A/N: There may be some scary descriptions in here, so if you are sensitive, please refrain from reading this. Thank you.
Dedicated to my sister, Molly.
In Our Darkest Hour… Part 1: Twilight
Chapter One: November
"Aelita here. Well, it's been over one month since Mariah died. It was so horrible how Jeremie described it.
"He said that she was screaming shrilly in pain. It was the most beautiful sound he ever heard, like a demon rising from the body of an innocent child. When she was on the ground, he said that he broke a beaker and used the sharp end to slit her throat. Slowly, might I add, to make her experience all the pain she deserved. How did he know that she was from XANA?
"Anyway, we have not found Ulrich. Jeremie claims that he is lost in oblivion forever, but Yumi won't give up. She spends countless nights at the factory searching the computer for any sign.
"But there is no sign. There hasn't been a sign for months. When people ask about Ulrich, we say he is visiting his ill grandparents in Southern France. They thankfully believe us, even if we don't believe ourselves.
"Nobody talks about that night of the dance. I think it's for the better. I have more important things to concentrate on."
Just as she finished the last statement, her cell phone rang obnoxiously on the other side of her journal.
Chapter Two: Caller
"Who is this?" Aelita was incredulous. She figured it was a prank call, but part of her wanted to believe that it was real.
"Please, I must contact you! It's the only way I can tell you…" The voice trailed off into silence.
Aelita grew angry. "Tell me what? You haven't made sense this entire conversation!" She was trying to stay calm, but it proved to be a difficult task.
The voice whispered, "Come to LYOKO, and I will tell you everything. Don't tell the others- whatever you do, don't tell the others." A click, and then silence again.
She closed the phone and sat back down at her desk and stared at her journal. Was this a trap or was this a cry for help?
Chapter Three: Thoughtful
Meanwhile, Yumi was attempting to complete her physics homework. This was a discouraging chore, mostly because she couldn't focus. Although it was too cold to go outside, the day still had an hour worth of sunshine left.
She flipped the page of her physics book distractedly and longingly looked out the window. Things were different a month ago. There were still leaves on the trees; there was no threat of blistering cold snowfall.
There were still five friends who fought off XANA.
Oh, how she missed Ulrich!
Chapter Four: Be Brave
"Mmm, dinner looks lovely today, doesn't it, Jeremie?" asked Odd as they sat down at the cafeteria table that they had unofficially claimed as their own.
Jeremie pulled his tray closer to himself and muttered, "Oh no you don't! You're not getting any of mine!"
Odd frowned playfully and proceeded to spoon up a heap of wilted, pale-orange chopped carrots. He cocked his head and examined them, "Do you really want to eat these things? These are probably older than Jim himself!"
He was surprised to hear Yumi's laughter on the other side of him. "Do we really have a choice but to eat it?"
Jeremie eyed her. "Well, we have no choice. You can just go home and eat food that was actually harvested sometime this year."
Yumi chuckled and chewed a piece of meatloaf. "It's not bad, but then again, I'm not eating those carrots."
"Be brave, Yumi!" Jeremie toasted his spoonful of carrots at her before slowly putting them in his mouth. Odd and Yumi laughed as Jeremie's face contorted into a mask of pain, suffering, and nausea.
"I could never be as brave as you, Einstein," Odd said in awe. Jeremie finished chewing and smiled humbly at his two companions.
"I'm not brave. That night in the science room… that was…" He didn't finish his thought.
Yumi shook her head. "I could never do something like that." Odd was about to say something, but she hurried and answered the silent question. "Yeah, I shot her," she said quietly, "but I couldn't kill her."
"That makes me feel a lot better," Jeremie grumbled. "Now I'm a killer."
Odd reached across the table and patted his friend on the hand. "You saved us. You're a hero. I'm sure Aelita feels the same way." He glanced around him. "By the way, where is she?"
Chapter Five: The Meeting
"Aelita, if you can hear me, say something."
She smiled and closed her eyes, murmuring, "Something."
The voice was deep and smooth and familiar. "Excellent. How is everything on Earth?"
She frowned. "Why did you call me here?" She did not want to answer such silly questions. She wanted to know the truth.
The tower's insides around her changed from a bright blue to an all white curtain. Aelita dared not move; she could not move. She was paralyzed from curiosity, from fear, from the unknown.
"I had to let you know that there will be attacks at any given moment. XANA will not rest until he has either destroyed us, the world, or himself. And I will not rest either, but I need your help."
She sighed. "But I…"
"Please, listen!" The voice grew grander, but it seemed wearied. "XANA will find out that I've contacted you, and he will go on the offensive. He will not activate towers, but he will still harm you. As for me, I cannot go on the offensive; at least, not yet."
She frowned and voiced her concern. "How can you go on the offensive against XANA? We can only use our weapons to defend ourselves! And sometimes that isn't even enough."
There was a long pause. "I see your point. I will have to consider this. You are no longer just my daughter. You are the last hope for saving LYOKO."
She nodded, believing that her father could see her solemn approval. "Before I leave, tell me that Ulrich is safe and without pain."
"Ulrich is safe and without pain," he repeated jovially. "When he is ready, he will return to you."
"Soon?" she interrupted him, but the walls changed from white to their original blue. She got herself out of LYOKO as fast as she could.
Chapter Six: Believe
Aelita stepped out of the scanner carefully as soon as Jeremie, Odd, and Yumi rushed into the scanner room from the elevator. "Aelita!" cried Jeremie as he raced towards her.
Aelita held up her hands. "I'm fine. I got a call on my phone and I was told to go to LYOKO…"
Yumi cracked her knuckles and sighed, "And you went because you thought your father wanted to contact you?"
"You don't believe me, do you?" she asked uneasily.
Odd patted her tiny hand. "How do we know it wasn't XANA?"
"It wasn't! He told me…things."
Jeremie rolled his eyes. "Like what? That Ulrich was coming back and that XANA would be defeated? Stop acting like such a child. Only children would believe that stuff."
She burst into tears and ran into the elevator. Pounding the "up" button, she screamed, "I'm not a child! And Ulrich is coming back!"
This last outburst hushed everyone else who remained in the scanner room.
Chapter Seven: That Night
Tossing and turning, Jeremie was uncomfortable. His body did not hurt him, he wasn't too warm, and he wasn't freezing. Maybe it was the mattress.
Yeah, right, he thought bitterly. I know what's making me restless. He sat up slowly and leaned over to put on his glasses.
The clock that sat on the nightstand at the foot of his bed read midnight, he saw, yet he wasn't feeling tired. A wave of nausea rushed over him. His guilt was starting to boil over into headache mode. Quickly leaning over, he retrieved the cell phone on the floor next to his bed.
I must call her. I must. It's the only way. He was about to press the number on which she was on speed-dial, number four, but his finger couldn't do the command.
Angry with himself, he flung the cell phone down and cursed silently as he pulled the covers over his head. This was going to be a long night.
Chapter Eight: Bolt from the Blue
She lay awake on her bed with her hands behind her head like a pillow, staring at the white nothingness that she called her ceiling. In the room next door, rock music softly accompanied her thoughts. Outside the window, she could see the sun setting serenely over the Parisian cityscape.
The music faded while the sun blanked out the room for a brief second. The ceiling enveloped her into a wondrous white world. She blinked, and the mirage was over.
She blinked once again, not out of habit but to see what effect it would have. A shadow cut a hole in the ceiling, and the figure was hovering above her. She cocked her head to the left and the glare was gone.
But the shadow was still there; the figure still hovered over and still smiled. His eyes were blank, his clothes were nonexistent, his body relaxed. When she recognized the face, she did not run. Instead, she beamed.
A wave of fatigue ran over her. She tried to fight it, but her eyes closed involuntarily. Deep sleep drifted through her body.
Her eyelids flashed open. The rock music continued to play, the sun was gone, and so was the shadow, but the ceiling was still white.
She sprung up out of her bed and dialed her cell phone next to her.
She had to tell someone! But who would believe her? She put down her cell phone gingerly and laid back down to sleep happily.
Some things are better kept as secrets.
Chapter Nine: Under the Tree
"Aelita!" Odd yelled as he ran towards her. There she sat, her knees curled up under her chin, under one of the weeping willows that was on their way to the factory via sewer.
She didn't bother looking up at him. He knelt down beside her and hugged her. She didn't say anything and continued to cry.
"Aelita, I'm so sorry about what happened at the factory- I didn't mean…" Aelita held up her hand and he stopped in mid-thought.
It was her turn to speak. "Don't bother, Odd. I'm sorry for even telling you guys."
Odd was appalled. This wasn't the carefree spirit he knew as Aelita. This was the shell of her, her insides taken out by the crummy actions of her so-called friends. His voice was reduced to near-sobbing, "Aelita…"
She turned her face away from his concerned one. Angrily he stood up and hissed. "You know what? At least I apologized. The least you could do is forgive me."
He stormed away and left Aelita under the tree, broken and forgotten.
Chapter Ten: Homecoming
The white quickly surrounded him, but this time, he wasn't afraid. He sort of enjoyed this peaceful state, even if it did lead him to heaven. Maybe he was in heaven for that time, maybe he wasn't- but what he did know was that it felt like a dream. Was it a dream?
The white changed to yellow, and he could distinctly make out walls. This was no longer heaven, he recognized.
He reached out to touch the walls. The yellow door opened in front of him.
He stumbled outward and fell on the ground out of the scanner. "Ouch!" he yelled, surprised that he could still talk.
Wasting no time, he quickly got up and went into the elevator. While waiting for the elevator to come down, he noticed that he was wearing absolutely nothing.
He dashed into the elevator and pressed the up button. The elevator took longer than he remembered to get up to the computer room. "What's taking so long? Why am I wearing no clothes? What day is it?" the long chain of questions humored him.
The elevator's doors broke open and he gingerly climbed out. There the computer stood, like a fortress untouched, empty and dusty. It was the one link between heaven and here, he noted, and the one link between him and his friends, if they still were here.
He slid into the cold leather seat and put on the headset carefully. Pressing a few keys, he managed to get a picture of a mobile on there. He pressed another key randomly, and the phone began to dial.
"Hello?" the voice on the other end was apprehensive and upset-sounding.
"What's wrong, Odd?"
There was stunned silence on the other end. "Who is this?"
"It's me! I've come home!"
Chapter Eleven: Weird and Wonderful
Odd bolted to the factory that evening (right after he received the phone call), carrying an outfit from the closet in the room. Ulrich was so happy to see him, but Odd was even more so. Odd did not ask about his friend's whereabouts; Ulrich was already chatting excitedly about it.
"And there were these strange people; at least I thought they were. They looked like us, they talked like us, and they acted like us. I lived with this nice old lady and her two sons and her daughters in a house made of grass…"
"Are you sure all this happened?"
Ulrich nodded feverishly. "I swear! It was too real to be otherwise…"
Odd hummed and quickened his step to match Ulrich's. "I think we have to tell the others."
"No! Please don't. They won't believe me."
His blonde companion halted in his tracks and guffawed. "After they see you, they'll believe anything!"
Odd and Ulrich came back to the dorms while the moon was in its full glory. The night air nipped at their bare arms as they ran inside the building. The sidewalk was frosting over with light snow, leaving footprints from the factory to the dorms.
The two friends tracked a bit of the snow into the dorms, but it quickly melted into the carpet. They dashed up the stairs to the second floor.
"Odd?" Ulrich asked as they ascended the stairs. Odd didn't answer right away; he was not in as good of shape as Ulrich was.
Odd eyed him and puffed out a reply. "How… could you… not… be tired… already?"
Ulrich shrugged. "What do we tell Jeremie? Do we tell him that I saw those people, that I lived with them?"
"No way; let me do the talking. Just pretend you're tired or something."
Ulrich laughed aloud as he knocked on Jeremie's door. "I think you'll do a better job of pretending that one."
Chapter Twelve: Opening Doors
"Einstein!" Odd didn't bother lowering his voice; it was only two hours before lights out. Everybody, even the early birds, would still be up.
There was no flinging open of the door in annoyance. Ulrich cocked his head and slumped against the door. "You think he's working on the comp?" He leaned closer into the door frame. "I don't hear any typing going on…"
Odd didn't bother waiting for a response from inside the room. "Maybe he's asleep or maybe he's gone." He twisted the knob slowly. "Jeremie…" Odd called in his singsong voice.
"Jeremie?" The room was dark, save for the light of the moon beaming through the tiny window. "Oh, Jeremie…" The door creaked open more and more.
Ulrich saw that the laptop had the characteristic red exclamation point symbol flashing on the laptop. "A XANA attack! Odd, this could be big trouble…" he nudged his friend and pointed to the laptop.
Odd looked around the room. He saw an arm sticking out from the foot of Jeremie's bed. "Ulrich…" Odd's face turned a ghastly shade of white.
"What?" He followed Odd's stare. He too saw the arm. The fingers attached to the outstretched hand were curled at such strange angles, it was hard to picture what had happened, or who that even happened to.
Ulrich ran to the arm, seeing his worst fears come true. The face was smeared with blood, the eyes were rolled to the back of his head, but the body was still breathing. The being resembled more of a zombie than a human, and it was a horrific sight to behold.
"Jeremie!" Ulrich screamed at the top of his lungs, tears forming at the corners of his dark eyes. "Jeremie!"
Odd ran outside of the room to try and get the attention of any adult he could find.
Chapter Thirteen: Confirmation
"Please, God, tell me he's okay," Yumi breathed heavily into her phone.
There was silence on the other end. "I hope so too, Yumi. At least he's still alive. I just don't know how much alive he is."
Yumi opened her car door and slid in. "I told my mom that I'm coming to visit him… you're at the hospital now?"
"Yeah," replied Odd. "I'm in the, uh, waiting room. I'm, uh, waiting."
Yumi began to back out of her driveway, her cell phone nestled between her ear and shoulder. "Okay, I'll be there in a few minutes…" She heard a familiar voice in the background. "Who else is there?"
Odd chuckled. "You'll never believe me if I told you." Yumi shrieked and hung up her cell phone and began her race towards the hospital.
Chapter Fourteen: Creator and Destroyer
"Oh, Franz!" The red cloud chuckled devilishly. "I may not be winning, but I definitely have the upper hand."
The white cloud rumbled. "You have no idea what that even means. Besides, we're playing a game of chess- not cards."
"If so, then I have definitely captured your bishop." The red cloud applauded himself on such a thoughtful reply.
"You forget that it takes much more than the removal of a bishop to win a game of chess." A pause, and then, "When did you ever play chess?"
The red cloud paced back and forth. "Well, I do know a lot. I know everything you do. You are my creator, my divine maker."
"Yet you still treat me like I am your lowly rival. I know of dogs that are treated better than I am. If I am your creator, you should at least give me my due respect."
"Never! You may be my creator, but you are not my master. I am not just a player in this game of yours; I am the game." The red cloud paused to emphasize this last point.
The white cloud shrunk back, realizing his mistake of fighting such a powerful opponent alone. He tried to feign courage and tell himself, "I can beat my own game. After all I created you, I created you!"
Franz knew he was going to be ridiculed. "Do you know what the key is to winning chess? Other than destroying the king to end the game?" Franz did not reply.
"You have to destroy his queen."
Chapter Fifteen: Waiting Room
"Oh my God, Ulrich! It's you!" Yumi squealed as she jumped into his arms. The waiting room was crowded, so nobody paid any attention to this strange behavior of affection.
Ulrich embraced her like a friend would hug another. "Yes it's me," he chuckled. "Who else would it be?" Yumi sat in between Odd and Ulrich on the tiny couch next to the door into the "no visitors" section of the hospital.
Yumi beamed and couldn't keep her eyes off of Ulrich. He seemed changed, as if there was a surge of youth in him. His eyes held a new kind of haunting in them, and when she glanced in them, she could make out the shape of moving quicksand. She wanted to hold him and she wanted to know about the previous month, but she had to restrain herself. After all, this wasn't about her.
"Did you call Aelita?"
Odd looked away shamefully. "No."
"Why not?" Yumi wasn't annoyed; she was just a bit overwhelmed from all that had happened recently.
"We got into a fight," he replied quietly and firmly.
Yumi yanked her cell phone from her backpack-purse. She grumbled as she dialed Aelita's number. After seven rings, Yumi hung up. "I guess she's mad at all of us."
Ulrich was clearly uncomfortable on this topic. "Uh, so what happened while I was gone?"
Yumi was surprised at this question. "Not much. Not a single XANA attack."
"And I passed one of my math tests last month. Which is an improvement," added Odd happily.
Ulrich chuckled. "That's good to hear. And have you and Aelita gone on any dates?"
"No," Odd said distractedly. "I just don't want to rush things. Maybe I can get her to stop being mad at me if I ask her out…"
"And did you find anyone new, Yumi?"
Yumi's heart stopped. Was this the chance she was waiting for? "No, I was waiting for you."
Ulrich looked away from her and blushed. "Uh, thanks." He scratched his neck nervously quickly asked, "What about Mariah?"
Odd's jaw dropped and he looked worried. "She's long gone, Ulrich."
"Gone? What's going on? Yumi?"
Yumi held up her hands innocently. "She was working for XANA. She was going to kill us!"
Ulrich shook his head. "You don't know that- you don't know that!"
Odd tried to calm him down, but to no avail. The doors next to them opened and a young black volunteer girl came out, dusting her hands on her pink striped apron.
"Is Jeremie Belpois' family here?" The waiting room died down momentarily, but when they heard it wasn't for their specific family member, they resumed their normal volume.
Yumi jumped up, eager to not have to deal with an angry Ulrich. "We're here."
"Could you come with me?" She beckoned them with her hand, and, like moths to a flame, they followed her keenly around the corner.
Chapter Sixteen: Diagnosis
Perhaps God is merciful after all. Why would He take everything I ever had? I have no mother, I have no more love, I have no more innocence, I have no more childhood, and I have no future… Surely God wouldn't take away the only thing I can ever depend on in this world: my friends.
The volunteer girl, whose nametag said her name was Olivia, opened the last room at the far end of the hallway. It was pitch black, save for the glow of an old television game show above the head of a shadow of once was the boy they knew as Jeremie.
"The nurses are quite busy down here, so I hope you don't mind that I give you the information," she murmured as her wiry braids danced to the rhythm of her nod. "He's very ill. There's not much they can do for him. In fact, oh I better not say it."
"Please do," cringed the brave Yumi as she lightly touched Olivia's broad shoulder. Olivia shuddered.
"They only put the cases they don't have a lot of hope for back here. If there's enough staff and medication, then he might get help. But don't bother fighting for him. It won't do you much good."
Odd was on the point of tears, but he tried to hide them. "What's wrong with him?"
Olivia tilted her head towards the ceiling and then her pristine white shoes. "I believe it was a suicide."
Odd fainted right there. Olivia was instantly at his side, calm and collected, as she used an ammonia pack (conveniently stuffed in her apron) to wake him up. He gagged to let the gang know he just regained consciousness.
Ulrich and Olivia dragged him to the wall near the door and propped him against it. Yumi meanwhile ran to Jeremie's side and held his IV-ridden hand.
"I believe in you, Jeremie. I believe in you. Be brave. Be brave."
Chapter Seventeen: Last
"Oh, my… head…" groaned Aelita. She was waking up painfully; her head felt like it was splitting in half. Her vision was foggy, but when she awoke she was surrounded by the white lights.
"Hello, Aelita," the voice around her soothingly called out. "I'm sorry it feels… painful… but I needed to talk to you as soon as possible."
Aelita was trying to recollect her thoughts. She was… where was she before this? What was she even doing? "But I… I thought…"
The white light turned to crimson; she felt a paralyzing sensation come over her body. This wasn't her father at all. "What do you want with me?" she shrieked.
"Ah, that will come all in due time, my dear," the voice became menacing. The invisible grip around her tightened; it became increasingly difficult to breathe. "All in due time."
"Don't you dare… hurt… Odd…" she whispered as her world turned from crimson to black within a matter of moments.