A/N: So I notice I've forgotten to add a disclaimer to, not only all three previous chapters of this story, but to all nine chapters of my other fic! How sad. Well, I suppose it's not entirely necessary, but for the sake of making sure that I don't get sued, here is my disclaimer:
(Begins singing to the Code:Lyoko theme song...)
Here I am!
As a fan!
To sa -ave my ass,
If I give what I've got,
I won't get sued, today!
Make lawyers go away!!
Code Lyoko! I will never own,
Code Lyoko! Even when I'm old!
Code Lyoko! Why's this text in bold?
Code Lyoko! I guess we'll never know!
(Lyrics are based on original but they are also © me, IndustrialFear, so hands off! )
But, um, yeah. Enough disclaimer-y stuff. Here are the responses to your reviews. Yay reviews!
stargirl: I'm glad you like it!
peachie bee: Heehee, and he might. But I'm not telling. Isn't suspense lovely?
Flying Star: Yes, well, read this chapter and see what happens. ;) Thanks for reviewing a lot, by the way. Heehee.
Tellemicus Sundance: :blush: aw, thanks! I'm glad you like it!
mizZ hypocrite 101: omg omg omg thanks! LoL. (Oh, I'm not making fun of you, just being silly. )
Gir: Um, no, that's not what I had in mind at all. Odd doesn't hate Ulrich. He doesn't hate him in the series, and he doesn't hate him in this story either. He's just a little jealous is all. But I can't say anything else about that or I'll give away the plot. Thanks for reviewing, though.
Aelita6349: Thanks for reviewing! That meant a lot to me! ;)
-Onward with the story-
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-4-
Aelita's P.O.V.
My eyes opened slowly. I became aware of a bright light shining down on me, but in a soft, gentle way, a way that didn't hurt my eyes. I realized that it was the sun burning dazzlingly above my head. The world felt warm, and my skin tingled as an amazingly clean breeze swept calmly over my body, ruffling my hair and causing everything else in its path to sway lightly.
Wait. Sun? A breeze?
How did I get here? I asked myself, confused. Am I dead? Did I die in my sleep? I stood up, and looked around, to discover that I had been lying in the only small clearing in an endless field of flowers, that leaned as the soft breeze hit them. Confused, I put a hand over my eyes to shield them from the sun, and squinted, trying to see to the ends of this strange new world I was in.
A noise behind me made me jump. Turning, I saw Jeremie walking towards me slowly, with a smile on his face.
"Jeremie?" I said, even more confused. "Wh-where are we?"
He didn't respond. He just stood there, smiling.
"Jeremie... Why aren't you speaking to me?" I asked, stepping closer to him.
Suddenly I heard the soft sound of others disturbing the flowers as they came closer to where I stood. Turning, I saw that four more people that looked exactly like Jeremie were walking towards me. I took a step backwards, only to bump into the original Jeremie. I jumped away from him.
"What is this?" I asked, as fear was beginning to sink into my heart, wrapping itself around my gut and squeezing my innards.
I looked around myself in all directions, to find that I was completely surrounded by Jeremies.
"What the hell is this?!" I demanded again, my voice becoming violent in a way I didn't know it could be.
None of them spoke. Instead, they just smiled at me eerily.
I gulped, and felt tears forming in my eyes. I didn't know what was going on, but it whatever it was, it was scary.
Suddenly, all at once, the Jeremies reached into their back pockets to bring out hand guns, which they all pointed at me. Their faces still wore that strange smile.
The once blue sky flashed and became a sickening shade of orange and red. Shadows swallowed up the world, and the breeze became faster and smelled the way the air does right before a heavy rain.
"What.... what are you doing?" I asked, a single tear falling from my face. I didn't notice it though. My heart was pounding fifty beats a second, sending the blood to my head all too fast.
"What are you doing?!!" I screamed again.
But the Jeremies just stood.
A flash of red light jolted across the sky and into the distant horizon, disappearing in an instant. The flash came back a second later, this time staying in place.
I gasped, recognizing its shape. It was in the form of the eye of Xana.
His icon burned brightly in the sky, in place of where the sun was a moment ago.
I returned my attention to the Jeremies.
Their fingers were on the triggers. I watched in horror as, all at once, with a simple squeezing motion, all of the guns went off.
Just before I was sure I would die, I screamed out, "NO!"
B-BANG!
A sharp pain in my stomach. I fell onto something soft.
"Aelita?" A pair of hands were shaking me gently. Yumi's voice accompanied them.
I opened my eyes. "Yumi?"
"Are you alright?!" The dark-haired girl was keeling by my bedside, wide-eyed. "You were talking in your sleep!"
"Oh, Yumi! Thank god!" I sat up, only to be reminded of the pain in my stomach. I knew it was my virus, writhing and burning inside of me. My quick movements also made me become aware of a monster headache pounding on the inside of my skull, as though something were trapped in my head and desperately trying to beat its way out.
"What happened? Did you have a bad dream?" Yumi asked, sympathy softening her dark eyes.
I hesitated. Then I said, "Yes..." I clutched my aching head.
"Are you alright? Do you want to talk?"
I looked down for a brief moment. Yes, I wanted to say. I wanted to talk to her a whole lot, actually. Last night, though speaking about everything I had been thinking seemed awkward, had actually made me feel better. But this dream. I couldn't talk about it. My stomach, already twisted in agony, felt a new sensation; a hot, acidic feeling that rose all the way up to the back of my throat, and I knew it was my fear of communicating my thoughts aloud.
I shook my head. "I'll be fine," I said. "I just have a little headache, that's all."
She stared at me a moment, and I had the nauseating sense that she was looking through me; that she could see everything that I was hiding from her.
Finally, she rose from her kneeling position and walked to the doorway. She stopped in the middle of it, and looked back. "I'll make us some breakfast..." she told me. Her face still had worry tacked all over it. She then left, leaving me to myself.
I pushed the sheets covering my body off of myself, revealing the pair of athletic shorts and the old floppy t-shirt that Yumi had given me for pajamas. My bare legs were instantly ungrateful, as they were used to the warmth of being covered by cotton blankets. I swung them around, forcing them to touch the floor beneath me.
I walked into the bathroom. Leaning on the sink, I closed my eyes for a brief instant, as if to force some of the pain out of my body. Opening them again, I reached for my toothbrush, and squeezed a blob of blue toothpaste onto it.
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Odd's P.O.V.
The ceiling above my bed was the kind that had little bumps and ridges made of plaster all over it, texturing its white blankness. It was high enough above my bed that I had to squint to see the details of it, but low enough that I could see them at all. I had been staring up at it for some time now. Ulrich, on the bed across the room, was still asleep. I looked over at him. His chest rose and fell, softly and innocently. Every once in a while, he would mumble something that could, at times, possibly be the word 'Yumi'.
I sat up, my cheeks pressed up against my hands, which supported my head. I stayed like that for a moment. My body was completely still, but my mind was racing at 500 miles an hour.
'Did I really think those things last night?' I wondered. 'I would never think about hurting one of my friends. That's just crazy!'
I got off the bed. Kiwi, who had been curled, fast asleep, looked up at me, alerted by my movements. Softly, I moved around the room, getting some things, and then going into the bathroom. There, I changed into my purple clothes, and re-gelled my hair, which had been drooping to the side. The purple spot was unkempt and out of order, so I combed my fingers through it until it was straight. I then brushed my teeth, and walked back out into the part of our dorm where Ulrich was sleeping.
I opened a closet door, where I took out the bag of Doggie Kibbles. Upon seeing it, Kiwi jumped off of my bed excitedly, and pushed his bowl towards me with his nose. I poured some of the food into his dish, where he then proceeded to stick his nose in the bowl and munch the kibbles ravenously.
My eyes once more wandered over to Ulrich's sleeping form when I heard him murmur Yumi's name again. I saw him smile. For some reason, that made me really mad.
I looked over at my desk. On it was a small pocket knife I keep for various uses, the most common one, I have found, was to pick locks.
A familiar voice inside my head came back to haunt me. 'Do it!' It said.
Without thinking, I got up, and took the knife. I felt it, cold, in my hands. 'Do it!' the voice said again. Flipping the blade open, I walked over to Ulrich's bed, where he was still fast asleep.
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A/N: Yeah, I know, you're all pissed off at me for making a cliff hanger.
Too bad! ;)
