Book 3: Winter
Episode 1: Replika
7th of Cassus
Replika was not half as beautiful as Lyoko. Even during the drought, Lyoko's beauty had shone through in its high peaks that scraped the very sky to its golden sand in the Ravenbow Canyon to its cold rushing rivers. Replika had suffered during the rebellion, and the blizzard had taken everyone by surprise. The Heroes were now freezing, so the first thing they did was buy warmer clothes—gloves, coats, scarves as well as blankets for both themselves and Rorkal. Jeremie sold the rings to a merchant; neither he nor Laura wished to be reminded of the engagement any more than they had to be.
Laura wove her fingers through her hair, turning it brown with illusion magic. She hoped this would be enough to prevent the residents from recognizing her as she went into the mayor's home to offer to draw wards. The wards would protect the village from the undead, since the tear in the Veil showed no signs of closing. She had drawn the wards inside and on the side of the aravel, as well as carving them into wooden pendants the Heroes now wore under their clothes.
Jeremie and Ulrich spoke quietly outside of the market, occasionally glancing towards the mayor's home nervously, fearful that Laura would be discovered. Jeremie caught sight of the other Heroes not too far away, waiting for the Fair to emerge. At this distance, Jeremie spotted Aelita's bare feet. He shook his head with a smile. She was stubborn, of that he was sure. In hopes he could change her mind though, he bought her a pair of boots lined with fur.
Laura appeared not long after, and she drew wards on the buildings that marked the outside of the town. Hopefully, those would be enough to keep out the zombies, but she had already warned the mayor of the dangers.
In return for protecting the town, the mayor had offered a small amount of gold and, at Jeremie's request, a map of Replika. Based on that map, the fastest route to Cortex would be on the Imperial Highway, but it would be crawling with soldiers. He looked over to Laura, knowing she would not want to continuously keep up her illusions. There appeared to be a secondary path that cut through the Adahlen Woods. He consulted Odd, but the Scout claimed he had not travelled any way other than the Highway, and he could not say for sure if the path truly led to Cortex.
With hope in his heart, he asked Aelita, remembering she had been in Replika for some time before. She recognized the name of the forest, and strangely it seemed to bother her. "Do you know what Adahlen means? It means 'forest'! We're going to travel through the Forest Woods!" She shook her head. "By the blood of the Creation Father! Why do humans do silly things like name people and places in different languages?"
Laughing, he suggested, "Maybe it makes us feel more cultured." Redirecting, he asked, "Do you know if this path leads to Cortex?"
She shook her head. "No, I've never been to Cortex." She shrugged. "Sorry."
"I guess we'll have to hope for the best." Jeremie said, and he took a deep breath in. "Oh, before I forget, I bought these for you at the market." He pulled the boots from his backpack, and handed them to her.
At first, she seemed confused. "Boots? You're giving me boots?" She asked. "Jeremie, I don't know if you've noticed, but I don't normally wear shoes. I can't see as well. Like you without your glasses, remember?"
He sighed, prepared for this. "I know, but if you aren't in contact with the earth, you wouldn't be able to see as well anyway, right?"
"Well, yes… but—" She was interrupted.
"With the blizzard, you won't be connected to the earth anyway. Do you really want to get frostbite on your feet?" He asked.
"I'm used to the cold. Actually, I like the feeling of being a little chilly."
"I know you do, but it's going to be a lot colder than 'a little chilly.'" He frowned. "Have you ever seen frostbite? If it goes untreated, your feet could simply fall off, or have to be amputated if they get infected."
She looked away for a moment. "One of the slaves at Arak-Muna was frostbitten on his hand. They killed him, rather than treat it."
Jeremie could say nothing for a while. "We wouldn't kill you if you were frostbitten, but it could be very dangerous." He said. "Please? It would mean a lot to me."
She sighed and took them from him. "I'll consider it."
"That's all I ask."
8th of Cassus
The Adahlen Woods were as cheery as the rest of Replika. The bare branches hung ominously, and rotting corpses were strung up for passersby to observe. The path was covered in snow since few people travelled that way after the Highway was built. The group had camped outside it the night before, unwilling to travel within and camp there.
They packed up camp, depressed at the idea of more snow to trek through. Aelita, who had apparently considered Jeremie's gift, had pulled on the boots he'd bought for her. "I'm wearing the boots. Are you happy?" She asked, sounding short tempered even though it was laced with obvious humor.
He wore a straight face. "Appeased."
Once everyone was packed up and dressed warmly the Heroes began their walk through the woods. The bare branches created sharp shadows on the snow, and the wind blew the icy crystals from their high perches into their faces. Every now and them, thunder would clap far away, reminding them that the Veil was torn.
Laura started shivering. "I sense a dark presence in these woods."
Aelita nodded. "I feel it too. But it doesn't feel like a spirit, or a walking corpse."
They kept their hands on their weapons, prepared for a fight. However, they walked for half an hour more without an attack. Laura and Aelita still seemed on edge, and as such the others were uncomfortable. Whenever Aelita and Laura were in agreement, calamity followed.
Odd suddenly drew an arrow and fired it at a nearby tree, though it bounced back, dispelling an illusion. A dark elf crouched in the branches, dressed completely in black, the symbol of House Kenval on his armor and a red piece of cloth masked the lower half of his face. He jumped down from the tree and drew his massive sword. With one hand he held it over his head, shouting, "Ar tu na'lin emma mi!"
Several drow joined him, and the Heroes drew their weapons. Jeremie ordered the others into formation, with Ulrich and Yumi taking on the leader.
Odd jumped onto the aravel, climbing to its roof to take on opponents from a higher vantage point. Aelita moved closer to Jeremie, using the snow and ice around her as offense. Laura used fire, though she sent healing spells at Ulrich and Yumi when the drow struck them. Jeremie tried his best to keep the drow away from the magician girls.
Ulrich ducked under the swipe, sending a sweeping kick at the drow's leg. The dark elf swiveled on his heel, trying his best to slice Yumi in half, though he only managed to slice through her obi and create a small cut on her abdomen. The cut healed magically, and in her head the Colonist thanked Laura. Yumi struck the dark elf's face with her bo staff, knocking him backwards. She then forced one end into the snow, spinning on the staff to kick him into the tree. Ulrich surged forward and sliced at the dark elf's throat, but the blood rushed for only a second before it flowed back inside and closed up.
The drow recovered quickly and used the stall created by their repulsion to slice at them. They jumped back just in time to keep from being cut in two. Aelita saw this and froze his feet in blocks of ice in an attempt to stall him. However, all it took was a single swing to shatter it. It was however, enough time for Yumi and Ulrich to recover from the sloppy dodge.
Sensing trouble, Jeremie helped the two girls with the rest of the drow soldiers. He directed Aelita to use her mastery of ice and earth to lead the soldiers along. Meanwhile Laura prepared fire and incinerated the drow when they stepped into her pre-determined line of fire. It worked very well, allowing the two magician girls to eliminate all the remaining, ordinary, drow soldiers and giving the Heroes the chance to focus all of their might on their leader.
Ulrich moved to slice at his arm while Yumi threw one of her Tessen fans, but he nimbly sidestepped both. The drow moved closer to Jeremie, who attempted to block his blow with his sword—they'd never found Barricade when he'd dropped it into the canyon. The drow's Zweihänder broke Jeremie's sword, but it did give the Wise Man enough time to jump out of the way. He sighed at the broken blade and moved quickly as the drow lunged at him again. Odd reached into a sack and threw Jeremie the gauntlet he and Aelita had found in the elvhen ruin.
Odd fired another arrow, but the drow caught it, intimidatingly snapping the arrow. Odd rapidly fired a series of arrows, but they missed as the dark elf dodged them. It gave Yumi enough time to trip him, but before Ulrich could jump in and finish him off, the dark elf pulled down the red cloth that had masked his face. Yumi and Ulrich gasped and jumped back.
Odd didn't waste time with shock and quickly jumped off the aravel, landing on William just as he started to pick himself up. Jeremie kicked away the drow's Zweihänder and the Heroes gathered around the pinned enemy. Laura almost cried. "Minerva's mercy, William! You're alive!" She called out. She tried to hug the dark elf, but Odd, who had gotten off of William and was now standing near his prone form, held her back.
"Laura, use your head. If this were really William, would he have attacked us? William was our friend!" Odd said, motioning to the drow before them. "If I had to guess, this is a clone or a doppelganger that Xana sent after us to trick us."
The tears in Laura's eyes began to leak down her face. "But what if it is William? We have a duty to help him, because he is our friend!"
The group looked at Jeremie. The Wise Man closed his eyes and pictured William's red eyes in his mind. At first the only thing he saw was darkness, but soon his mind filled with fire and splitting pain, but undeniably he saw the others standing above his vision. He forced his eyes open, and held his head in his hand. "That is William, but something is wrong." Jeremie confirmed. "I don't even know if he recognizes us."
"I remember you," William hissed, his voice distorted. He jumped up, kicking Laura's gut. The Fair keeled over, coughing. The Heroes reached for their weapons, but William was faster, calling his sword back to his hand with a cloud of darkness. He spun, though the teenagers jumped back to avoid the slice. The dark elf moved to decapitate Laura, but Jeremie stabbed the fallen Vanguard in the gut with the gauntlet's retractable blade. William staggered back, holding his gut. He growled like a dog, falling into the earth like a cloud of black dust. The dust fled their presence quickly, headed back in the direction of Lyoko.
Yumi helped Laura to her feet. "Are you alright, Princess?" She asked.
"I'm fine. Or I will be." She glared at Jeremie. "You said that he was dead!"
Jeremie took a defensive position. "I thought he was! I couldn't contact him at all. He was at least as good as dead."
Odd shuddered. "Xana must've ordered Dhaune to kidnap him." He looked to the ground. "Gods only know what happened to him after he disappeared."
"Or maybe William was always working with Xana. We were quick to point Yumi out as a conspirator, but William was just as inviting to her." Ulrich accused.
"That can't be true, lethallin," Aelita shook her head. "William was a victim, too. I cannot believe he would switch sides, or deceive us."
"I'm with Aelita on this one." Jeremie folded his arms. "I think he was likely tortured and brainwashed. That he remembers us at all means that he was told to view us as hostiles. Likely false ideas were planted in his head, probably to convince him that we're his enemy."
"What do we do now?" Yumi asked. "Is there any way to get the old William back?"
Jeremie shook his head. "I don't know. I'll read up on it, see what I can't dig up on brainwashing. In the meantime, we should be more careful. Dhaune studied us long enough to get some of our secrets, but we never stopped trusting William." He looked to his books, including a journal he'd kept secretly since Heartwood. If William was working with Xana, willingly or not, everything would have to be kept secret. They could no longer say where they were headed, and if they had to, they'd travel under cover of darkness. "We should keep moving if we want to get out of the woods before the sun sets." The group agreed, but no idle chatter filled the air as they walked.