Chapter 8
"Ulrich, speak to me! Please!"
The voice was familiar. Ulrich stirred slowly, trying to remember where he was.
"Come on, Ulrich, get up!"
Yumi?
Ulrich pried an eye open and looked up. It was Yumi – and the last time she'd looked anything that worried was after he'd let her drink his blood.
Speaking of blood, he didn't smell any. Return trip, of course. "Did we get 'im?" he mumbled.
"You mean Xana? We got him, all right," Jeremy replied, leaning over Yumi's shoulder to grin down at Ulrich. "I just wish I could have watched."
"Be glad you didn't, it was a disaster," Yumi told him. "We needed you, Ulrich."
"Glad to hear it," Ulrich growled, struggling to sit up. "Where...wait, why couldn't you watch, Jer?"
"Akem Manah was straightening out what the Xanafied Elder Mandy had done to me. Should I be worried about that, Yumi?"
Ulrich's eyebrows lifted. Jeremy had named two vampire Elders in one breath without reeking of fear. Whatever Akem Manah did, it worked.
Yumi shrugged. "I don't know. He's an Elder; they're unpredictable." She considered for a moment and added, "Probably not, though – he seemed to be acting out of spite to Xana, not because anyone asked him, and that makes a difference."
Ulrich snorted. Then he looked around and saw that they were sitting in the shrubs outside the gym. "How did I get here?"
"You don't remember?" Yumi asked. "My guess is you instinctively knew you were going to pass out, so you decided to do it in relative privacy."
"You missed gym class, by the way," Jeremy added.
"Good." Ulrich heaved himself up to his feet and staggered off-balance, his head reeling.
"What happened at the school while we were on Lyoko, anyway?" Yumi asked, putting out a hand to steady him.
Memories flashed before Ulrich's eyes: the blood-drenched pavement, the shrieking vampire, the undead student army clawing at him… "Trust me: you really don't want to know."
The door to his dorm swung open and an envelope fell on his head. "Mail call," Jim's voice said. Then the door closed.
Ulrich's nose twitched. The letter smelled like his dad.
Right, like I want to read anything my dad sent me… He sat up and opened the envelope anyway.
Ulrich, I expect this to reach you in good health, and I want to remind you that you are expected at the Lunar Gathering this full moon…
"That was this month?" Ulrich yelped in horror. He jumped off the bed and went crashing out in search of Jeremy.
He found not only Jeremy but the rest of the Lyoko warriors assembled by the snack machines.
"Ulrich, you shouldn't be up yet!" Aelita protested to his arrival.
"Problem," Ulrich gasped, settling heavily against the doorway. "There's basically a werewolf family reunion next week on the full moon, and my dad expects me to attend."
The other warriors stared at him for a moment.
"How big of a problem is this?" Jeremy finally asked.
Ulrich shrugged. "Worst part for you guys is I won't be available if Xana attacks then. It's mostly my problem. I think my dad's trying to set me up with a girl."
Yumi hissed.
"So, uh, how would you get around that?" William asked.
"Don't know…"
"Hey, bring Yumi!" Odd said cheerfully. "We're always after you to…"
Ulrich interrupted him. "Odd, did I really just hear you suggest that I bring a vampire to a werewolf gathering?"
Odd stood there with his mouth open for a second. "O-kaaayyyy…bad idea." Thinking for a little longer, he added, "Sissi?"
"No. Definitely not. She has problems with the supernatural, and even if I warned her ahead of time I'd still be setting her, and myself, up for a lot of trouble."
"Would bringing a date at all be a problem?" Jeremy asked.
"I doubt it. It would certainly ward off any wolf girls trying to latch onto me."
Yumi unclenched her fangs. "Emily's a werewolf."
"Is she? I didn't notice." Or maybe he had, and that was why they'd started talking then. "No, I don't want to bring Emily."
Aelita spoke. "I'll go with you."
Ulrich and Jeremy both stared at Aelita in surprise.
"Elder Akem said that my mother was the prisoner of werewolves. Someday when I'm old enough I want to at least try to save her, or at least find out what happened to her. In order to do that, I need to understand werewolves. And I'd rather observe werewolves with an ally close at hand."
Ulrich considered the determined girl in pink. Aelita's argument made perfect sense, and she was volunteering, and she didn't have any family to miss her if things completely went south, but…
Suddenly Yumi's voice echoed through his skull. If Jeremy doesn't mind that you're taking his girl on a wolf date, I see no reason why I should complain.
Ulrich glanced at Jeremy. He seemed to be struggling with himself.
Finally, Jeremy sighed. "If I tell you not to go, you'll just go anyway, won't you?"
Aelita smirked. "Try and stop me."
"Fine…but be very careful and do what Ulrich tells you to. I don't…I don't want you to get hurt."
Aelita kissed Jeremy's cheek. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."
Odd shook his head and rolled his eyes at William, who spun a finger next to his temple. Yumi crept up behind them and gave both clowns a knock on the head. This resulted in an argument between Odd and Yumi, and William chose to make tracks.
"So, what should I wear?" Aelita asked, standing next to Ulrich.
Ulrich shrugged. "Ask Emily; she might know what's 'in' for wolf girls this year."
He just hoped everything really would be fine.
A/N: Two chapters in a row, in as many days! Not bad, right?
