Episode 5: Adaptation
9th of Eluviesta
William was disturbed by the news that he had been brainwashed by Xana. The idea that he had been turned against his friends was frightening-even more than the thought of being a vampire's servant. So far, Yumi hadn't ordered him to do anything and maintained that she had only made him her servant so she could break Xana's hold on him, but the vampire's will had created a hive mind. He could also still feel Xana clawing at his mind, trying to break him, to subdue him again. He feared that she would find them through him, and then kill them.
He looked at the city, observing the soldiers who were cleaning up. Despite Laura's best efforts to keep them back, the citizens of Lyoko were returning to the capital. It was understandable; they wanted their lives to go back to normal. He didn't see how they could return to the site of so much death and destruction, however. So Laura had asked for her soldiers to help make the city more livable, and sometimes, through the rubble, William could see citizens walking about, and some even helped the soldiers clean.
He turned to look as Princess Laura entered the room. Empress Laura Gauthier, he reminded himself, and he bowed. She curtsied, her heavy royal blue robes rustling. William wore a black tunic, heavy blue pants and black shoes that laced up. Laura's robes had violet accents and gold embroidery, and her hair was braided and pulled up. The risen Vanguard leaned against the wall and looked out the window. Her dress, his own attire and even that of the other warriors, who hadn't worn armor since returning to the capitol despite the constant presence of their weapons, served only to remind him of how much things changed.
"It's weird to be home again." He said, looking out to the damaged wall. Fixing it properly would be top priority, as soon as she was sure that the people she would send for supplies would be as safe as possible. For now the breach was being filled in with rubble from the city.
"I'm sure it must be. We watched this place burn, and now we're living here again, at least for a while." Laura said, folding her hands delicately across her lap as she sat down. "Have you made any progress with accessing your memories?" She asked.
He shook his head. "No. I wish I had more information to give you." He folded his arms. "I fear that Xana might be keeping it from me."
"She must know that you're gone, but I hope that you are incorrect." She sighed and looked away from the window. "I know we dropped a lot on you the other day. How are you coping?"
"As well as I can. Yumi a vampire, your father dead... this demon after Aelita's soul... I'm afraid this is a bit overwhelming."
"I understand. If I had been in your shoes, I would have trouble accepting it too."
"My lady, about what happened between you and Jeremie..." William started.
Laura held up her hand. "Don't. I broke it off with him. I didn't want us both miserable; it's better this way."
"That doesn't mean you can't mourn the loss."
"What good will that do? It's in the past, and no good will come from me sobbing. Besides, I think I'm finally moving on." There was such hope in her voice that William couldn't help but think she had someone else in mind already. She stood, and she then hugged the Vanguard. "I'm glad that you're safe, William."
He cautiously returned the hug. "As am I, Your Majesty."
"Aelita? How are you feeling?" Jeremie asked, knocking on Aelita's bedroom door. She was on the ground floor, closer to the earth for a number of reasons. He wore a long, heavy brown vest with delicate embroidery, and a lighter blue tunic underneath. He took off his shoes before he pushed the door open.
She stood next to the window, but judging by the look on her face, she wasn't looking at anything. The overcast skies weren't providing shapes for her to observe, and though this room overlooked the garden, it consisted of mostly dead flora. The Outcast wore a heavy black sweater-likely belonging to Yumi-and a knee-length floral skirt. She didn't respond to him.
He sighed, but he was simply glad she hadn't locked him out. She must've been too shocked to have even reacted in her typical way-which was to shut down completely. It was understandable, since she'd been isolated most of her life, which had largely been tragic. "I'm right here, if you want to talk."
She was still quiet, though her shoulders shook. She covered her mouth with her hand, likely to hide the fact that her lips had curled in an attempt to hold back tears. "Jeremie, I don't think there is a polite way to say this. I love you, but this topic makes me want to vomit, so if you could kindly piss off, I'd appreciate it."
He chuckled, but his face became stern. He looked at her in silence for a long time. Everything about her seemed new, as if a fog had been lifted. He could see the smallest details about her, from the unevenness of her rosy hair to the faint freckles on her slightly sunburnt nose. He could see the mud between her toes, and the dirt and dried blood under her fingernails. The Wise Man was grateful to the spirit of Vigilance, not only for helping Aelita give him his life back, but for helping him to see why he was fighting all over again.
Aelita shifted, and the sleeve covering her arm fell down. The scars left by blood magic were visible now, as was a long scar that seemed out of place. Jeremie realized that this scar followed a major blood vessel; whatever had caused that scar had tried to kill her. But for such a scar to be present, for her to have been still long enough for it to be as large as it was, it must have been self-inflicted. In that moment he clearly remembered Aelita's story about her life as a slave. He recalled her saying that, just before the slavers caught her, she'd thrown herself off a cliff in hopes of ending her life.
"Aelita," Jeremie said firmly, "I'm not going to 'piss off', as you say. I'm worried about you."
"You don't have to worry! I can take care of myself." She said.
"That's why I'm worried." He explained. She looked at him, confused, and he added, "I'm afraid that you're going to hurt yourself again!" She recoiled, and her posture changed. The Outcast visibly shied away from him, pulling her arms closer to her chest and raising her shoulders nearly to her jaw. She said nothing. "Aelita, please. I want to help. This was all my fault, and I want to fix it! But I can only help if you let me!"
Her eyes widened again, and then she furrowed her brows. "You're right! This is all your fault!" She shouted. He winced and turned his gaze to the floor as she continued, "Why did you call the others to Arlathan? Why?"
"I-I thought it would be safer there! I thought we'd have time to plan and get organized!" He knew that it was pointless to explain. The damage was done. The next words escaped his mouth before he could stop it. "I didn't think they would mind, since we were traveling with you."
"I couldn't get in on my own! What made you think me being there with you would change their feelings?" She demanded.
He kept talking. He couldn't stop, though he knew that he should have. "In Halamshiral, most of the elves didn't even care that we were there. How could I possibly-"
"I didn't let you into Halamshiral! Nim did!" Aelita was furious, her anger darkening her cheeks and shrinking her pupils. She stormed about, tearing at her hair. "Everything is wrong! This never should have happened! I wish… I wish I hadn't… I wish I hadn't brought you back! I wish you were still dead!"
Her words were worse than anything. "A... Aelita, you don't mean that?" He looked back up at her, eyes brimming with tears, "Please, calm down. You know I never meant for this to happen!"
"Shut up! I hate you!" She screamed, covering her ears. He began to think he preferred it when she shut down, as opposed to taking her abuse head on.
"No you don't!" He pleaded.
"Don't tell me what to think!"
"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry? I was only trying to help! I-"
"You want to help?" Aelita shouted, tears in her eyes. "Then leave! Get out!"
"No! I'm not leaving you!"
"Then I'm leaving!" She screamed as she opened the window. He caught her arm, and she used a strong force spell to throw him across the room. Aelita climbed onto the balcony and transformed into an owl before flying away.
Jeremie cursed as he stood. "Why does she always do that?" He hissed. He forced himself to his feet as Ulrich entered the room.
"I heard something. Are you okay?" The Mercenary asked.
"Yeah. Aelita's shut down again, like she did after Marsy." He explained.
Ulrich nodded. "That makes sense. This was traumatic." He folded his arms across his chest. "So, how are we going to pull her out of this one? Seems like she's skipped straight to the 'beat the shit out of my lover' stage."
Jeremie was defensive for a moment. "She didn't... oh, whatever." His eyes became a slightly brighter blue, as if Vigilance were more prominent. His voice grew deeper, furthering this idea. "Aelita's afraid to get emotionally close to people. This is obvious. It likely stems back to her traumatic past, which involves violent people, or people violently leaving. This, too, is obvious." He started to pace. "But what I can't understand is why she refuses to move on, why she won't let anyone help her move past her... well, her past. I understand why it isn't me; I'm not exactly an easy person to talk to. But why not you or Yumi?"
"Because moving past a traumatic experience is hard, and for Aelita, it wasn't just one experience? None of us have any experience that equals what she went through." Ulrich offered. "She was abandoned for her own good by her parents who didn't have enough foresight to be wise, she was raised in a household that physically and emotionally abused her, her mother figure was burned in front of her, she killed her best friend and then she was a slave for four years before murdering her way to freedom." He leaned against the wall. "A lot of us have experienced things that are similar but not all at once. And we can't ignore that she's kept us in the dark about the two years between her escape and when we met her. Judging by the patterns her life goes through? She got into some heavy shit in that time."
The Wise Man sighed. "At some point, she tried to kill herself. I don't know when but it wasn't recently. The scar is pretty old, likely only showing up now because her vallaslin hid her scars." He sighed. "But why? It didn't hide the scars left by whips. Why hide some scars but not all of them?"
Ulrich shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it only hid wounds that she inflicted on herself?"
"That... makes a lot of sense. But who or what saved her? Why didn't that cut kill her?"
"Maybe it was destiny."
Jeremie laughed as he pushed his hair out of his face. "I don't believe in destiny."
Ulrich hid a smirk. "Still, I don't know how any of this helps us. Aelita doesn't seem to think on her past."
The Wise Man's eyes lit up. "Then maybe we should focus on her future."
Hiroki looked at the mirror. He wanted to see his reflection but was unable to. So he stood in front of Yumi's vanity, staring at where his face should have been reflected and instead only seeing the calm, dark bed chamber provided for the Colonist.
He finally opened his mouth and felt his teeth. They were large, pointy and unnatural. He felt large, pointy and unnatural. Everything around him was too soft and fragile.
As he tried to grow used to his new body, he noticed the door swing open in the mirror. Hiroki turned to see his sister standing there, quiet as a mouse. "You'll never see yourself in the mirror again, you know." Yumi said, harsh words offered in a light tone.
"I don't get it. Why haven't you tried to cure yourself?" Hiroki asked.
"Because the easiest way to cure vampirism is to kill the forebear, but I didn't have one. I was cursed." Yumi sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair. "I think Patrick, Jeremie's cousin in the magistrates, is looking for a way to cleanse the cursed relic and cure me, but so far, he hasn't made any progress."
Hiroki still looked confused, so Yumi explained the Masque of the Black Rabbit in more detail. He didn't seem comforted by the idea of the Masque, but he didn't say anything and simply left the room. Yumi watched him leave, and then sighed heavily as she looked through her bags.
The Masque of the Black Rabbit was still there, the crack still present. She wondered if the Red Scholars knew that she'd taken it, and she wondered even more if it could hurt her any more than it had.
Why was it so difficult to let a cursed, forgotten relic go? She felt so safe holding it, like it was a security blanket from her childhood. She buried it under her things once more.
Emily looked up at the grey sky. She leaned against the side of the ship and closed her eyes for a moment. She took in the sea breeze, and the gentle swaying of the ship. Suddenly, the pirate queen stood up straight, and she turned to look at the makeshift dock. Aelita stood quietly, and Emily could tell something was wrong. "Permission to come aboard?" The Outcast shouted.
Emily nodded, and Aelita slowly boarded the pirate ship. Emily jumped when she saw that her markings were gone. "Gods! What happened to your face?" The other elven girl frowned deeply, and the captain quickly corrected her words. "I'm sorry. I… guess I sort of assumed that they were permanent?"
"So did I," Aelita admitted sadly. "Can we talk somewhere in private?"
"Sure, let's go up to my cabin." Emily said as she stretched. "You can explain why you look so bitter."
"I'm not bitter." Aelita said bitterly, with a bitter expression. Emily smiled and shook her head before leading her up to her quarters. The pirate sat down immediately, but the Outcast fumbled around, making two cups of tea. Emily would never admit it, but Aelita's cooking was actually terrible. She cooked like an elf, and elves were more focused on the practicality of the food, as opposed to the taste. So she politely drank the tea, which was slightly less bitter than Aelita's expression.
"What's up?" Emily asked.
Aelita explained what had happened during the battle for Capital Lyoko, and what had occurred afterwards, in Arlathan. She explained the necromantic ritual, and the trial. Then, she looked forlornly at her arm, tracing the long scar. Emily watched her do so, and remembered the night that it had happened. She remembered the blood-there was so much of it that it stained the sheets, so much blood that the caretaker who washed the sheets was shocked, even though it hadn't been the first time that stained fabric had come to her-and she remembered Aelita's eyes, closed as if she was asleep and not on death's door. It had been one of the scariest nights of Emily's life, though it wasn't among the memories that woke her in cold sweats on nights where the sea shook her ship.
Emily looked away. There were things from her life before that she had no choice but to carry with her, as no doubt Aelita did as well. But where Emily tried to move on, Aelita still lived. She was frozen in time, forever a child forced into a world of silken fabrics and forced smiles to men who came to touch. The pirate queen wondered what would have happened to her if Aelita had stayed with her. Would she have become a pirate, too? No, she decided, it seemed more likely that they would have parted ways eventually. Emily looked to the art she displayed above her bed, noting in particular the crest of the Falonen u'Tathas-the Friends of Tathas. That, she concluded with a small sigh, was likely the group that Aelita would have joined.
There was a long pause as the two runaway slaves sat in silence. The breeze caused the ship to creak, and shouts could be heard from Emily's crew. "Emily…" Aelita murmured, and the captain looked at her. Aelita rubbed her hands, obviously a lot on her mind. So many scars and bruises were visible. The Outcast had never looked so… fragile. "Am I crazy?!" She suddenly blurted out.
She laughed loudly. "Yes, but in a good way."
"I was so mean. Beyond mean-I was cruel." She said sadly. "I don't understand why I do this. Am I insane? Or am I just being selfish? I…"
"Selfish people live longer." The pirate queen said. She swirled the tea in her cup. She might have started to acquire a taste for it.
"I've lost everything," She whispered. "I have nothing. I've been exiled and abandoned and… and I don't know what to do!"
"You haven't lost everything. You have your friends, and you have me." Emily covered her heart with her hands daintily. "We always said we'd be friends forever!"
Aelita wasn't in the mood to joke. "We never said that."
"We didn't? We should have."
"Emily, I'm being serious! What am I supposed to do?"
Emily thought for a moment. "I think that you should think of this as a chance to reinvent yourself." She said firmly. "You've always identified yourself by how others saw you. Now is your chance to be who you want to be. Look at me! I decided that I was going to own a ship, and now I have a ship! So, say you wanted to be… fuck, I don't know. An author or something. Then you should just… start writing and become an author." Emily rubbed her forehead. She wasn't very good at pep talks. She added that to a list of New Year's resolutions before realizing it was far too late in the year for that sort of thing.
Aelita was quiet for an awfully long time. "I should probably learn how to read first."
"Good! Make achievable goals! I like it." Emily said.
"And I should probably apologize for Jeremie, since I got mad at him for offering to teach me." She waved her arms dramatically. "I said, 'oh, what's this? Let's teach the poor slave how to read!' I was actually really rude and he was just trying to help." That had been two days ago, when they returned to Capital Lyoko.
"Yes, I like where this is going."
"I should also apologize for force throwing him against the wall."
"Goo-what?"
"I've been acting horribly, to be honest. He was just trying to help." Aelita ran her fingers through her hair. "Do you think he'll understand?"
"I think you owe him more than an apology if you threw him against the wall." Emily said, her face twisted in confusion. "Isn't he… remind me not to bet against you in a fight."
"Well. it wasn't like I picked him up and chucked him out the window-why are we talking about this?" Aelita tried to explain. "Look, I didn't want to talk about Arlathan or my scars and he kept pressuring me to and then he wouldn't leave me alone and…" She shook her hands. "Whatever. I need to go."
Emily waved goodbye to her old friend, still confused. "That's not a good enough reason to throw someone against the wall. Maybe pinching him or something…"
As she walked, she thought. She thought about her human 'family' and the Aloten Clan. She thought about Arak-Muna and Mamae Asha and the Gypsy. She couldn't forget all of those things but she decided that she wouldn't let them keep her down.
Aelita decided to change her name. She was just Stone, now. Not Hopper, like someone who couldn't stay still. Not Durgenbora, a name that had no meaning without a clan. Just Aelita Stone, an ancient hero combined with a solid force of nature. It felt better and right. And Aelita Stone decided she would be happier, even if it hurt at first. She loved to dance, to play music and to sing, all of which she hadn't done for pleasure in so long. In short, she just decided that she would be happier. She wasn't sure if would work, but it was worth a shot. What had that old man from Sensy told her? She was having trouble remembering it, but it was something along the lines of pretending until it was achieved.
Not watching where she was going, Aelita slammed into a door as it opened. She recoiled, holding her face in her hands as Laura spun around. "Aelita! Are you okay? I'm so sorry!"
"Are you really?" The Outcast murmured.
The Empress sighed. "Yes, really. Honestly, this rivalry is so tiring." She folded her arms. "And since you won't believe me if I inquire as to your physical well-being, may I at least know where you've been?"
"I was upset, so I went to talk to Emily."
"You were on the Skidbladnir?" Laura said, taking a few quick steps closer to Aelita, who held up her hands. "Did you see Christophe? What did he say?"
"I saw him on my way back. He said, 'hi little elf, whoa, what happened to your face? Sorry, that was rude. I've got duties to attend to, so tell everyone that I said hi.'" She folded her arms, leaned forward and smirked. "You've fallen hard and fast."
"Shut up! I was just curious!" She pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear nervously. "By the way, Jeremie was looking for you. I assume that you stopped talking to everyone? It wouldn't surprise me." She started to walk away.
"Wait," Aelita called out. Laura turned. The Outcast smirked again. "Do you want me to talk to Christophe for you?" She teased.
"Shut up!"
Aelita laughed. She had forgotten about the pain in her nose already, and she returned to her mission. She found Jeremie in the library, trying to sift through the books and scrolls which hadn't yet been scavenged or destroyed. He heard her enter and immediately looked up, and they were both quiet for a moment. Then, she offered a small smile, and he returned it with a bigger one. He ran towards her and hugged her.
She hugged him back, but then broke it. "Listen, I want to apologize to you." He didn't say anything. "I've been… really mean lately. I've said some things that weren't nice. I was mad at the world and I was taking it out on you. That was wrong, and I know that me just saying sorry doesn't make it right, but…" She pushed her bangs out of her eyes. "I want to be better."
Jeremie nodded. "I understand. And I want to help you, however I can." He tried his best to convey his feelings, but it wasn't an easy task. "And I know that what happened to you in your past was horrible and scarring in more ways than one, and I know that you would rather not talk about it. So, you should know that… I am here, if you want to talk about it, but I think we should also talk about the future."
Aelita tilted her head in confusion, and then she laughed. "Jeremie?"
He blushed. "I-I'm not saying th-that we should get married or anything. I'm just…" He looked at his feet. "I'm just saying that… we should think about it."
She laughed again, weakly. He looked up to see her crooked smile. She was happy to hear what he'd said, even though she didn't seem to believe her ears. They'd work on that later. "I think I should learn how to read first, don't you? I hear human weddings have an awful lot of reading. Elven weddings are more about reciting poetry."
He laughed, too, and closed what little space remained between them. "I think that I can arrange that." The Wise Man gently touched her cheek, and she pushed against it before moving in for a kiss.
10th of Eluviesta
Jeremie blinked repeatedly after being, rather rudely, awoken by Aelita. She was pushing against his face. He sat up a bit, and tried to gather his thoughts. He grabbed his spectacles, and he looked at her. Her eyes were still closed, and she was curled up in a ball, hogging most of the blankets. She mumbled something.
"What are you saying?" He asked.
She was silent for a moment. "Close the curtains," She finally muttered.
The opportunity was too good to pass on. He stood, walked to the window and threw open the curtains. Aelita screamed and pulled the blankets over her head. "Good morning, ma vhenan!" He shouted, obviously enjoying himself far too much.
"I will destroy you and everything you love!" Aelita shouted back, forcing her head under her pillow.
"Mmhm, I guess you'll have to destroy yourself!"
"Augh! I hate you."