Glow: Hey all! Sorry I've been sick, so I haven't updated. Special thanks to one of my betas, Angels 'n Dreams for getting this chapter back to me even though she had lots of other stuff going on. And thank especially to one of my rabid readers who donated lots of-

Viv: Where did all these caffe mocha cups come from?

Glow: -to help me get this chapter going. I must say, it was some pretty sweet persuasion.

Verdana: Okay, which one of you gave her coffee?

Jordan: None of us.

Odd: Well, I did read some of the reviews laying around and there was coffee stains on one of them...

Glow: coughheadcoughincoughthecoughcloudscough...and here's the story!

Odd listened for what Verdana was obviously hearing. He was a bit puzzled, as he didn't hear anything. - -Oh well. I figured out long ago that her hearing is better than anyone else's- - he thought. From out of the trees, Carlos showed up. Verdana let out the breath she didn't know she had been holding. Carlos looked at the sobbing Viv a little strangely, then turned to Verdana.

"Is it safe?" she asked him. He nodded. "Carlos got there just in time. Strange men and women were returning after dragging Viv friends away. They throw everything around." He passed a box to Verdana.

Viv stared at it. "Tha-that's my box!" she cried. Verdana opened the box and pulled out the golden heart necklace. Then she closed it again and returned it to Viv. Viv clutched the box to chest. "Lemme have my necklace back."

Verdana shook her head. "Do you know what this is?" she asked. Curious about the unfolding scene, the rest of the gang crowded around.

Viv said, "It's a cheap necklace that my sister got from our mom."

"No. It may have been given to your sister by your mother, but it is not just a cheap necklace. It is anything but that." She took a deep breath before continuing. "The crystal in the center of the heart is a virtual crystal. It contains something that will protect the wearer from viruses. It also has the power to heal and allow me to defeat the Shadow. It is the only place I can put him to keep him from coming back. It is a sort of black hole, nothing comes back out of it. SIRS wanted it for protection against my brother." Verdana twitched a little, barely noticeable. She opened her mouth to continue, but then shut it again, as if deciding to keep that little bit of information to herself.

"Why didn't it protect my sister then?" Viv asked accusingly.

Verdana sighed. "It didn't protect her because it was dormant. It has to be awoken in my home world." She paused. "That's where it originated, so that's the only place it can be revived." Verdana glanced around at all the puzzled faces. "We should get going. We don't want a repeat of before." Then she turned and entered the cave. They could not see the single tear that formed in her eye. "I'm sorry Viv." she whispered under her breath. With a shrug, Odd followed her into the cave. The rest of them trailed behind.

In Palov

The gang was grouped around Verdana. In her hand, she held the remote. "Time to bring Jeremy into the virtual world." she said as she pressed a button. A flash of light, then, Jeremy was there. He looked exactly the same, only he was floating in a bubble. "I can't give you a virtual form, Jeremy, but I can bring you into Palov." Aelita stifled a laugh at his expression. "You can also move around by walking the way you normally would." Verdana added. Then she looked around at the rest of them. "It might be good for you to have multiple weapons. Jordan and I won't need them, but the rest of you will. Jeremy, you won't need any either. The bubble is everything-proof as you want it to be." She pressed several buttons on the remote.

"Odd, you get tail whip." Odd was surrounded by bright light and when it faded away, his tail had spikes on it. "Cool." he breathed. "Yumi, you get chopsticks." Yumi emerged from the light with chopsticks in her hair. "Ulrich, you get whirlwind." He emerged from the light with a button on his sword. "Aelita, I've got something good for you. You get the wave." Aelita came out with nothing more than a wavy line imprinted on her wrist. "Viv, you get blade attack." Viv came out of the light with two new swords hanging at her waist.

Seeing everyone's puzzled expressions, Verdana explained what each new weapon did. "Odd, whenever you swing your tail, with intent to harm, it will extend and hit whomever it was. Yumi, the chopsticks can be extended to be used as spears, or connect them at the center to use as a boomerang. Ulrich, press that button and another blade will emerge. Spin it either direction and a whirlwind will start. You can control the vortex by telepathy. Aelita, the wave is a type of sound wave. When you want to shoot it, hold out your hand, fingers outstretched and press on the wavy line. It will fire a sound wave that will destroy any living things in your way. And Viv, your swords will fire off their edges at whatever you want." Viv, still a bit confused, tried them out. She swung the swords and the blades flew off, slicing a nearby ice formation in half. The actual metal part did not come off, but the sharp edges did. (It's kinda difficult to explain how this works, but I hope it makes sense). "Awesome!" she shouted. Verdana smiled.

"Now we wait for CHEV and her group to show up."

While they waited, Jeremy asked Verdana the question he'd been meaning to since she came back. "How is it that whenever we go into the past, no where else does?"

Verdana thought for a second then answered. "Have you ever had one of those really long days? Those come when somewhere on Earth a RTTP trip occurs. It's a way of making the times correlate again. You remember the day Carlos said that he saw the bright light? To us, that day seemed extremely long because time slowed down so the time in that area would match."

"How do you know all of this?" Jeremy asked.

Verdana gave him a strange look. "It's kinda complicated. I found my way to the origin system, where all the knowledge is kept." Jeremy was still confused, but he decided not to press the issue.

A few seconds later, CHEV showed up followed by her cronies. "Can we get this show on the road, please!" she said as she came to a stop next to Verdana.

"Yes, but one question before we leave. How is it that you escaped from the crypt and from my brother?"

CHEV looked around uneasily. "Your brother freed us from the crypt with the intention to make us his slaves. We escaped from him while he was busy with the others."

Verdana stared suspiciously at them. "Well, your story checks out. For now."

Odd stared incredulously at her. "But Verdana!" he whined.

She grabbed his arm and dragged him away from the group. "I don't trust their story." she said in an undertone. "We need to trust them for now. Believe me, I don't like this anymore than you do." Then she led him back to the group. She smiled and squeezed Odd's arm as a sigh for him to smile.

"If we could, I'd like to get to our destination sometime in the next century." CHEV said annoyed at another delay.

Verdana glared at her. "We will leave when I want to. Anyway, we aren't leaving from here. We are going to a safer spot." She nodded to the gang who got ready to leave.

Odd came up by her shoulder and whispered, "Where are we going?"

"We are going on a little trip to test how trustworthy they are." She grinned. She pressed the bit of cloth on her boots and the skates popped out. Then, with the others close behind, she set off.

Many miles later

"I ---had ---no---idea---this---world---was---so---big!" Odd called to Verdana breathlessly over the howling wind. "And---why---is---there---even---wind!"

Verdana laughed and replied, "Lyoko is a peaceful world. Palov is not. I could tell you how it got to be this way when we stop for camp in about three seconds." Odd stared at her. She jerked her head in the direction of an icy outcropping.

"Oh." he said.

Verdana led the ragged group into the shelter of some ice. "This is where we'll spend the night." They started a fire (I know it sounds weird, but they did. This world is not like Lyoko.). After warming up significantly, they began to make preparations for the night.

"This is the first time I've slept in my virtual form. Kinda crazy, isn't it?" Yumi was telling Ulrich.

"I know what you mean."

CHEV and her viral friends stood a little ways off, scowling. All except SIRS. He and Verdana were having a conversation in the shadows. Odd was standing nearby, watching for any unwanted eavesdroppers.

"I don't trust their story. I think they are working for your brother, trying to capture me and your little pirate friend."

"That may be the case. It is also the reason we are wandering around out here. I don't trust them at all. I suspect you are right. He reprogrammed all of the viruses he could find. Besides, he wouldn't enter that world personally for any reason. Too many memories. Let's go back before everyone thinks we are up to something." she finished. "Or figured something out." They wandered back over to the fire.

"Who's up for a story?" Verdana asked once everyone was comfortable. She was greeted by a chorus of "YES!" "Very well. I will tell you how Palov came to be in such a state as it is now. This story was told to me by the last remaining person."

Verdana's tale

I entered this world shortly after its destruction. I searched for the any sign of life, but found nothing. Almost nothing as it turned out. Chance would have it that I decided to spend the night in this very cave. The cave that held the last Palovian. She was a clairvoyant of sorts. It takes a little bit of time for information that is coming from the outside to reach those programs inside. She was able to receive the information quicker than everyone else. It was through her power that she sensed an end was coming. So she hid inside the cave and when I showed up, gave me her tale.

"Palov was once a quiet peaceful place, with warm spring all the time and no weather but rain. Sadly, not many programs were happy here. Many longed to set out on adventures. One day, our leaders picked up a video of the outside world. It showed bombs destroying everything. I warned them that no good would come of this new concept, war. It started as a friendly dispute of the issues of the video, what to do with the new knowledge they had gained. It gradually progressed into dispute about everything. Two opposing groups took control. The Russojaps and the Allystatries. The Russojaps took their name from words spoken in the video. They stood for keeping the video and using its knowledge to bring other systems under their control. The Allystatreis took their name from the apparent opposed forces in the video. They came from what we understood about the video and they were the enemies of the groups the Russojaps took their name from. So they adopted that as their name, showing their opposition. All the Allystatries wanted was to get rid of the video and its terrible information. They wanted to go on the way they always had. I was on the side of the Allystatries because they realized they had to try and avert disaster before it happened. Ironically, it was their quarrel that led to the destruction of Palov. Conflicts grew worse every day. Both sides began to use weapons based on technology from the video. I became disillusioned with both groups and began to make my home far from everywhere. Bombs were constantly dropped by both sides and even children were fighting each other. It was so sad to see how it had come to this. Eventually, the two powers blew themselves apart with the very technology that was on the video. The atomantic bombs, or so they were called in the video, fell without mercy, wiping out all traces of civilization. It was terrible to see, but I only cared for my safety, so I did not venture from this cave. When at last I went out, I saw nothing, not even a single flower or blade of grass. What I had hoped to avert, happened anyway. The landscape was desolate, even more so than it is now. The wind and ice came as a result of the bombs. Everything froze over and the paradise on earth of Palov became the wasteland of Palov. I managed to grow the one flower I had left, to show that there is still hope for Palov, even if at first it seems impossible." She led me to the spot where she had planted it. "See, my child, the hopeflower. It will soon wither without my care, but it will still symbolize what it was meant to. It is my time to go, now, I shall join my family and friends in the afterlife." With a final shuddering gasp, she died, touching the flower petals. I did the only thing I could, I buried her under the ice, preserved. As I was going, I saw the flower become encased in ice. I smiled. The hopeflower lived on, it did not wither and die. It would remain the way it was until the ice melts and Palov has been returned to its former glory.

End Story

"The flower rests here." Verdana said as she brushed the snow from a patch of ice. Sure enough the flower was there, exactly the way it had been when Verdana first saw it. It was an ice blue, five petaled, with yellow dots on the end of each petal. "The hopeflower. It certainly fits. It is a starflower, though here it will always be remembered as the hopeflower." Silence greeted her words. Everyone was so engrossed in the story, they did not notice that it had ended.

Verdana brushed the snow from a patch next to her. "Here lies the nameless seer." she whispered. Odd looked down at the face. It was a teen, their age. "I got the impression she was older."

Verdana smiled. "Most people think that too. But she was younger than me. It still amazes me how she knew it was her time to go. And being able to go like that, without a fuss..." she trailed off.

"To be so young and know so much." Jordan added. No one bothered to ask him what he meant. By now they were used to his strange outbursts.

"We have another long day ahead of us tomorrow, so let's get some rest. Yumi sat against the back of the outcropping, close to the fire. Ulrich came and sat next to her. She fell asleep with her head on his shoulder. He fell asleep sitting straight up. Aelita curled up a little closer to the fire, wishing for a tower to spend the night in. Jeremy stretched out on the ground near the fire. Well, as stretched out as he could get inside his little bubble. Viv wrapped her wings around her and kept warm inside of them. Jordan sat next to the fire and fell over to the side when he fell asleep. CHEV and her group wedged themselves as far from the fire as they could, keeping to the shadows. SIRS sat in the opposite corner, glaring at them the whole time.

Verdana was sitting on the top of the outcropping. One leg was tucked under her and the other was dangling over the edge. The wind had pulled quite a bit of her hair out of its bun and several dark purple strands flitted across her face. With a sigh, she gazed up at the virtual moon. It did not seem so pretty now that she had seen the real one. Odd came up behind her. "Hey Odd. Turning into an insomniac, are you? Ulrich should be happy."

"Damn." he muttered. "Why can't you ever let me sneak up on you?"

She shrugged. A blisteringly cold wind hit them and Odd rubbed his hands on his arms. "Hhh-oo-ww cc-aa-nn yy-oo-uu ss-tt-aa-nn-dd ii-tt oo-uu-tt hh-ee-rrrrr-ee?" he managed to get out although he was shivering very badly.

Verdana looked at him. "I can't feel anything anymore."

He looked back at her questioningly. She looked down at the ground. "I don't know why. All I know is that I can't feel anything when I'm in the virtual world. I think it has something to do with something my brother did to me." Odd noticed she looked extremely sad. He plopped down next to her. He tried to look encouraging. But, she seemed unwilling to talk about it. Figuring out she could be just as stubborn as he could, he gave up.

Without realizing it, his tail began to swing. Verdana twisted to the side as it almost hit her. "Whoa! You know, you're gonna hafta watch that tail from now on." she said as she laughed.

Odd turned red. "I kinda forgot it was there. It's hard enough having four limbs to control, without the addition of another extension!" he said jokingly. Verdana smiled, but Odd could still tell she was sad. On impulse, he stood up and did a little dance, even though the wind almost knocked him off. It was such a funny sight: a purple cat boy dancing on the edge of an outcropping of ice, with the wind tossing him around. Verdana forgot all about her troubles for a moment and laughed so hard her side would hurt if she could feel it. Suddenly Odd slipped on a patch of black ice. Coupled with the raging wind, it caused him to go right over the edge. Verdana was quick though and caught him by his leg. This left him dangling over the edge. His extremely good cat hearing picked up some voices. He looked at Verdana to keep quiet. She did as she had also heard the voices.

"Why did he just let us go? I mean, come on, he is not that gracious. Why would he just let all of the viruses go and not want anything in return? I doesn't make sense." EROX was telling CHEV.

"I have no idea. That is why we have grouped together. The more of us in a group, the less likely he will be able to attack us." She replied. "Besides, we've now got the protection of his sister. You know he really can't hurt her. We can always use her for leverage."

Odd stared in surprise. - -her brother won't hurt her? Then what was the deal last year? Was he really going to hurt us? This weird conversation creates more questions than it answers.- -

Verdana meanwhile understood exactly what CHEV and EROX were talking about. - -What has my brother got up his sleeve? I don't like what's going on. Reprogrammed, but they don't know it. How strange.- - Just then, Odd's foot kicked her arm. She snapped back to reality and pulled him back up. "What was that all about?" he asked her. She turned her face away. "Maybe I'll tell you someday. I don't want to talk about it right now." Odd looked at her and thought - -It must have something to do with whatever her brother did to her.- - He shrugged and helped her to her feet.

"You should get some rest, trust me, you'll need it tomorrow." she told him fondly. He shrugged and climbed back down. After making sure he was gone, Verdana sighed and sat back down. - - He must have a plan. I just wish I knew what it was.- - She frowned and stared up at the sky, wind blowing about her.

Glow: Now, read and review! Oh and leave a cafe mocha for me if you want the next chapter sometime soon...

Verdana: I suppose you could...

Viv: Yeah...we found some anti-caffination pills around...

Jordan: So, leave as much coffee as you want...

Odd:softning up are we?

Verdana: -whacks Odd on head- didn't you hear?

Odd: -rubs head- Did you have to hit so hard? Now I see.

Glow: -shudders- anti-caffine pills...terrible things. -whispers- you can leave some caffine pills too, so I can annoy them.

Jordan: See ya all later!