Alrighty, sorry about the delay you guys! I promise I am not tryinh to forsake anyone :) Right now I am trying to finish another project and then I will be able to focus more on this one for a while. Till then, bear with me! Welcome and thank to my new reviewers. Means so much to hear what you think. Please enjoy the next chapter!
-Lullaby for a Stormy Night
Regina
Behind me, I heard a weird electronic song. I turned to see the top on a brunette's head appear in the middle of the golden sky. Slowly a face and body grew from it with small light blue pixels dancing around. He dropped to the ground wearing a yellow and bronze suit. Ulrich rose from his dramatic fall and faced me head on. Quickly he stomped up to me.
"What in the world were you thinking? You could get yourself killed or worse!" He yelled at me.
I cocked my head slightly and faced him head on, "Well I'm just fine. And do you wanna let me know why my brother is here? How well do you know him again?" I would not be belittled by him. He meant too much to me, but I still wanted, no needed, my answers. Ulrich just turned his face away with a sigh.
Around us, a male voice boomed, "Ulrich the girls need your help! Move it! 40 degrees northeast."
"What was that?" I called out, pacing and looking towards the sky.
"Just Jeremy… You have a lot to learn kid. Welcome to Lyoko. For now on, whether you like it or not, you're a Warrior for good." He shoved me slightly with his shoulder as he walked by. I wanted to mess around with him. Have a little fun with my— wait, was he even my boyfriend? I mean I know it was a little shallow to think of at a time like this but…
"Hey, you coming?" Ulrich called back to me. His serious expression told me that this was no time for games, and that he was probably a bit angry at me. I hurried alongside him just as some sort of motor bike virtualized in front of us.
"I've sent you the over-bike," Jeremy's voice echoed across the landscape. Ulrich hopped on and held onto the controls. As he turned the throttle, I slid on behind him. My bow vanished again but it was like I could still feel it as my arms encircled his waist.
"You hanging on tight?" he asked nonchalantly over his shoulder. When I replied with a mhmm he let the single tire go. We sped along the terrain at an amazing speed. The forest blurred on either side of us. The oddest part though was there was no wind beating my face. I didn't even breathe. Being on Lyoko was the weirdest experience. I only could see and hear. As much as it should sound terrifying and insipid, it was actually very beautiful. Here, there were no limits.
We took sharp turns, nearly parallel to the ground at times. All the while Jeremy would pop on occasionally to give directions and tell us to hurry. "We're not sightseeing, Egghead." Ulrich retorted. He sighed a lot and I could feel the stress in his muscles. Out of nowhere he began talking to me. "You shouldn't have come here."
"I wanted answers Ulrich. Why would you keep—"
"You don't understand!" but instead of sounding angry, he only seemed worn out.
"Then help me to. Please, you mean so much to me and there isn't any going back now." My hands drifted up over his chest and I held him closer. I know he couldn't really feel it, and neither could I, but our touch seemed to soften each other.
"Aelita, our friend, was sent here as a little girl. This place is where we found her about two years ago. She was trapped here, by some sort of error that was made. Jeremy found a way around it and now she can live with us. But something else lives here too. Xana is a malicious software created that through the use of certain towers, and can affect our world. He started the fire trying to take me out today. He can also possess people, electronics, and the occasional teddy bear." he began to explain to me.
"Teddy bear?"
"Long story, anyway. We want to shut him down but the only problem is that Aelita's father is trapped in the system as well as tons of replica Lyoko worlds were created from thousands of computers for Xana to do his dirty work, therefore, we are still here."
"What about my brother, is Will helping you guys." I asked him softly. Talking without breathing… weird.
His tone was nervous when he spoke again, "You'll see soon enough." And I did. It wasn't long after that that we reached the other two, what did he call them, warriors? Anyway, two girls, both clad in shades of pink, ran towards us, away from some sort of danger. One had black hair, the other pink, and I knew exactly who they were.
Ulrich pulled over as they came up to us. "The krabs shot down the over-wing and… Why the hell is she here?" The black haired girl, Yumi I think her name was, yelled pointing at me.
"It's a bit difficult to explain, she was… an unplanned event." Ulrich tried to reason with her.
"Unplanned event?" I asked, his words hitting a nerve.
"Reggie I didn't mean it like that."
"Okay enough." The Aelita broke up all conversation. "We have a tower to deactivate, Odd's in danger, and we don't have much time." The pink haired girl pointed back in the direction she came from. "There are three krabs left and…"
"And William," Yumi finished for her.
"What do you mean and William? What's wrong with him," I asked.
"I've already lost too many lifepoints. I don't have much time left," the girl continued clearly ignoring me and focusing on Ulrich. "Can she fight?"
"Of course, she'll have to." Ulrich spat not even letting me speak for myself.
"Here they come!" Aelita called out, and then I heard them. Heavy banging sounded as giant red monsters approached. Their bodies were metal shells that connected to long legs that held them high off the forest floor. A red dot formed in the face of one and a matching laser shot towards Yumi. She pulled a pale colored fan from behind her and caught the blast just in time.
"Alright, you two stay down here and take cover. We'll take them from the air." Ulrich barked. The girls ran off towards a rock formation, while Ulrich revved the engine again.
Something caught me off guard though, "From the air?" Instead of a reply, all I got was the sound of the engine rolling as we sped to the edge of the path.
"Uhh… Ulrich, there's nothing over there… Ulrich?" I closed my eyes as we raced closer to the edge. Burying my face into his shoulder, he laughed softly. Next thing I knew was the bike seemed to hiccup. Unknown to me, the wheel lifted slightly and we entered the air. I peeked to find us drifting though the orange sky. "What? How?" I mumbled.
"There are a few good things about this place," Ulrich laughed at my reaction. I pulled back a little ways and let my hands just rest on his rib cage. I wouldn't be scared here. Up in the air was easier for me than being trapped on the ground. "Okay, here we go."
The pilot turned the bike back around and lowered it a certain amount. I realized we were heading back towards the laser firing shellfish. He raised one arm behind him and drew out a long saber from the crossing holsters on his back. I ducked back so he wouldn't hit me in the face. He elongated his arm so that the sword hung down from his side. Quickly he race across the line of monsters. Hitting two of them, only on shuddered and broke apart. The other only got a scratch across the back end.
"Damn, missed the eye." When he headed back to prepare to go in for another strike, the untouched creature looked up and fired. The bolt hit Ulrich's left arm, and he shrieked. His arm fell limp to his side as blue sparks sizzled around. Immediately, I had some feminine rage building up. I planted my hands firmly on the seat in front of me. Pushing myself up I balanced my feet where I just had been sitting and twisted around to sit back down the other way.
This time it was my turn. I plucked an arrow with my right hand. The familiar weight of a bow returned to my left hand. "Take me back," I yelled.
"What? But…"
"Just do it Ulrich!" I interrupted him. It wasn't too hard to figure out what to do. Just like target practice. Ulrich listened and drove me back. As we got closer and closer, I pulled back my arm on the string. I had never done this without having the feeling in my fingers, but what could be different. Within range, I evened out my sights, and let the arrow fly. Not surprised, the shot met its mark of the dark logo on the head of the beast. Following the first's lead, it exploded too. I smiled and laughed, and Ulrich joined me behind. While we retreated, I twisted back and kissed his cheek.
Then things got worse. I felt the bike shudder as a wave seemed to shake us. The bike sparked and we began to spiral out of control. "Jump!" he yelled and I followed his lead. We dove off together as the over-bike exploded above our heads. I rolled when I hit the ground. I could feel that so, we registered pain I guess. Weird.
Sluggishly, I pushed myself up, rubbing my skull. Ulrich was only a few feet away, doing about the same thing.
"You guys okay?" Yumi called, shielding off attacks of the final krab left. Aelita helped her, firing pink orbs in its direction.
"Yeah, I think so," Ulrich yelled back. I crawled over to help him. Together we managed to stand the rest of the way.
"What was that, Ulrich?" I asked confused. It wasn't any of the lasers before. His expression was grim when he looked into my eyes.
"Now listen there are some things you won't understand yet," he sound worried and frustrated. I watched his eyes lock on and widen at something behind me. When I tried to turn, he grabbed my face. "Just listen to me. We didn't mean for any of this to happen."
The boy seemed desperate for my faith in his words, "Ulrich, you're scaring me."
Suddenly, a wave of power pushed us apart. Ulrich was knocked all the way onto his back. I only slid, away and into a crouch. I readied my bow with another arrow, as the form before me developed from the smoke. He faced my direction as a black covered torso with limbs became clear. A neck and face developed next.
My entire body became numb. The bow and drawn arrow clattered to the ground as I faced my new opponent. "Will?" I asked, my face twisting in angst.
For a second, his face seemed to relax from a scowl and filled with warm recognition. "Re..." he began to mumble. But it only lasted just a second. Another one of those icons flashed across his forehead. "Fresh meat," a voice called out that wasn't his. A zweihänder developed in his grasp. From it, I felt a new wave strike me in the chest again. This time I fell back onto my elbows. My entire torso burned but that didn't matter. I wanted to curl up and sob as I watched my brother sauntered up to me, ready to kill me. He stood over me, and I gripped an arrow in my fist.
William leveled his broad sword over my head. As he pulled it up to perform the impact, I rose up to meet him. As the tip of his blade grazed my forehead, my arrow plunged into the center of the eye on his chest.
Then, I died.
