This chapter is dedicated to Girl-Ulrich for being my 76th reviewer.
There's only a couple more chapters left now, so be sure to RR. Thanks. :D
Aelita's P.O.V.
Silence.
I felt as if I were defying gravity, floating, but feeling heavy nonetheless. Hanging in the air was more like it. But I was at peace. It was as if time had stopped, and the world around me was embracing me gently.
The spot on my forehead where the warm feeling of a kiss had met it felt as if it were glowing. What did kisses mean again? That someone cared about you…right? It made me happy. Someone cared.
I opened my eyes. Immediately I recognized where I was, and I felt my toes touch the soft soil beneath me. A carpet of red and green and white stretched out before me in all directions, waving and dancing beneath the gently warm sun. I remembered this place from my dream, the peaceful place.
But then I remembered Jeremie.
My heart sank. I didn't want to be here.
Step, step. A warm summer wind whipped past me, tugging at my hospital gown gently, ruffling my hair. And I sensed something else behind me. A presence that was neither human nor object.
I turned to find a boy who looked to be perhaps fifteen in human years, standing in the flowers. He simply wore a blue t-shirt with jeans, and his hair was dark brown, impossible to tell the exact length because it was so messy. His face was perfect, each feature exactly the right size and shape and in exactly the right spot. His eyes were red, and the irises were replaced by a very familiar symbol. My mind flashed back to my dream for the smallest of moments, and I remembered Xana's symbol blocking out the sun. That symbol and the one in his eye matched, and both seemed to burn like those awful cigarettes that people on Earth smoke.
"Hello, Aelita," his voice inhumanly perfect; calm, uncaring, not too high, and not too low either.
I knew who it was just by feeling him near me. "Xana… where are we?" I asked softly.
Xana chuckled. "We're inside of you, in your mind. You carry me with you wherever you go. You merely now see me in a form you can understand," he explained.
"Why are you doing this?" I demanded.
"Because I believe it is right," he answered simply. I opened my mouth in protest, but he continued to speak. "This world you've grown so fond of is imperfect. Its inhabitants care nothing of the ground upon which they walk, or those who need their help. They prey to a nonexistent force to solve their worthless troubles, and they fail to see how ignorant they really are. I cannot permit them to be in existence any longer. I am merely doing what I believe must be done; destroying a worthless race of fools that aren't any good to anyone."
My throat tightened. "No Xana! You're wrong! The only thing I've done here on Earth is learned of the many wonderful things that are there. I've gained a sense of feeling; both physical and emotional. Can't you understand that what you want is not what they want? They have done nothing to you. Let them be!"
"But you must understand, Aelita, how these beings suffer so, only because they themselves are foolish; they wallow in their own ignorance which keeps them from thinking logically. I am doing them a favor, bringing them away from such pain. The war, the hatred, the suffering. When I am finished, all of that will be gone," Xana explained coolly, stepping closer to me. He was now just inches away.
"But there is so much good in the world as well, Xana. Can't you see? The humans experience everything, pleasure, pain, but more importantly, love. They exist to care about others, despite what you may think," I said, my eyes beginning to well up with hot tears. I squeezed my eyes shut, and they streamed down my cheeks.
Xana ran a finger down my face, brushing away a few of the streaks of moisture. "Do you know what these mean, Aelita? These tears? They are but an example of the pain I've seen in that world. Do you really want to feel them falling down your face all the time? They are ugly and worthless. In my world, they would be banished forever," Xana promised. He leaned closer to me, and whispered into my ear, "Don't you see that you can be better than the humans? You could be with me. We could have everything together. You wouldn't miss Earth at all," he said, and I could sense him smirking, though I couldn't see his face. I jumped when I felt the warm, wet sensation of his tongue running across my ear.
I gasped, and threw him off of me. "How dare you! I just don't get it, Xana! How could anyone possibly be as cold as you!" I demanded, my tears coming harder now.
Xana's face remained smug and cool. He shrugged slightly. "It's your choice, Aelita. Join me, or cease to exist. No one can save you from this virus I've given you. Not even that fool who goes by the name Jeremie." He paused. "And if I understand correctly…Jeremie doesn't like you anymore anyway." He smirked before turning, and began to make his way through the flowers again.
"Um, wait," I called.
"Change your mind?" Xana asked, as he looked over his shoulder at me with a self-satisfied smile.
"No, it's just… Xana, what was the key to my anti-virus after all? The knowledge can't save me, so it doesn't really matter now, I suppose. But I'd still like to know…" This question had been burning in the back of my mind ever since I learned of my virus. I did want to know the answer now, even though I truly knew that living through this was impossible.
Xana smiled. "You really want to know, eh? Well, I suppose I can grant you a gift before you die; the gift of knowledge. The key to your anti virus is quite simple, really," he took the liberty of a dramatic pause. "There isn't one. Plain and simple."
"But that's impossible! Every virus can be eradicated…" I argued back.
"Not this one," Xana grinned. "I honestly know that there doesn't exist one for you. Too bad… all that time and effort by Jeremie… for absolutely nothing."
"IT WASN'T NOTHING!" I screamed.
Xana sighed. "Really now, Aelita… you're as ignorant as the humans. I suppose that's unsurprising though. After all, you were once a true one. Thanks to your mother, I claimed you as my own and transformed you into a plain computer program to serve me. Too bad it didn't work all the way. If it had, those kids wouldn't keep defeating me. Ah well. Now the world will end all the same."
"My… mother?" I asked.
"Oh yes. It's quite a touching tale, actually. Too bad you'll never get to see your mother with your own eyes." He turned and shuffled away through the flowers, fading into the sunlight and then disappearing completely moments later.
"A mother…" I whispered to myself, sinking to my knees on the soft dirt. Suddenly I reached up, and put a hand to my forehead. I closed my eyes, remembering the feeling of being kissed, which I so vaguely recalled.
"Mom…"
-
Yumi's P.O.V.
"We could try looking for Odd over at the hospital…" I suggested, while taking the elevator down to the ground floor level of the factory with Ulrich.
"Good idea. But I doubt he'll be there," Ulrich said. "He's probably at the school… but we need to go check on Aelita anyway… I almost forgot about her doctor…"
My eyes widened. "SHIT, I totally forgot about that… Ulrich, this is serious! We have to go make sure she's okay!"
"Oh man, you're right!" Ulrich said.
The elevator doors opened, and the two of us burst out of them.
-
A few minutes later, we found ourselves breathlessly tearing between the emergency room doors. We ran down the hallway, catching glares from several nurses.
"HEY! You two can't go in –" a lady called to us as we pushed through the intensive care unit doors. We ignored her and kept running until we found Aelita's room, and then entered.
All was normal. Aelita lay silently in the depressing little room, her heart monitor beeping slowly.
Ulrich and I both let out sighs of relief, which were barely distinguishable from our gasping breaths which screamed for air. Running all the way from the factory to the hospital was murder to our lungs, which ached more than our legs did.
The brown-haired boy sank into the chair by the wall closest to Aelita, and I was so tired that I didn't even feel like getting my own chair. Instead, I collapsed on top of him. For a few minutes, all we did was work on getting our breath back. When we were back to normal, I got off of Ulrich, and, together, we walked over to Aelita. She looked just the same as before, if not a little paler. I brushed a strand of her hair aside, and looked over at Ulrich. He was staring down at her sadly. I reached over and took his hand.
A few more minutes passed before I turned and walked over to the door, and he followed me out into the hall.
"I wish it didn't have to be like this," I whispered sadly. "I want answers. I want to know why it has to be this way."
"Me too," he replied, putting an arm around my shoulders and bringing me close to him.
Slowly, the two of us began to walk back the way we had come. Our moods had each turned from alarmed worry to the sadness that can only come from seeing a friend dying, and it hung in the air in a painful way that struck each of us silent.
I rested my head on Ulrich's shoulder as we continued to walk down the hall.
Suddenly, he lurched to a halt.
"What?" I asked, picking my head up.
Ulrich was looking dead ahead. "She's here."
I looked forward. Down the hall a ways, Dr. Bachelder was looking through some files. When she looked up and saw us staring at her, she quickly dropped the folder she had been looking in, and ran away.
"Ready for some answers, Yumi?" Ulrich asked, grabbing my hand and pulling me with him as he broke into pursuit of the fleeing doctor.
-
Jeremie's P.O.V.
"UGH! THIS DOESN'T WORK EITHER!" I screamed, bringing a fist down on my desk angrily.
I ran a hand through my blond hair, which was usually neatly combed, but was now a mess.
"Oh…forget it… I'm never going to find it in time…" I said and realized this at the same moment, and was thoroughly startled by it. I never expected that I truly wouldn't meet my grim deadline; but now it was a sickening reality. Aelita, in all likelihood, was going to die. The truth cut through me like a razor blade.
I looked over at my bed. Aelita's diary rested on the edge delicately, almost ready to fall off. I got up, walked over to it, and picked it up. I ran my hand over the front, almost tearing up. It was like this was the only part of Aelita I had left now… the only memory, the only tiny piece of her heart, there, in my hands.
I held it close to me for a moment, silently feeling the object Aelita had poured herself into. I closed my eyes, and imagined her there with me, smiling her perfect smile, her warm, delicate arms around my shoulders. She would have told me not to waste my strength on her… but to enjoy life, no matter what.
I opened my eyes. "She's not dead yet," I said aloud.
I shoved the small black book into my pocket, and made my way for the door. All I knew was that even though I wouldn't be able to find the anti-virus right now… I could at least go see her. For one moment I could put it all aside, and just express to her my love before time intervened and forced us apart, maybe forever.
