Chapter 25: Picking Up An Old Life

Odd woke up, his arms outstretched, as if reaching for something he'd lost. "It's all my fault," he moaned. "I waited too long." –wait, what on earth am I talking about?- He looked at his clock. It was November. Ulrich moaned on the other bed. Odd slowly got out of bed. He stretched. The last thing he remembered was a fight in which Yumi had ramped off a boulder and sliced hornets in half.

He looked out the window, feeling a sort of déavu. The leaves were blowing around in the courtyard. No one was up yet. He glanced at the clock. It was 4 in the morning. Kiwi was still asleep at the end of his bed.

"Might as well catch another couple hours of rest," he said as he shrugged and got back into bed. The next thing he knew, Ulrich was shoving him.

"Get a move on, or we'll miss the others."

Odd grumbled a bit from under his pillow. But he got up. He dressed and followed Ulrich down. "Anxious to see your girlfriend, eh?"

Ulrich turned pink. "You know she's not my girlfriend. Quit joking around, Odd."

Odd shrugged, but realized he'd meant it seriously. Yet he knew that they weren't going out. He figured it had something to do with that dream he couldn't remember. He noticed Ulrich was wearing some sort of necklace, with half a heart. As he puzzled about it, he subconsciously tugged his ear. He felt his earring. Since when had he pierced his ear? But, as it involved too much energy to think about this early, he let it go.

They met Yumi by the gate. He noticed she was wearing a matching necklace to Ulrich's. Odd still couldn't figure it out. –They must have got them for each other, how sweet!-Their mood was somewhat subdued, although they couldn't figure why. None of them felt like discussing the battle they could remember. "Yumi, that was pretty sweet when you-"

"Not now, Odd!" she snapped at him.

"But, slicing those hornets in half was so cool!"

Yumi looked ready to kill him, so he backed off.

The bell rang for classes. They all traipsed indoors. In his class, Odd looked out the window. He felt as though he was expecting something. "A limo is going to show up and she's going to get out of it," he muttered to himself. But he didn't know why he expected that or had any idea who "she" was.

"Mr. Della-Robia? Is there something outside the window you'd like to share with the class?" his teacher admonished, twenty minutes into the class.

Odd shook his head and turned his head away. He felt an empty space in his heart and a feeling that something was missing. His thoughts turned away from those thoughts and the normal day progressed. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. As they sat together at lunch, there seemed to be a lack of….something. Jeremy was investigating a crystal on his watch, he could swear hadn't been there before. Yet it had to have been, because he couldn't remember putting it there. Aelita was spinning her bracelet. It had been a present from…someone. The subdued mood from the morning persisted.

He kept looking to his left, as if he was going to tell something to the person on that side. But the seat was empty. –What's wrong with me?- he thought. Their phones buzzed. XANA had activated a tower.

You know this place,
you know this gloom?
We've been here before.
When life is a loop,
you're in a room without a door.

Pick up the phone and answer me at last.
Today I will step out of your past.

""Trouble that we've come to know will stay with us"",with every step it slowly grows. Rub off the rust.

Pick up the phone and answer me at last.
Today I will step out of your past.

Pick up the phone and answer me at last.
Today I will step out of your past.

Pick up the phone and answer me at last.
Today I will step out of your past.

Pick up the phone and answer me at last.
Today I will step out of your past.

Pick up the phone and answer me at last.
Today I will step out of your past.

Pick up the phone.

(Pick up the Phone, The Notwist)

Glow: He he. I am evil. I got rid of their memory. Revenge is mine at last! So the next and final story is going to be called Flashback: Remembering the Forgotten, the stunning and action-packed finale! Join us again!!