"For every beginning there is an end;
This one just happens to be now." The First from 'The End'

Well, this most certainly is abrupt but for every good beginning there must always be a good end. My beginning wasn't as perfect as it should have been, so neither shall my end... Just kidding. This 'End' has been well though up, believe me I rewrote it three times... Lets just see how it all ends shall we?

Sissi:

As I opened my eyes and looked around I suddenly realized that I was in my bed. I wondered what had happened, one moment I was standing in a tower in the mysterious place called Lyoko the next I had woken up. Could it all have been a dream just like all the other ones that I had had? No, this was far too real for it to be a dream.

I got out of bed and got dressed. I made my face and went to breakfast. Once I was in the cafeteria I saw the others. From the way they were acting I couldn't tell anything, and I didn't want to cause a scene if I was wrong. I sat down with Nicolas and Herb and began eating.

"Why do Ulrich and his friends keep glancing over here?" Herb asked nearly as soon as I began eating.

I looked up but they had turned away. I did notice that they seemed to be being more secretive suddenly. Maybe I was right and everything that I had dreamt was real. There was only one way to find out and that would be to talk to them again. I would do it just as I remembered doing it in the first place.

I continued eating but kept an eye on the others to see if they looked at me again. As I ate Nicolas and Herb began talking at me about things that I didn't really find interesting. I kept up with the conversation just enough to make them think that I was listening.

When the bell rang and we had to go to class I walked a respectable distance behind the others. I knew that they knew that I was following them and when Yumi broke off from them to go to her class she gave me a look. It wasn't an unfriendly look, more of a questioning look. I gave her the same and she seemed to nod walking on as if nothing had happened.

We all sat in our normal seats and waited for the teacher to take attendance. It was science and Mrs. Hertz barely looked up as she began checking off our names. She continued through all of us and suddenly noticed something in her book. She looked up with a confused look on her face.

"Aelita, Lyoko? Do we have a new student or is someone playing a practical joke today?"

I saw the others jump and throw nervous glances at each other. They began looking around the room as did I but none of us saw the pink haired girl. The teacher looked as well and when no one responded she grunted and made a note.

"New students shouldn't be late on their first day…" she said to herself.

Class began but the four of us weren't able to pay much attention. I now knew that we had to meet as soon as we could. Class went slowly, even slower than it usually did, but when it finally ended and we filed out of the room Ulrich bumped into me. He quickly made a snide remark but I felt something in my hand. When he had passed I looked and found a balled up paper. The paper read: Meet us during lunch at the factory.

As soon as lunch came I quickly made my way to the factory. I now knew the tunnel that the others used to get there and I found them waiting for me. They all greeted me and we began on our way to the mysterious factory. I saw that they were each prepared with some form of transportation, mostly skateboards. And after Yumi nodded Ulrich offered me a ride. I agreed and we quickly found ourselves on our way.

Once at the factory we climbed up the latter to the bridge and each one of us got out. I was the last one out and when I pulled myself up and saw their faces I knew that something was wrong. Each one of them looked sick and Jeremie had tears in his eyes. I slowly turned around and found myself face to face with the horrible truth: the factory was gone. But it was not only gone, it was completely destroyed. All that remained of it was the memory, not even the edge of the bridge had survived. It was almost as if it had never existed at all.

I heard a thud behind me and noticed that Yumi had fallen to the ground. Ulrich bent down to help her up and I felt a slight burn of jealousy but I ignored it. Odd looked as though he were about to throw up and Jeremie was fully crying now. I wondered how this could have happened and I realized that it could have only been done by the traveler. He was the only one who could have done it, and that made him evil.

"I knew we shouldn't have trusted him…" Ulrich said beating himself up.

"How were we to know?" Odd asked. "He seemed like a good person."

"I knew… I knew from the first time I saw him. I just wish I had done something about it."

"No…" Yumi said. "I don't think so. He really didn't seem evil to me, but if he didn't do it then who…"

"X.A.N.A." Jeremie said. "He must have wanted to get rid of everything."

"But would X.A.N.A. really destroy himself?" Ulrich asked.

"No. But then what?" Odd replied.

"Well, we won't find our answers here." I said. "We should head back to the school and get our lunch."

We started back and made it to school with time to eat, but we ate in silence. No one dared to speak; no one had anything to say. Lyoko was gone, the adventure over. I had not gotten much time to become part of it but I already felt the effects of it pouring over me. The sorrow of loosing a friend, Aelita, and the knowledge that nothing like it would ever happen again. It seemed that everything had gone back to the way it had been before any of us had known about Lyoko. Everything was normal…

The End

Endings sometimes are points for beginnings. This one starts something new. This is not the true end, it never was and never will be. Coming up is a new world all together. I simply hope you will all like it as much as you have everything else.

Master Aricitic; Gwydion D. C. Laubach