This chapter was written by me and edited by AwesomeFanFictionAuthor.
Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko, all copyrighting goes to Moonscoop.
Author's Note: Thank you to those who have been waiting patiently for this chapter. Please do not skip to the end and please read this chapter in full. I only own Lila. Mary is owned by AeroJester203. Cameron is owned by Undeadmonkey8.
Enjoy the one-year anniversary special chapter of Changing Destiny: Lila's Journey and Happy Halloween!
Attack of the Zombies
POV Lila's
Dear Diary, we're nearing the end of March now. I've been back at school for just a few days. During the weeks I was in the hospital, Jeremy and I discussed his future. He finally figured out the truth… that I'm his daughter.
I… I told him my real name: Lila Belpois. He was shocked to say the least… but I explained my reasoning to him. I told him how I couldn't tell him he was my father because time works in multiple ways. It's dangerous knowing one's own future. Time is tricky I told him, and it really is. There's no way of knowing that my father's future will go exactly the same way for Jeremy in this timeline. Understanding this, he was less upset about me hiding the truth. Then together we told the others… and understandingly they were upset but quickly realized I had made the right move in not telling them the truth from the very beginning, with the way Jeremy and I told them.
I also… couldn't bring myself to tell Aelita she's my mother. There's just no way I can. Telling Aelita I have no clue who my mother was, is just the best plan of action for me right now.
On top of all of this… I'm nowhere close to a 100% strength… ever since Cameron shot me, I've been doing my best to walk around campus. Eating hasn't been a problem. In fact, it's strange… but, for some reason, I have Odd's diet now. I eat a lot, and thankfully I haven't gained any weight from the extra food. I still can't believe Cameron was a double agent… and I can't believe Xana would go so far as to shoot me. I mean… ugh. It's awful. I feel like I'm a burden on my friends, despite the fact they tell me they're here for me. What's worse is that while in the hospital I never entered any of the correct numbers, for the 8-digit code.
This laptop MB left in Grandpa Schaeffer's locker is becoming a real pain. Eventually, I'll crack the 8-digit code… but for now… I've been getting used to walking with my cane. There are good days where I can walk just a bit by myself, but Aelita is always with me. She'll hold my cane for me when I need it… and there are bad days when I need the cane to walk everywhere. Aelita is so great… and she's such a nice person who understands the pain I'm in. I'm grateful that Cameron somehow missed anything that would have been fatal, despite shooting me point blank.
The artificial intelligence that's within me has been keeping me alive and out of a wheelchair. I know it was because well… between you and me, Aelita doesn't know that after just a few days I got out of the hospital, I've stopped taking my painkillers. Sure they worked for a little while… but this cane is all I need for right now. Though my mobility is a problem without it... Anyways, I shouldn't keep Aelita waiting. We're going on a walk. Then dinner. See ya.
Lila.
I close my diary and put it on the desk.
"Ready?" Aelita asks.
"Yeah," I reply. Aelita goes and helps me up. Then she grabs my cane and hands it to me, taking me by the free arm in order to support me. Arm in arm, we start making our way towards the courtyard.
In the courtyard
"I still feel bad about this, Aelita," I say, gesturing to my cane.
"Lila, this isn't your fault. It's Cameron's." She says. I wince at his name, remembering what he did. Aelita notices my distress.
"Sorry… I didn't mean to-" she starts to say, but I shake my head.
"It's fine."
Aelita nods, and we continue walking around the courtyard. Aelita and I decide to go through the park. It's difficult for me to do, since that's where I was shot, but I do it anyways. Eventually, we make our way to the woods.
"Say uh… how are things with you and Jeremy?"
"Me and Jeremy?" Aelita asks, blushing slightly. "They're, uh, they're fine."
"You know he knows I'm his daughter, right?" Aelita nods.
"I know. It's just very, uh…" she trails off, searching for the right word.
"Strange?" I ask.
"Yeah, that's it."
"Mhm, it is," I nod. "To be honest, if I hadn't been… well, you know. If that didn't happen… Jeremy would have never found out that we share the same rare blood type. He might have never figured it out."
"That reminds me. We should have Jeremy make some official documents for us. I mean, we're supposed to be adoptive sisters. I still don't have a prior medical history."
"That's a good idea Aelita. I'll bring it up to him." I start to breathe heavy a little, whether it's because of the physical strain or the mental one, I'm not sure.
"Do you want to take a break?" Aelita asks.
"Yeah," I nod. Aelita helps me sit down against a tree.
"This last month has been a bit peaceful. Xana must have used a lot of power to launch five attacks in one day. We haven't heard from him since," Aelita says.
"Or Cameron… he's totally gone AWOL."
"What do you think happened to him?"
"Honestly… I could care less about him. In fact, if I ever see him on Lyoko, I'll freeze his ass off."
"Lila, I never heard you swear before." Aelita looks at me, but I just shrug.
"Eh. It's whatever," I say, looking at the grass. Aelita is quiet for a moment before speaking up once again.
"Sissi has been rather nice to you lately, too."
"Yeah… she actually lets me take my early showers in peace. It's a bit strange, all of this," I sigh.
"Have you been taking your painkillers?"
"No… to be honest, I haven't needed them."
"Huh? You don't need them?" Aelita asks.
"It's weird, Aelita… whatever is within me, whatever my father created and put in me… it's healing me. I took the meds at the beginning of my recovery… but a few days after that, I just didn't need them anymore. It's like this thing wants me alive, Aelita. It's like I'm some sort of thing… not even human…" I trail off.
"Remember Lila, I'm not human either. You aren't alone," Aelita reminds me.
"I know… I'm just starting to feel… I don't know…" I trail off. She looks at me.
"Whatever your father did… you're a good daughter. You should know that" Aelita smiles. I look at her.
"Thanks, Aelita…"
I just wish I could tell you that you're my mom. But I'm already pushing my luck, I think.
"We should head back. It's going to be dinner time soon," I say.
"Okay," Aelita says, helping me up. My arms shake a bit, but Aelita holds onto me. She hands me my cane, and we start walking back to campus.
In the cafeteria
Entering the cafeteria with Aelita, she and I make our way to the line which is thankfully empty.
"How are you feeling today, Lila?" Rosa asks, handing us two trays each.
"Slightly better," I reply. Rosa nods, smiling.
"Keep your strength up."
"I will, thank you, Rosa."
We take the trays over to Ulrich, Odd, and Jeremy who are sitting on one side of the usual table. Sissi, Herb, and Nicholas sitting at the table to the side of us.
"Hey Lila, how's it going?" Sissi asks.
"Uh, fine, thanks," I reply. Sissi smiles and turns back to her friends. Aelita and I sit down, setting down the trays. I see a lot of vegetables on one tray, toast, mash potatoes and some chocolate pudding on the other.
"Hey Lila, I was thinking, after we have dinner we should work on entering more combinations again," Jeremy says.
"Sure." Picking up a fork, I dig into the mash potatoes.
"It's still strange that you eat just as much as I do," Odd says. I finish chewing and swallow a bit of the mash potatoes.
"Yes, Odd. But I still have better table manners than you."
"Ha ha ha, very funny," Odd rolls his eyes. The others laugh. I continue to eat, but Odd stops and eyes my pudding hungrily.
"Say, can I have your chocolate pudding?"
"Isn't that your fourth one, Odd?" Aelita asks.
"No," I answer. "No, you cannot."
"But you already have the-" Odd starts to say, but Jeremy interrupts him.
"Odd, here," Jeremy pushes his chocolate pudding over to Odd. Shrugging, Odd stops talking and starts eating the chocolate pudding.
"Odd is like a cow, he has more than one stomach," Ulrich jokes. I glare at him.
"I seriously hope you aren't suggesting I'm also like a cow, Ulrich," I say. He rubs his neck sheepishly.
"No, I didn't mean it like that."
"Uh huh," I roll my eyes. He really needs to work on his manners, even if it was a joke.
Suddenly there's screaming coming from outside, we turn to see Milly run into the cafeteria. For some reason, Milly is in her bathrobe, and she looks upset.
"Help me!" she exclaims. "Tamiya came after me! She looked so strange - and her eyes were completely white and- they were horrible! She looked like Doctor Shrank!"
"Who's Doctor Shrank?" Jeremy asks.
"The psycho TV brain surgeon in Hospital of Horrors," Odd explains.
"Smells like Xana, doesn't it?" Aelita asks. Nodding, Jeremy takes out his laptop. Once it loads, he starts typing, and I hear the super scan program running.
"I'm launching a super scan," Jeremy informs. I look over to Milly and notice the fear in her eyes.
"Calm down, it'll be alright. You must have had a bad dream," Rosa says, putting a comforting hand on Milly's shoulder.
"No, I didn't! It was real!" Milly exclaims.
"Activated tower," Jeremy confirms.
"Let's head for the factory," Odd says.
"I'll let Yumi know. Lila and I will stay here to hold down the fort," Ulrich says, taking out his mobile phone. He flips it open and gets Yumi on speed dial, it's a new one since his old one broke accidentally just a few weeks ago.
"Yumi, it's me. Listen, Xana's launched an attack," Ulrich whispers. "I'm staying here with Lila at the school. Meet the others at the factory." He ends the call and puts his phone in his pocket. Milly starts crying, and Rosa bends down next to her.
"I think this is serious. Sissi, go get your father, please," Rosa requests.
"Odd, Aelita, and Jeremy will go with you," Ulrich says to Sissi. Sissi smiles, and they all slip out of the cafeteria.
"Thanks for staying with me, Ulrich. I'm sorry I'm such a burden," I frown.
"You aren't, Lila. You getting shot was not your fault," he says, trying to remind me. I try to get up, pushing my hands down on the table. My hands shake, but don't do much of anything else. I want to talk to Milly, but I'm too weak to get myself up.
"Mind helping me over to Milly?" I ask. He nods. Ulrich goes to me and helps me up. He grabs my cane and helps me over to Milly's side.
"Milly… everything will be okay. We're going to get Tamiya the help she needs," I say.
"You – you think you can?" she stammers a little. I nod. Hearing the door open, we look to see Jeremy and Aelita running back inside without Odd or Sissi.
"Where are Odd and Sissi?" Ulrich asks.
"They're back outside," Aelita answers.
"What's going on?" Rosa asks.
"Well, I'm not sure how to put it tactfully… but we're surrounded by zombies, ma'am," Jeremy explains.
"Zo-zombies?" Rosa asks, her eyes wide. One of the other kids, Christophe M'Bala, I think his name is, quickly grabs a chair as Rosa faints so she has somewhere to fall. He has dark skin and brown eyes, and he's just a bit taller than me. He removes his headphones and places them around his neck so that he can hear us better. He wears an orange bandana-like-object in his hair, has a green hoodie and a yellow long-sleeved sweatshirt. He's wearing gray pants.
"Nice save," I compliment. Christophe nods. I turn to the door window and see a few students and Jim… but they have pale, sickly skin, and their eyes are all white. They look like walking corpses, like zombies. Milly was right.
"There, you see! I told you I wasn't dreaming!" Milly exclaims. The zombified Kadic members growl at us and try to claw their way into the cafeteria. Milly holds onto another older student, a girl, but I'm unsure of her name. Ulrich and I walk over to Jeremy and Aelita.
"What do we do now?" I ask.
As if on cue, the zombies suddenly recede.
"I bet they'll be back with reinforcements," Herb surmises.
"The problem with the living dead is that you can't kill them because they're already dead," Nicholas says. Looking at Rosa, I see she is just waking up but then faints again. I sit down at the table next to Jeremy, who's back on his laptop.
"No, I'm not joking!" William exclaims, yelling into his mobile. "Hello?" he asks. The call seems to have ended, and William starts pacing and aggressively dialing a number. "Zombies. That's right. Like in Out of the Tomb?"
"I hope Odd and Sissi got away alright," Aelita says.
"I'm sure they did. Odd is pretty quick on his feet," Ulrich reminds us. "You guys need to join him. The way is clear for now, but we have no idea how long that will last." He says, putting his hand on the door handle.
"Hey, where do you think you're going?" William asks, ending his phone call.
"Uh, outside," Jeremy answers.
"No way, it's too dangerous," William says.
"That's our problem, William. Mind your business," Ulrich says, starting to open the door. William grabs Ulrich's shoulder and pulls him back.
"Sorry, but I'm the oldest one here and I'm responsible for the group. And I'm telling you we're waiting here for help. I don't want the zombies to get you. And what's more, if they attack the cafeteria again, we'll need as many of us here as possible," William says.
"Listen, William –" Ulrich starts to say, but I interrupt him.
"William, you're wrong. I'm the oldest one here. I may not look it, but I'm 24 years old," I tell him.
"What? What are you talking about?" William asks.
"Lila, maybe this isn't the time to-" Aelita replies, but I shake my head.
"I have this, Aelita. You and Jeremy go to Lyoko. Take care of the tower and I'm sure Odd and Yumi will meet you there," I say.
Nodding, Aelita and Jeremy take the door. William goes to stop them, but I put my cane up in front of him.
"William, I swear to God you try and stop them, I'll shove this cane so far up your-" I start to say but he backs off.
"Okay, okay, but it's their funerals," he scoffs and walks away. Putting the cane down, I look to Ulrich.
"What can we do here?" I ask him. He thinks for a moment, then addresses the crowd.
"Everyone, we need to start putting up some defenses," Ulrich says. "Take a table and start putting them up against the walls. Do it quietly and leave the front door alone, just in case Odd and Sissi need to come back in. Understand?" Everyone nods. They start getting the tables, turn them over, and carry them to the side of the walls of the cafeteria. Using my cane, I walk over to Milly. She looks at me.
"What do you mean, you're 24? I thought you were 14," she says, confused.
"This might be a bit confusing Milly but… do you know what a time traveler is?" I ask.
"Yeah, of course. Someone who travels from the future to the past or vice versa."
"Maybe in TV shows they do. And well… I, uh, sort of am one," I whisper. Her eyes widen.
"No way… how can I know you're telling the truth?"
Grabbing my necklace, I show it to her. She sees that's it stained with my blood.
"Why is your necklace covered in-" she starts to ask, but I interrupt her.
"It's because of Cameron. What he did to me… when he shot me he stained the necklace. And the necklace is, in fact, a time machine."
"What's that? On the bottom?" she asks noticing the red button. I give her a closer look.
"It's a button. I press the button and the time machine comes out, though I can't do it here. When it does come out, it gives off a big glow."
"And you can't do that because of the Zombies. It would attract them," Milly says.
"That's right," I nod. I put the time machine necklace back under my shirt. The other students finish putting the defenses up, and Ulrich walks back over to me.
"I still haven't seen Odd," he says.
"I think that just means he and Sissi made it to the factory. They're much safer there than here," I say.
"That's true. Plus he is quick on his feet," Ulrich nods. Hearing the door open, we look to see that it's Kiwi. I look at him and notice something seems off.
"Kiwi, what are you doing here?" Ulrich asks. He starts walking to Kiwi.
"That's the same dog we saw in the hallway just before Tamiya got Zombified," Milly mentions.
"Ulrich!" I exclaim, but it's too late! Ulrich is already reaching down to pet Kiwi, and Kiwi takes the opportunity to bite.
William starts backing everyone away from Ulrich and Kiwi.
"What was that for? I was only trying to-" Ulrich starts to say, but then I notice Kiwi's eyes. They flicker with the sign of Xana.
"Xana," Ulrich gasps. Kiwi walks out the front entrance, his job done. Ulrich holds his head in his hands.
"We need to restrain him, and quickly!" I exclaim.
"Right, I'm on it!" William exclaims. William jumps on Ulrich and forces him to the ground. Ulrich's skin turns gray, and his eyes turn white, he starts growling.
"Someone get me something to restrain him!" William exclaims. Christophe goes into the kitchen and starts searching for rope. He finds some and hurries back over to William.
Together, they pull Zombified Ulrich into a chair. William uses both of his hands to hold Ulrich down on the chair, so Christophe can tie up his arms and legs and tape his mouth shut so he can't bite anyone else.
"I've been wanting to beat him in a fight for a while now," William says.
"Now's not the time for that, William. Listen, I'll watch Ulrich for a bit while you and everyone else put defenses up on the front door," I say.
"Fine," William says. He, Herb, Nicholas, and a few others go to barricade the front door. I look at Zombified Ulrich.
Ulrich… this is all my fault. I feel so completely useless! I think. The students are just about done barricading the doors, but the zombies are approaching. There are more this time.
"Milly, with me, come on," I say. Looking at me, Milly nods and runs over to me. Taking her hand, she and I go to Rosa. She starts to wake up, only to see the Zombies trying to breach the cafeteria.
"Rosa don't faint again. I need you to shake a leg and get up. We need all the help we can get," I say.
"Oh…" she groans, "Uh, right. What can I do?"
"All of us need to take a chair and use them as weapons to defend ourselves!" I exclaim. Some of the students start running to gather the chairs, and we all stick together in a clump. Rosa stands in front, holding a chair, defending Milly and me. Christophe is on the right side of us, holding a chair. Everyone's scared, especially Milly who is holding my hand.
"How long do you think your friends are going to take?" William asks me.
"Shouldn't be much longer, William. If I'm right, we'll be saved any minute now," I reply. He rolls his eyes, still not believing me.
Zombified Jim manages to break through the window of the door. The rest of them reach through the window hole and grope at the air, trying with everything they have to get to us. Hearing Zombified Ulrich's growling getting louder, I turn to him.
Ulrich shakes in his chair and manages to get his legs free. I walk over to him and put my cane up in a horizontal position, to guard myself and the others.
"Lila don't!" Milly exclaims, worried for me.
"I'll do what I can just keep your focus on the front!" I exclaim. Zombified Ulrich's arms get loose, and he removes the tape from his mouth. Running at me, he growls and uses both of his arms to grab the cane. We start fighting for the cane, almost as if it's a tug of war. I hear a crash from behind me.
Oh no, they must have gotten through! I think. Zombified Ulrich wins the tug of war, takes the cane, and throws it to the side.
I start backing away from Ulrich, but the other Zombies start coming into the cafeteria one by one. All of us join up again, as the Zombies growl at us. My legs give in, and I put my hand on the floor.
"Lila – what's wrong?" Milly asks.
"I – I – I need my cane to walk! Without it I'm -" I stammer, trying not to cry.
I'm completely useless! I think. The Zombies move in closer and all of us scream. Looking outside, I see a big white bubble heading for us.
JUST IN TIME! I think. The big white bubble engulfs all of us and sends us back in time.
Earlier that night
During the walk
In the woods
This time around Aelita is just supporting me again and I'm walking without my cane. It's strange but after the return trip to the past, I felt a little better… a little stronger than the first time. Perhaps it's not me who got stronger but rather the artificial intelligence that lives within me. Perhaps it's helping me heal even more now. Like somehow... the return trip to the past program made it stronger.
"I'm glad our trip to Lyoko went well. Odd and Yumi fought against Krabs. Sissi even took on a Zombie or two," Aelita informs.
"She did? Really?" I ask. Aelita and I continue walking in the woods.
"She did, yeah. It gave us just enough time for Jeremy to launch a return trip."
"Well, I guess we owe her one, huh?" I ask. Aelita nods. We hear the sound of a twig cracking behind me. I spin around but see nothing.
"What was that?" Aelita asks. I get an eerie feeling...
"Say Aelita… why don't you head back to the cafeteria? I'm going to just go to my room."
"All by yourself?" She asks me, confused. "Do you think you can make it there all on your own?"
"I'm sure I can," I lie. "I'll be fine, Aelita. Don't worry." Looking at me, Aelita nods and starts heading back to the cafeteria.
After she's out of sight, I turn back to the direction of the crack I heard.
"I know you're there. Come on out," I say. Cameron steps out from behind a tree. He can't seem to meet my eyes.
"How'd you know?" he asks.
"I just had a feeling I was being stalked. My senses have heightened recently, ever since you tried to kill me."
"It… it was never my intention to do so. I need you to know that."
"Then what was your intention, Cameron? Huh?" I ask.
"I liked you. And honestly, at first, I wasn't under Xana's control. To be honest… I always wanted to ask you out to your favorite coffee place," he explains. I look at him in disbelief crossing my arms.
"Really Cameron? Now you decide to ask me? One I'm into tea, not coffee. Two, do you really expect me to believe you're under Xana's control?" I ask. He removes the clock of the watch he's wearing and shows me what's controlling him. My eyes widen and I uncross my arms.
"That's… that's the chip! But how-how can it control you through the watch?"
"I'm not sure, entirely. I can't even take this watch off me anymore," he says and places the clock part of it back on.
"Why didn't you just come to us? Instead of doing something so drastic?"
"I don't have a choice."
"There's always a choice, Cameron. You still look like you have your own free will."
"Eh, not really. I try but my master's will is stronger." He shrugs.
"Then why are you here?"
He looks at me and remains silent.
"That should be pretty obvious," he mutters to himself.
"You don't have to do this. You can't anyways! If you kill me, you end up killing your own master! Mary made sure she had the three-way link set up so that Xana could never go after me!" I exclaim.
"Yeah, uh, that's the thing… Mary's unlinked you. Xana tortured her into it. That won't save you," he explains.
"Then… that means…" I trail off.
He nods, confirming my suspicions… he's really going to kill me. He mutters to himself again. Suddenly his head faces forward. His eyes start to flicker with the Xana sign, and he speaks up.
"I speak to you now, Lila. Not as Cameron, but as Xana," Xanafied Cameron says.
"What do you want?'
"To tell you the truth. The truth about what you are. At least… this way you'll know before you die."
"What am I, then?" I ask.
"After torturing Mary… she finally confirmed my suspicions. Lila Belpois, you ARE me."
My eyes widen, and I start backing up. I fall to the ground in shock, landing on my knees. It hurts just to stay on them.
"No – no! You're lying!" I exclaim, starting to cry. Xanafied Cameron walks up to me, he takes the same gun Cameron used on me in the first attempt out of his pocket. I only had a short instance to look at the gun the first time, but now… now I recognize it. It's small and silver.
"Lila… deep down, I think you've always been afraid of finding out what's within you. What was keeping you alive when you should be dead," Xanafied Cameron says.
"But – how could I – I just can't be!" I exclaim looking at him. "Xana was there in the future! He was… he destroyed everything I knew! My father... for all I know he could be dead! Uncle Odd, Uncle Ulrich, and Aunt Yumi from our life! He was there, blowing up buildings! I CAN'T be him!"
"It. I am an it, Lila Belpois. You and your friends always refer to me as he. Why? Who knows?" He - it pauses, "I do not know the specifics of how your father created you, or how you became me. Nevertheless… there's no point in resisting… it's useless. Just… like… YOU."
I cry. I keep crying.
"Please… I don't… I don't want to die."
"You chose to try and change destiny, Lila Belpois. And you have failed. You are too much of a threat for what I am planning. I have seen your future through Mary's memories… and it is glorious. I must make it a reality in this timeline..."
"Cameron, please – try – try and fight him!" I exclaim.
Cameron's eyes begin flickering in and out, the sign of Xana disappears from his eyes. He looks at me, slightly confused. His hand starts shaking a little, but then he aims the gun at my head.
"I'm sorry Lila."
"Camer-" I start to say but he pulls the trigger, and everything goes blank.
TO BE CONTINUED...
And RIP Lila.
Changing Destiny Lila's Journey will now begin a short saga called "The Dark Saga." Please note that the story will remain in its typical T rating but will stay as M.
It will consist of five chapters in Aelita's POV only. And after that… well you'll have to wait and see what happens afterwards. Also, what did you think of that reveal? Can Lila be Xana? Or was Xana lying to her in the end? What changes await now that we have lost Lila? Stay tuned!
Don't forget to review!
LyokoWarrior1994