Chapter 5---Suspicious
It seemed as though the farther Odd walked, the faster his heart pounded. His nerves were catching up to him. The light that suddenly appeared from nowhere only made this worse. Instead of going faster, his heart jumped a beat or six. He drew closer and closer to the light, and upon closing that distance, he felt more and more lightheaded.The small sliver of light was coming from a nearly closed door. Cautiously, he peered into the room. There was nothing else for him to do, nowhere else for him to go.
The room was not large; however, the minute pixie seated at the Barbie sized computer made it seem much larger than it actually was. She looked sort of like Aelita, with pink hair and pointed ears, but she had translucent dragonfly wings that fluttered as she giggled hysterically. Odd could not see what was so funny on such a small screen. He frowned and continued to survey the surroundings. The pixie seemed to be the only person in the room, and the computer the only device. The walls were gray and bare, making the room seem more like a prison cell. Odd shook his head. The more he found out about Lyoko, the less he liked it.
The echo of footsteps on the other end of the corridor made Odd jump away from the door. He looked around frantically, but there were no hidden passageways or compartments to hide in. Not like in stories. Stories were a load of crap, because in those, the hero always had a secret doorway to hide in. If there was a secret door, he could not see it. He remembered, though, that most things impossible in the real world were very easily done in Lyoko. Using the cat-like skills he'd learned over the years, Odd quickly climbed his way up one wall, where he found a torch holder to hang on to. If the person coming down the hall didn't look up, he just might get out of a fist fight. Good thing the torch wasn't lit.
He listened and watched closely as a shadowed figure walked commandingly down the hall. They opened the door to the gray room angrily, causing it to bang against the rocky wall that Odd's cheek was pressed against. The light suddenly illuminated the shadows, though it wasn't quite bright enough to reach Odd. She was another scientist-nurse person, though unlike the others, she was wrinkled and white-haired with age. She stood up tall, and her eyes-- what Odd could see of them-- were of the coldest fire blue. Her face was contorted in frustration.
"Usless insolent vermin!" she rasped, "We ought to have you deleted for all the mistakes you've made! Look at this mess!"
The pixie squeaked, very much startled, and quickly apologized for her insolence. It was a very strange sight. "If it pleases our great master, may I be allowed to continue my desk job?" She gave the woman a pleading look, then added quietly, "Please, may I?"
"Please him? Please him? I've never seen him more disappointed, more furious! You should be ashamed of your failures, not celebrating them! Do your job right next time or...or..." The nurse took a deep breath and laughed lightly, making it sound like she was enjoying tea with a favorite childhood friend. Her sudden change of mood made Odd shiver. "I'll make the boss give you the alternative to deletion." Her voice took on a darker tone. She stepped back out of the room and was still speaking even as she left, "And we all know what that is, don't we my stupid, young friend? Don't forget, the next time you screw up--"
"I won't! I swear I won't!" The pixie typed vigorously on the keyboard, and then let out a long sigh. The nervousness was a large contrast to her previous laughter. Odd thought he heard her sniff several times.
Once he was sure the old woman was gone, he slinked off the wall, resembling a spider slightly more than a cat. The door was still wide open. If the pixie turned around and had some sort of alarm system ready... Odd held his breath. She never moved. He was right; the tiny faerie had her head down on the keyboard, crying softly. He tried to tell himself that he didn't have time for this, that his friends were in danger and needed him more than some imaginary creature, but he couldn't make himself move. His feet were planted firmly in the doorway of the gray room. He saw why two seconds later.
Before, the tiny computer screen had been blocked by the pixie's head, making it impossible to see what was on it. Now, Odd could clearly see the beautiful, tall, slim, dark-haired girl with the burgandy bandana and petit pink shirt, talking prissily to two morons otherwise known as Herb and Nicholas on the screen. Sissy suddenly looked startled and relaxed, as if a stress had been lifted from her shoulders. The pixie lifted her head slightly. She didn't seem so sad now. Her fist clenched in a mad fit of anger ready to burst from her at any given second. Odd took a step back. He'd read that pixies were devious little things, but never did he hear about one being bi-polar.
"Wench!" she screamed at the computer. "You ignorant bitch-slut-whore! I hate you! I abhor you, you stupid, odious, fat, ugly human!" Odd watched in amazement as the pixie typed something into the computer. It was as though an invisible force wrapped its arms around Sissy, making her back jerk straight again. The arrogant smirk that Odd had come to know and live with, even sort of like, formed on her face almost mechanically, and the things she said to Herb would've had Odd in tears. Those two must be used to mean comments like that by now, Odd thought sadly. He stared at the pixie madly typing at the desk. She started to mumble to herself:
"Now who's gonna get yelled at, huh? Let's see how your dad likes it when you flunk another test because you decided to go shopping instead of studying. We'll see who gets the last laugh when I decide to make little Miss Perfect into little Miss Vain! Hah! Scream at those two losers till your heart's content, bitch!" Her mad fury died down slowly and changed into something more mellow. "It's funny how I'm the only one who knows about our little secret. I mean, you don't even know about it. The master knows, but he knows everything. Years of perfectly placed circumstances with that stupid little group, all to further Xana's master plan. Years of sitting at this desk, giving you commands to say the most rotten things my mind can come up with. Oh, how you'd die if you knew the friends you might've had in another lifetime hate you as much as I do! I'd love to see the look on your face the day you do finally realize your life is nothing but a big fat lie, aaahhahahaha!"
Odd snapped his mouth shut as soon as he realized it was hanging open. Sissy being controlled by an evil pixie that lived in Lyoko? He didn't want to believe such a farfetched idea, yet the evidence was clear in front of his eyes. Every mean comment Sissy had ever made to them actually could have been made by an angry pixie. And Xana was in this? Even if Sissy did act unusually cruel to them and show up in strange places sometimes, that still didn't change the fact that she's a human living in the real world. A pixie in Lyoko couldn't possibly take control of her mind. But Odd had thought he'd seen everything even before the event with Flow wanting to disect Ulrich and him. If what the pixie said was true, then Odd's planned meeting with Sissy could have very well been a trap. Though it wasn't like she'd still show up at one o'clock in the morning, or whatever the time was in the real world. And it wasn't like Odd could somehow manage to get out of Lyoko anyway. He blinked his eyes in wonder. If the Sissy they'd known all their lives actually had the personality of a virtual creature, then what was the real Sissy like? The pixie mentioned Sissy being "Miss Perfect." Was the nice girl buried beneath the insults and the hatred the girl that Odd had come to fall in love with?
"...Who are you?"
"Hm?" Odd looked up, and instantly wished he hadn't. The pixie was staring directly at him. He saw her fire red eyes widen in shock, but not for very long. She flittered her wings and flew straight for the door. Without thought, Odd turned around and swung the door shut as fast as he could. The little creature screamed in horror as her wings were crushed in the door. A shiny, water-like substance slid down to the floor, making a small puddle of...slime...at the base of the door. The pixie was weeping. Odd knew his heart was growing cold when he almost turned around, ready to ignore the fact that he'd just damaged the poor thing for life. "Mind telling me what that was all about?" He asked, light-heartedly. He meant it as a joke, but the pixie took it as a threat or at least a serious question.
"No, I won't tell you. You don't deserve to know. Y-y-you're the enemy..." She sniffed loudly and graced her fingers across her back. They came back covered in the glittering water. It was her blood that was making a puddle on the floor. "Stupid, stupid stupid stupid... No good lousy... Dumb dumb stupid dumb... Good for nothing..."
"Um, hey...? Little pixie girl?" Odd gently pushed the door open again, and winced when the pixie shrieked. He picked her up and was surprised to see that she fit in both his hands. Her skin was light blue and her hair was cotton candy pink. Big, glistening eyes stared up at his face. "There, there," he cooed, using two fingers to smooth back her hair. "You'll be all right now." She shook her head no. "Well, you're not dead." She shook her head again. Odd frowned. "You sure were talking a lot more three minutes ago."
"Are you...Odd?" she asked, trying to stand on shakey blue legs. Odd's cheeks colored slightly when he realized the tiny faerie wasn't wearing anything.
"Yeah, I'm Odd. Who are you?" She drew a circle on his hand with her foot, pretending to ignore his question. After a moment, he asked, "Are you allowed to talk at certain times?" She didn't say a word. Odd gritted his teeth. He halfway wanted to throw her into another wall, and to hell with good morals!
"My name used to be Trixie," she said quietly, now sitting on Odd's palm. "Before I was redesigned, I mean. Before..." She was quiet for a moment, and looked quite thoughtful, but she continued with a look of pride that didn't follow through to her voice, "Before I was reborn as a servant for Xana, to use my devious powers to do his work, and to help him stop you from saving the wolrd of reality."
Odd rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help a small grin that escaped his lips. "Why is it the bad guys always want an armageddon? It's like some rule they all must abide by. Either that or world domination. And you-- Tricky Trixie, the devious pixie-- you didn't look to happy to see that lady walk in here and totally chew you out, now did you?"
Trixie giggled at Odd's humorous tone. He smiled too. A girl who liked pranks as much as he did was a girl he could get along with. Just so long as he confirmed that she wasn't working with Xana as closely as he thought she might be. "I didn't know her. The great master sends different people all the time, so the secret doesn't get around." She suddenly clamped her hand over her mouth. "Oh my Xana..." Odd smirked at that too. "You know don't you?"
"Know what? That you were controlling a human being and enjoying every second of ruining her life? That you just explained to me Xana's plans of destroying the real world via computers? Nope. Never heard a thing."
Trixie tried to flutter her broken wings, but they wouldn't even twtich, so she settled for grabbing onto Odd's shirt sleeve. "PLEASE don't tell anyone! The great master will have me deleted! Or worse!" Odd couldn't imagine a worse-than-deleted situation. "I can't help the way I am... I was born with a slight sense of sadistic pleasure... but only for the fun of it! I don't really like hurting people. Just..the...joke..." She gulped under Odd's unfaultering gaze and quieted before she could finish her plea. Odd didn't have time for this. He really didn't. With an impatient sigh, he strolled into the room and stomped his foot on the computer. Sparks and smoke protruded beneath his shoe for only a moment, and then stopped. He left the room at a near jog.
"Listen up, and listen quickly. You'll need to make up your mind on the spot, all right? I don't want to talk much in these hallways. You were unhappy in there, correct?"
"If you discount the fact that I sort of liked making the girl be mean to those two boys, yes. I was not happy at all."
"And you didn't like being...redesigned...as Xana's little puppet?"
Trixie thought about that, but Odd raised an eyebrow. She then knew that he knew. She really was a bad liar. "No. I didn't like it at all."
"Good. I figured you'd make an interesting ally, seeing as how we've never had one in Lyoko before. Now keep quiet. I don't know what's around the corners of this...Black Tower." If Trixie so much as thought about turning on him...
Trixie hummed for a few seconds, ignoring frantic whispers from Odd, and then said quite loudly, "There are about thirty wasps around this corner. You're heading straight for the heart of the Black Tower." Odd stopped dead in his tracks, skidding to a halt right at the corner of a wall.
"And why you didn't bother to tell me this until now?"
"I figured you'd be okay," she said poutily. Odd could've growled.
"Well, if you know that much about this place, you can help me find this strange operating room."
The pixie's eyes widened a fraction. "There are about ten of those in the whole tower. It'll take forever to go to all the levels and back."
"No, just on this level." He just knew someone would walk around that corner. Then he'd get captured and let his friends down. Ulrich and Jeremie wouldn't get a rescue. Jeremie wouldn't anyway, without Ulrich. Odd knew that much. He could barely navigate the tower with the aid of one of its inhabitants, much less by himself. The air around him was thick with silence, and no one came.
"Oh. Well, there's only one on this level. First, you backtrack down this corridor and turn left at the very end, then you keep going..." Odd listened, but his mind was too busy conjuring up the many fates his friends could be suffering that very moment. It made him want to curl up in a ball and wait until he woke up from the nightmare he thought he was living. He kept his expression smooth in front of Trixie. No room for mistakes now. No time for failure.
-.-.-.-
Yumi agreed to meet Aelita at the factory immediately after school was over. The day was long and very boring for the most part, full of nothing but tests and note-taking. It was especially boring at lunch time, when she had to go to the principal's office and explain why three boys were not in school. It was one of those things that seemed very insignificant to her; she knew her friends were in life-threatening danger and she could be using that time for something much more useful. She was becoming quite good at lying, though.
"Yes, sir. They've all gone on a rock concert vacation type thing. They're out of town for a few days." Sitting in front of Sissy's father always made Yumi want to hit something.
"Are you positive?" The graying man eyed her suspiciously. "We really should call their homes anyway-"
"That won't be necessary. I've already tried, and there's just the answering machine. You'll be wasting your time." Yumi calmly folded her hands behind her back. And crossed her fingers. The principal stared at her long and hard with eyes unforgiving of pranksters. Yumi stared back, her expression blank. Quite good at lying. The luck she required was the principal not knowing their cell phone numbers.
"Very well. I'll trust someone with your GPA, Yumi. Now, off with you. It's almost time for sixth period."
Yumi sighed in relief when she exited the office--
--then groaned when her preppier double smiled wickedly and walked quickly toward her. Yumi had halfway turned around, but Sissy grabbed her by the shoudler and laughed in her face. An evil laugh. The type of laugh that Xana had in her nightmares. "What do you want?" Yumi asked, irritated greatly by this minor setback.
"Where's Ulrich? And Odd? Have you seen them lately?" The little ingrate started twirling a lock of her silky black hair around her finger. Yumi stared at her flatly. Ulrich didn't think Sissy's hair was silky. He said she brushed it so much she was nearly bald. That's why he claimed she wore the headband. Every time he said that Yumi burst out laughing hysterically.
"They're gone." She said. There. That wasn't a complete lie. It wasn't lying at all, really. They were gone.
"Gone where?" Sissy squeaked. Her voice was very, verrrrry annoying.
Yumi walked around her as the tardy bell rang, mumbling incoherently. Let Sissy wonder about Ulrich all she wanted. She'd never have him, and of that, Yumi was positive. She couldn't say the same for poor Odd, though. She smiled gratefully at Mr. Barker. He let her off easy this time. No tardies.
When the final bell rang, Yumi sprang from her seat so fast that she actually knocked some of her classmates out of the way. She ignored the angry protests and ran from the room. Somehow, Aelita had managed to beat her to the factory. "I got permission to leave early because of 'illness'. I figured you'd try something like that, too, Yumi."
Yumi rolled her eyes. "You've been watching what the boys do too much. Unlike them, I've got a nice perfect attendance record that I'd like to keep." As the elevator door opened, Yumi ran her fingers through her hair. "Where do we start? I figured we could try to start the supercomputer again."
Aelita nodded with enthusiasm. If she thought she was going to speak with that voice again, she better think again. If Yumi needed to pull the cord again, she would. All thoughts of what to do next vanished at the sight of Avin, sitting at the supercomputer typing away. He was so engrossed in his work, that even when Yumi tapped him on the shoulder, he never flinched. He just...typed. The strange part was, the computer screen was blank. "Hey," she said angrily. "Just what do you think you're doing?"
Avin lifted his head slightly, glancing briefly at Yumi. Then his gaze settled on Aelita. Something flashed in his eyes-- a different kind of light, maybe-- and then was gone. Yumi couldn't tell what it was, but Aelita had certainly sparked it. He paid her too much interest. "I was fixing that nasty bug. I'm sorry. I should've turned it on after I fixed it yesterday, but I was as beat as you two. Computer repair is actually very hard work."
"I bet," Yumi murmured darkly. "You probably put the virus on there in the first place-"
"Thank you, Avin," Aelita said, striding over to him to get a peek at what he was typing. Her surprise at seeing a blank screen showed blandly on her face. Yumi loved Aelita, she really did, but sometimes the girl just didn't know how to play at secrecy. It was the same type of thing she got from Odd. Ulrich was brilliant when it came to hiding what he really thought of things. Avin smiled up at the pink-haired girl, flashing his teeth in a toothy, charming smile. This had to stop. Now.
"Out," Yumi said, barely keeping a reign on her anger. "We appreciate your help, Avin, but you fixed the computer. Aelita helped build the thing," she hardly had to think about the tiny fib, "and she's perfectly capable of destroying any bugs that might've been on there. Honestly, I believe we'll be fine now. Bye."
Avin frowned thoughtfully. At the computer, not Yumi. And Aelita openly glared. What was wrong with her? Then, as if everything were suddenly clear, Avin stood up and bowed to Yumi. "You're exactly right. I shouldn't have come back without your permission. I apologize. Is that sufficient?"
"Perfect," Aelita said before Yumi could speak. She'd come close though. A fraction of a second later and Yumi would've made him beg for forgiveness. Frowning, she snapped her mouth shut. She wished he'd leave. She or Aelita needed to devirtualize the boys.
Avin made his way around Aelita slowly, batting his long lashes and standing closer to her than he should have. "Can I...speak with you? Alone?" He asked, taking Aelita's hands. Her cheeks flushed bright red.
Thankfully, Yumi noted, Aelita had not lost her wits completely. "Anything you can say to me, you can say to Yumi, too, Avin." She shyly pulled her hand back and took the vacant seat at the supercomputer. Avin must've brought another chair.
"Very well," Avin mumbled. He glanced at Yumi once more before saying good-bye. Yumi glared bullets at the closing elevator door.
"Could you show at least a little more trust for people who try to help, Yumi?" Aelita frowned at her, not angry, but concerned.
Yumi briefly wondered if her lying habit was becoming too bad. Trust. That was another value she wasn't too keen on, right beside her insight. She tended to ignore them both sometimes. Bad habits needed to be broken. But there were some times that lying really did come in handy. She put on her best imitation of a Yumi-smile (Aelita was instantly happy again) and said, "I guess I'm still a bit tense from yesterday. We should get this overwith. Soon. I want my friends back." I want my Ulrich back. Thinking about Ulrich was impossible. If she thought about his soft, brown hair, or his endless, chocolate brown eyes for too long, she'd burst into tears and would not stop until she could see him again. It hadn't happened yet, but again, Yumi was forced to shove the object of her affection to the back of her mind. She wouldn't let it happen.
"Let's get to it," Aelita agreed, nodding. She turned the computer on.
-.-.-.-
Jeremie opened his eyes and coughed. The air around him was coated thickly in some sort of perfume. He couldn't see. Wherever he was, a creepy, stilling blackness surrounded him. The first thought that registered in his disoriented mind was danger. The danger of the vampire creature that appeared from nowhere. The danger of Ulrich or Odd being injured. Aelita. That thought was a given. He invision the room in the factory perfectly in his mind, demolished supercomputer and all. He shuddered and thought, Where am I? How did I get here? More questions were floating about his head, but those two seemed the most important.
He roughly coughed again and pulled his knees up to his chest. He could feel a headache coming on. Usually, Jeremie would get minor headaches when he thought about something too hard. He could tell this was no normal headache. It was a full frontal assault on his brain, a painful, throbbing migraine. He felt dizzy. Slowly, he leaned back onto the cold floor and took deep, long breaths. Calm.
"Glad to see you're finally awake," a voice mumbled from the shadows. Jeremie didn't dare move. He'd pretend he was dead if he didn't think the person he was speaking to might just have some intelligence. "How do you like this tower? It's one of my favorite creations. Those red ones were useless. I prefer the Black Tower much more, don't you?" Jeremie stared into a darkness that he knew must be spinning. "Feeling queasy? Delusional? I thought so. Vixeinya threw you around pretty bad." It was a girl's voice.
A door slammed in the room. Loud footsteps thudded closer to Jeremie, and then the girl's voice was ringing in his ears with a blood-curddling scream. The silence in the room after that scream stopped was deafening. A new, low voice whispered in his ear.
"Ready for your turn?"
-.-.-.-
I'm terribly sorry for the extra grande wait on this evil, cursed, badly-written chapter. (No, really; it is.) I think I've got my muse back, but it took until the very end of this chapter. Anyway, I finally got over my writer's block and I swear not to make you wait another two or so weeks for an update. Even though I think it's crap, I hope you'll give me an honest review anyway. I also promise to give you a better chapter next week. And of course, I greatly appreciate the reviews I've gotten already. You're all awesome.
-.-.-Shaku-.-.-