I know it was a long time since I posted last chapter and I'm really sorry because of that. But anyways here is the 11-th chapter of my story that will soon be at it's end.
"Nothing at the Arena, nothing on the Lyoko, nothing at Sector 5, nothing in the Digital Sea" Jeremy mumbled while looking at the computer screen "It's like he simply disappeared".
There was deadly silence in the room while others were trying to process this whole situation. One moment Odd nearly destroyed the whole universe by means that were still unknown and at the second he was simply gone. Group was also worried about what are they going to do.
Ulrich was pacing around the room, Yumi was standing by one of the sides of Jeremy's chair while Aelita stood by the other one. Jason was the only one that was calmly leaning against the wall and was looking at the other side of the room.
"How can he be so calm?" Ulrich whispered to himself while still pacing around the room "We are dying of worry and he is just chilling there".
Yumi was slowly getting annoyed with Ulrich's pacing that she decided to stop him "That's enough Ulrich, you are making everyone nervous".
"What do you expect me to do?" Ulrich asked her as he walked towards her "Jeremy is trying to find Odd and the rest of can't do anything besides waiting for him to do his job. And you expect me to just sit and not do anything? You know that I can't stay in one place during times like this".
Yumi got closer and stood up to him "Yes Ulrich I know that. But that doesn't mean that you need to make everyone else nervous".
"What am I suppose to do than?!" Ulrich raised his voice a little and was surprised by that. Yumi obviously didn't like that so she shouted back at him.
"Ulrich Stern! Don't you dare and raise your voice on me! If you want to wreak your anger on someone because you are feeling powerless just do it, but don't get rest of us mad because of that!".
"I-" Ulrich wanted to answer her back but Aelita's sharp voice interrupted him.
"Enough! Both of you!" Aelita shouted at the couple leaving them standing in shock. She rubbed her forehead and sighted "I'm sorry. It's just that- This situation is making all of us edgy".
Yumi and Ulrich looked at each other and sighted "Okay I guess. We are the ones that should be sorry Princess, not you".
Jeremy looked at Aelita and smiled sadly. "She is right. All of this is overwhelming for all of us. Maybe we should call it a day and go get some sleep".
Ulrich immediately raised his voice again but on Jeremy this time "And simply leave Odd alone wherever he is?! I'm not doing that! I'm staying here!".
"And do what Ulrich?" Jeremy shot back "Sit in my chair and try to do something even me and Aelita couldn't do? Well than, be my guest. Go on Ulrich! Save him! Save our friend!".
Ulrich clenched his fists and looked at Jeremy like he was about to hit him. "I- I-" Ulrich wanted to answer him back but deep inside he knew that Jeremy was right. He was barely making it work with school grades and now he wanted to jump in some mumbo jumbo nuclear physics stuff. He knew that it couldn't work so he simply gave up fighting "You are right Jer, I'm sorry".
Jeremy reached out and touched Ulrich's shoulder reassuringly "I know how you feel Ulrich and all of us are feeling the same way. We nearly lost Odd so many times and it never gets easier. Every time we are faced with that fact it feels like it's still the first time that happened. But this doesn't change the fact that we should rush blindly in the fog. We need a plan. And in order to have one we need to rest first".
Ulrich was really tired that he wasn't in any condition to fight back so he just nodded and decided to walk away "So, are you coming or not?". Others exchanged looks and nodded. Jeremy turned towards the computer and left it in sleeping mode and than with others he walked towards the elevator. But than they noticed something strange. Jason was no longer with them.
"What the-" Yumi asked them surprised while looking around the room "Where is he?". Ulrich walked towards her and nodded "I swear to god, this guy is so full of secrets. I don't like it".
Aelita looked at him and she guessed what was on his mind "Ulrich, you don't think that he know what's going on? I mean there is no way that he would work behind our backs".
Ulrich looked at the elevator door and sighted deeply "I don't know what to think anymore Princess". And with those words group left the room and walked out of the factory.
In the meantime Jason just arrived at the Hermitage. "I feel so bad for leaving them behind" he whispered to himself and sighted "But I can't allow them to interfere with the future. Pulling one person from the past in the stream of time was dangerously enough. We can't allow anyone else to get involved". Jason looked at his hand and noticed that it was blinking faint blue light and he knew what that meant. He walked towards the mirror in the living room and placed his hand on it. Few seconds latter another window appeared.
"Jason? Can you hear me? Do you copy?" female voice asked him with visible concern in her voice. Jason smiled when he heard her voice "Loud and clear Estella. I'm here".
He could hear her sighting in relief and his smile grew even wider "That's good to hear. I was so worried that something happened and that you wouldn't answer and maybe you would-". Estella was unable to finish her sentence because she suddenly started to stutter uncontrollably which made Jason smile again.
"Hey Estella, calm down. Okay?" he asked her calmly "You are stuttering again".
She stopped stuttering and decided to calm down for a little bit while blushing "Please don't tell me that I stuttered again?". His soft chuckle explained everything so she blushed even harder "Don't laugh at me Jas, please. You know that-".
"That it makes you blush?" he asked her jokingly and chuckled again because he saw he blushing even harder "I'm sorry Princess but you are so cute when you blush". He decided that there was no enough time to joke around so he decided to jump straight to the point "Is plan going as it should be?".
Estella was quiet for few seconds before answering "It is. Everything is going as planed, you managed to change one thing in the past so we still have some chance to win this fight here. But I still feel bad for lying to dad".
Jason was kinda stunned by that "What do you mean? What did you lie about?".
"Well it wasn't completely laying but I still didn't tell him the truth. He still doesn't know the whole truth about you. And most importantly, he doesn't know about Oddie" she said while rubbing the back of her neck "And yeah I know that it's for the best and all but it still doesn't make it easier".
"Es look at me" Jason told her and smiled "I promise you that once we are finished everything will be okay". And than he noticed tears appearing in her eyes and he felt sad because of that. He knew what needs to be done and he was willing to do so.
"But that means that we probably won't be able to see each other ever again. And I can't bear with that possibility" Estella said and than started crying "I can't do this alone Jas, I simply can't".
"I know it's hard Es but we need to get this over with" Jason told her and he suddenly felt his throat getting sore and he was unable to say anything else because he was perfectly aware of the consequences of their mission. "At least if we succeed our reality as we see it right now won't exist" he thought to himself and sighted.
"Tell me Es, how is my little Oddie doing?" Jason asked her so they could change the subject "Is he doing alright?".
Estella chuckled and smiled at him sadly "He is doing great Jas. He is so grown up and he makes me so proud and he is also big daredevil just like his grandfather. Connor is taking great care of him whenever he has free time but he still misses his father".
Jason sighted again and tears started to appear in his eyes "I know Es, I also miss him so much. Both of you. I would give anything to spend some more time with you, but that's impossible. I-". Suddenly someone knocked on the door.
"Jason are you here? It's me, Aelita. I know it's really late but I need to talk to you right now. Please" Aelita called out for him and he was surprised because he didn't know that she would come here.
"I heard Jas, we need to terminate connection" Estella told him and got ready to leave before Jason stopped her.
"Wait. Please kiss Oddie for me and tell him how much I miss him and how much proud I am. I love you" Jason told her and sobbed for the first time that night.
"I love you to Jas. I will call you again when we get a chance" Estella told him and terminated connection leaving Jason still holding his hand on the mirror while sobbing even harder.
"I miss them. So much" he whispered while trying to rub his tears off his face.
"Jason?" Aelita called out again and knocked again this time not so loud. Once he thought that he was ready Jason walked towards the door and opened it.
"Hello Aelita" he said with polite smile "Come in".
She nodded with a smile and entered the house and closed the door. She followed Jason to the living room and sat down on the couch next to him.
"So Lita" Jason started his question "What did you want to talk about?".
Aelita took few breaths and looked him directly in the eyes "Are you working behind our backs? Do you know where Odd is?".
After connection got terminated Estella just sat in her chair letting her tears drop to the floor. She was having the hard time taking care of her son Odd. She decided to name her son after her father and Jason was totally okay with that. But things got harder during the past few months since Odd was asking about his father's disappearance. Of course that they couldn't tell him anything because he was still young to understand so they made up a simple story so he would feel better. But all of them knew that this won't last forever.
She heard the door open behind her. Quickly wiping her tears away she turned around towards the newcomers. Connor entered the room and he was carrying young four years old boy on his shoulders. Boy was laughing and it was obviously he enjoyed his uncle's company. She smiled at them and got up "Well hello there boys".
"Mommy! Mommy!" boy shouted as he tried to get of his uncle's shoulders.
Connor laughed at his nephew "Chill down champion, you will get yourself hurt if you do it fast. Here". He picked him up from his shoulder and lowered him to the ground. As soon as Odd's feet touched the ground he ran towards his mother.
"Mommy!".
Estella knelt down and hugged her son really tightly "My little boy. How are you doing sweetie?". She patted her son's head and smiled at him. He was his father's spitting image and knowing that only brought tears back to her eyes.
"It was great mommy! Uncle Connor played with me after he got back from hanging out with uncle Travis. And he was teaching me to play a piano and I'm getting better at that. Isn't that right uncle Connor?" Odd described it with big sparkle in his eyes.
"That's right champion" Connor smiled and patted his nephew on the head "One day you will become best pianist that ever existed". Than he looked at Estella and noticed that she was crying and he knew what that meant "Um, champion. How about you go and watch some cartoons while me and mom talk for a moment?".
Odd looked at Estella and than at Connor and nodded slightly "Okay". He walked towards the laptop that was in the corner of the room and sat down. It was the only laptop that he was allowed to use because it was the only one that had kid's cartoons installed on it. Odd really enjoyed watching these cartoons so he simply turned off for everything that was around him.
Connor and Estella were looking at him and felt sorry for keeping him in the dark.
"You talked to him, didn't you?" Connor asked her suddenly referring to her conversation with Jason. He didn't mind it until it didn't involve anyone else from the past.
"It was nothing worrying Jas" Estella said as she knew about his worries "We were only talking about are mission, nothing else".
"He doesn't want to back away?" Connor asked her worried "Honestly I wouldn't be mad if he did so. He has a son that needs him here".
"It's not that" she reassured him "He is going to stay there and finish his task. But he still misses his son. It's really hard for him to keep the act without getting discovered".
"Others aren't suspicious about anything?".
"Nope. He didn't tell me anything about that. Do you think we should be more carefull? I mean, while we were talking our mom arrived at his place and I'm not sure how much she heard or if she heard anything".
"I don't know Es" Connor answered her honestly "But we must have faith in him. He is going to keep our mission secret". As soon as he said that his hand blinked. He walked toward the computer screen and placed his hand on it. New window appeared "What is it Travis?".
"Your father is ready to be sent back to his time. Should I launch the process?" Travis asked him.
Connor thought for a moment before answering "Do it".
This is it for this chapter guys. I know it's getting confusing because of this combination of future and the present but I promise it will make sense at the end. Anyways guys, I hope you enjoyed it and until next time peace out.