Episode 3: the Burning City
In a matter of minutes, Capital Lyoko had gone from a prosperous city to a flaming ruin. Everyone hurried for the docks, frantic to secure a spot on an outgoing boat for their families. Opportunists used this to make coin, cheating families out of their entire life's savings. And they paid these outlandish prices, because after all, who could put a price on life? William tried his best to root out these people, but too many people were left with nothing. Too many people ran from the docks to find another way out of the city. Chaos was abounding.
Laura argued with her father, who wanted her on a boat. She blatantly refused, claiming it was her destiny to stay and fight. "Minerva's mercy, Laura; even if you are some Hero of legend, are you truly saving anyone if you stay and fight? You'll die!" The King argued.
"If we do not stand and fight these villains, we'll all die!" She argued. The King tried to order guards to put her on a ship, but when they neared her, she summoned fire and created distance enough for her to flee, with William ever on her tail. They exchanged hasty glances, and hoped that the others fared better.
Ulrich wandered around the noble's district, making as much noise as he could. Whenever possible, he threw rocks at windows, breaking them to cause a stir within otherwise dark houses. Nobles, he'd concluded, were some of the thickest people he'd ever met. And he was glad that he didn't know many of them.
With a huge crash, part of Lyoko's wall tumbled down, crushing many noble's homes, and Ulrich hoped that they weren't as thick as to sleep through repeated strikes on the wall. Dark elves climbed over the rubble, and Ulrich realized that he could never take on that many. He leapt over the gate of a home, and saw far too late that he approached the Delmas estate. He broke the lock anyway, and barricaded the door. Sissi, during one of their parents' repeated attempts to bring them together, had mentioned an escape that leads to the Market District. He pushed rugs and pictures up off the floor and off the walls, searching for the escape route. "Ulrich dear?" A feminine voice behind him called, and Ulrich spun with his katanna drawn. He relaxed when he saw it was Sissi.
"First things first, Delmas," Ulrich said, sheathing his blade. "I'm not your 'Ulrich dear.' Secondly, I need you to show me to the escape hatch. You should wake your parents and escape with them, while I'm thinking of it." He instructed.
"My parents aren't here," Sissi grinned. "If you come with me, I'll show you the escape and more." She flirted shamelessly.
He rolled his eyes. "I don't have time for this, Sissi. Lyoko is under attack!" Ulrich shouted. Voices could be heard from the other side of the barricade. Ulrich ushered Sissi to the stairs, and he drew his katanna. Two drow soldiers forced their way through the door. Ulrich engaged them, taking the first one on head on, their swords clacking as they parried. The second soldier tried to attack Ulrich from behind, but Ulrich kicked him with a flourish, sending him face-first into the railing on the stairs. Sissi screeched, and she pulled a sword off the wall. Sissi stabbed the unconscious drow while Ulrich disarmed his opponent and drove his katanna through his gut. Ulrich saw more drow running towards them. "Sissi, more are coming! Grab that sword and show me to the escape hatch!" He ordered.
Sissi complied, struggling as she tried to remove the sword from the dead elf's throat. She ran up the stairs while Ulrich sliced at the dark elves that tried to attack them. Sissi led him to her father's study, and while she tried to open the hatch behind the bookshelf. Ulrich tried his best to protect the noble's daughter. One of the drow poured lantern oil on the floor, and then dropped a match in it. The wooden floors quickly lit, and Sissi screamed. Ulrich ran and opened the hatch himself, and he threw the noble through it. He ran through the drow who approached the escape hatch, and then jumped inside when they were all dead.
Sissi grabbed a torch from the wall. "What's going to happen to us?" She asked, her voice shaking from fear.
"You're going to the docks to get on a boat out of this gods-forsaken city," Ulrich ordered, sheathing his katanna and taking the torch. "I'm going to find my friends, and we're going to try our best to stop this from going any further."
Odd watched the sky as the smoke plumed. He noticed the moon, and he took note that it was a few days from being full. He grabbed a couple of pots from a porch and clapped them, causing as much noise as he could. His parents were among those fleeing, and they tried to convince him to flee with him. "No, please. Save your tears, guys," He said, holding his mother's chin up. She looked down at her feet. "Don't worry about me, Mom. I promise that I'll survive. Get yourselves to safety."
He waved good-bye to his parents while directing the others out of the district. Odd saw a statue fall from the wall, and it landed on top of a crowd. He rushed toward them, and he tried to help some of the victims out from under the fallen statue. One of his sisters, Marie, appeared to have been crushed in the fall. She wasn't moving. Odd rushed to her, and she didn't even flinch. He checked her pulse, but couldn't find it. He hung his head, mourning her, and he grabbed coins from his pocket and put them on her eyes.
A sudden rain of arrows fell, and he jumped away. He drew an arrow, and he fired it. Even at a distance, it hit on of the drow archers in the eye. He killed the others in a similar way, nearly taking an arrow to the knee when one of the newer recruits misfired in panic. He searched the wall for more archers, but finding none, he studied the arrow. "Any closer and this could've destroyed my career as an adventurer." He noted. He placed it in his quiver, for it was of fine make. He said a prayer for his family, and then searched for more survivors.
Yumi could see another ship as it sailed towards the overseas Lyoko territory. Living near the coast had given many of the other families in her neighborhood an opportunity to flee on their own ships, and some were even kind enough to allow others on their ship. Yumi had, like the others, run home and gathered her things, and was now armed to the teeth. She was headed now towards the Market District, feeling in her bones that she was supposed to go there.
She felt something tug at her skirt. "Yumi! Don't go!" A little boy demanded.
Yumi turned. "Hiroki, what are you doing here? Why aren't you with Mom and Dad?" She asked, getting down on eye level with her younger brother.
"You'll get yourself killed! Please, you have to escape with us!" Hiroki pleaded.
"Don't fuss over me, little brother. There are more important things on the line than my life. Go, now." Yumi said, hugging him. He lingered in her arms a moment to long, and then screamed. Yumi realized they were being attacked and used herself as a human shield to protect her brother. A lightning bolt struck her shoulder, which hurt immensely, but she fought through it.
Yumi targeted her foes. There were four of them, including the magician who had struck her. There were two soldiers and an archer. She threw three kunai at the magician, striking in his chest. He stumbled back, though he didn't seem to be dead. She used this opportunity to hide her brother in a crevice between two fallen buildings. The soldiers attacked, and Yumi drew her bo staff. She twirled it so rapidly even the arrows from the archer could not penetrate it. She grinned, and took on the soldiers. The first was easily deposed of through three strikes to his face, but upon doing so, her staff broke.
But Yumi was not unprepared. She reached behind her and pulled her Tessen fans from her obi. She flicked them open, and she taunted the soldier. The soldier tried to strike her skull with his mace, but Yumi was more skilled. She blocked his attack with her arms, struck his neck with her iron fan and then, as he stumbled away, she kicked his jaw. He fell to the ground, and Yumi stomped on his neck, snapping it.
She spun around quickly, blocking an arrow with her fan. Yumi locked eyes with the archer, who now stood between her and the magician. Her shoulder still throbbing, Yumi fought the pain and threw her fans, striking his neck on both sides, essentially killing him. But now, she was left with no further weapons, except kunai, but she didn't enjoy using those.
The magician used his bleeding chest as a power source, and he raised his fallen comrades. Yumi jumped inside the open window of the Fukui estate. She ran around inside, and she locked a door when she found a suitable hiding place. She bandaged her aching shoulder, and looked around. She found a Nihonjin sickle with an iron weight and chain in a weapons case, and she spun it around. She'd never really used chain weapons before, but it wouldn't take long to master if her life was on the line.
The reanimated corpses broke down the door, and Yumi spun the chain to disarm them. She knocked them off their feet, and one by one she smashed the heads of the zombies using the sickle.
She flipped her hair back, and she searched for the magician. She dropped the sickle and grabbed her fans, and soon learned that the magician was gone. Yumi sighed, and she sheathed her fans. "Hiroki, you can come out now." She called, approaching the crevice. But Hiroki was gone. She panicked, and realized that the magician had kidnapped her brother. She leaned against the fallen building, ashamed of her failure and panicked for her brother.
Unlike the others, Aelita did not have to warn the elves. They lived near the city gates and heard the fighting just as it begun. She instead packed up her things, and she helped escort anyone who needed it away from the burning walls. She saw a child struggling under a fallen statue. She ran to him, and when she could not pull him out, she took three steps back and summoned her magic.
Aelita had a deep and complex understanding of old magic. She could manipulate stone, ice and plant life, as well as summon animal spirits from Bellanaris, meaning 'eternity', what the wild elves called the realm of spirits. She focused on the marble statue, and she lifted it up off the ground. The child crawled out, but his leg was so damaged that he couldn't stand. Aelita picked him up, and she looked sadly at his leg. "What is your name?" She asked.
The boy pushed his brown hair from his face. "My name is Johnny," He said, holding her neck for dear life.
Aelita held out her hand, her palm facing out. "Elgar'halla bellanaris," she called, summoning a deer from Bellanaris. It appeared at her command, and it bowed respectively as she placed Johnny on its back. "This deer is a friend. He will take you to the docks, and there you can find a doctor and a ship out of the city." She bid the deer to stand. Johnny was amazed at the spirit—clearly it was incorporeal, but still it supported his weight. "Dareth shiral, da'len," She said, and she ordered the deer to run.
Jeremie had not found his father. In fact, he hadn't found anyone. He grabbed his mithril chain shoulder piece, and he found his mother's old shield, Barricade. He strapped the shoulder piece on and the shield to his back. He grabbed valuable books from the bookshelf, like the Book of Dreams and the Warrior's enchiridion, as well as several others. He stored them in his bag, and he rushed down the stairs to find himself surrounded not by drow but monsters. Some were small and yellow, resembling cockroaches. Others were large and red, like crabs. "These are dark elf constructs!" He exclaimed, his scholar roots taking hold. He jumped when one of the crab-like constructs tried to stab him. He drew his sword and shield. He carried the shield with his left arm, as he carried his sword with his right. He sliced at the monsters, striking at the symbols on their heads on the smaller monsters, and wounding the legs of those taller than him.
When he saw an opening, he ran, for he was not a fool. He ran straight into a cube-shaped monster, which fired a laser at his shoulder. Luckily it struck mithril, and Jeremie punched the monster with all his strength using his left hand. He may not have been strong, but mithril was stronger than steel, and his punch no doubt caused the construct a lot of pain.
He was forced into a market stall by another laser that struck him in the back. He sat in pain, and he turned. One of the red crabs had stalked him. Out of nowhere Ulrich jumped on it, and he drove his katanna into the symbol on its head. When the monster fell, Ulrich jumped into the market stall and helped Jeremie bandage his wounds. "Belpois, I think you need more practice." The Mercenary joked.
Jeremie rolled his eyes. "I'm the son of a scholar, not a fighter." He justified.
"If we survive all of this, I'll give you some pointers." Ulrich said. They stood, and they soon saw that they were surrounded by drow and constructs. "So much for those pointers," Ulrich sighed.
A column fell onto the ambush, killing all but one of the roaches. A rock launched at it, sending it down into the well. "You boys looked like you were in a bit of trouble. I hoped I didn't spoil your fun." A feminine voice teased. Aelita peaked around the market stall, smiling.
Jeremie sighed with relief. "You have no idea how much trouble we were in. Ulrich couldn't have taken on that many opponents, and I am…" His voice trailed off.
"Almost completely useless in a fight," Ulrich finished. He patted Aelita's shoulder. "Nice save there, kitten." He complimented. Her smile grew.
Aelita looked to Jeremie. "Maybe we should call the others. I don't think there's anyone left in the city, unless we want to go searching through the sewers." She said.
Odd, who had run up just in time to hear this, laughed despite being almost out of breath. "Who would willingly go through the sewers? That's just gross," He joked.
She shrugged. "I hear it is a wonderful way to get around without being seen." She said.
Jeremie closed his eyes, contacting Yumi, Laura and William. "The others are almost here. I don't think we should go far."
Ulrich looked around at the abandoned stalls. "We should gather as many supplies as we can. I don't think we're getting out of this city on a boat, and the merchants won't mind us… borrowing these things." He said, collecting potions off the shelves. He also grabbed a backpack.
"Normally, I wouldn't condone stealing, but this is hardly stealing, isn't it?" Jeremie said. He started walking, though with an obvious limp. "Aelita, you're a magician, right? You must be, seeing as how you toppled the column. Are you a healer?"
"By the Creator, no!" She exclaimed, shaking her hands. "You don't want me to heal you. Whenever I try, something goes… wrong. If you need any more stone columns toppled, or if you need a tree or something, however, I'm here." She laughed nervously.
He smiled weakly. "We'll probably need food, tents, a map and potions. Split up, but don't go too far." Jeremie ordered, and the three other teens began searching the stalls.
Laura and William appeared soon after, and the princess ran to Jeremie's side. "Are you injured?" She asked. He nodded, and she began healing his wound. "I'm sorry it took so long for us to get here. We had to push past hordes of people, and many of the main walkways are blocked." She looked up for a brief moment to find Aelita staring at her. Even at a distance, she could feel the malice. Laura smirked, and kept healing. "You should be alright, for now."
"Thank you, Laura." He stood, his pain dimmed.
William spoke next. "How long do we have before they find us here?" He asked.
"Not long. Aelita crushed a lot of them under this column," the Wise Man said, and William took a step away from it. "There aren't just drow in this army. They've created constructs."
Laura didn't seem surprised. "My father spoke of their use of constructs in the Surface War. I'm not surprised they've resorted to blood magic again." She said.
Finally, Yumi stumbled into the market, bleeding through her bandages and dark eyes puffy from crying. Both William and Ulrich ran to catch her as she stumbled, but it was Ulrich who managed to catch her. Laura prepared to heal her shoulder. "The dark elves took Hiroki. I can't believe it. Gods, I told him to go with Mom and Dad! Why didn't he listen?" She cried, and the others comforted her.
No one tried to compete for who felt the most pain. What was worse—to lose someone who had been in your arms only moments earlier, or to find them dead, or to not find them at all? They mourned together.
Laura broke the silence. "I've healed your shoulder, Yumi." She said, and she looked to the others. "We can't go to the docks. They're running out of ships."
"Is there another way out of the city?" Aelita asked.
William nodded. "My family home has a secret passage that leads out to the Scarwood Forest." He said, helping Ulrich bring Yumi to her feet. "It is a bit of a walk, but I don't think the dark elves will attack us there."
Yumi stood up, brushing off the boys. With Yumi on her feet and supplies in tow, the teens began their trip to the Dendar estate.
A/N: For those of you who question it, yes, it is totally possible for a bo staff to block arrows when in the hands of a master. Yumi is the resident weapons' master, so it is possible for her to spin it at a high enough speed to deflect arrows. Her fan is made of iron, which can also deflect arrows, though the argument could be made that it isn't as effective.