight back, it would be now my child. Terrible things have happened, are now happening, and will continue to happen."
"Those kids you mean" said the younger and less confidant Jedi Witch, "The ones that have been disappearing" "That's only the tip of the ice berg, my Daughter" said Antea, "Worse things will happen, Aelita. Worse than you, who have experienced worse things than some of the oldest Jedi Masters could ever imagine. Armageddon is on the move. In seven weeks it will strike, if the Sith, the Heartless and the Darkness prevail all will be lost forever." Of all the questions that were in Aelita's the one that popped was arguably the least important one and arguably the only one that did not sound crazy
"Armageddon, you the end of the world"
"You will soon know what I mean young Princess of Heart" said her mother gently, "I can tell you , no more, your fate is in the hands you trust it with and that goes for the others as well; I can tell you no more. The rest you must find on your own"
"But how are we going to find anything if we don't know what we're looking for" Aelita was really wondering now. Antea smiled
"Follow the Lights." It was then Aelita saw all the stars come down and encircle her mother's smile. They encircled her too and for a moment Aelita's self-confidence returned and then all faded and she was standing in a room where a girl was sitting at a desk listening to music. She was about Aelita's own age and had short red hair, blue eyes and a thin pale face. It didn't take long for Aelita to recognize her as Taelia Roberts, a former school mate who did not return to school after the ninth grade. Come to think of it, the Joining had been on the night of the second-to-last day of school that year and Taelia hadn't been in school the next day, or at graduation two nights later. How did I not notice that? Aelita said to herself, but she already knew. She didn't go to classes that last day none of the Lyoko Warriors had, they'd slept through their last day of school and later at the graduation their minds had been set on Lyoko Warrior things. How stupid of me. A voice called up, "Taelia turn that down" Taelia turned the music louder and turned to the window. Her eyes closed and she reached out a hand. The window blew open and (to all of Aelita's surprise) those Lights appeared again, they touched Taelia's face and encircled her body. Blue lighting struck out of Taelia's hands and set the bed on fire. Aelita screamed. Taelia did not scream. She just stood there, her face completely expressionless and a deep distant voice coldly stated, "It is time."
A stray hand woke Aelita from her sleep.
"Squirt, Squirt." Azula was slowly shaking her awake.
"I was screaming in my sleep again." Aelita slowly blinked her eyes, "Wasn't I?" Azula loved to complain about that,
"It wasn't that bad." Azula amended, "I was only slightly better. And you have nothing on her." Larana lay a few feet away, she was tossing and turning.
"That's not me." She was saying, "That's not what I am."
Aelita put her hand on Larana's shoulder and gave her gentle shake she slowly woke up.
"Was I screaming?" she asked.
Aelita nodded as she took in the small generic hospital room she had awakened to. Beeping heart rate monitors. White walls. Three bed with bars to keep them from falling out.
"How long were out?" she asked Azula.
"Beats me, kid." Her cousin answered, "I don't even know where we are."
When Ulrich Stern opened his eyes, he was lying on a cold metal table with his arms strapped down. He was in a dark room with shining white lights. His father was looming over him with his dark, dark eyes. Ulrich had never wanted to see his father again. This was the man responsible for making him into Darth Adolfus. As a result, all he felt was deep, dark sense of anger upon seeing him again.
"You." He snarled coldly.
"You aren't my son, Ulrich." Harold Stern Senior said softly, "Not anymore. But never mind you can still be of use."
"What are you talking about?" Ulrich was livid, "What's going on? Harold! Harold!"
No one seemed to hear his screams.
"Where are we?" Aelita realized that this was the third, fourth maybe fifth time that Azula had asked the serving droid that. And they had yet to get a straight answer.
As usual, the droid did not answer. Instead, it moved out of the room as though it were slowly escaping a rabid animal. The door opened again and in stepped the Skywalker family's three droids, R2D2, C-3PO and BB8. R2 was a small blue-and-white Astromech droid with blinking red lights, known for his loud whistles, squeaky sound effects and stubborn attitude. C-3PO was a protocol droid with golden plate outer-ware and a bossy attitude. BB8 was a droid that Jeremy and Obi-wan had built with their combined Endowments in Salem before the battle of the Red King's Sword. As always, BB was followed by Obi-wan's two pets, Fireflyer the Phoenix and Snowrunner the white Naboo Caninavian and Darius, Jeremy's Golden Retriever. Jeremy and Obi-wan were also with them as were Aang, Charlie, Tony, Sora, Jared, Katara, Olivia, Edien, Kairi, Will, Odd, Toph, Lowie, Jacen, Gabriel, Simon, Hayner, William, Zain, Tancred, Lysander, Stragg Caleb, Riku, Zuko, Ty Lee Emma, Jaina, Mallory, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, Hay Lin, Adam, Patrick, Kenny and Billy. There was a lot of hugging and even some kissing, before Aelita noticed that there was something odd.
"We're not all here." She realized, "Where's Ulrich, where's Yumi, and Jess and Olette and Pence and Fidelio and Xander and Ben and Mallory and Sokka and Suki?"
"There is a lot to explain." Threepio answered, "I will start by explaining that you are in a Republic hospital in Bell Harbor, Maine and that the fourteen Leaders are needed at a meeting with Chancellor Amidala." Before the Lyoko Warriors could protest they were ushered out the door.
Chancellor Padme Amidala of the Galactic Republic stood with her grayish brown hair stacked up on her head in front of large screen that was covered with luminescent stars.
"You're alive." She cried happily throwing her arms around, Obi-wan who was her youngest grandchild.
"What's this about, Grandma?" Obi-wan asked ignoring her, "Where are Grandpa and the others."
"Here, I am." Said a voice and Jedi Master Yoda descended the steps of the auditorium, "Here also, Goofy and Donald Duck are. On an important mission are the others."
"Important mission?" asked Will, "Is it about the boy at the gas station."
"About all the Children of the Lights it is." Master Yoda answered.
"The Children of the Lights?" Jared was beyond annoyed, "Are we supposed to know who they are."
"The children that have gone missing over the past few months." Padme explained, "They shared several very important characteristics, but the by-far most important ones were that they showed a signs of powerful and rare Endowments and untamed Force Sensitivity from notably young ages."
"You mean like us." Tony observed, "Or like Adam."
That was why the fourteen Leaders had been drawn together, but were not allowed to grow up together. Especially the girls, they had all shown signs as early as infancy of being more advanced than other Force Users, or Endowed a fact that was confirmed when they were teenagers, except for Olivia, who was an illusionist, all of girls were powerful Witches and all of them were Princesses of Heart. Among the boys, Obi-wan had inherited the ability of magnokinesis from his mother's side which though common in her family was rare as a whole, Jeremy was a technopath which aside from Anakin Skywalker and Leonardo Da Vinci was almost unheard of, Charlie was a Picture Traveler which was one in a million, Tony and Sora were World Travelers which was half as likely, Jared could not only read minds, but entire memories, which was just about as likely as a Traveler of any kind and Aang was the Avatar which was pretty much once in a lifetime. All of these abilities had remained dormant until they were in their teens, due to their parents keeping them apart and unaware of their relation to each other.
"Yes." Padme conceded, "Like you."
"A reason for these children's birth there is." Jedi Master Yoda explained, "Born of two lines and under the Armageddon Comet they were as you were."
"The Armageddon Comet?" asked Olivia.
"Created during the First War of the Jedi and the Sith it was." Jedi Master Yoda explained, "In the time of the creatures known as the Mother, the Father, the Daughter and the Son. Its creator was known as Darth Armageddon. The First Sith Lord he was."
"Hold the phone." Sora said holding up his hands, "I thought that Agram was the First Sith Lord."
"So he was." Yoda grinned, "But find soon you will that many Sith Lords came before him."
"You'll understand soon." Padme said, "Tell them about the Comet."
"Whenever falls the Armageddon Comet," the Old Jedi Master explained, "Increase the powers of Light and Darkness do. At war, they are the most at these times. Powerful the Endowed and Force Sensitive children born under them are. Much more powerful than many others. And coming again it is, for the Greatest War of Light and Darkness."
"That's why we needed to get all of you away," Padme said softly, "And that's why those children were kidnapped, the Sith wanted to mold them for the Dark Side."
"So why take the Unendoweds instead of us?" asked Olivia.
"Harold Stern did that." Padme explained, "He has always been obsessed with giving powers to Unendoweds. Like all others of his kind." Harold Stern Senior, Ulrich's father was Unendowed but he worked as one of the Separatists main Scientists.
"A great danger this comet brings." Yoda explained, "Great conflict comes to all worlds that fall under its Shadow." He turned on the monitor and shifted it to several throughout history, all times the Lyoko Warriors were sure that the Comet had fallen. Among them were the Crusades and the First Light and Darkness War (which occurred at the same time, along with the Second and Third Light and Darkness (which just so happened to be at the same of the First and Second World Wars) and finally, an obscure, but devastating battle in September that had occurred no more than five years ago.
"We're ready." Jeremy said softly, "We can fight."
"You will do no such thing." Padme was livid, "This isn't a War for Padawans. The kidnapping of the others proves that. The rest of you are staying here in a safe house the Separatists don't know about it and that's final."
"They can't just keep us like that." Complained William.
"They're treating us like kids." Azula groaned matter-of-factly.
"Ulrich and Yumi are Lyoko Warriors." Odd shouted, "We can't just abandon them."
"Or Benjamin, or Fidelio." Gabriel pointed out, "We can't just leave them."
"I'm not throwing Pence and Olette away either." Cried Hayner, "They're my best friends."
"Mine too." Roxas said looking at Sora as though he had told him that they couldn't prove the Earth was round.
"And what about Mallory." Even Simon was livid, "You can't just abandon her, and what Sokka and Suki we can't leave family to die like that."
"But we are kids." Billy said ignoring all the other comments.
"Hold the phone." Obi-wan explained, "I just said what the Council told us."
"Yeah." Will said, "Who said anything about us obeying those orders."