'Til Death Do Us Part
Chapter 8: Powerless
"Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart." ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
Day: 7
7 Hours Remaining
Mannie's POV
I sat in my room staring blankly at the wall in front of me, it was the next day after our picnic. How could this possibly be happening? After everything I've gone through my whole life, after sacrificing myself for this world God only knows how many times, I thought that I would finally be able to live in peace with my husband and children. I deserve to grow old with Odd, watching my kids have their own, if only that would happen in at least another ten years.
I might never get to see them again. The reality was hitting me, and hard. I was supposed to be getting ready for the dance, but I didn't even have the energy or will to get out of bed. I was about to become XANA's slave for the rest of eternity, possibly even having to destroy my own family. If they weren't destroyed already, that is.
I heard a soft knock on my door, but didn't answer. How could I? I didn't want to be around anyone or anything.
"What do you think you're doing?" I heard a soft voice coming from my door as the one and only Avril entered my room with her hands on her hips. "Why aren't you answering your phone?" She walked over to my bed and crossed her arms.
"What's the point? I've failed. After today I'm going back to be XANA's slave."
"Are you crazy?! You haven't failed yet, and I'm not going to let you." Avril grabbed my hands and pulled me upwards. "I got you a dress yesterday since you failed to come with us. Come on, you're coming with me." I sighed, nodding.
"Fine, fine. You win." I sighed, following Avril down to her car, and quietly watched my surroundings blur by the whole way back to Kadic. After all, this may be the last time I breathe fresh air... Or breathe at all for that matter.
"I wonder when the girls are gonna get here." Jeremy wondered aloud, to no one really. They were all at the dance, standing around by the punch bowl, mingling among themselves. Odd kept looking towards the door feeling anxious. He hadn't spoken to Mannie since the day before and she flat out ignored him in class earlier. He was anxious, that was really the only way he could describe any emotions that the svelte blonde could muster up.
"Avril texted me and told me that she had to drag Mannie out of her house, so it's probably going to take them a while, but that was a few hours ago." Ulrich shrugged taking a sip from his punch that was slightly tainted with alcohol. He shook his head, feeling the burning as it traveled down his throat.
"Yeah, but they are girls." Odd shrugged. Ulrich and Jeremy laughed at their friends' joke, and Ulrich elbowed Odd in the gut eyeing a figure behind the blonde boy.
"What?" He spun around and there stood Sam behind him. He had to admit, she looked beautiful. Her brown with red streaks shoulder-length hair was bountifully curled, her bangs parted to the side. She had on a short red single sleeve dress that came to a little above mid-thigh and had sparkling red accents on the bust and the single short sleeve, which were opposite of each other. She looked stunning.
"Sam...?" Odd's eyes widened, and the dark skinned girl grinned.
"Who else, baby? Come, dance with me." It definitely wasn't a question, but more of a demand. Something Odd was used to on her part.
He hadn't expected her to even come within twenty feet of him since he had so blatantly ignoring her the past few days. But he figured one dance couldn't hurt, could it?
Odd took a few steps forward, grabbing her hand, and pulled her onward to the dance floor. As almost by perfect timing, a slow song came on. One he didn't really care to remember the name of. He placed his right hand a little above her hips and held her right hand in his left, intertwining their fingers.
The doors to the dance hall opened, and almost all eyes turned to see who was to blame for the intrusion, though some were too engrossed in their partners to even care.
The four girls stood in the door way, staring ahead, all dressed down to the toe in pure perfection. Aelita saw Jeremy and waved, holding her hand up to her face in embarrassment. She wore a short sleeveless dress, the bodice was sweetheart shaped with silver jewels encrusted into the bust, with a baby pink chiffon skirt that stopped short two inches above her knees. She had a pink and silver butterfly clip attached in her hair which pulled back her bangs to the side, and to Jeremy, she couldn't look more perfect.
Next, Avril wore a purple silk one shoulder dress that draped to the floor with three cutouts that looked like a tiger had slashed her dress with silver and purple rhinestones encrusted into it. To put it into words, she looked like a Grecian goddess. Her long hair was curled, and her bangs were pulled back and given some volume, creating a majestic look to her.
Odd hadn't even noticed the girls had come in, even though it was clear that everyone's eyes were on them. It was probably partially Sam's doing since she had seen the girls come in, and didn't want Odd to notice. He had finally managed to get her to turn and spin when he set his eyes on her. She looked absolutely outstanding, to say the least. There had to have been someone manning the lights, because it seemed as though there was a spotlight on her. She was wearing a strapless sweetheart dress with a black, silver, and white sequin design and a skirt that ombré'd out to the floor from black to white in a high to low fashion. She had her hair pulled into a low loose bun to the left side with white sequins put randomly into her hair, with black eyeshadow on the outer crease of her eyes. Odd saw her looking around, possibly for him, but she and Yumi grabbed each other's hands and decided to dance together on the other side of the dance floor, and within seconds she disappeared from Odd's sight completely. He sighed seeing that she was gone. Avril had gone off with Ulrich, and Aelita was dancing with Jeremy to another slow song.
Mannie smiled, feeling her heart clench at the thought that this would most likely be the last time she would ever see her friends happy. She had seen Odd dancing with Sam. She had once again felt the inevitable pain of her heart being ripped out of her chest... and once again it was done by Sam. Mannie knew that she had failed. Not only had she failed herself, but she failed her husband, she had failed her friends, and worst of all, she had failed her children who would never have a mother there to help them grow.
Maybe Odd would remarry... The thought made her sick to her stomach to think of him with someone else. Though, she definitely didn't want to watch him live out the rest of his life unhappy. He didn't deserve that, not one bit. Odd deserved love and he most definitely deserved happiness.
That left her children. The idea of another woman nurturing her children through life and guiding them also made her sick. She was their mother, not anyone else. But then again, she had to put her own feelings aside. She wasn't the important one here, they were. They had brought her nothing but happiness in their short lives. Aside from, of course, Aria's daily attitude which brought her nothing but grief, but they too, deserved to be happy and loved.
She felt a tear begin to fall from her eye and quickly wiped it away. Carefully though, so that she wouldn't ruin her makeup. A hand lightly held her shoulder, and as not expecting that she turned to see who the culprit was.
"Care to dance?" The boy held out a hand, and Mannie gave a soft smile, nodding.
"I'd love to, Theo."
"And so if you divide by four, you get the product which is ninety-two." Yumi clasped her hands together, a small smile appeared on her face. "Alright everyone, I want you all to do pages three ninety-six and ninety-seven, evens, for homework." Her eyes scanned the classroom as there were groans coming from her unhappy students. She tucked her bangs behind her ear as her eyes trailed to the young blonde and purple haired girl sitting in the back of the class, doodling. Yumi sighed to herself. It was the five month anniversary of her mom being thrusted into a coma.
When Yumi had awoken that morning, she had gotten a very weary feeling at the pit of her stomach, but neither she nor William could pinpoint what it might be.
She sat down on the chair at her desk and continued grading some worksheets from the days prior, but her gaze continued to be diverted back to Aria.
"Ms. Della Robbia..." Yumi called out, and smiled once Aria gave her, her attention. "Can you come up to my desk please?" Odd had told them about what the doctor said, and the news had honestly taken Yumi aback. How could anyone possibly bare the decision of life or death of the one they loved? Especially given the fact that no one knew if she would even be in a vegetated state upon awakening.
The girl looked around wearily stood and made her way up to Yumi's desk, her eyes kept to the floor her whole way there.
Call it a premonition, but ever since the whole Lyoko thing had happened, all the warriors seemed to have a "sixth sense" about the safety of their friends and loved ones. A familiar feeling hit her, something didn't seem right.
Within the blink of an eye, it all happened. A pole came crashing through the roof of Yumi's classroom and much to her amazement, straight for her and Aria. Instinct kicked in and Yumi lunged for the younger girl knocking her out of the way.
"Everyone, get out of the classroom, NOW." The raven haired teacher yelled, pointing to the door, and within the midst of all the screams from her students, she made eye contact with Aria and mouthed the word "Factory." The young blonde stared at her teacher and close family friend for a few seconds and nodded, running out of the classroom. Yumi rushed to her desk and grabbed her phone before exiting the classroom herself. She dialed a familiar but a somewhat distant number.
"…hello?" She heard that familiar high pitched, yet deep and ever so cheerful no matter the circumstances voice answer reluctantly.
"Odd...it's Yumi."
"Yumi is everything okay? What's going on?" He must have been able to sense the anxiety in her voice, something he'd always been able to do. She stepped out of the classroom, and felt her heart drop into her stomach. The Kadic campus was in complete and utter chaos. She had trouble speaking the next words, as they hadn't left her mouth in over fifteen years
"Actually, no... I don't want to make you worry, but it's XANA. It's unleashed another attack.."
It had been a song or two, but she really wasn't paying attention. Mannie had honestly thought Odd would come for her. But who was she kidding? This Odd wasn't HER Odd. Her Odd was off in some other time or dimension, living his life with their children, without her. For the millionth time today, she felt her heart clench in her chest. She hated this feeling; she didn't deserve to feel this way.
"Do you mind if I step in?" The sound of that voice made her heart stop, and her breathing go ragged. It had to have been a dream, just had to have been. She stopped in mid-spin with Theo, and her dance partner gave a small smile and bowed, his hands leading in Mannie's direction. Mannie blinked as Theo backed away, and she slowly turned towards the voice, feeling her heart hammer in her chest. "You look amazing tonight, Mannie, you really do."
Her eyes landed on him after what seemed an eternity. The feeling she got once seeing him was indescribable. There he was, her knight in shining armor, with his arm extended towards her. She couldn't get the thought out of her mind just how unbelievably handsome he was in that moment. She hadn't seen him in a suit since their wedding day, since it was practically impossible to get him in one. He always commented on how it made him feel like an overgrown penguin.
"May I have this dance?" She noticed little beads of sweat beginning to form on his forehead. Her lack of an answer and inability to form words must have been making him nervous. She graciously smiled, her lips shining from the baby pink lip gloss on her lips.
"I'd love to."
They danced. Mannie had recalled from a few school dances and even their wedding day that Odd was a considerably good dancer. Maybe he had gained that ability from his cat-like reflexes on Lyoko. That would be probably the only thing she ever thanked Lyoko for. He was extremely light on his feet, and guided her in a way that she had almost forgotten. She and her husband hadn't danced, in how long, she could barely remember. She did know though, it had been too too long.
"Where did this sudden change in heart come from?" Mannie asked him curiously, and she heard and saw him give a nervous laugh. If his hand hadn't been in her own, he would have probably been scratching the back of his head. Nervous habit.
"I'm not exactly sure, but since yesterday, something like clicked in me. I'm not sure what it is, but...-"
"I thought you were going to get us punch. This doesn't look like punch. Although, I could go for throwing a few punches right about now." Of course, forever ruining Kodak moments in Mannie's life, Sam came waltzing in at the worst moment possible. The red head growled, placing her hands between Mannie and Odd and pushed them apart.
"What is your problem Sam?" Mannie crossed her arms and glared at the girl standing in front of her. Sam's face had started to turn a shade of red visualizing her anger for the world to see.
"MY problem? My problem is that you get everything you want, you ALWAYS have. You got the guy, the house, the kids, the job, the car, the LIFE. And did you deserve ANY of it? OF COURSE NOT. So I've been trying to right your wrongs and make life the way it was SUPPOSED TO BE. Of course, you bat your pretty little lashes at XANA and he gives you another chance to get your freedom." Sam's breathing was erratic, and you could feel the radiating anger coming off of her body. "I mean, what was all my life's work FOR anyways? I reboot Lyoko, I was SO close to destroying you and your damned children so that Odd wouldn't have any ties to you or any way to remember you, and of course just like you, your spawns don't understand the meaning of death. So I had to take the hard way out. Not anymore Mannie, this ends NOW, and I'll be damned if I'm not taking your kids with me." The red haired girl kicked off her heels and ran. Mannie stared off into space after her when the realization of what her words really meant.
"No..." She whispered and picked up her feet to run after the girl.
"Wait-" Odd grabbed Mannie's arm, pulling her back and stopping her from any movement forward. "What is going on?"
"Look Odd, I really don't have any time to explain, and I also really don't have the time to wait around for you to start caring. Those are my children, and they mean more than life itself to me." Without another word, Mannie released his grip from her arm and darted after Sam.
There wasn't a moment left to waste.
1.5 Hours Remaining
Never in her life had Mannie worried about her children so much. Of course, worrying is a natural part of parenthood, everyone knows that. But they had never been threatened in such a way before. She knew Sam was sadistic, she knew Sam had always tried everything she could do to take Odd from her. Hell, the woman showed up in a black gown at her wedding. If that doesn't raise any alarms, I don't know what would.
She ran as fast as her feet could carry her, away from the auditorium, away from the heart pounding music, and away from the only person who could possibly return her life back to normal.
But if she could save her kids, that was the only thing that mattered. If she could save her kids, her wasted life wouldn't be so meaningless. She would have done the last thing she was meant to do in her life.
It seemed like an eternity had passed by before she got to the factory, and of course to her luck, the elevator was already up to the Supercomputer Room, which meant Sam was already either there or on her way to Lyoko.
Mannie darted up the ladder that led into the Supercomputer room and looked around wearily, not knowing if Sam would be there. Once the coast was clear, she ran over to the computer and started typing in information to try and get some more data, on what to do.
"Need any help?" The voice startled her, and Mannie almost fell out of Jeremy's seat, as she held her hand over her heart. She turned, and Odd poked his head out of the hole in which she just came.
"W-what are you doing here?" Mannie stood, asking him. He finished climbing up the ladder and walked over to Mannie, placing his hands softly on her shoulders.
"I may not be the brightest person out there, but I'm not oblivious to everything around me. That was genuine worry and concern back there, and I'll be damned if I let anything happen to you." Mannie took in a sharp breath, as memories flooded back to her from the past.
"What did you just say?" Odd ignored her question, his cheeks reddening just a little as he walked past her and over to the Supercomputer.
"I'm guessing you need to get into Lyoko to finish whatever this is, and I'm not letting you go in there alone; it's way too dangerous." He shook his head as he typed on a few keys on the keyboard and hit enter as two of the virtualizers lit up on the screen. Odd took a few steps forward towards Mannie and held out his hand, as she stared him down. "Shall we?" Her metallic eyes glistened with tears as she softly grabbed his hand as he led her down the ladder towards the virtualizers. Odd waltzed over to his, and Mannie over to hers. As she was about to step in, she had the sudden urge to say something to Odd. She took a few steps back and looked over at him. He had a small smile on his face, as usual and a confident look in his eyes.
Odd felt her eyes on him, and looked over at her curiously. "What's the matter?" Mannie's gaze was diverted to the floor as she opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. She walked over to him and grabbed his hands, looking deep into his eyes.
"...no matter what happens Odd, I want you to know that I love you wholeheartedly. I know it may not make sense to you now, but I hope that one day it will. You are my everything. You always have been, and always will be." A light inside the virtualizer illuminated and she walked back over to her own virtualizer and took a deep breath as both doors closed, and they were soon pixellated into the world of Lyoko.
"Damien!" Aria was darting under trees and over logs that were attached to the ground as she darted towards the factory and held her phone up to her face.
"God, Aria. Where are you? Naomi, Milee, Aldo and I have been looking for you everywhere. They said there was an explosion in the cafeteria, they're sending everyone home."
"You guys need to get to the factory, I have a feeling this has something to do with that XANA thing." She was really running out of breath, but tried to talk as clearly as she could so he would understand her.
"And you think that running towards the source of the problem would help us. Yeah, that makes a whole lot of sense."
"It wasn't my idea, genius. Aunt Yumi told me to head there."
"You couldn't at least wait for me!? Who the hell is supposed to keep you safe, Lord knows you have enough problems with that as it is." Aria could hear Damien getting frustrated on the other end, but she just grumbled through her anger.
"Just get to the damn factory!" She hit the "end" button on her phone and looked up to see the aforementioned building finally coming into view. 'I just hope all of this is worth it... I don't know what's going to happen, but I can feel deep down inside that it's something big.'
Mannie
If you had asked me sixteen years ago what I thought my life would be like, I would tell you that I imagined myself to be living with my husband, six kids (don't ask, that's what he originally wanted. I know, I know crazy.) on an ocean front property in Northern France. Kadic always held an immense amount of memories for me, and always will. But no matter how much I wanted to, I was always drawn back to this city, as were the rest of the group. Perhaps it was the factory and our ties to Lyoko, perhaps it was the fact that we all felt that those experiences created a bond that no one, except us, could possibly understand.
I can tell you that I would never ever wish a burden like Lyoko on anyone. Not even my worst enemies. There's always the fear that anyone's life could be over in the blink of an eye. There was always the fact that something could happen to everyone we ever knew or cared about, and they would be forever affected by that.
I could also tell you that I would have never expected any of our children, much less my own daughter to be subjected to such a burden or treachery.
"Come on Damien, we have to go see if we can figure out what's been causing all that destruction. We can't let this keep happening." Hearing her voice brought me to a standstill. I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe. I turned and saw her, Ariane Celestine Della Robbia. My beautiful fifteen year old angel. The voice I hadn't heard in what felt like ages, the face I dared to only see in my dreams.
"Hey Mannie, is everything ok-..." Odd turned to look at me, probably confused as to why I stopped, but seeing me, and then seeing his own daughter must have caught his breath. But there was no real way he could ever know it was her. But seeing her here, in Lyoko, brought on so much feelings of guilt and how much of a failure I really am.
"M-mom..?" I heard Aria's voice and winced, truly wishing she wasn't here, and was back in her bed at home safe and sound. I felt my heart beat growing, increasingly and slowly turned to look at her. She was a literal twin of myself when I first entered Lyoko, of course with a few of Odd's features thrown in there. Her green eyes were still wide in shock as she took a few steps forward in proceeded caution. It wasn't the first time that XANA had tricked her with an illusion of her mother.
"Yes sweetie...it's me." If it were possible, tears would be coming to the teen girls' eyes, and she darted forward forgetting about everything else going on in her life and wrapped her arms tightly around her mother.
"Well well well, what a beautiful family reunion." That voice brought me back to my senses. My head snapped towards Odd's direction, and I saw William standing there, a smirk on his face, arms crossed, and a dark look in his eyes. Then it donned on me, I had never seen him in Kadic Boarding, so we hadn't freed him of Lyoko yet. Of course, standing next to him was the evil witch herself, Sam.
"I'm sorry to tell you this, but we'll have to cut it a little bit short. You know, XANA wanting to bring on impending doom to you, and all."
"Why are you doing this Sam?" Odd asked, crossing his arms, an angry look on his face. I heard the girl scoff and then she shook her head.
"Please Odd, don't tell me you plan on defending that bitch? You and I could have so much more than anything she could ever give you." He turned to look at me and Aria as I pulled away from my daughter, as much as it pained me to do so. I cupped her face in my hands and sighed, looking into her eyes.
"Aria, you need to get out of here. I want nothing more than to protect you, and I can't do that if you're in here. There's too much risk. Please. Make sure you all get as far away from Kadic as possible, and I mean all of you."
"B-but what about you?" I could see her lip quivering, I knew she was terrified, but as her mother, I had to reassure her.
"I'm going to be fine. I've dealt with XANA hundreds of times, if not more. Please, just whatever you do, make sure your father stays away from the factory." Aria stared at me for one last second and then she turned to face Damien.
"Let's go..." She whispered, and took one last look back at me, giving me a small sad smile.
Normal POV
In the flash of an instant, Sam was in front of Mannie trying to get rid of her. The blade seared over Mannie's head as she dodged it almost expertly. She may have been a little out of practice, but once a warrior, always a warrior. Sam sneered, her black eyes radiating with anger.
"I will get rid of you, this is your end Mannie, and my beginning."
"You keep saying that, if you truly mean it, then make it happen." Mannie's scythe appeared in her hand and Sam's blade, and the metal rod in Mannie's hand clinked as they connected. She lifted her eyes to see Odd dodging William's forceful attacks, and guilt hit Mannie like a truck. 'He doesn't need to be dragged into this.' Mannie did a backflip and swung the scythe over her head as it connected with Sam's sword. She jumped over the dark skinned girl and ran forth towards Odd, grabbing his hand.
"We need to come up with a plan, and I can't do that with them trying to annihilate us right here." She pulled him, running off in the distance with Sam and William hot on their trail.
"What're we going to do?" Odd yelled, as the virtual wind pushed past them. It must have been a new added feature, one he hadn't noticed before.
"I...I don't know. I need to find a way to get to XANA though." Mannie's eyes were down cast, but she raised them once they got to the edge of the platform. She looked back to Odd, and he nodded. They started hopping over the rocks that floated in the air to the other side. "Can you destroy those? I know it may seem like a long shot, but it may give us a little more time." Odd nodded and began to shoot his arrows at the rocks that floated behind them, and Mannie swung her scythe around her fingers before destroying the one directly behind them. 'Well, there's no going back now.' She stared off into the distance, and felt her arm being grabbed from behind her. She turned, feeling confused and saw Odd staring at her with a strange look in his eyes. "Is.. everything okay?" He shook his head, and she realized that strange look to be concern.
"I've just had this nagging feeling at me all day, and now I'm beginning to realize what that may be." As Mannie began to open her mouth to reply, Odd quickly took the chance and placed his lips onto hers. There was that feeling again. Like electrostatic waves crashing through him, his body filled up with warmth and he pulled her closer, feeling her hands reaching up into his hair. And then it hit him.
Flashback
Odd was pacing back and forth in the waiting room, the white walls and white tiled floors, with the occasional black tile, definitely wasn't helping. The cold air reminded him of where he was. It had been what, eight, maybe nine hours? He felt so uneasy, of course with all their luck, something would go wrong. Everything in his life had a point of going wrong. Nothing ever worked out for him. It couldn't have been a coincidence that Mannie would have gotten pregnant almost right after they had gotten married. He had just wanted a few years with his new wife before they started a family. Family. The word resonated in his head. In just a few hours, he would be a father. He was barely twenty years old, and already a father. He barely had the maturity to act as a husband, how the hell was he supposed to take care of a child. Someone completely dependent on him... And of course, the labor would go completely wrong. He knew Mannie's life was at risk, and so was this child's. But God forbid anything happen to Mannie, how was he supposed to face the child who took away the love of his life. He slumped down in the chair behind him and placed his face in his hands, guilt and worry overwhelming him. Everyone else was in Montpellier on winter vacation, Odd and Mannie were supposed to join them earlier that day, but Mannie suddenly went into labor while they were packing her things, and her instinct told her that something was very very wrong.
"Mr. Della Robbia?" A soft voice called to him from his right. It took him a second, but he looked over to see the blonde nurse who was helping out Mannie peeked her head out to look at Odd, a small smile gracing her face. "If you'd like to follow me, there's someone I'm sure you'd like to meet." He felt his heart pounding in his chest, and all the blood rushing to his face. He slowly stood once he felt his feet would hold his weight, and started to walk towards the nurse who held the door open for him, and he followed her to Mannie's Labor and Delivery room. He felt himself take in a deep breath as he turned the knob on the door and poked his head in. There laid Mannie on the bed, cradling a swaddle in her arms, rocking it back and forth, humming a familiar children's lullabye. Her eyes lifted towards him as he apprehensively took a few steps forward and a smile graced her face.
"Well hello handsome, I haven't seen you in a while." Her voice was soft, yet warming to his heart. He felt tears coming to his eyes as he saw her very flushed face, her cracked red lips, and blonde sweat tangled hair. But to him, she couldn't be more beautiful.
"Mannie, I'm sorry I-" She held her hand up, hushing him, but the smile still remained.
"No apologies. Right now, there's someone you really do need to meet." She held the object out in her arms to him, and he made his way around to the left side of her bed, and peeked at what she was holding. There in her arms, held the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. A pink hat covered the infants head as she was wrapped up in multiple receiving blankets. She had bright dark colored eyes, which would eventually change into green about a year later, and lots and lots of blonde hair.
"Is that...?"
"This is your daughter, Odd. This is our daughter." The words sounded so foreign to him, but he suddenly realized he had never been so damn happy in his life. Odd timidly took the little girl from his wife's arms, and with a little help from Mannie, held her close. All his worries from out in the hall previously vanished into thin air. "I was thinking Ariane Celestine. What do you think?"
"Sounds a little out there, don't you think?" He couldn't take his eyes off the little girl, but he could sense Mannie's smile.
"And what? Odd is a normal name?" She giggled and stared at the two lovingly. This was the start of her family. Their family. Something dear that she would never forget.
Flashback
Odd kicked the door open after a little help from his newlywed wife placing the keycard in the slot of their honeymoon suite door.
"Well that was... graceful.." She giggled in his arms. Odd was holding her bridal style, and while she wasn't wearing her wedding gown, she was wearing her dress from the reception afterwards. The two were admittedly a little intoxicated, which explained Odd's strange way of opening the door. She took a good look around, the room was dimly lit with white candles on both of the nightstands, and the countertops of the bathroom, the bed which had white silk sheets and a white comforter, had pink, white, and red roses strewn across it, with 'I Love You' written in rose petals at the foot of the bed, and on the right nightstand there were two glasses of white wine with a newly opened bottle.
"Hey, the door had to be opened somehow." He made his way over to the bed, and tossed her onto it.
"Hey! That was uncalled for." Mannie groaned sitting up, and he bent down pulling her forward and into a deep loving kiss. Although, he pulled away quickly and grinned, pulling off his jacket.
"I have a surprise for you." Mannie once again groaned, letting herself fall back onto the bed.
"Odd, although I do love you so so much... after all this time, I don't think you need to refer to it as a 'surprise'." She rubbed her temples, and heard him rummaging through the closet of their hotel by the bathroom.
"Aha! Here it is! And that's not what I meant, but I'll keep that in mind, wifey dearest." He walked out of the closet with his guitar in hand.
"What are you doing?" She asked, sitting up on the bed, leaning back on her hands.
"What does it look like, I'm going to serenade you, duh." He pulled the chair over from the desk next to the bed and sat down across from Mannie. Both of their faces flushed and Mannie giggled.
"Odd, I don't know if you know how this honeymoon thing works, but you don't have to sing me songs to get me to sleep with you. It's kind of a given." Odd's face turned even more red from embarrassment, but shook his head and began to strum the guitar. Clearly, the alcohol was getting to his wife, and he needed to do this before it was too late.
"You know I'd fall apart without you
I don't know how you do what you do
'Cause everything that don't make sense about me
Makes sense when I'm with you."
"Like everything that's green, girl, I need you
But it's more than one and one makes two
Put aside the math and the logic of it
You gotta know you're wanted too."
"'Cause I wanna wrap you up
Wanna kiss your lips
I wanna make you feel wanted
And I wanna call you mine
Wanna hold your hand forever
And never let you forget it
Yeah, I, I wanna make you feel wanted." He looked up into her eyes which he had yet to do, and saw tears forming at the corners of them. He had hoped it was out of happiness, and not complete disgust for the song.
"Anyone can tell you you're pretty, yeah
And you get that all the time, I know you do
But your beauty's deeper than the make-up
And I wanna show you what I see tonight...
When I wrap you up
When I kiss your lips.
I wanna make you feel wanted
And I wanna call you mine
Wanna hold your hand forever
And never let you forget it
'Cause, baby, I, I wanna make you feel wanted."
"As good as you make me feel
I wanna make you feel better
Better than your fairy tales
Better than your best dreams
You're more than everything I need
You're all I ever wanted
All I ever wanted
And I just wanna wrap you up
Wanna kiss your lips
I wanna make you feel wanted
And I wanna call you mine
Wanna hold your hand forever
And never let you forget it
Yeah, I wanna make you feel wanted
Baby, I wanna make you feel wanted
You'll always be wanted." With the last strumming chord of the guitar he pulled it away from his body, and within seconds Mannie had pounced on him, knocking the chair backward, and hugging him tightly. He felt tears wetten his shirt and hit his shirt and he set the guitar down next to him. He pulled her back from him and wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Please don't tell me you hated it that much..." He sighed, and Mannie laughed, slapping his shoulder lightly.
"Don't you dare say such a thing. That was the most beautiful song I've ever heard. I love you, Mr. Della Robbia."
"And I love you, Mrs. Della Robbia." Within moments, their lips collided and their love for each other was once again, made blissfully aware.
Odd's eyes widened and he pulled back from the kiss, which made Mannie's eyes shoot open.
"Y-you..and I.. oh my God.." He looked back down at her and ran his finger up and down her cheek in a loving manner.
"MANNIE!" A screeching voice was heard from behind Mannie, as her body stiffened.
"We need to go." She grabbed Odd's hand and ran towards the nearest tower. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and she felt lightheaded. 'Where do I go, what do I do?' She thought to herself, suddenly feeling so overwhelmed.
"Not. So. Fast." That deep menacing voice would be recognizable anywhere. She turned around and saw him standing behind Odd, with his sword through Odd's chest.
"William... What?! How... but we were..."
"I'm so.. sorry..." Odd's voice faded, as did his body and his hand tightened in her grasp before it too, faded into nothing.
"Well well well, looks like it's just the three of us then." Sam's voice rang as she appeared through the tower, a smug look on her face. "How does it feel to be a complete and total failure Manuela Diazdeleon?"
"That's Manuela Della Robbia to you, Samantha." Mannie growled, turning around on her heel and she swung her scythe which came close to making contact with Sam's face. But devirtualizing Sam wasn't what Mannie wanted. That wouldn't help her in the least. She felt William's presence darting towards her from behind and turned, placing the blade of her scythe up just in time to block his turned her head and a plan started to formulate in her head. She only had one shot at this. If it didn't work, she would truly meet her demise. Mannie ducked under another one of Sam's swings and ran towards the tower.
"Don't think you're getting away from me this time!" Sam called after her, and Mannie kept her eyes on the path in front of her, her hand twisting to tighten her grip on her scythe.
'That's what I'm hoping for.' Once reaching the tower, instead of running inside of it, she darted behind it and tried to catch her breath. 'If I make it out of this alive, I'm going to start jogging daily, and Odd's going to join me whether his lazy butt likes it or not.'
Hearing Sam's footsteps coming closer, Mannie made her way to the cliff and looked down into the deep depths of the void. Her heart started pounding in her chest again and she held her scythe above her head and lodged it into the ground beneath her feet. She took in a deep breath, and closed her eyes, and leaped off the side of the cliff. Luckily she had enough force behind her jump, she swung herself over the edge of the side and back over, where Sam just so happened to be standing. Mannie's foot connected with Sam's head, making the dark skinned girl lose balance, and to her dismay, over the edge of the cliff, into the eternal abyss. Sam's eyes widened as she realized what was happened, and she reached for anything, anything that would help her from falling.
"XANA no! No you can't let this happen. You PROMISED."
"That's what happens when you make a deal with the devil." Mannie whispered, watching her life's sworn enemy fall into the depths. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. All that was left was to deal with XANA.
Mannie's eyes widened as she felt a sharp pain coming in through her abdomen. She heard a low guttural chuckle, and hot breath suddenly hit her ear.
"You forgot me." The whisper was harsh as William lodged his sword deeper into her and she winced. She had never felt pain like this in Lyoko before, but the reality was becoming harsh. She lifted her hand and placed it on the blade as she attempted to push it out of her body.
'No... I will not end like this.' She clenched her eyes shut as she felt William pull back. 'No.. this is not the end.' She forced herself to stand, and turned towards her old friend. 'I can't kill him... I have to figure out a way...' Her gaze diverted from William to the tower that stood behind him, and mentally nodded to herself. 'This is it..' Mannie forced herself to lift up her scythe and ran towards him with it in both hands. She swung at him, but he easily dodged the scythe. She threw the weapon out of her hands and darted towards the tower. This was all about timing, and every step and motion counted.
She reached the tower and ran towards the center, feeling herself being lifted into the air, she saw the keypad coming closer and closer to her. As she took a step onto the platform she was risen to, she walked over to the keypad as the virtual screen appeared. There was a cursor blinking, as if waiting for her to type something. 'There's only one possibility...'
'CODE: LYOKO' She watched her fingers, making sure none of them missed, and hit enter once she was sure she had everything correct.
White flashing lights. It was so bright, Mannie had to clench her eyes shut. She heard the familiar sound of humming, and then everything went black.
Aria's feet hit the pavement, and she ran. Yumi had driven all of them to the hospital after hearing about everything that happened in Lyoko, and they all wanted to be there to see what would happen with Mannie, if anything would happen. She didn't have time to wait for automatic doors, so she pushed through the single door in the lobby of the hotel and to through the door to the stairs. She didn't have time to wait for the elevator, nothing could bring her to her mother faster than her own two feet. Even if she did have to run up thirteen flights of stairs.
After what seemed an eternity, she finally made it to the thirteenth floor, and pushed the door to room '1305' open to see her father, Ulrich, and Avril all standing in the room. Avril's face was tear-stained, and Ulrich had his arm wrapped around his wife's shoulder pulling her close to him.
"...dad.. what's going on?" Odd's face looked almost as pale as a ghost when his daughter walked in, and he took a few steps forward grabbing her in his arms.
"I'm so glad you're safe."
"Yeah dad, I'm fine." Aria pulled back from the hug, and looked at him with the same baffled expression. "What's going on?" Odd opened his mouth, and looked up when the door swung open from behind his daughter.
"Ah, Mr. Della Robbia, you're here. I brought the papers for you, all we need is your signature." Aria turned her head as she heard Avril give a muffled sob into her hands.
"Papers? Dad, what is going on?" Aria's voice was starting to rise as she took a few steps back from her father.
"Aria sweetie, you have to understand. This is for the best..." Odd's voice was soft as he smoothed the hair on his daughters head. She looked up at him, seeing the dark circles under his eyes which were slightly puffy from the crying he had probably been doing the night before. Then it dawned on her.
"No...no! NO! You can't! You can't just give up on mom like that! She's going to make it out alive!"
"Young lady, you have to understand. The statistical probability of your mother surviving anything from which she suffered is of the least likely percentage. It's in the 2 percent range-"
"I don't give a damn about your statistical percentage! I know my mom, and I know she's going to survive this." The tears that had been forming themselves started to pour down her face, Odd wrapped his arms around her again and held her close.
"I know sweetie... I know mom's a fighter, believe me, I know better than anyone.. but even if she does survive, she may never be able to move again.. she wouldn't even be able to think or eat for herself. Do you want her to live her life that way? Don't think this was an easy decision for me, because it wasn't. I would gladly take care of your mother for the rest of her life if that meant I got to be with her forever, but living that way isn't living at all, and I just want her to be happy. Avril, can you..hold her please." Odd looked up at his wife's best friend, and through sobs, spoke from his heart. She nodded and held out her hands to Aria who ran into Avril's arms. Odd walked over to the doctor, and felt himself unable to breathe as he held the paper that held his wife's life in the depths of it's ink. He read over the paper, how many times, he was unsure. Grabbing the pen in his left hand, which was shaking uncontrollably, he took one last glance at Mannie, whose chest was slowly lifting up and down. He looked down at the paper, and signed her life away.
He stared at the paper one last time before handing it to the doctor, keeping his eyes on the ground. The doctor nodded, putting his hand on Odd's shoulder.
"I can only imagine how you are feeling right now. I know it may be hard, but I can assure you, Mr. Della Robbia, it is for the best." With that, the doctor walked out the door and into the hall, collecting a few nurses to get everything ready.
"Mr. Della Robbia, my name's Nikia, I'm here to take care of your wife. Did you all get to say your goodbyes?" The nurse looked around the room at the stale faces of her patients' visitors. None of them made a move or said a word, they all just stared at the woman lying in the bed. "Well, I suppose we will get on with this then, and then you all can say your goodbyes." The nurse walked over to the bed, and began detaching things from Mannie, IV's, and other things, but she left the heart monitor and breathing mask on. "Now when I take this breathing mask off and turn off this machine, that will be it, do you understand?" She turned around, and once again, there was no movement or sound. The brunette woman sighed and looked at the woman lying in the bed. 'What a waste...she was so beautiful..' Nikia turned her attention back towards the machines, and took in a deep breath, and pushed the button, turning off the machine.
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP.
BEEP BEEP BEEP.
BEEP BEEP.
BEEP BEEP.
BEEP BEEP.
BEEP.
BEEEEEEEEEP.
BEEEP.
Flatline.
"Take all the time you need. I am so sorry for your loss." The nurse placed her hand on Odd's shoulder, as he watched Mannie's body take it's final breath, and felt his body gravitate towards the floor in disbelief. She was gone. She was really...gone.
"No! No no no no!" He heard his daughters' voice crying out, as she started thrashing around in Avril's arms. "This isn't fair! You can't do this to me! You promised me you'd never leave me alone!" The girl ran to her mother's body and collapsed hugging her close. "You promised..." She whispered and clenched her eyes shut, as the tears flowed out, staining the sheets on her mothers' bed.
He could only hear the pounding of his heart in his head as he held his face in his hands. He failed her. He failed to protect the one and only true love in his life. And then...
BEEP.
BEEP.
BEEP. Aria lifted her head and looked over at the heart monitor, wiping her eyes, making sure her clouded eyes weren't deceiving her.
BEEP BEEP.
BEEP BEEP BEEP.
"There's no way..." Avril breathed as she pulled herself away from Ulrich as she also stared in disbelief.
"DOCTOR FERGUSON!" Odd's voice roared as he jumped onto his feet and ran out the door, and saw the doctor conversing with another standing in the hall. "Will you please care to explain to me why my wife's heart monitor is going insane when she's supposed to be dead." The doctor's eyes widened and he hurriedly rushed into the room, staring in disbelief. Odd followed in after him, and as soon as he took a step in, his wife sat up, taking in a deep breath as her eyes widened, looking around. Every breath she took in after that was deep and ragged, and she held her head as she felt it pounding. Odd's eyes widened, and he pushed past the doctor and sat on the edge of her bed. "M-mannie...?"
"Mom!?" Aria covered her mouth and stared at the frail woman in disbelief as she looked around the room at them, clearly confused.
"Wh-whe...who...?" She whispered, and Odd stared at her delicately with his chocolate brown eyes, taking in every one of her movements.
"Mannie, it's me.. Odd... your husband." He took her hand in his, and she almost immediately retracted it, looking at him, now with scared eyes. He took a step back off of the bed and turned to look at the others, and with a sigh he lifted his eyes to his daughter. "She doesn't remember."