This chapter was written by me and edited by AwesomeFanFictionAuthor.
Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko, all copyrighting goes to MoonScoop.
I only own my OC. Cameron is owned by Undeadmonkey8. Mary is owned by AeroJester203.
Enjoy the chapter!
Uncharted Territory
In Lila and Aelita's room
POV Lila's
I hear a gasp in my sleep, and my eyes flutter open.
What's going on? That gasp, it was… Aelita? I think. I get my wits about me and climb down the ladder and go to her bed to check on her. She's still asleep, it looks like, and she starts screaming suddenly. I gently shake her awake.
"Aelita, Aelita relax. You're having a nightmare," Her eyes start to open, and she rubs her eyes. Blinking twice, she slowly starts to sit up. Grabbing my chair from my desk, I pull my chair up to her and sit down.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"I - I was in the woods. And... I was being chased by a wolf, except I was some sort of small elf?" Aelita asks, unsure of her nightmare.
"Well... you are starting a new life here Aelita. Maybe you're just scared of the possibilities... and those possibilities are the wolf? That's why, as the small elf, you're running away from those possibilities?" I suggest.
I have to give her a reasonable explanation of these nightmares. My father used to tell me she had them a lot. He was never entirely sure why she had these nightmares. As far as I know, my father did mention Aelita had a toy elf named Mister Puck. I even played with him as a kid whenever I felt lonely, on the days my father was too busy dealing with Xana. I assumed it was a regular doll... but perhaps this elf in her nightmare, is the same one I used to play with? If so, Aelita will probably end up finding the same doll again in time. My father didn't tell too much about Mister Puck, but he did say my mother always had a special connection to it. So, maybe, it's in the Hermitage, since of course, that was her home. There's no way of knowing until she decides to look for it, but that could be what my father meant by having a special connection to it. I'll find out in time, I know I will, I think.
Aelita nods.
"We all have nightmares when we want to try something new or experience something new. Like take flying, for example, some people are terrified of flying but they do it. They'll be scared. I'm not sure if they'll have nightmares on the plane, but it's probably happened. And... I've had a few of them ever since I lost Mary."
"When I was living on Lyoko, there were days when I spent a lot of time looking up different things about the world. Flying does sound terrifying... and you have?" Aelita asks. I nod.
"I have… I see her, and I keep trying to reach for her, and just as I touch her she vanishes. It's almost as if my mind is teasing me with the possibility of finding her and bringing her back."
"But we will find her. Once we find out what took her; I know we'll rescue her," Aelita says, trying to reassure me with a smile.
"Thanks. Do you want to take a shower? They're relaxing," I say.
"Sure. That's the thing where water comes out of it, right?" Aelita asks.
"Yeah, hot and cold water. So, try not to turn it up too much, or turn it down too much. The perfect temperature matters for a successful shower," I explain.
"I think I understand, thanks for the advice. Say, where are the showers on this floor?" Aelita asks.
"I'll show you, come on, grab a towel," I reply. Going to our shared opened closet, I look at it.
I'm rather happy we went shopping during the weeks before Aelita became my roommate. The shopping trip at the mall was eventful, and I even found a lot of close looks alike shirts, that looks pretty close to my original shirt my father packed me in the suitcase. Unfortunately, I still haven't found a replica of my father's pink magenta leather jacket he prepared for me or anything close that could look like it. So, the day Yumi and I brought Aelita to the mall, I made sure to buy multiple look-alike t-shirts, blue jeans, and even found a few different shoes should I decide to wear the different ones. I still have access to a debit card that Mary set up a while back, which is accessed to the money Mary won from the first lotto ticket. There are still two more lotto numbers I can use if I ever need to. Thinking back on the shopping trip to the mall, it also reminds me of the time when Mary and I went shopping, shortly before I met Jeremy for the first time.
It's crazy to think how much has happened. It's only been a little over a year, and Aelita is now my roommate. She's acting as my sister, and she's making it less lonesome since Mary is no longer with me. I hope I find her soon… I think.
Grabbing the towels, soap, shampoo, and change of clothes along with my one of a kind pink magenta leather jacket. Aelita grabs her things and we head to the bathroom.
In the courtyard
After showering and getting dressed, Aelita and I meet the boys outside in the courtyard. There are a lot of other students outside, but they're talking to their friends too.
"Do you remember that old house in the woods?" Jeremy asks me.
"You mean the Hermitage?" I ask.
"I don't like that place... it scares me," Aelita replies, crossing her arms in a little self-comforting hug.
"Well, now it's just a regular house Aelita. And, after a lot of hacking, I found an old deed that belongs to the house and compared it to a signature of a teacher, that I found in the school's records office this morning. They're the same. The deed to the house belonged to a Mr. Franz Hopper. Who just happens to have the same name, as the teacher who taught here a long time ago," Jeremy explains.
"So, you're thinking they could have been the same person?" Odd asks.
"Yeah I do, Odd. And it would explain why he has a passageway that leads to the lab," Jeremy answers.
Lila! Please! There's not much time! I need you to come to Lyoko! I hear Mary's voice in my mind. Groaning, I let go of my bag and drop it to the ground.
My head… my head feels like it's burning, I think. I rub my temples, trying to relieve it.
"What's wrong, Lila?" Aelita asks.
"There's - there's this voice," I reply.
"A voice?" Ulrich asks. "Saying what?"
"It's... I'm not sure how to explain it. But I think it's Mary's voice… She's saying to come to Lyoko," I explain.
"Could be one of Xana's tricks," Ulrich surmises.
"Strong possibility. What do you say about checking out the Hermitage again? Maybe the voice will go away if you're busy," Jeremy suggests.
"Aelita, do you want to come with us?" he asks.
"I think I'm going to stay here Jeremy," Aelita replies.
"Same," I nod, the headache fading.
"Okay, well, we'll let you know what we find," Jeremy says. He, Ulrich, and Odd head off to the Hermitage. I pick up my bag and look at Aelita.
"Let's grab some lunch, I might just be hungry," I tell her.
"Okay," Aelita smiles.
In the cafeteria
We get in line to get our lunch. The line is sort of long, so my eyes wander to the rest of the cafeteria. I notice Yumi is sitting next to William, and Sissi is talking to Cameron in the back of the cafeteria. He's sitting alone at a table, trying his best to ignore Sissi. We finally get to the front of the line and get our food.
"Come on," I say. Aelita follows me to where Cameron is sitting.
"For the last time, I don't want to go out with you. Leave me alone," Cameron says.
"But - But," Sissi stammers, "Why not?"
"Simple: I don't want to," Cameron answers. Sissi turns beat red and walks away without talking to us.
"Mind if we sit here?" I ask.
"Sure," Cameron replies. Aelita and I take two seats in front of Cameron.
"Sorry about her. She's the principal's daughter, so she thinks everyone will be into her because she's "popular"," I explain.
"Eh, no biggie, I've dealt with worse. So, I take it you're Aelita?" Cameron asks.
"I am," Aelita nods, "You're Cameron, right?"
"I am, haha. So, how does it feel to be in a different country?"
"Well, Canada was very uh... small, compared to France," Aelita answers, I take a bite out of my croissant.
Lila please, go to the edge of the desert sector on Lyoko! hearing Mary's voice inside my mind.
I choke a bit on the croissant from hearing Mary's voice in my head again. Cameron and Aelita look at me with concern. I quickly reach for my water and drink some, freeing the bite of croissant that got lodged in my throat. I put the glass of water down on the table.
"You okay?" Cameron asks.
"Sort of. Um Aelita, remember what I said earlier?"
Aelita nods, "I do."
"We need to go; it's getting worse," I explain. The two of us get up. It's a little sudden, so I look at Cameron.
"Cameron I'm really sorry, but we're going to have to leave. Something's come up. I'm not feeling very well today."
"Everything okay?" Cameron asks.
"Yeah just a headache," I lie.
"Okay… well feel better," he smiles.
"Thanks," I smile back at him. Aelita and I leave the table. We go to get rid of our tray of food and then head to the lab.
In the lab
Aelita sits on Jeremy's chair and starts typing on the keyboard.
"We only have a minute, let's head downstairs via the ladder shoot," Aelita says.
"Right... I just hope this isn't a trap," I say.
"There's only one way to find out," Aelita replies.
Lyoko's Desert sector
Aelita and I land in the Desert Sector. We start running and make our way to the edge of the sector.
When you're at the edge of the sector, wait a few seconds. I'm not sure how I have a telepathic link with you, but I diverted Xana's monsters. You shouldn't have trouble getting to the edge of the sector, Mary's voice says.
Thanks, Mary, I think, but she doesn't respond. "Of course… she can't respond."
"What did she say?" Aelita asks.
"Mary said there were monsters near our position. I'm not sure how… but whatever she did, she somehow diverted them. Maybe she's using some sort of distraction? Either way, we shouldn't have trouble the rest of the way."
"That's good... say, thanks for being there with me today," Aelita says and we continue running.
"You're welcome. You're my roommate, I didn't want you to be alone on your first day. I know how scary the world can seem, especially since you're new to it."
"Showering is rather nice, I suppose. Sissi seems to be a bit mean though."
"She changes in the future you know," I say. "I knew her personally because she ran Kadic. I was there only for a short while when I was a kid, but she was the nicest person there."
"Wow," Aelita says surprised, she then asks:
"You still went to school with Xana in control of everything?"
"I did, yeah... my parents brought me into Kadic when I was ten, you see, before the war really escalated. I can tell you I felt scared a lot of times. Even more so after Kadic was shut down. Being scared is a normal reaction. Especially feeling scared from nightmares, I'd be more concerned if you weren't scared," I tell her, and she nods. Getting closer to the edge, Aelita asks:
"Um... I know you've mentioned you didn't know us personally, but did you know anything about us?" she asks.
"No... sorry I don't. I only knew Sissi up until a certain age. Then… it was just Jeremy after my parents brought me to him before the war really started to escalate..." I lie, trailing off.
Reaching what appears to be the edge of the sector, we look out to the digital sea.
"Oh... sorry. Um, I think we've reached the edge. Now what?" As if on cue, a weird white Transport Orb with a blue Xana sign appears from seemingly nowhere. Before either of us can react, it opens and scoops us up.
In the arena room
The Transport Orb drops us in a room. The floor and ceiling are spinning. Looking at the ceiling, this room seems to be some sort of arena room.
So, this is Sector Five… huh. Sector Five is different from Lyoko… if I remember correctly I think it can act like a maze with different corridors and different rooms, every time you go here. At least from what my father mentioned it was like, apart from that… seeing it now it's really strange, I think.
"What kind of sector is this? I've never seen it before," Aelita says.
"Yeah, and the room spinning is definitely strange. Odd's probably not going to like this," I say, trying to lighten the situation.
The room starts slowing down and the floor comes to halt, lining up with a door. The door opens.
"Where to now?" Aelita asks.
Go through the door, take a right on the first corridor, and a left on the second. There will be a room safe for us to talk, I managed to slip away from Xana. But he'll start to notice I'm gone, and there are things we need to talk about it, Mary requests.
"Right!" I exclaim and start running.
"Lila, wait up!" Aelita exclaims from behind, running to catch up.
Outside an empty room
Aelita and I continue to run down the first corridor, and down to the next corridor. Approaching the room, I take my staff out. We walk inside.
Inside the empty room
"Just in case it's a trap," I say, gripping my staff ready, trying not to get my hopes up. Aelita and I walk cautiously further in the room. My eyes widen… there… standing before me… is a hologram of Mary.
"Lila there's not much time...I assume you know you the truth by now?" Mary asks.
I grit my teeth slightly, "You- you knew?" sheathing my staff.
"I did, and I'm sorry. Your father told me the first day I was created."
"Her father? She said Jeremy created you?" Aelita asks.
"Lila, you told them the truth?" Mary asks, shocked.
"Some of it... not all of it," I sigh,
"Xana is using every bit of his power to find me and... the link you have with Xana?"
"Yes, Mary?"
"I placed that link within you."
My eyes widen,
"You... you did what?"
Mary shakes her head, "I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have. But, when Xana stole me from you, I made sure to set a link between the three of us," she explains.
"You mean all four of us, right?" Aelita asks.
"No... I'm sorry. Your link is part of the original timeline. It's a separate link on its own that's connecting you and Xana. You'll find the answer to unlink the two of you in time, I promise."
"Mary I-" Four spherical orbs with the eye of Xana zoom into the room. My eyes widen, realizing they're the same ones from my future. The Xana Bots. They fire a laser at Mary's hologram and she disappears.
"Bad move, Xana!" I yell and start chanting in Latin.
"Exardeso, Exardesco, Exardesco!" I exclaim. Taking out my staff, I swing it. Three of my Fire Bolts fly across the room.
Zooming around throughout the entire room, they dodge my attacks. The Xana Bots start firing their lasers at us. Aelita and I dodge them one by one.
They suddenly stop. I hear a strange noise, and gasp as a Giant Jellyfish with long clear tentacles enters the room.
Flashback
Forest Sector
I start hearing a strange noise, I ready myself for an attack. Something grabs me and lifts me into the air, my eyes start to become heavy.
End of flashback
"That's - that's the thing that took Mary from me!" I exclaim, unsheathing my sword.
Getting ready to attack, my amulet starts to glow Orange for some reason. I start running rather quickly, leaving a trail of Orange aura behind me, similar to Ulrich's super speed. I jump in the air and swing my sword at the Giant Jellyfish, but the Giant Jellyfish launches its tentacles at me. The tentacles hit me,and my sword falls out of my hands, and to the floor. The Giant Jellyfish puts its tentacles on my head, and I gasp. My eyes become heavy, they start closing and everything disappears.
Somewhere
"Lila! There's not much time... I'm sorry but the hologram you talked to was a fake. It was all a trap by Xana!" Mary exclaims.
I laugh lightly, "I knew it. You wouldn't have been so careless as to tell Aelita that my father created you. Xana divulged that information to her so that I'll be forced to tell everyone the full truth. He probably thinks it's going to split the group apart somehow."
"I'm sorry... I tried to warn you. The first time I told you to come to Lyoko was me. But after that... Xana caught onto me, and manipulated my voice and image to lure you to Sector Five. He's starting to learn what I know about our future. He's accessing my memories… somehow breaking through my advanced security systems one step at a time. He still needs to go through multiple firewalls to obtain everything I know. And… I wanted to tell you the truth about your link, too..."
I shake my head. "I understand... but why didn't you tell me I was an artificial intelligence?"
"Your father forbade it, Lila. It was to protect you... your mother was human, of course, but the two of them... I'm not sure why, but they could never have a child. I know she died shortly after you were born. Some sort of illness took her. But before that, your father... he created a child... you. The only thing I know about your creation was that you were born in Sector Five. You may have a connection to this sector in the present. If you do have one, I'm not sure what your connection will be… and the most important thing is that you're human but-" Mary starts to ramble on, but I interrupt her.
"I see... an illness took my mother... I didn't know that. I guess in the end... whatever happened, happened. Right?"
Mary nods, she pauses for a few seconds.
"I think we're running out of time," Mary says. Looking at myself, I notice I'm beginning to fade.
"But… Mary, I still have more questions. Did you get rid of the doors to the -" I start to say, but my body completely vanishes, before I can finish asking my question.
End
I wake up, gasping. The others are with us now. Ulrich blocks the lasers from the Xana bots, and Yumi helps me up. I notice Odd helping Aelita up, the Giant Jellyfish must have attacked her too. Looking around, I notice that the Giant Jellyfish is no longer in the room.
The room starts to change, the floor moves up and down in pieces, like blocks. As they move, they make a strange creaking sound.
"I don't like the sound of that!" Ulrich exclaims.
"Get out of there! Hurry!" Jeremy exclaims.
Ulrich stops blocking the lasers, sheathing his Katana blade. Leaving my sword on the floor since it'll just be brought back on my next trip to Lyoko, we start running back to the main room where we arrived. The corridor starts to close in on us as we're running. Ulrich, Odd, Yumi, and Aelita all make it out of the corridor. I make it, but just barely. The entryway closes.
Arena room
Aelita's knees give in, as do mine. We pant heavily, trying to catch our breath. Thankfully, the main arena room isn't collapsing in on us.
"Just in time!"
"Now what?" Ulrich asks.
"I'm going to re-enter that code we used. Scipio."
"We've got your way out of here you two," Odd says. "Lila, what happened back there? You were unconscious for a bit when we found you."
Aelita and I get up. Looking up, The Transport Orb hovers down and opens. Looking at Odd, I tell him:
"I... I was talking to the real Mary. Telepathically…"
It scoops us up and brings us back to Lyoko.
Desert sector
The Transport Orb re-opens. We're back on Lyoko's Desert Sector.
"I'm bringing you in now. Aelita, go to the tower so I can re-materialize you from there."
Aelita runs to the tower and enters the "doorway."
"Re-materialization: Odd, Re-materialization: Ulrich, Re-materialization: Yumi,"
Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi re-materialize, their bodies devirtualize.
"And finally... re-materialization: Lila."
My body virtualizes, and I smile.
Mary, now that I know that the Giant Jellyfish has you locked inside its mind... nothing is going to stop me from bringing you back. I'll find a way to destroy it, and free you, I think.
Later that night
In Jeremy's room
Ulrich and Yumi are sitting on the ground. Aelita, Odd and I are sitting on Jeremy's bed. Aelita is holding Kiwi, she pets him.
"You should have seen it Einstein! There were these weird bot things, and they were fast too! Like zoom! What's more, there was this big Giant Jellyfish in the middle of the room!" Odd exclaims. Kiwi growls at that, and goes over to sit by Odd.
"To think... that thing was stealing my memories," Aelita shudders, rubbing her temples. She stops.
"One thing is for sure, even though Xana already has Mary, it seems that he wants to get something specific from Aelita too. I can't help but wonder if he wants something from you too Lila? But what? That's what we have to find out," Jeremy says.
"I think going back to the fifth sector will be pretty cool. I can't wait. There's so much to explore," Ulrich says.
"I'll go with you; it'll be totally awesome," Yumi agrees.
"Hang on a minute! There's a lot of preparation and studying that needs to be done first before we go to that sector again. Which is why, until we better understand this fifth sector, we should consider it Uncharted Territory. Meaning it can be totally dangerous," Jeremy explains.
"I - I hope you guys aren't angry with me... I know Xana manipulated me into going to Lyoko with Aelita. It might have been better if Aelita and I had gone to the Hermitage with you instead. I ended up putting myself and Aelita in danger. And something else happened, see I-" I start to tell Jeremy the truth about him, since Aelita already knows, but she interrupts me.
"Xana didn't just manipulate Mary's voice, he manipulated her entire image, as a hologram, and tried to lure us into a more permanent trap, right, Lila?"
Unsure as to why Aelita is covering for me, I nod.
"Right."
"And Aelita... we're sorry if we made you feel a bit lonely, even if Lila was there with you. We should have realized... I promise to spend more time with you," Jeremy smiles.
"Thank you, Jeremy... I didn't feel too lonesome. Like you said, Lila was there for me," Aelita says.
"And we'll be there when you need us Aelita," Yumi adds.
"Always," Ulrich nods.
Smiling Aelita looks at me, I smile too.
"Yeah and if you ever have trouble with Sissi we can teach you to -" Odd starts to say, but is interrupted by Sissi.
"Odd!" Sissi exclaims, storming up to the doorway. "Do you have any idea what that mutt of yours did in the showers?" she asks. Kiwi growls at her. Sissi takes another look at us.
"Oh, what a pretty picture! I see that you finally found the two sisters!" Sissi says.
"Yeah, while you were taking your third shower of the day! If it weren't for Cameron, we wouldn't have had a clue that Lila wasn't feeling well," Ulrich says.
"Well Ulrich dear, a beautiful flower like me needs to be watered often," Sissi says.
"Sissi you-" Odd starts to say, and Aelita interrupts him.
"I was making sure Lila wasn't sick when she mentioned she wasn't feeling well at lunch. Cameron was nice to us, he understood she wasn't feeling well either. He didn't want to bother us. You know Sissi, it seems to me that he cares about other people's feelings. Unlike you, who would much rather bother him, when he told you he didn't want to go out with you."
"You-you-you pink haired twig!" Sissi exclaims, blushing from embarrassment.
"I'd rather be a pink haired twig than a delicate little flower, who and I quote, 'needs to be watered often.' But go ahead, keep taking your showers, Miss Flower. You might just sprout a brain! " Aelita fires back.
"Humph!" Sissi exclaims, she leaves us. We can't help but laugh at her.
"Wow Aelita, I think you can teach Odd some lessons," Ulrich jokes.
"You sure learn fast!" Yumi says. Odd puts his arm around Aelita, they smile and laugh. I can't help but smile myself.
Afterwards
In Lila and Aelita's room
I sit down on Aelita's bed, she sits next to me. I look at her.
"Say... why didn't you tell the others the truth? About what fake Mary said?"
"Jeremy being your father is something he shouldn't find out. I understand a truth like that could be a bit... challenging to move forward from," Aelita answers.
"Thanks, Aelita," I smile.
Aelita nods, "You're welcome. May I ask you one question?"
"Sure."
Aelita gives me a serious look,
"Who exactly was your mother in the future?"
Done! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! What will happen next? Stay tuned to find out! We'll be sticking to our regularly scheduled updates which will be every 1-2 weeks! So expect a chapter in that time frame!
Author's note: Lila's official picture is now up! There were a few old drawings I went through with different artists, to give you a rough idea of what Lila looks like. If you'd like to know who the artists were that drew these pictures, please feel free to send me a message in the inbox! I'd be happy to give you their contact info. Also, the last picture had Lila's hair too short. Remember in the fanfiction, as she is now, she has long hair. So the previous drawing I had of Lila, should have been taken as a rough idea of what she looks like. The drawing for Lila on the story's cover will remain the same unless I decide to find an artist who will take a commission to do a Lyoko version of herself!
P.S. Yes, I had some more references from the Code: Cameron written by Undeadmonkey8. And yes, I know the creepers were meant to appear in this chapter. BUT, because Xana is accessing Mary's memories... it means he'll have the ability to change things. I mean, after all, this is a time travel story and things will be changing. Just... how much will change? You'll find out in time!
Additional author's note: I messed UP, BIG TIME. The Scyphozoa is NOT a Giant Squid. It's a Giant Jellyfish, LOL. Thanks, AeroJester203 for catching that!
Don't forget to review!
LyokoWarrior1994