Chapter 14
By: Leelei
Author's Note: You guys have no idea how long I've waited to write this chapter. I know I've said before that I really liked how some of the other ones came out, but this -by far- is my absolute favorite –possibly the reason why I wrote this story. You've all been guessing…well, here it is! And let's just say…I love the twist ;D
As for the one hundred reviews; thank you! : ) First of all, thanks to everyone who had dropped a review ever since the beginning, and also now especially to those who went out of their way to bump me up to the big one double-O. It's always been my little goal to do that, and now I finally have reached it thanks to all of you. I truly, truly appreciate all of your kind words and support for this story.
Disclaimer: I can't believe that I haven't put this in yet! It's not too late for one of these, right? But seriously, if I did own this show, we'd already be on post production for, like, season eight by now… Sadly, I don't own Code:Lyoko!
Archived at: Ransomed Heart's Fan Fiction Page
"Death," Ulrich still trembled. "I'm really scared…"
"You shouldn't be," the apparition replied. "But I understand your feelings. Everyone I have met here has felt the same way."
Ulrich looked to her at the mention of the others she had encountered. "Did any of them have happy endings?" he asked.
Death nodded. "Yes, many of them did." She paused, slightly faltering before she continued. "Although, I cannot lie…many of them also did not."
Ulrich bit his lip at the sound of possible doom. He fought to hold in his tears, but they continued to fall freely as he looked down to his feet. "So…this is it. My end."
Death nodded again, then more slowly. "This is what you wanted."
Ulrich looked back to her, about to reply when he felt a breeze pick up around him. It wasn't as soft or comforting as the one Yumi had felt, rather it was cold, harsh, and frightening. Ulrich held his arms as he felt goose bumps forming on his skin, the cold raising the hairs on his exposed limbs. "Death, what's happening?" he shouted over the roar of the air.
The apparition's voice seemed to raise over the sound of the wind. "Ulrich, I have already told you. I must deliver to you your final judgement."
Ulrich's eyes went wide as he saw the gusts of wind suddenly surround Death, the spirit holding her arms out as she was lifted up at least a foot further from the ground she was floating over. The wind circled above her, roaring and whistling as it transformed into dark clouds, filling the sky of the white room. Death seemed to glow brighter while her face remained hidden, her white features surging with a mysterious power.
"Ulrich," her voice grew louder, sounding sharper and clearer than before, but still misted by a wave of energy surrounding her. "The time has come. The last part of the journey to your final afterlife begins now."
"Death!" Ulrich cried. "Please…"
"There is but one step left," the spirit announced. Ulrich listened intently. "You have seen the affects your death has had on those truly near to you, and you have watched their lives without you. Now you must know their endings as well."
Ulrich gulped hard, feeling a sob forming in his throat. The apparition continued, "First, the man who had killed you in the car accident received a life sentence from the courts after you were pronounced dead. He was forced to leave behind a young, pregnant wife to her own life of pain, and his child to live without ever fully knowing his own father."
"What?" Ulrich gasped, the sudden information hitting him hard. "But that's not fair! He didn't mean to kill me! I was the one who walked out in front of him!"
"Next, the girl you referred to as Sissi," Death moved along quickly, Ulrich closing his eyes and beginning to pray in his thoughts, "suffered a hard and painful miscarriage later in her seventh month of pregnancy, the baby not being able to survive through her body's endless torture. She lost her child through the stillbirth, and also nearly her life. She drank heavily following her loss, hoping to simply forget all of her sorrows. It wasn't until her boyfriend returned home from jail that she moved out of their apartment, tiring of fighting with him every night. Her father let her back into his care, helping her to clean up her life and finish school.
"Although she was given a second chance, she still could not give up all of her habits. Later on, she contracted Hepatitis C, and her liver soon started to fail as well. She spent the last days of her life taking many medications and battling addiction to several pain killers. She died young, and a father was left to bury his daughter."
"No…" Ulrich mumbled as his tears began to fall again. "Don't say that. Oh, god…Sissi, please forgive me…"
"And as for your parents," Death moved quickly again. "Your father eventually remarried, having two children with his second wife after taking in her daughter as his own. He still sent your mother money every once in a while, yet never visited or spoke to her. She, on the other hand, never remarried, or even dated, again. Her sister convinced her to leave France and move in with her own family shortly after you saw her, sensing a fear that your mother would just waste away without anyone to care for her.
"Your mom finally found comfort again in raising your cousins while your aunt and uncle worked, but once they were out of the house she returned to her lonely state, moving back into her home in Paris and visiting your grave every morning. It helped that Yumi always remained in touch with her; the two women visited during the holidays and wrote regularly, having shared the same pain that plagued their everyday lives. While your father died of natural causes at an old age, she was considered to die young, and was still said to have just 'wasted away'…"
Ulrich's grip on his arms lowered to his abdomen as he grew sick, his stomach feeling as if it was turning inside of him. "Death, please stop…" he begged through a choked voice.
"There is more," she replied abruptly. "You must learn of your friend Jeremie's future as well."
"I don't know if I can handle anymore of this!" Ulrich cried out as he felt the pain inside of him rise.
"Jeremie remained in the boys' home for the rest of his life, never being able to contact Lyoko, or even touch another computer again. Slowly his mind regressed…Yumi still visited him, promising every time to return and comfort him again. Then, when they all had grown older, Yumi had to work and live her own life. She regretted it, but her visits with him grew shorter and less frequent, until finally she only could see him at random, and few, times over the years.
"Without the girl he had spent over a year of his life to be with, and all of his friends and family dead to him -not just you- Jeremie felt that he couldn't go on. He was reported dead at age twenty-four from a drug overdose."
Ulrich could have collapsed. His whole body went numb at the mention of his young friend's untimely death. He continued crying, not being able to respond, and having no words to anyway.
The apparition continued, "He was found unconscious one morning after he didn't show up for breakfast. The doctors soon realized that the medicine he was given the night before wasn't his regular prescription, but more powerful pills that were lethal to his system in their quantity.
"However, after further investigation the police found a tape from a security surveillance camera located near the medicine room in the home. The truth was finally known that Jeremie was able to use his genius intelligence one last time, finding a way to break into the locked and secured door to change his medication for the next evening, replacing his own with a deadly combination that resembled his own dosage. When the nurse went to retrieve his pills, she had no idea of what he had done."
"Death, stop it!" Ulrich suddenly yelled. "Stop! Please, just stop!"
"But Ulrich," Death seemed to lower slightly and floated straight towards him, her missing face staring straight into his eyes. "You have yet to hear what happened to Odd and Yumi."
Ulrich quivered as he took a step backwards, fear suddenly taking him over as the ghost approached him. His breath quickened as his heart pounded, anxiety completely filling his bloodstream. He opened his mouth to plead again, but his voice failed him.
"Ulrich, your best friend married your girlfriend the year following his graduation," Death's words burned through him. "Odd became a successful label representative, and Yumi settled on becoming a music teacher. The two lived with Yumi's parents for a few months until Odd was able to buy his wife a house just outside of Paris. Yumi took a job in a local elementary school, traveling with her husband during the summer and on school vacations to attend concerts and meet with musicians. But as Odd's life grew more and more fulfilled, hers seemed to empty."
"Death…" Ulrich's voice sounded hoarse through his tormented tears. "I'm begging you…stop…"
"Yumi soon wasn't able to visit you, either, and her life grew dark as she felt that she wasn't able to speak to you on a regular basis. The only joy she had left was the undying love from her husband, Odd, and from the birth of their daughter, Megami Aelita della Robbia."
Ulrich cried out, not being able to withstand it anymore. His face twisted painfully as he began sobbing. "Oh, god," he wailed through his distress. "Please, make it end!"
Death pressed on, "Their daughter grew up happy and healthy, only knowing little about the two boys her parents had known when they were young, and how much sorrow it caused her mother and father when they talked about them, sometimes mentioning another girl as well. But overall, she was bright and sociable, earning scholarships and many friends throughout her school years.
"Eventually she was accepted into Oxford University, her father largely helping her to move into the England college after traveling to the country many times himself. Yumi was happy to see her daughter grow and mature, but then she felt her life empty again. After Megami left them, Odd traveled more often, leaving Yumi behind in France every time she refused to accompany him. Later on, he was permanently positioned in the United States, flying his daughter and her own family over to visit with him during their spare time, but was never able to convince his wife to live with him there. None were able to make it in time to reach Yumi's bedside while she was dying, their plane flights delaying them as they hurried to see her. Odd and their daughter were crushed to learn that she had died alone before they could comfort her. Although she loved her family, Yumi always knew that they never had her entire heart. "
Ulrich was nearly hysterical by then. Tears flooded his vision, falling in endless streams down his red face as his tight fingers trembled and his skin felt heated. His grip strengthened on his stomach, and he began to feel light-headed.
The dark clouds in the sky began to move, causing the wind to pick up again. As it whistled around them, Death floated in front of Ulrich, tall and powerful next to the young, helpless boy. The bells were heard tolling again in the distance, then faded away.
"Ulrich," Death said. "Is there anything else you would like to know?"
Through his agony, Ulrich slowly looked up to her. Breathing unevenly, he lowered his head, gazing as his mind raced. "Aelita," he finally said, looking back to the spirit. "You never told me what happened to Aelita after she was lost."
Suddenly the clouds grew darker. The wind roared again, jerking Ulrich's attention to the louder sound. His vision quickly turned back to Death as her aura began glowing even brighter.
"You wish to know what happened to her?" she asked, her voice becoming clearer than Ulrich had ever heard it as he tried to recognize it again.
"Yes," Ulrich answered softly. "Please, tell me."
Without a response, Death held out her arms. The wind blew around her, flapping her long cloak as the glow in her color then started to fade. Slowly, she floated to the ground, setting down on small feet. She lowered her arms once the wind disappeared, her long tunic falling flat against her thin body, the hood covering over her face. A delicate hand appeared from one of the long sleeves, reaching up and pulling back the hood. A young girl was revealed, about Ulrich's age, with pale skin, kind eyes, and very short, bright, pink hair.
"AELITA!" Ulrich shouted her name, the sudden shock of the realization feeling as if it stopped his heart beat. "Oh my god!" he cried, falling to his knees in front of her. Then he understood whose voice he had been hearing the entire time. It was the virtual girl he had failed to save, then standing in front of him in her human form. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry…" he immediately began mumbling through his tears as he cried at her feet.
Aelita lowered herself and took a hold of his arms, lifting him up with her as she stood. Looking into his troubled features, she smiled and spoke softly. "Ulrich, I am always here with you now."
"But…" Ulrich stuttered, his voice finding some strength within him. "But…how? How did this happen? You're…you're the Angel of Death!"
Aelita nodded. "I was once human, Ulrich. I know you remember. But without an originally human body to return to after being removed from Lyoko like you, Odd, and Yumi each had, my materialized form simply died. When I reached my own afterlife, I couldn't go anywhere. I had to remain here and receive lost souls, since that is what mine had become." Ulrich's face twisted again as more tears continued to fall. Aelita tried to smile encouragingly again for him. "Ulrich, please don't blame yourself for what has happened to me. I know you wish you could return to Earth as much as I do, but it's time now." She let go of him and took a step back.
"Aelita?" Ulrich called to her, not knowing what she was about to do.
"Ulrich," she announced. "This is your final judgement."
The winds immediately raged as the clouds milled and crashed, causing thunder above the other storm. Ulrich looked around frantically at the chaotic sky, his vision then settling back on Aelita.
"Ulrich Stern, you have wished for your death and have received it." Aelita said. "You have seen what pain you have caused those who have known and loved you, and you have learned how your loss has affected their lives. Now you will receive your true death."
The words haunted him, Ulrich gasping at her last sentence. "No!" he shouted. Aelita stepped towards him again, starting to chant in an ancient language. "Aelita, stop!" Ulrich pleaded again. "Please, don't! I'm sorry! I'm sorry I caused all of this! I didn't want anyone else to be hurt!" The wind and clouds raged louder as Aelita continued on.
"I don't want to be dead anymore! I don't want to be dead!" Ulrich screamed, above the winds, above the commotion of the returning bells. "I want to live again!"
Aelita chanted once more, then slipped into a language he could understand. "Ulrich, this is the end. You have received your wish." She reached out to him.
Ulrich's eyes went wide as he watched her set her hands on his chest and push him backwards. "No, Aelita!" he yelled. "NO!"
He tried to reach out to her, but started to fall. With one last look back up to her as he left the white beyond, he felt his body rotate around while he continued to drop downwards. His vision slowly focused, and he thought he could see a city in a nighttime scene surrounding him. His mind scrambled for a second as he continued to shout, the blinding headlights of a car near and the sounds of the loud horn filling the air as the black pavement of a street was racing towards him.
Then everything went black once again.
The last chapter is written, so you can expect it soon! Until then -as always- thanks for reading, and please review! :D