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: This is chapter 1 of 5, for the dark saga featuring in Aelita's POV.
Warning: Reader discretion advised. A warning to my audience that some themes in the dark saga may not find as suitable. While the story remains in its original T rating, these themes are the reason why the rating of the fanfiction is remaining at M. No adult material will be shown throughout this dark saga.
And now the moment you've been waiting for...
Coming to Terms
In the cafeteria
POV Aelita's
After a long day, and then another of the same long day, I was ready to pass out. It was no wonder Lila wanted to skip out on the walk and the food and just go right to bed. As difficult as things are for me right now, they must be exponentially more difficult for her. And it isn't just the physical issues, the mental strain she's under must be pretty serious as well.
Still, it's a shame Lila can't join us in the cafeteria. Odd's shoveling down pudding, one after another. It's a wonder he never gains a pound. Still, whether he gained weight or not, there's no way eating that much pudding is healthy.
"Odd, isn't that your eighth pudding already?" I say. Odd stops gorging on pudding for a second to respond…although his mouth is still full when he does.
"No, it's my fourth." Odd smiles. He knows what I mean, but I say it out loud anyways.
"Yeah, your fourth on the second time around, so it's eight."
"If you say so," I joke. Odd rolls his eyes and gives me something resembling a chuckle before going back to his pudding. Food is going to kill him before Xana ever comes close, I swear.
"Has Lila texted you, yet?" Jeremy asks. He's been quiet up until now.
"No, not yet. I'll call her." I take my phone out and dial her number.
"This is Lila Smith. You know what to do." No answer. I leave a quick message telling her to call me back and hang up.
Despite myself, I let out a sigh. I thought she would call or text when she got back to the room, but maybe… she was so tired she just went right to sleep. That had to be it. Nothing to worry about. Ulrich sees my worry, I guess, because he tries to lighten the mood.
"At least we don't have any zombies to worry about anymore. That was creepy." Then it's like a bad memory hits, and he shudders. "I felt hollow."
"I know what you mean. I felt the same after Kiwi got me but… I still somehow had enough willpower to launch the return trip. I can't help but wonder if-" Jeremy starts to say, but then all of us hear a loud bang coming from the distance.
"What was that?" Odd asks.
"Did you hear that?" Sissi asks.
"Yeah, I'm not sure what that was," Herb replies.
"Maybe it was fireworks," Nicholas suggests.
"Fireworks? For what?" Sissi asks.
"I don't know," Nicholas replies.
"Let's go and check it out," I whisper, and we quietly make our way out of the cafeteria.
In the woods
We head in the direction of the sound, deeper into the woods. I have a really… well, I don't want to say it's a bad feeling, I don't want to be thinking it at all, but my mind can't help but race to several worst-case scenarios. You could never know, Xana could be right around the corner at any moment.
A loud noise… Nicholas suggested it was fireworks, but I'd seen fireworks on video. They were much louder and went for much longer and there were lights and…
And what if it wasn't fireworks.
I run even faster, deciding to go back to where I left Lila. No, no, no! I won't, it can't… Lila…Lila don't you dare be-
Dead.
There she is…on the ground, a gaping bullet wound in her forehead… blood still pouring out of the wound, still fresh, pooling underneath her…and…I think I can see bits of brain matter. Oh, I think I'm gonna be sick…
Before I know what, I'm doing I run to her and lay my hands on her, the clean part of her. I can't help it, though… my eyes drift back to her wound, her face…her eyes… her eyes are still wide open… and there are tears in them.
She is cold and getting colder… and I feel cold too, cold and hollow. How could…why? I have to… It's almost too much, but I have to do it. I gently bring a hand to her face and wipe her tears away… and then close her eyes for her.
And then I just cry, hot, disgusting tears. I hear footsteps coming toward me.
"Hey, Aelita, where are you- oh." Odd says, coming out of a run to a dead stop. "Oh no." Odd comes over to me and kneels down next to me and puts his hand on my back comfortingly. I appreciate it, but it doesn't help.
"Lila…" Ulrich trails off, the others have caught up by this point.
"We need to report this to Delmas and the police," Jeremy says.
"I – I know…" I stammer a little. "What should we do about her necklace?"
"Her necklace is still there?" Jeremy asks. I nod. My eyes drift again up the length of her body, Lila's…body… I know better than to look at her head again, but I do look at her neck. The time machine is, in fact, there.
Cameron did this, I know he did. There was nobody else who could have done this. My tears turned bitter, but still… it made me pause to think. Why… why in the world did Cameron not take the necklace? Why else would and want Lila dead? What else was there to be gained?! Was… was she really that much of a threat to Xana?
While I'm frozen, thinking, Odd carefully removes the necklace and holds it up, dangling in front of his face. Ulrich dials a number, probably the police, possibly Yumi. It didn't matter anymore…
"Can I have that…?" I ask. He nods and hands me the necklace. Putting it on me, I put it under my hoodie. I put my hoodie up.
"We'll take care of this, but you should stay with Yumi for the night, you… probably don't need to be in your room right now. We need to explain things to her as well." Jeremy says.
"Ok… we'll do that when we get to her house…" I trail off.
Suddenly, we hear sirens approaching. That would be the police. I have no desire to talk to them right now, so Odd and I start walking off towards Yumi's house. Ulrich and Jeremy will take care of the rest.
Afterwards
Ishiyama residence
Once we get to Yumi's house, Odd knocks on the door.
"Yumi it's your boy-" We hear Hiroki singing from inside, but once he opens the door and sees that Ulrich isn't there, he changes his tune. "Never mind! It's your friends!" he exclaims.
"You're such a dork!" Yumi exclaims, running down the stairs. When she sees the look on our faces, and my hoodie up, her entire demeanor changes. She can immediately tell something is up. She closes the door behind her and looks at us seriously.
"Odd, Aelita, what's wrong?" she asks. I can't bring myself to answer.
"Yumi… we um…. we have some bad news…" Odd trails off.
"What is it?" she asks softly. Yumi looks at me again and sees the time machine necklace, speckled with blood.
"Aelita… why do you have Lila's-" realization washes over her. She covers her mouth with her hands as tears fall from her eyes. Odd puts an arm around Yumi and pulls her into a hug. Odd is a good friend.
"I think it would be good for Aelita to stay the night. Can she do that?" Odd asks. Yumi breaks the hug.
"I'll see what I can do. Give me a minute," Yumi says, and slowly backs off, her face still stained with tears, before turning and going back inside. The two of us just stand in silence, not sure what to do with ourselves. I hear some talking inside, and some crying, but I can't make out what's being said exactly. I can guess, though. After a few moments, the door opens back up. Yumi's mom is on the other side this time, and she ushers us in.
Inside the Ishiyama residence
"I'm sorry to hear about what happened…Of course, you can stay for the night, Aelita." Ms. Ishiyama says.
"In fact, we'd feel better if you didn't return to school until this Cameron is caught by the appropriate authorities," Mr. Ishiyama says, looking at his children. A slight smile appears on Hiroki's face and disappears just as quickly.
"I… I can't. She'll need help going back to her room… let alone living in it by herself. Please dad…" Yumi trails off. Mrs. Ishiyama looks to her husband and puts her hand on his shoulder.
"It's the least we can do dear…" she trails off.
"Very well… I'll talk to Mr. Delmas as soon as I can reach him to make the proper arrangements." Mr. Ishiyama nods. "Odd, do you want to stay, too?"
Odd seems not to hear him for a moment. He's been awfully quiet. His mind is probably somewhere else, and that isn't like him at all, but I don't think any of us are quite ourselves right now.
"No… I need to get back to school… They'll need me there…" Odd trails off.
"Right," Yumi nods.
"We'll take you back to campus, Odd. It's best you're not alone right now," Mrs. Ishiyama says.
"Thank you, ma'am," Odd nods.
"Will you be needing anything, Aelita?" Mrs. Ishiyama asks.
"Can I take a shower?" I ask.
"Of course. Yumi, will you show her upstairs?" Mrs. Ishiyama asks.
"Yeah, get back safe," Yumi says. We share a hug with Odd before he leaves. Honestly, right now, I don't want anyone to leave me, regardless of the reason. I just… what if Cameron is still out there, what if Odd is next, what if he never comes back?!
Yumi might be thinking something similar about her parents. I know Odd's right, though. Jeremy and Ulrich and Sissi and everyone would all need Odd. I hope that Odd gets help himself, though. He supports everyone, but at times like this, he needs help, too. They go out the door, and I take a deep breath.
"I could really use a shower," I say.
"I'll show you to it," Yumi says, and brings me upstairs to the bathroom.
In the bathroom
She grabs a towel for me from under the sink and hangs it up by the shower. "You can use anything in there. There's shampoo and conditioner and some essential oils if you're feeling fancy… If you need anything, just give me a shout. I'll make sure Hiroki doesn't bother you."
"Thanks, Yumi," I say, and she closes the door on me.
I'm alone, now.
I turn on the shower, wait for it to heat up, undress, and step into the shower. The hot water feels nice on my body… All my tension disappears, and I fall to my knees, my tears disappearing in the shower's droplets.
Afterwards
Inside Yumi's room
After the shower, I feel a little better. I lie down in Yumi's room and stare up at the ceiling. I still can't believe she's gone… I still don't understand. How could Xana kill Lila without killing himself? It doesn't make sense… I know I'm only alive because fake Mary told us the link I'm on is separate from the three-way link between Mary, Xana, and Lila. What could have changed? Unless…
Unless Mary broke that link! She's the one that set it up… so she should know how. Why would she do that? From what Lila told me… Mary was like a mother to Lila. If she did break the link between them, Mary must have had a very good reason to do so. Or… a very bad one. Could… could Xana have tortured her somehow? I shudder at the thought.
Yumi comes in with my pajamas, the pink ones with the t-shirt having an A on it, as well as some of my own clothing. It seems her parents came back from Kadic. She leaves me alone in the room so that I can change into my pajamas.
Afterwards
Yumi comes back in, once I'm done changing. Yumi reports what her parents told her. Lila's body was brought to the nearby hospital's morgue. The detectives on the scene couldn't find the weapon that Cameron used.
"Also, I just got off the phone with Ulrich. Tomorrow you and Odd are going to need to make statements to the police. He and Jeremy already gave theirs." She sits down next to me.
"What did they say?" I ask, just so we can all have the same story.
"We were in the cafeteria when we heard what sounded like fireworks. We went to check on the sound and found our friend there. She was… she was gone by the time we got there." Yumi recites, as if by memory.
"Anything about the necklace?" I ask, clutching it to my chest.
"No, they didn't ask since it wasn't on her. But they did ask why her eyes were closed, and Ulrich told them you closed them for her. They were upset about that, something about contaminating the crime scene," Yumi says.
I shake my head. I had to close her eyes, she had to rest. Plus… those eyes… staring at me…
"Ulrich also told them they were sure Cameron went back to finish the job… and he did. They've got a notice for him on the news, he's a wanted criminal now…" Yumi says, sighing. We sit in silence for a moment, until my mind is able to crank out the next thought.
"Did they say when her funeral will be?" I ask.
"Sometime next week. We can decide what type of funeral she has after they collect everything need from Lila and from the crime scene. They need Cameron's prints… and…the bullet…" Yumi trails off. "And the woods are going to be off limits for the time being... if Xana attacks, we'll have to go through the passageway via the gymnasium. I just hope he leaves us alone..."
I look down at the floor. The last thing I want is another Xana attack so soon."And the school is chipping in. They're also giving all of us a few weeks off to grieve. There will be counseling sessions for everyone."
"Okay." That's all I can think to say.
"Will you go to the sessions, Aelita?"
"Not sure what good that would do… We can only talk about part of the problem. We can't tell the whole truth without talking about the Supercomputer. So going to those sessions would be useless…"
"Then maybe all of us should get together and have our own counseling sessions," Yumi suggests. We aren't trained professionals in this kind of thing… but at least we would all understand the full situation.
"That would help," I say, and a wave of exhaustion washes over me. "It's been a long day. I'm tired."
"Okay, let's get some sleep. The next few days are going to be rough…"
"Yeah, they will be," I say.
"You can take my bed for the night, Aelita," Yumi offers.
"Thank you, Yumi," I say. Yumi goes to her closet and opens it. She takes a sleeping bag, and rolls it out onto the floor. She gets inside of the sleeping bag and I take her bed.
"You're welcome Aelita. It'll probably be difficult but do try to get some sleep tonight," Yumi tells me.
"I'll try," I say. I flop down on the bed and stare up at the ceiling once more, holding the bloodstained time machine necklace close to me.
Will I ever come to terms with this… who knows? But the first step forward, the only step forward is to continue entering more combinations in the laptop. That has something… something important. Lila, I know you have a list of combinations you've already entered in MB's laptop. I'll try to crack the 8-digit code. And I will absolutely do whatever is necessary to defeat Xana, for you.
Lila… I'm going to miss you.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Author's Note: The shower scene was the first time we saw a shower scene in this version of Code Lyoko. For those of you who remember, the show was not afraid to show shower scenes, and if you remember there were times where viewers have scene Sissi wearing nothing but her bra and underwear. While nothing graphic was shown, I've tried to refrain myself from using these scenes in the fanfiction in the past for the sake of my younger audience, if there is one. This chapter was edited entirely by AwesomeFanFictionAuthor, and their decision to put this shower scene in was one I stand by. It shows Aelita at possibly her saddest point, we've seen so far in this dark saga. This is the only shower scene we'll be seeing throughout the entirety of Changing Destiny: Lila's Journey! If you wish to contact AwesomeFanFictionAuthor, they offer a $5 editing service on most chapters. And a special announcement... me and AwesomeFanFictionAuthor are pleased to announce the "The Adventures of Lila Belpois," What this entails is a filler arc, solely of passed skipped chapters and any chapters I may skip in the future. It'll be its own separate fanfiction, with a T rating, and will be canon to Changing Destiny: Lila's Journey! These chapters will NOT be updated on a regular basis, but rather will be updated whenever I choose to since they are of course filler chapters. Stay tuned for the next chapter in the dark saga! An update will be here before you know it! Roughly within our scheduled two weeks!
As always: Don't forget to review!
LyokoWarrior1994