Paris.

Always so lively—the heart of France, some called it. Although was that really an appropriate term? Perhaps not, perhaps the title had only been given because of how much life boomed throughout every square inch.

To accomplish the mission, the Warriors had to sneak off of campus in broad daylight—and that was a task that had proven most difficult. With as bright as the sun was shining, Jim could easily see miles across the courtyard—even into the depths of the forest. And oh, he was on the prowl.

It took a few different attempts—Yumi had successfully snuck off of the grounds her first try, with the boys simply drooling in disbelief at how she'd done it. Maybe it was linked to her heritage—being Japanese, Odd was convinced from then on she was secretly a ninja. And, needless to say, the other three were thankful detention was all they'd gotten. In a rush, they sprinted away from the fences that outlined the Academy as quickly as they could, before 'Jimbo' could catch them—again. Yumi only laughed.

For once in a lifetime, the gang was having trouble catching up to Jeremie. His heart was racing inside of his chest—part of him wanted to scream, he was so anxious, but the other part was holding back a grin—because he was also hopeful. The sun so bright and golden today, not a cloud in sight and the town and shops were all so…alive. How could anything go wrong today? Yes, he was convinced. This was it. The answer to the riddle—he'd go to that Eiffel Tower and he'd see her, pink hair shimmering under the sun's amber rays. He could picture it now, just how beautiful she'd be.

Well, perhaps not—she'd been gone for weeks now. Perhaps she was malnourished and thin. But it didn't matter! He would rescue her, and he'd take care of her and restore her health. And it would all happen today. He was so excited.

"Jeremie, slow down!" Ulrich cried out, but the blonde merely shook his head and scoffed.

"I'm not slowing down—we can't waste another second."

And it was true, there was no comeback to that—everyone was suffering from the loss of Aelita. Her smile, her optimism and her humor—her curiosity and love for knowledge, her intelligence and her generosity. It was something that group needed, because without it, there was just…fear. And constant anxiety. But although Ulrich, Odd and Yumi missed Aelita dearly, none of them could imagine just the toll it had taken on Jeremie. And yet, he seemed stronger than all of them. Hopeful and determined. Maybe Aelita's qualities had rubbed off on him.

"—Sheesh!" Odd gulped. "Look at that line!"

The others frowned upon their approach towards the famous landmark—the Eiffel Tower. That was the true heart—lying in the very center of the entire city. And at night, it was even more brilliant. But besides its height and its glimmering lights, there was one other thing the tower was known for. It's popularity.

The line looked like they would be waiting for at least an hour. In fact, sixty minutes was a long shot—they'd be lucky to have to stand on their toes for that little.

Jeremie groaned. "No—no! I don't have time for this."

The others frowned. None of them did. And Jeremie had seemed to twist things into being about him—as if he were the only one who cared about whether Aelita was saved or not. They bit their tongues, not wanting to aggravate the situation—after all; he was under as much stress as all of them. Jeremie sighed, turning to face the group.

"What now?" Yumi questioned, her shoulders shrugging.

They stood in silence. The only solution was to wait. "We have to get up there," the blonde replied.

She nodded. "Yeah—but do we really want to wait?"

"Want to? Probably not," Odd joined in. "But—what else would we do?"

"Climb?"

"I'm surprised you, of all people, suggested that one Ulrich."

"Not to mention," Yumi retorted, "the police might shoot us right down from it. I don't think they'd be too happy, seeing that."

"I don't care about the police."

The others turned their heads to Jeremie, who remained frozen in the center of the sidewalk, fists rapidly clenching at his waist. Yumi cocked her head to the side—but maybe it was understandable as to why he was so bitter towards authorities all of the sudden.

"Why?" Odd asked.

"Why?" He snapped his heads towards the small boy. "Why do you think, huh? It's because of them—because of them that Aelita isn't here."

"Jeremie, you can't say that."

He sighed. "Maybe not. It doesn't matter. We're wasting time—let's go."

And so they hopped in line.

And it moved very slowly—and there were one too many occasions where some small child screamed in Odd's ear while clinging to their mother's neck, or where a rude tourist tried to squish their way to the front. None of the adolescents could understand just why everyone loved this damned tower so much.

"So—what do we do when we go up there?" The brunette asked, peering in towards the group standing in front of him. "I mean, is she just gonna be standing there? Holding up a sign with her kidnapper that says 'Hey, here I am?'"

"I doubt he would give her away that easily," Yumi nodded along.

"Well what do you expect?" Jeremie mocked. "I'm just following his dumb riddle! He said at the highest point in France."

"Jeremie," Yumi rested a hand on his shoulder, lowering her voice to a whisper. "I know you're upset. We all are—don't forget that. Aelita is our friend too. But I think that you should try to calm yourself, and think logically. Are we going to waste the time and money to get to the top of this stupid tower and honestly expect to see her just standing there, waiting for us to take her?"

The blonde's fists clenched—she was right. And he hadn't really put too much cognitive thinking into this whole situation. He was just desperate to get her back—and truthfully, wasn't putting as much effort as was required towards the riddle.

"The riddle," Odd continued on, "didn't say the highest point of France."

"Right." Ulrich nodded. "It said the highest point of the lowest point—and it mentioned your name, something about how you would understand-"

"-That I would understand there's more than meets the eye. But what does that mean?"

The group took a gracious step backwards, staring at the scrawny child before them. Odd raised his eyebrows in confusion, wondering what had caused them to leap back so suddenly and peer into his very soul. Or at least, that's what it felt like.

"I'd say there's more to Odd than meets the eye," Yumi smiled.

"Yeah…" Jeremie agreed. "Because he's so small—"

"Hey, you're not exactly a giant yourself, Einstein!"

"—I was talking. Because he's so small, so at first glance, that's all you see. A skinny little kid. But then you get to know him."

"And you see that he's funny, and caring and sweet." Yumi coincided. "And that with as skinny as he looks, he's still pretty tough."

"And annoying," Ulrich jokingly added.

"So…" Odd shrugged. "Mind telling me what you're doing? How does picking on me help Aelita?"

"We aren't picking. We're observing—you're a part of the riddle, Odd. There's more to you than meets the eye, and you know that because all people do is call you small."

"Uh—huh…"

"Which means…" Jeremie tapped his chin. "That there is more to this riddle than meets the eye."

"So Aelita must not actually be at the top of this tower," Yumi's eyes widened.

"No! But the riddle did mention that she was located in the highest point of all of France. But rather, the lowest point of that point. Which means…"

"—Wait!" Ulrich cried. "I know this—because I actually studied for my History exam last week!"

The others tuned into his words, listening intently.

"In World War II, there were a lot of underground bunkers built for the Nazi soldiers to camp out in. There are some located all over France—right beneath our feet," he gasped, glancing down towards the ground. "Which means…"

"Which means Aelita has to be down there! That's it—that has to be it!"

But there was no time for cheering—not just yet. Because even if that were the true answer to the riddle, how would they go about reaching her?

"But how do we get down there?" Yumi pouted.

"I don't know," Jeremie sighed—his sudden look of excitement dwindling away to one of disappointment. "But at least we know where she is."

"We could tell the police."

Jeremie narrowed his eyes. "I don't trust any of them. How do we know one of them isn't one of this guy's spies? And if we tell him where we think Aelita is, all he'll do is contact his boss and move her elsewhere."

"He's right."

"Then what do we do?"

"We go back to the factory. And we figure something out."