Book 4: Spring

Episode 1: Asunder

5th of Eluviesta

The city was in chaos.

Lyoko's legionnaires stormed the city streets, but even these well-trained soldiers were no match for the drow and their constructs. Explosions went off in the distance, so loud that the earth trembled beneath the sound. Buildings crumbled, and he looked to his friends. All six were affected by the falling building, and all but two of them vanished as he began to fall back into the water. One of the remaining Heroes rushed towards him, but their face he could not identify. They swam towards him, but he felt something strike his head. His head felt light, and the water turned red as his vision went dark.

Jeremie woke slowly, and while his head felt heavy, he dismissed the notion that it was a vision. Visions always caused him to wake suddenly, so this, he assumed, was simply a nightmare. He'd been plagued with them a long time ago, after his mother had died, and again shortly after returning from the vampire's den, but he supposed the pressure of the upcoming battle could be negatively affecting his state of mind.

He sat up slowly, noticing again Aelita's disappearance. He wasn't surprised; she was nervous too, and had likely returned to her cabin to speak with her parents. Jeremie stood and dressed quickly in his underarmor, and then looked at the armor Laura had provided for him—a heavy steel cuirass, simple pauldrons, a gorget with Lyoko's symbol as a relief upon it, cuisse to protect his thighs, greaves and finally boots. It took a long time, but Jeremie was able to dress in his armor. He attached his oricalcum sword to his belt, and fixed his shield to his back.

He opened his door and walked down the hall to the ship. They'd taken one of Lyoko's war ships, as opposed to the Skidbladnir. While Captain LeDuc had been kind to them, they did not wish to involve her further. He heard the voices of his friends in a common room, and he pushed the door open.

Yumi had changed from her finery into more sturdy protection. She wore traditional Nihonjin armor, as did Ulrich. They wore iron cuirasses, sabatons, spaulders, faulds, and gauntlets. Ulrich's twin katanas were attached to his back, and Yumi had, as always, hidden her weapons expertly away out of sight. Odd wore leather armor similar to Jeremie's, though he still wore his clawed gauntlets and he'd pulled a purple hood over his head. Under his armor, one could see the purple of his clothes. Aelita dressed in fancy, heavy robes, with green painted leather decorating her legs, arms, hips and her chest. She smiled when she saw him, and moved to stand closer.

"It's a good thing that the winds are in our favor." Ulrich said as he sat down in a chair. "It only took us a few days to reach Capital Lyoko."

"Carthage is closer to Capital Lyoko anyway," Jeremie said as he leaned against the wall. "It would've taken us just a few more days to reach here had the winds not favored us."

"Well, hopefully that doesn't matter." Yumi stretched. "I just hope that we catch them off guard. I'm sure they aren't expecting such a large attack so soon."

Jeremie chuckled. "That's true, I suppose. We need a frontal, expected attack like I need a hole in the head."

Before they could continue, Laura entered. She wore fancy robes, though over them she wore a heavy mithril cuirass and gorget, fancy designs carved and relieved onto the metal. Over the armor, she wore a golden medallion with the owl of Minerva depicted upon it. Her hair was tied up, gold and pearls woven into it, and from her ears, pearls dangled. She carried a long staff, much like the one often depicted in painting of kings, showing their earthly power. Yumi, Odd, Jeremie, and reluctantly, Ulrich bowed to her. Empress Laura adjusted her crown nervously, as if she were uncomfortable wearing it. "Well," She announced, motioning with her hand for her friends to rise, "Here we are. The final battle."

Aelita shifted nervously. "I don't know. There is something in the air… this feeling seems to lack… finality." She whispered, so quietly that only Laura could hear. The other mage agreed, but she could not turn the ships around now, or she would look a spineless coward.

"It has been an honor serving with all of you." Yumi said, smiling.

"I'll drink to that!" Odd smiled as well. The whole group was now smiling, but yet there was an uneasy atmosphere; it felt all too similar to the eye of a terrible storm.

Laura looked to the side, her smile fading. From the porthole, the waves were so turbulent that the blue could not be seen. Instead the white-capped waves churned, rocking the boat uneasily from side to side. She'd prayed all morning for Neptune to calm his waves, yet it seems her prayers went unheeded. She fiddled with the golden rings that decorated her fingers, and though she heard her friends calling her name, her mind was too far away to face them. She walked to the porthole, her heeled boots clapping against the wooden floor. The room had fallen silent. As Laura looked out over the ocean, the water turned red. This red was as red as could be, like a rich wine or… or blood. The sky grew dark and stormy but no rain fell, in its place came a hundred arrows, their tips burning. She saw men who had lived through twenty battles each fall in place, and while many survived, the blood of the water pulled at her heart, trying to drag it beneath the waves.

Something sinister began to whisper to her, and she looked at her hands. They were caked in dried blood, and then more began to drip onto them. Laura looked up, and she saw her father hanging upside-down from the ceiling, his intestines bleeding onto her. She wished to run but she could not, and the whispers grew to quiet speaking. She looked back to her hands; they were clean again, but the color of blood had painted her fingernails. The voice urged her to reach for her dagger, so she did. She pressed it to her palm, and after twisting it, her own blood fell out.

"Your Majesty!" A voice behind her shouted, and Laura spun around. Her friends were gone, though it seemed that they might have tried to pull her from her foresight before doing so. Mathieu Ducrocq, one of the knights of Lyoko, had bowed. Laura looked to the dagger and the blood on her hand. She hid the dagger in her belt and healed the small cut she'd created. She bid her new bodyguard to stand, and he did so. "Your Majesty, we approach the docks of Lyoko."

"Thank you, Sir Mathieu. I shall go to the other Heroes and hear the plan of attack." The Fair Empress said, and she walked out of the common room, her back straight and her head held high. Mathieu waited only a few seconds before he followed her.

As Laura shielded her eyes upon reaching the top deck, she noticed how grey the sky had become. She prayed that her vision was wrong, and that the grey skies meant only that rain was to come. Laura looked about and found Jeremie, who had not yet noticed her. Aelita, who stood at his side, had seen her however, though her expression did not change. The Empress looked to Mathieu, who looked to her as well, before she proceeded up the stairs to meet Jeremie.

The plan he proposed was simple: leave as much fighting to the legionnaires as possible, find a way to breach the walls of Maera, and then recapture the city. The Heroes were to divide into three teams of two, and from there they were to take a different section of the city with a small compliment of knights. Unsurprisingly, Jeremie and Aelita had decided to go together as they searched the markets and temples, and after shooting an uneasy glance at the Mercenary, Yumi elected to take Odd with her to the Nihonjin sector. This left Ulrich and Laura to search through the nobles' district and the Royal Palace. Sir Mathieu, sworn to Laura's service and protection, was to go with them, as well as two other knights. The other two groups also took three knights each, though none knew their names.

Laura shot one last look at the sky, and then looked towards the city. In the distance, she could swear that she saw her father. She banished him from her mind. His memory, she decided, would not haunt her.

Most of the damage to the city had been done months ago, for it seemed once the city had been taken, the drow had seen no need to destroy it further. Perhaps Xana intended to make a fort of it? In any case, it seemed very simple to navigate the streets, albeit Ulrich occasionally had to help the Empress climb over fallen columns. The legionnaires backed them diligently, their armor and their weapons shimmering ever so slightly from the glow of nearby mushrooms. Laura saw them to be similar to the ones they saw in Halamshiral, though these glowed. The drow must have brought them up from the Underdark.

"So…" Laura said, awkwardly examining the staff in her hands. It was heavier and longer than the magic wands she was used to, but the Royal Armorer had said that it provided better protection. "…this route is… pretty… quiet? Ever since we recaptured the docks and separated from the others, the drow have largely ignored us."

Ulrich huffed. "They won't for much longer now that you've said it." He mumbled. He looked over his shoulder. "We're getting closer to the castle now. Make sure you're ready to fight." Laura seemed uneasy, but eventually she nodded and held her staff closer. Suddenly one of the legionnaires pushed her back, and she could hardly see beyond his mighty shield. Ulrich drew his blades, and the other two legionnaires readied their spears. "I heard it, too. It sounds like constructs. That shouldn't be too difficult for us." The Mercenary said to the others.

He scanned the paths that surrounded them. If dark elves did anything right, it was set up an ambush. The paths near the marketplace, notorious for their twistedness, left him unable to determine where the sound was coming from. He closed his eyes briefly and listened harder, and yet, the sound of metal still seemed to come from all around.

Ulrich's eyes snapped open, and he grabbed the shield arm of the legionnaire protecting Laura. He twisted him into what surely was an uncomfortable position, but it saved all their lives, as the shield protected their flank when the hornet constructs began to fire from above. "Laura, take them out!" He ordered, and she pointed the tip of her staff at them. Fire burst out, incinerating the metal insects.

Yet, he still heard the constructs. He scanned all around him, but he could find nothing. One of the legionnaires turned and shouted for his attention. Six armored crabs stalked toward them from the north. "Ulrich, more are coming!" Laura declared, and he turned to look at her. He followed her finger to see four tarantula-esque constructs marching towards them, though these were machines Ulrich had never seen before. Another group of constructs, snake-like in structure with fleshy legs, slithered closer.

Ulrich started to run, and as he was about to order the others to follow him, he had to freeze. Dark mist washed around his feet, then grew and took the shape of a man. No, he realized a second too late, it took the shape of William. Ulrich barely had enough time to block the dark elf's incoming strike before he had fallen to the ground.

William laughed, almost drunkenly, though his laughter stopped when a burst of flames nearly burned off his ear. He looked up to Laura, who had pointed her staff at him. He frowned, but his drunken smile returned when he saw how she quaked in his presence. William stomped on Ulrich's chest, and the Mercenary shouted in pain. Laura, obviously disturbed, took a step back, while Sir Mathieu took a step forward to protect her.

The fallen Vanguard laughed drunkenly, and he propped his sword on his shoulders as he stalked closer. "Lovely to see you, my lady." He said, his voice husky and strange, as if it came from someplace otherworldly.

William raised his sword, and Sir Mathieu ducked behind his shield, Laura holding desperately to his arm. However, the two never made contact, as Ulrich stepped in the way of the zweïhander's path. The massive sword was stopped by Ulrich's katanas. He shot a quick glance at the knight before he kicked William, as so not to break his swords. Sir Mathieu understood his taciturn way, and he turned to the legionnaires. "Quickly, all of you! We must get Her Majesty the Empress away from here! Go, now!"

Laura seemed shocked. "What? No!" However, her safety took precedence over her orders, and the knight grabbed her and dragged her away. She shot a look at Ulrich, who had now taken sole responsibility in defeating her fallen bodyguard.

Ulrich, after confirming the legionnaires had secured Laura's safety, turned his attention back to William. The dark elf eyed him intimidatingly, but the Mercenary was not daunted. The two charged, their swords clashing in a loud manner. Soon, Ulrich realized that William's actions fell into a predictable pattern, one he was sure he could exploit. Parry, strike, block, parry, dodge, strike… until finally he impacted, slicing at William's arm, tearing through his light armor and causing a lot of blood to gush out. Ulrich, knowing that William was far stronger than him, took this opportunity to run, jumping over fallen columns to maximize his speed. He shot a quick glance over his shoulder, and with horror obvious on his face, he saw that William's darkness was catching up to him.

He cursed, both for his pursuer and for the fact that, in his haste to defeat William, he had forgotten about the constructs, meaning that even if he shook William, fourteen other monsters roamed the city in search of the legionnaires and the Heroes.

Ulrich ducked inside a decrepit building to catch his breath, pulling singed blankets over his head to hide himself. He willed himself to stop breathing as William entered the building to check for him. Cautiously, he covered his mouth as a second mass of darkness appeared, taking the shape of Dhaune. "Have you found Ulrich yet?" She asked.

William made a low sound, almost like growling. "Not yet. I was giving chase, but he has eluded me. I thought I saw him run in here, but perhaps the Fair's illusions are stronger than we anticipated."

Dhaune shifted her weight. It seemed obvious to him that she was putting on more as time went by. Was drow food for the wealthy so delicious, or was the stress of military command physically manifesting? It made no difference. "Perhaps. Circumstances diverted us from their paths for many weeks; I would not be surprised if they spent that time training." She seemed uncomfortable as she asked, "What of Yumi?"

"I have not seen her. It would seem that they split into pairs as they scoured the city. Empress Laura was with Ulrich."

"The Fair has taken the title of Empress?" Dhaune said incredulously. Sadly, she added, "So time has changed us all." She shook her head. "It is of little consequence. I will keep looking, as should you."

William nodded. "Yes, general."

He turned to leave, and Dhaune made a sound as she reached out for him. He turned, stoic. "William… dareth shiral."

He nodded again. "Dareth shiral, Dhaune." She disappeared in a puff of darkness, and William walked away to continue his hunt. Ulrich threw the blankets off him and took deep gasps of air.

He stood, shakily at first, and then regained his balance. He remembered that Yumi and Odd were checking out the Nihonjin sector, then the temples district. He tried to determine where they would be, as he had to warn Yumi that Dhaune was looking for her. Ulrich rushed out of the building, and straight into a knife in the back. The stab, he realized as he fell, was likely nonlethal, but it was poisoned. Yet, strangely, the wound simply made him wish to sleep.

All of the legionnaires who had accompanied them had died in a surprise attack. Odd had tried to warn them that it was the perfect place for an ambush, though he could not dissuade them from checking the chest they assumed held enemy plans. As the Heroes ran, Yumi was in front, though the Scout was impressively on her tail. He was athletic when he wanted to be, and as spidery constructs chased them through the streets, it seemed now was as good a time as ever. He shouted something incoherent at her, and she looked at him in confusion. He turned and launched three arrows at a loose gargoyle, toppling the structure and crushing the constructs. He took a deep breath and fetched the arrows from the rubble. "When it comes to fletching, the elves don't mess around." He said. Yumi seemed completely unbothered by the long sprint, and in frustration, the Scout sighed. "Must be nice being undead." He teased as gently as he could.

She humored him with a brief smile. "Less pleasant than you would think." She admitted. She looked around and noticed a strange pile of rubble. As she drew closer, her vampiric nose caught the stench of blood underneath it. She moved the rubble easily, uncovering a small trap door. "We're near the Honda family home. I knew them well, but they never mentioned anything like this."

Odd chuckled, though it seemed borderline humorless. "I don't think many people mention secret passages in casual, polite conversation." Much more in character, he mocked the idea. "Oh, Lady Tremaine, what have you done with your secret passage? It looks marvelous! Why thank you, Lady Anastasia, but I simply added steel to the posts to add extra support in case of a strike on Capital Lyoko! Oh, but they do brighten up the room! What do you think, Lady Alana? I think that some flowers would look fabulous on the side table next to the escape hatch!"

Yumi cleared her throat. "Odd, do you intend to role play all day, or are you going to follow me?"

He blinked, smiled and stood. "Yes, I'm coming." He said.

Yumi held the trapdoor open for Odd as he climbed into the darkness. She then closed it behind her, taking his wrist to guide him through. After about fifteen minutes of walking, she spotted a fire in the distance, and perhaps hastily, she ran towards it. Odd warned her to be cautious, yet something otherworldly drew her to the warmth of the glow. Yes… it was warmth, a feeling it had been too long since she'd last felt.

Yet just as the fire grew close enough for the vampire Colonist to see the embers, Dhaune appeared before her. Angrily, Yumi drew her fans and prepared to fight, but Dhaune cowered in her presence. "Stop! I mean you no harm!" Yumi didn't seem to care, and she moved closer. "Please! You do not want me dead!"

"There is only one person I want dead more!" She hissed.

"Xana wants me to kidnap you!" Dhaune screamed, shielding her face. This caused Yumi to pause, and Odd grabbed her shoulder. Dhaune, taking this opportunity, relaxed and added, "I have information for you, and I will gladly exchange it in return for my life."

Yumi looked to Odd, and then the Scout looked to Dhaune. He drew back his bowstring, preparing to launch an arrow. "Speak quickly." He said.

"Xana seeks for us to separate you all, for when you are apart, you are weaker than when you are together. We seek to bring you to Maera, where she can brainwash you to do her biding." Dhaune explained, "Just like she did to William. His brainwashing proved successful enough to attempt again."

"We were divided when we lost Aelita and weakened when we lost William. We can't afford to lose you, too." Odd said.

"What about the others? Are you targeting them, too?" Yumi asked.

"For the moment, Xana asked only for you and Ulrich, but I think she wants all of you." Dhaune said. Her eyes almost glowed with regret. "Yumi, emma lath, ir abelas."

Angrily, Yumi grabbed the collar of her tunic, peaking ever so slightly out of her leather armor. "Don't you dare call me something like that!" She ordered, shoving Dhaune away.

"I know that I have done you wrong, Yumi, but what I felt for you was real!" She admitted, which shook the Colonist a bit. Odd saw her flinch ever so slightly. "It was you whose feelings were untrue. I cast a spell on you, to make you think that you were in love with me. Sorry is… such an inadequate word!"

"Dhaune, I…" Yumi began.

"If I had thought I would've gotten away with what I was doing, I wouldn't have needed the spell. I wouldn't have done what I did. But I had to. I had to serve Matron Mother Xana, for the glory of the drow." She interrupted. "I thought that the spell would be enough, that you would stand by me. But you were so much stronger than I could have anticipated. All of you are." She pulled her arms in.

There was a silence, and Yumi motioned for Odd to relax. He seemed hesitant to do so, but he agreed. Yumi cautiously approached Dhaune, who rushed into her arms. The former slave was now sobbing uncontrollably, her body quaking with her tears. Dhaune's weight gave out from under her, and Yumi helped her sit. "Shh, it'll be okay," Yumi cooed as she moved her hands from Dhaune's side to her shoulder blades. Suddenly, Yumi moved her hands and grabbed Dhaune's jaw, using all of her strength to snap the dark elf's neck.

But rather than facing a corpse, Yumi faced a puff of darkness, and then blackness as the fire granting light to the passageway flickered out and died. Yumi screamed when arms reached behind her, but her screams grew even more desperate as she felt her body disappear.

Odd was frantic, trying to locate his friend, but when the fire returned, Yumi was gone. He looked around and called out her name repeatedly, but no response came. He realized that he had to report to Jeremie.

Jeremie and Aelita felt like they had faced the bulk of the horde. They'd fled from battle at the behest of their legionnaire guards, and now hid among the apartments and market stalls. They were breathing heavily, backs placed up against one another. Jeremie pointed to a nearby building. "That's where I used to live, before… everything."

"Really?" Aelita said, too exhausted to show interest. He nodded. He stood, and he helped Aelita to her feet. They walked towards the building, climbing the stairs until they reached the apartment. Jeremie wasted no time in looking for things that might come in handy, but Aelita simply wandered about, examining her lover's childhood home. Most of it she found disappointingly boring, especially with the sheer number of books written in the common. None of them had pictures. She came across a painting of his family.

This was something she'd found strange until she learned the secret of his family. She realized that their line of work did not pay well, but it seemed that they had Robert Della-Robbia paint portraits for them. Aelita had met Michael, who was a very kind man, and yet she wondered what his mother was like. He barely spoke of her. "Jeremie?" She asked. He mumbled something, so she knew he heard her. She paused for a moment. "…do you want to talk about your mother?"

He stopped digging through the rubble, stood up and looked at her, and she shifted uncomfortably. "She died a long time ago. Sometimes I have trouble remembering what she was like." He walked towards the portrait. "She was helpful, I remember. Always talking about how the past was important to everyone, and how history was doomed to repeat for those who did not learn from it." He saw his mother's face in the portrait as stoic. It gave the incorrect statement that she was stern and serious. "She loved to go on adventures. She used to drag me along with her, when I was little. Really little. She tutored me in a lot of things, especially languages."

Aelita was silent for a moment. "Am… I anything like your mother?" She asked quietly.

"Sometimes," the Wise Man shrugged. "You're a lot more stubborn than she was." The Outcast rolled her eyes. The moment was soiled when a huge explosion shook the building. Jeremie grabbed Aelita's shoulder, and she moved closer to him. "Come on, let's get out of here! We have to hurry!" He ordered, and she nodded.

The lovers raced down the stairs, though Jeremie fell when another explosion shook the building. Aelita helped him up. "Where are these explosions coming from? They aren't magic! I can't sense them!" She shouted.

"What do you mean they aren't magic? What else could it be?" He demanded.

"I don't know!"

He thought for a moment. "Zhonghuo has this stuff… it is called blackpowder. Maybe the drow got their hands on some." Aelita shrugged. She grabbed his hand and raced down the stairs, but he pulled her back in time to keep her from getting crushed by a falling beam. They fell along with the building as it began to collapse. Rubble collapsed from the ceiling, leaving them unable to continue down the stairs. "Dammit! The building is falling apart!" Jeremie pulled Aelita up towards the nearest apartment, forcing the door open with all of his might. He ordered her to conjure vines to act as a rope as the descended from the window.

The Outcast obeyed, and when she finished conjuring the rope, she started her descent. Jeremie quickly followed, and they started to run away from the falling building. Jeremie shot a look back, and he saw the collapsing building to be headed for them. He started running faster, and when he was sure that the building would fall on top of them, he pushed Aelita out of the way.

Odd rushed towards the bit of pink he noticed in the rubble. The battle was over, and night had fallen. Lyoko had succeeded in recapturing the capital, but at what cost? He had found Laura at the castle, though Ulrich was not with her. She admitted that she didn't know where he was. "Aelita? Aelita, wake up." He urged.

Aelita held her head in her hands. She moaned. "Odd?" She muttered. Her eyes opened widely, and she stood. "You're alright! What happened?"

"We won?" He shrugged with a smile. "Where is Jeremie? Is he not with you?"

Aelita turned, thinking that he would be nearby. He was not. She saw the pile of rubble where the building had once stood, and she ran towards it, ignoring the pain in her legs and back. "Jeremie? Jeremie! Answer me!" She called out, moving the broken cement bricks with strength she didn't know she had. As tears filled her eyes and pain filled her heart, she used her blood magic to try to find him. In her vision, she followed a red mist, and she focused her strength on the spot which it had indicated.

At first, it seemed only that the bricks had knocked him unconscious. This caused a relieved smile to spread across her face, and she spun him around to hold him. Yet, his body felt very light and limp. She opened her eyes, and she realized that a sharp brick had severed his left arm from his body. She shook as she pulled him back.

His head fell back lazily, and she placed him gently on the ground. She examined his body, but other than his missing arm, he seemed to have no other wounds. Had he bled out? No, she realized as she held his head, that wasn't what killed him. She moved her left hand to find thick, cold blood on her fingers. Gently, Aelita turned his head, discovering a hole in his skull. "No! No! Please! This can't be happening!" She pressed her head against his chest. "Oh, Creator! Please let this be a bad dream!"

Odd suddenly pushed her down, and when she turned to confront him, she saw why he'd done so—a massive frost dragon approached them. It landed in the rubble, and light filled the streets, revealing Hahren Edna. "Aelita, da'len! Are you hurt?" She called out.

"Edna!" Aelita gasped. "What are you doing here? How did you turn into a dragon?"

"Does it matter?" She asked. "I was flying overhead when I saw smoke. I saw Lyoko ships, and I assumed this was from the battle."

Aelita shook her head. "You're right; it isn't important. But I need your help." She waved her closer. "Please, Hahren, he's dead. We have to do something!"

"You have said it yourself; he is dead. I can do nothing for him." Edna argued. "Unless… you intend to use blood magic?" She asked.

The Outcast crinkled her nose in frustration. "I have to do this! He saved me and… and I love him! Please, I know you don't approve but I must save him!"

Edna looked to the corpse she held, and then to the Scout. Odd had relaxed, though he still seemed diligent. "Very well, da'len. I invoke vir sulevanan. I will aid you in your quest for his… resurrection, and in return, you will grant to me Samahlin, the staff you carry."

Aelita did not hesitate. "We have a deal."

Edna wore a strange expression. She seemed… almost disappointed. "Come with me, then, if it pleases you."

Aelita nodded, and she lifted Jeremie from the ground. "Odd, I need your help." She said, and he helped her carry the Wise Man's corpse. They walked closer to Edna, and she summoned a white light. With a flash, they had vanished.