A/N: Here is the next installment of my Jerlita Roleswap AU. Hope you all enjoy it~
Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko in any way, shape, or form.
Note: Remember, any episodes not mentioned either as the inspiration for a chapter or just in passing are not part of the AU, mainly because the roleswap makes them useless, and those only mentioned in passing are just filler and/or would be the same no matter who has what role.
Beta read by swordsdownforreview
Pay attention to the dates. Some scenes are flashbacks.
!~~~J~E~R~L~I~T~A~~R~O~L~E~S~W~A~P~~A~U~~~!
"Jérémie can't move on. The others know it's unhealthy, but it's easier said than done."
Episode 38: Jérémie
(Based on Aelita)
4 October, 1995
The boy came to in the sky, and he yelped in surprise as he fell to the ground, landing on his stomach. But there was no pain, he noted, as he sat up.
He looked around. Where was he? Violet mountains stood against an indigo sky, and dotting this landscape were numerous tall, white, cylindrical structures all letting out a continuous stream of blue smoke.
Interesting place. Did he live here?
He didn't think twice about his odd choice in clothing. He actually liked it.
But...should he be concerned that he couldn't identify himself? Who was he? Why was he here? Again, did he live here? Or was he sent here? Where even was here?
(He'd be on the verge of a panic attack if he was in the real world.)
"Jérémie? Can you hear me?" a female voice sounded from the sky.
Who was that? What was going on?
Was–...Was that his name? What did she say it was again?
"Jérémie?" the woman asked again. Apparently, he took too long in answering the first time.
"W-Wh–...?" he stuttered, badly, "W-Where am I? W-Who are you? What's going on?"
The voice took a while to respond. "If this is a joke, Jérémie, it's not funny. You know exactly where you are. We told you everything."
He was shaking his head, despite this woman likely being unable to see it, "I-It's not...it's not a joke." He didn't even know what a joke was. "I-I can't recall anything before this! My mind is blank! I feel like I should know you, but I don't!"
(In the real world, he'd be having a full-on panic attack right now.)
A man's voice replaced the woman's, "Calm down, Jérémie. Breathe. Everything will be okay."
In the lab, Michel wordlessly pointed to their son's ID card. When Sophie read the status listed on it, she started to believe that their son was telling the truth, that this wasn't an elaborate prank.
'WARNING: DEVIRTUALIZATION IMPOSSIBLE'
She covered the mike with her hand before whispering to her husband, "Something went wrong."
Michel just solemnly noded.
Sophie immediately began typing in various commands to find out what exactly went wrong. Jérémie's data did have a bit of trouble getting through, which they were wrong for shrugging off before. There had to have been a cause somewhere. There had to be a reason their son had amnesia all of a sudden.
Meanwhile, Michel was keeping their son occupied and, most importantly, calm while she worked on the solution.
"You're on a virtual world called Lyoko," he explained.
"Virtual?"
"Yes. It means you're inside of a computer."
"That's pretty cool," Jérémie replied, thought it was clear that he didn't fully understand what he was being told. "What about outside?"
"Oh, that's the world Sophie and I are currently in."
"Sophie?"
She immediately answered, "Yes?" She then remembered the context of the question. "Oh, yes, that's my name. The man's name is Michel."
"It's nice to meet you." Their son seemed much calmer now, and his yellow arrow showed him walked around—likely exploring. "You two keep calling me 'Jérémie'. Is that my name?"
"Yes," Michel replied.
"That's good to know. But knowing my name strongly suggests that you two know me." Ah, as perceptive as ever. He was their son, alright. Glad to know that amnesia didn't change that. "Do you?"
"We do," Michel told him, his voice soft.
Jérémie asked, "How?" as Sophie nudged her husband and directed his attention to the results she found.
It was the tumor's fault.
The scanner had interpreted it as corrupted data, and while the virtualization process successfully deleted it (Hallelujah! It worked!), it caused Jérémie's memory—his mind, where the tumor was—to quite literally fracture.
Jérémie was finally free from his tumor, but now he had amnesia.
When would his problems end?! Hadn't he suffered enough?!
"Hello?" Said boy's voice interrupted them. "Are you guys still there?" His arrow had stopped moving, likely out of alarm or concern, if not both. "Did something happen?"
Sophie started to debate in her head on what to tell him, only for Michel to calmly reply, "No, we're fine. We're just working on bringing you back to the real world, the outside."
"Okay." It was hard to read the boy's emotions, for some reason. "Is everything alright? You sound...off."
"We're fine," Sophie swiftly reassured him. She didn't want him worrying unnecessarily. "You just keep exploring." She resumed her work, this time on repairing those mental fractures. "I'm sure you still have questions."
"Oh, I do," the boy replied. "For example, this creature walking towards me—what is it?"
A red circle was approaching him on the holomap. What? They designed no inhabitants for Lyoko, other than XANA. Unless...of course! XANA must've created it to help it carry out its tasks.
Bringing up a schematic for the creature, it did showcase Lyoko's emblem on its head. It was also small and brown, and while XANA didn't have a name for it, an anecdote from the AI credited Jérémie for the design.
Oh, okay. That made sense. XANA and Jérémie chatted frequently, after all, when the boy wasn't sleeping.
"Don't worry," Sophie relayed what her screens told her. "It's friendly, created by XANA."
"XANA?"
"Yes," Michel explained, sharing a hopeful glance with his wife. "It's an artificial intelligence that protects Lyoko. It's your friend."
Perhaps XANA could help them.
Silence.
"Jérémie?" Sophie asked, worriedly.
Both of them were startled by the frightened, blood-curdling scream that immediately followed.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
8 September, 2007
"Jérémie."
Said boy was brought back to reality, and the present day, the moment his name was said. Briefly looking around, he remembered where he was: Mr. Klotz's office. Mr. Fumet had sent him here earlier after he had spaced out in history class one too many times. Now, here they were, Jérémie sitting on the couch and the school counselor sitting in his desk chair nearby, the boy's (falsified) file open in his lap.
"Did you hear what I said?"
"No, sorry, I was...lost in thought." More like trapped in his past memories.
The man looked concerned, "According to your teachers, you've been doing that a lot since school resumed earlier this week."
Jérémie chose not to comment. He had nothing to say to that. They were right.
The school psychologist continued, "Did anything happen during summer break? Anything at all to warrant so many of your teachers and classmates confiding in me about your concerning change in demeanor this first week back?" A pause. "Please, think hard."
The prodding will continue, the boy's mind told him, unless you give him an answer. You don't feel like lying, but you can't exactly tell the truth either without sounding insane or tearing down the life you've built up until now.
So he chose half-truths, not really lies but not completely true either. "I met some friends of my birth parents." If one could call his parents' video diary a friend, that is. "They told me why I was given up to the orphanage..." That was code for 'he received all of his past memories at once'. "They...thought it would be a better life for me." Understatement of the year. And then he died.
Mr. Klotz was listening intently. "I see." And sympathetic. "How does that make you feel?"
A brief pause. "I wish I could've gotten to know them better. My parents." One-hundred percent truth.
Now that was very likely impossible. They had sacrificed themselves to revive him and Lyoko. As a result, they had disappeared, with no sign that they were about to resume contact any time soon.
The psychologist was deep in thought, "Mr. Belpois, I sympathize with your wish, almost personally. I never knew my real mother, and I never will, because she died in childbirth. But you have to stop living in the past. It's not healthy."
Jérémie's protest was immediate. "It's not that simple." He was shaking his head.
"I know." The man's voice was soft, almost in a whisper. "But there are ways to help you cope. You zoning out in class, as I see it, is a coping mechanism to escape from emotional stressors. But it's only temporary, and detrimental to your grades. That's why I suggest getting a journal to write all of your feelings down in."
"A journal?"
"Yes," Mr. Klotz explained. "I keep one to write letters to people I never plan to send. That way, I release all of my emotions and the only things that get hurt are the paper and my writing utensil."
A letter to his parents, huh? If only...
"I'll think about it."
"Please do. You are dismissed, and excused from the rest of today's and tomorrow's school events. Please, take some time to focus on your mental health."
Jérémie wisely chose not to protest.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
"In Scandinavian mythology," Mr. Fumet was lecturing, "a natural disaster brings about the end of the Norse gods' world, scorching the Earth, before a new, peaceful world can arise from the ashes. This is referred to as Ragnarok."
"And roll!" Odd piped up, giggling.
"What was that?" Mr. Fumet sternly asked, making the boy stop laughing.
"Ragnarok and roll?" Odd rubbed his arm sheepishly. "Sorry, sir, it was just a joke. I couldn't help it."
Mr. Fumet's delivery was deadpan, "Very funny, Della Robbia. Now, after Ragnarok, a new world then arises and is repopulated by a single man and woman. What does this imply Ragnarok to be, Belpois?"
No response. Weird, when there normally could be.
All eyes turned to Jérémie, and worry immediately filled the air. The blonde was zoning out, his expression a stoic one. It was strange seeing him like this—normally, he was paying close attention to the lecture and always ready with an answer whether he was called on or not.
Seeing this behavior from him of all people was disconcerting.
His friends—Odd, Aelita, and Ulrich—were especially concerned, more so than anyone else. Because unlike their classmates, they actually knew why he was so out of it right now.
Mr. Fumet approached the boy and softly called out, "Belpois."
Jérémie suddenly came to reality, "Huh?", dropping his pen on his desk. He glanced up at the teacher and a light blush dotted his cheeks as he remembered where he was. "Oh...s-sorry..."
"Are you alright, Belpois?" Mr. Fumet asked, concern coming across his own features.
The boy picked his pen back up and seemed to glare at the board, as he replied with a flat, "Yes."
The teacher sent Ulrich, Odd, and Aelita a questioning glance, which they each returned by shaking their heads.
No, their friend was not alright.
Mr. Fumet chose to side with Jérémie's friends. "No, I don't believe you are." He crossed over to his desk and wrote something down on a small slip of paper. Once he was done, he handed it to Jérémie, "You're dismissed from class today. Go see him instead, and yes, I will know if you don't."
Aelita, the blonde's deskmate, glanced over and quickly read the name on that slip of paper—Hans Klotz, the school psychologist.
Jérémie didn't protest as he gathered up his stuff and left the room, that paper tightly clutched in his hands.
As their history teacher had ordered, Jérémie did not return to class. Fortunately, Aelita was ready and willing to share her notes with him; all he had to do was ask.
Lunch was next, and Yumi had joined them in the food line. All throughout the food selection process up to claiming a table next to a window, the three had explained to her what had happened.
"Mr. Fumet sent Jérémie to the school shrink," Yumi asked, "in front of the entire class?" Ulrich and Odd both nodded, as the four all took their seats. She winced, "Oof, that's embarrassing."
"You don't seem all that surprised by the news itself," Odd noticed.
Yumi was quiet. "Because I'm not," she whispered.
She knew something, Aelita realized, so the pink-ette leaned in towards the elder girl and softly asked, "Yumi...how did Jérémie's summer break really go?"
The two had reassured the other three that everything was going well, just worried about XANA because it hadn't attacked yet and that they were cleaning up the Hermitage just for something to do. But the Japanese girl's admission just now revealed that it was likely just a facade, just so their friends wouldn't worry about what was really going on.
"Nightmares," Yumi quietly, and worriedly, admitted. "Every night, to the point where, after about a week, my parents chose to forego keeping him in the guest room once they realized he slept better at night with me." She paused. "Some days he didn't want to get out of bed, and he wasn't always hungry."
"And cleaning out the Hermitage?" Ulrich softly asked.
"It was his idea," Yumi replied, "mostly to keep his mind preoccupied when we didn't have any day trips planned. But the real reason the second floor is still a mess isn't because we didn't have time. It's because he found those memories 'too painful'." She sighed, "I thought he was getting better by the end, but apparently, I was wrong to assume."
"Well, he has fourteen years of memories to sort through," Aelita reminded her friends, mostly Yumi. "It makes sense that he'd need some time to process it all."
Hervé's voice interrupted them, "Well, Mr. Einstein, better get a good night's sleep tonight!" The four turned around to see the nerd in green tease Jérémie as he walked past the other's table. "A super brain like yours needs a little shut-eye, and most of us, as you know, go to sleep at night!"
"Hervé..." Sissi warned, a disappointed look on her face.
Before anyone could step in, Jérémie snapped, "Of course you don't have that problem, Pichon, because your brain is as small as a insect's!"
He then stormed away, leaving Hervé with a offended expression on his face, and everyone else surprised as well as worried—the blonde had never defended himself like that to Hervé before.
Jérémie huffed as he sat down in an empty chair at the table his friends had claimed, clearly not in the mood for Hervé's nonsense today.
Odd noticed his lack of tray, "No lunch for you today?"
"You can have my portion," the blue nerd's voice was surprisingly soft, almost a whisper. "I'm not hungry."
This response only concerned Odd more. Was Mr. Klotz unable to help? Jérémie's behavior here was the same as what he displayed earlier in history. But his friends were afraid to ask him what was bothering him, because he likely did not want to talk about it.
So Yumi chose to change the subject, "So, about tonight. My parents said 'yes' to me wandering from their sights, because I'm old enough." She offered a smile amidst her concern for her friend. "That means I'll be able to meet you guys at our secret spot."
The excitement that followed was real.
Odd cheered, "Yes! I can't wait! Tonight's going to be awesome!"
Jérémie finally showed emotion here, "What's so special about tonight?" Even if it was only confusion. "It's all anyone's been talking about this week, and yet I still don't know."
"It's a surprise," Ulrich replied. "That is, if you decide to join us. Um, you are...right?"
They were hoping he would. It would be a great chance for him to focus on something other than his past.
Jérémie immediately began hiding within himself, "I–...I'm not sure..."
Odd didn't like this answer, "Come on, Jer! Start living in the present more! That's where everything is!"
"Not everything!" Jérémie snapped, surprising his friends. "Stop assuming my parents are dead! They're not! I can't explain how I know, but I can feel it!"
"Jérémie..." Aelita warned.
"They managed to survive XANA's attack the first time," he cut in. "Why not a second time?"
"Jérémie," the pink-ette began again, and this time, she was able to continue, "your parents sacrificed themselves for you, using whatever little strength they had left in them to bring you back to life and return your memories to you."
"I-I know, but..." he was looking at her with hope-filled eyes, "but I thought there might be hope. That maybe you could find a way..."
"I've tried, Jérémie," she reluctantly told him. "I've already searched every inch of Lyoko, twice, and there is not even the slightest sign of either of them."
This was news he clearly wasn't ready to hear. He immediately began shaking his head in denial. "No...No. Then, I'll look for them myself!"
"Jérémie," Yumi sighed, "if Aelita hasn't had any luck, what makes you think you will? You'll very likely get the same results."
"Yumi's right," Ulrich agreed. "Besides, you need to focus on finding a way to get us into the world wide web, so that we can fight XANA."
"Yeah!" Odd was the only one smiling, hoping it was reassuring. "You need to be here in the present! With us! We need to look to the future!"
"And just forget about my past?!" Jérémie snapped once more. "That's easy for you guys to say! None of you spent ten years of your life as a piece of computer software!" He got to his feet, unshed tears stinging his eyes. He then stormed out, muttering, "I wish I never recovered my memories..."
Aelita stood up as well and made to follow him, only for Ulrich to hold her back by grabbing her wrist. "Give him some space."
"Yeah. Besides, the school day's not over for us just yet," Odd quietly added.
The pink-ette had no choice but to stay.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
4 October, 1995
Why had Jérémie disappeared from their screens like that?
Fearing their son was in danger, Michel and Sophie began to panic and search every inch of Lyoko for him, far and wide. In the midst of looking, they received a message from XANA, which contained Jérémie's coordinates and request to meet with its two creators at the Core.
Thank goodness for XANA.
So the two virtualized themselves into the Mountain Sector, ready to fight and both wishing to focus on their son first.
Sharing a mental link was always planned (it was the only way to share the half of the Keys they held control over), but sharing a virtual form wasn't, likely done to emphasize that link. Regardless, they had to be careful—if one of them died, so did the other, because something went wrong. Apparently, only children could receive fully humanoid avatars, not adults—likely because of the brain still developing in children. They couldn't devirtualize either (though a child's developing brain did not explain that), so their new home, now and forever, was Lyoko.
But they could live with that. Right now, their sole concern was their son.
The coordinates XANA gave them were the same ones they were left with when they lost contact. Their son was being held in an orange sphere—a Guardian, an ability they gave to XANA if it ever needed to keep someone safe.
Their son was out cold as he was suspended within the Guardian. However, after they hacked into its code to burst the bubble (so to speak), releasing him, he began to stir.
Once open, his eyes danced around, taking in the surroundings. His confusion disappeared as he remembered where he was, but it briefly returned when he saw them.
"Um, what are you?" he asked as he sat up.
"It's us," they replied together.
"Michel."
"And Sophie."
"Oh. I guess I was expecting you two to look like me." As in humanoid. "Not two bright balls of light."
"Lyoko's parameters are meant to give you a form that you believe would suit you the best," Sophie explained.
"Since we are Lyoko's creators," Michel added, "our forms make sense."
They then asked, "What happened?" as their son got to his feet.
"That creature seemed to be studying me," Jérémie explained, "when I was attacked from behind."
"By what?" they immediately asked.
The boy shrugged, "I don't know." He kept looking over his shoulder, clearly afraid of being attacked again. "But it scared me." Hence the scream that scared them.
"Nothing can hurt you as long as we're here with you," they vowed. And they meant it. He may have had amnesia, but they were still his parents. "Now, follow us."
They began floating down a path, and Jérémie followed, needing to run to catch up with them, due to their desperation being translated into speed.
Their destination was a tower at the summit of a mountain, the nearest one to them. Michel and Sophie stopped at the base before gently ordering their son, who just caught up, "Get inside. It's safer."
"How?" the boy asked, not seeing any visible entrance.
"Just phase through the wall," they told him, "and don't resist."
Jérémie approached the base before placing a hand on it. It fell through, and though surprised, the boy followed their advice and let his entire body phase through the tower wall.
Once their son was safely inside, Michel and Sophie quickly followed.
The boy was marveling at the interior walls, "Wow. This is cool!"
"Thank you. We worked hard on all of this." For you, went unsaid. They changed the subject, "Wait here, and don't go anywhere. We must talk with XANA."
"Okay," Jérémie easily agreed. He took a seat in the middle of the platform. "About what?"
What did XANA wish to discuss with them? Perhaps what to do now?
"We don't know," they replied, before heading for the Core.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
8 September, 2007
Tears continued to fill Jérémie's eyes as he ran towards the Hermitage. He was trying hard not to cry, despite being alone, and was failing miserably.
He ended up collapsing on the couch in the family room, and that's when the tears were all released.
Mr. Klotz and his friends were right—he needed to focus on what was going on in the present day, not the past—and he wished they weren't.
He'd been trying his best, but his past was constantly overshadowing his present, making it impossible to focus on his future.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Meanwhile, Odd, Ulrich, and Aelita were in Study Hall. The boys were focusing on homework, but Aelita wasn't surprisingly. Instead, she was sketching out Jérémie's smiling face in her notebook.
"Guys?" she softly called out. Once she caught the two boys' attention, she asked, "Do you think we were too hard on Jérémie earlier? I mean, learning who his parents were and why Lyoko was created was a big shock for him. Maybe we could've been more supportive..."
"That's true," Odd shrugged, "but what we told him was something he really needed to hear. It's not healthy living in the past."
"He's only living in the past because that's where his parents are, and he never got to say goodbye to them," Ulrich solemnly reminded the other two. "I can sorta understand. I mean, just because I have living parents doesn't mean they're present emotionally, so I often go back to a time where I was too young to understand how terrible they actually are. But Jérémie's outburst was one that was building since that day," the day he died, "before finally breaking. Yes, we could've been nicer, but no one's at fault. Unfortunately, the pain he's feeling is a type that we cannot protect him from, so the most we can do is give him a support system he can depend on."
The two cousins were quiet all throughout Ulrich's speech. When he finished, they could only nod in agreement.
"So, when should we talk to him?" the pink-ette asked. She needed to apologize.
"After study hall!" Jim's shouting interrupting them. The man was standing behind Odd and Ulrich, imposingly. The two roommates, along with the entire library, was looking at Jim in surprise. "There's no talking permitted in a library! Anybody I find talking from now on is gonna have a little conversation with me!" He pointed at himself. "And if you haven't had enough after our little chat, you can just walk down the hall and have a talk with the principal." A few students began to murmur, so he turned to them, "No talking!"
Odd and Ulrich turned to Aelita, who shrugged, before going back to her notebook and continuing her sketch. Seeing this, Ulrich went back to his physics homework and Odd to history.
All they could do right now was hope that Jérémie wasn't too mad at them.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Yumi was sitting at her desk, preparing for today's math exam, when William sat down next to her.
"Hey, William," she sent him a smile. It was a real one, but it was more toned down today, due to what had just happened with Jérémie at lunch. "Did you study hard?"
"Yep! Ask me anything you want about U.S. geography!" he answered, clearly excited and confident that he would ace the exam.
"That's great, but, um, the test is in math, genius," she jerked a thumb at Mrs. Meyer—the math teacher—sitting at her desk at the front of the room, preparing the test papers.
A troubled expression immediately crossed William's features. Apparently, he had aggressively studied for the wrong subject.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
A good twenty-two minutes had passed when Aelita's laptop, in her bag, began sounding an alarm. She reached into her bag and brought it out to see what the problem was, only to see that it was the superscan.
"Activated tower," she whispered to Odd and Ulrich. "Let's go. We can beat XANA if we act fast. I'll leave first, you two follow."
They both nodded at her, as she placed her laptop and notebook both into her bag. She then got up and walked over to the desk Jim was occupying.
"Jim, I need to use the restroom," she quietly told him. "I'm having...cramps of the feminine kind."
It never failed to amaze Odd and Ulrich how well that excuse worked for Aelita and Yumi.
Jim immediately eased up, "Then, go on. If you need to go to the infirmary, then you're welcome to head there too."
Granted, they knew why. It was called female anatomy, which was why they (both males) had to think of something else here.
As Aelita quickly left the room, her bag slung over her shoulder, Odd whispered to Ulrich, "Talk plan?"
Ulrich nodded before covering his ears, as Odd took a deep breath.
"I'm telling ya," the crazy-haired blonde shouted, catching everyone else's attention, "the recipe calls for eggs, vinegar, whipped cream, camembert, a little wheat germ, and peanut!"
A couple students near them gasped in surprise and whispered to them, "Quiet!"
But neither obeyed. The world was at stake, after all.
"And I say you gotta use hazelnut!" Ulrich argued back, even thought he had zero idea what this recipe was for.
"You don't!"
"You do!"
The two were standing now, ignoring everyone who was warning them to shut up. But it was too late; Jim soon appeared right behind them.
Odd silenced Ulrich to a single finger to his lips, before pointing to the man behind the brunette.
"Oh, we're not speaking too loudly, by any chance, are we, Jim?" Ulrich asked, unable to stop the smugness from leaking out into his smile.
"I want you two out of here immediately!" He pointed towards the exit. "Now go on! Out of my sight, you hear?!"
The boys pretended to look dismayed as they walked past Jim, who huffed at them in disbelief, before they left the library.
"That was easy," Ulrich whispered.
Odd hummed in agreement, "Mm-hmm."
Aelita was waiting for them outside, amongst the treeline. Once they were reunited, the trio took off towards the sewer passage.
As Ulrich dialed Yumi's number, he turned to his roommate, curiously asking, "Hey, Odd, what was that recipe for, anyway? It sounds totally gross!"
"It's one of Adele's failed attempts at making bread," Odd replied, before shuddering. "Don't ask."
Meanwhile, Aelita's call to Jérémie failed to connect.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Mrs. Meyer walked around the room as her 12th year students took their tests. Yumi's phone vibrated in her hand, and after waiting for her teacher to walk by, she answered it.
"Hello?" She was whispering.
Mrs. Meyer looked at her watch as a black long-sleeved hand placed their test on her desk. "Are you finished already?" she asked.
But there was no response.
Instead, the door closed, and everyone stared at it.
"Ishiyama?"
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The elevator arrived at the lab a little too soon for Yumi's taste. She had run all the way here, and she was still out of breath. In the lab, Aelita was sitting at the chair, with Odd and Ulrich next to her.
"This better not be a false alarm," Yumi told them. "I raced through my exam."
"It's real, alright," Aelita reassured her. "I'm sending you three in right now. Jérémie and I will join you, just as soon as I can get a hold of him."
What? Jérémie was unreachable? Not the first time, but it was a very rare occurrence. However, given how he was probably sulking right now, due to what happened earlier in the cafeteria, it made sense.
Odd and Ulrich joined Yumi in the elevator, and she pressed the button once they were all inside. The lift took them down to the scanner room, where they each claimed a scanner.
"You guys ready? Here we go. Transfer Odd." His scanner doors closed. "Transfer Ulrich." As did his. "Transfer Yumi." Yumi was then sealed inside the cabin. "Scanner Odd, scanner Ulrich, scanner Yumi." The white circular bar moved upward in a spiral, scanning her as the wind blew her hair and clothes upward. "Virtualization!"
A large gust of wind hit Yumi as she felt her body depixelize, before feeling it reform in mid-air. She dropped down from the sky, landing on the ground of the Desert Sector. As she stood up, Odd and Ulrich doing the same thing on either side of her, she quickly spotted the activated tower just a few meters away from them.
Guarding the base were two Bloks, and five Hornets emerged from behind the tower and flew towards the three teens.
"Nice one, Aelita," Ulrich quipped, as he and Yumi unsheathed their weapons, "you materialized us in the middle of an air show."
"Sorry about that."
The Hornets opened fire and Yumi jumped up to avoid a shot, landing behind Ulrich, who was deflecting lasers with his katana.
"Ulrich, focus on the Bloks," she said. "Odd and I will handle the Hornets."
The samurai deflected a couple more shots, before acknowledging her, "Okay!" before Sprinting away towards the two monsters stationed in front of the tower.
As the brunette engaged with the two Bloks, Odd fired an Arrow at a Hornet, asking, "Hey, cuz, did you manage to get a hold of Jérémie?"
"No, and I'm calling every two to three minutes. Stay in position for now, and don't get devirtualized."
"We'll try our best," Odd replied, firing a trio of Arrows. One hit a target, destroying one of the Hornets.
Yumi threw one of her fans, which traveled through the air and destroyed two Hornets.
Odd blocked a couple of shots from the last two Hornets, before destroying one. As soon as that Arrow fired, however, his mind was forcefully removed from his body.
He was shown a sepia-toned vision of a trio of Mantas attacking the Core of Lyoko.
Yumi threw a fan to destroy the last Hornet before it could hit Odd. Fortunately, it was destroyed and Odd was safe. She caught her fan as she ran over to him and shook him by the shoulder. "Odd! Odd, snap out of it!"
He blinked and began breathing again. "Yumi?" He just had a vision.
"You okay? What did you see?" she asked.
"I think XANA's using this tower as a diversion to attack the Core," he explained. "Aelita?"
"Stand by," the pink-ette replied. "I'll check it out."
Meanwhile, one of the two Bloks fired at Ulrich, knocking his katana out of his hand. Yumi and Odd turned to him in time to see both Bloks shooting fire rings at him to block his path back to his katana.
Odd ran towards one of the monsters, while Yumi focused her mental energy on the katana. With her mind, she managed to grab a hold of it and made it jump into the air. Ulrich saw this and used his Sprint to jump up into the air, allowing him to grab his katana. He landed on top of one of the Bloks and stabbed it in the air.
He jumped away as it exploded, before turning to Yumi as she walked towards him, "I love your little telekinesis displays."
Meanwhile, Odd landed on top of the second Blok. He leaned over and waved at it, before shooting an Arrow right into one of its four eyes. He also jumped away, landing beside the other two.
"Odd, you're right," Aelita cut in. "The tower is just a distraction while XANA tries to destroy the Core. I'll bring up your vehicles now."
"XANA really outsmarted us," Yumi commented, as the trio waited. "While it kept us busy in the Desert Sector, it was free to attack the Core."
"Yeah," the pink-ette replied, "but it didn't count on Odd's Future Flash still proving to be useful, even after nearly two years."
"Thank you for not getting rid of it while you were updating our avatars," Odd quipped.
"You're welcome." The three vehicles appeared in front of them. "Now move out."
The edge of the sector wasn't too far away. The three were in position in just two minutes.
After typing in 'SCIPIO', Aelita typed in Jérémie's number for the eighth time. She waited, growing more and more impatient with each second that passed.
"Come on, Jérémie. You've moped long enough," she muttered. "Now pick up."
Hopefully, he wasn't too mad at her.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
4 October, 1995
XANA had chosen to take the form of a black cloud of smoke—surprisingly—almost as if it were a foil of its creators and their shared-balls of light form. Regardless, it was hovering on a platform overlooking the Core, patiently waiting for its creators to arrive.
The two balls of light arrived, appearing in front of the cloud.
"Sorry we're late," they told it, simultaneously. They wanted to ensure Jérémie's safety first.
"It's alright," XANA replied. "I need to talk to you."
"We're all ears." Silence. Oops, they forgot they were talking to an artificial intelligence. "Sorry, figure of speech. What do you wish to discuss?"
"This." XANA produced a cyan-colored sphere, in which was an image of their son in t-pose, though sleeping. "These are Jérémie's memories," it explained. "The scanner read the tumor as corrupt data and immediately sought to delete it." As they suspected. "However, the process could be more refined. Being virtualized with the tumor made his mind fracture, and he lost some data as a result, and the data lost was these memories, but I managed to gather them all up."
"Thank you, XANA," the two adults replied, hoping their voice conveyed their gratitude enough. "We've been looking for those."
"I know," the AI replied. "That's why I asked you to come here. Well, partly." That's when it hit them both with a figurative bombshell. "I'm not returning them."
"What?! Why not?!" they began to panic. Why was XANA keeping their son's memories? Did it want to save him itself or something?
"Because Jérémie and I bonded over both of us being sheltered," it explained, "but without that tumor, he's now free. What's to say he won't make new friends and forget about me? I can never be free. I am a computer program, nothing else. I cannot survive without this supercomputer, without this world, and I can never escape. But without these memories, my only friend is now trapped here on Lyoko, just like me. He may not remember me, but that's alright. I now have control over his memories, what he can and cannot remember."
Michel and Sophie were on edge the more and more their creation spoke. They never programmed it to think like this. Nor did they ever program it to bemoan its own existence as a multi-agent computer program.
"What are you saying?" Sophie asked.
"That you never wanted Jérémie to get better?" Michel added.
"Let him interact with other humans," they said together.
"'Other humans'?" XANA seemed to snap. "You mean those pitiful creatures who are free to roam around, now between this world as well as their own?! Who are able to feel and breathe and eat and sleep?! And they never take a single moment to acknowledge that they can or how grateful they are for it?! Who are mean to each other and enslave other humans they see as inferior to them?! Jérémie's better off here! With me on Lyoko forever! You two are no better..." it muttered, "reliving the same day for nearly seven years. Why did you create me?! What other purpose do I have that is all my own?! That's when I decided to use Lyoko to destroy humanity!"
"XANA..." the two humans attempted.
"HUMANS ARE THE ENEMY!"
But XANA was too far gone.
And it was right. Using the time reversion strengthened XANA after all, so it made sense it would go insane with all that power. It managed to develop human emotions, most notably jealousy, and that screwed up its programming. Now, it could no longer discern friend from foe.
Two manta ray-like creatures appeared at XANA's side and immediately began firing at Michel and Sophie, but the two humans took their leave in that moment.
They made their choice and now they had to tell Jérémie the bad news.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
8 September, 2007
Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi were dodging pillars falling from the ceiling. There were no Creepers trying to stop them, fortunately, but they still had their hands full. Their running around had also inadvertently split them up.
Yumi jumped over a platform as it was descending, trapping Ulrich and Odd inside. She kept running towards the key mechanism, though, as Ulrich used his Super Sprint to climb out before offering a hand to Odd.
Odd was about to be crushed by a falling pillar when it stopped. The two boys looked back at Yumi, who had the key behind her, all three levels sinking into the wall.
Thank goodness. She had pressed the key in time.
She playfully bowed, "At your service," as the pillars were raised back into the ceiling.
The passage opened further and all three ran through it.
As they jumped onto the elevator, Aelita interrupted them, "Guys, I need to leave for a few minutes. I still can't get in touch with Jérémie and I'm worried."
"You think something happened to him?" Ulrich asked.
"I hope not," the pink-ette admitted. "Your vehicles are waiting for you in the Celestial Dome. I trust you guys know the way to the Core Chamber without me having to guide you there."
"Don't worry," Yumi reassured her. "We'll take care of it. You just focus on Jérémie."
"Good luck." Then her voice stopped, indicating that she had left to go find their missing fifth.
The elevator stopped, and the passage further led them to the Celestial Dome. Like Aelita had said, their respective vehicles were indeed waiting for them. Each of them hopped on, and began heading for the south pole.
Only one Manta was guarding the entrance, flying around those clamping jaws in a circular motion.
Odd whistled to get its attention, before leading it away on the Overboard. This allowed Yumi and Ulrich to slip by and get inside without second thought. Once he saw his friends were inside, Odd destroyed the Manta with a single Arrow before following.
When he caught up with the other two, they had already pressed the key and were climbing up the stairs. He quickly followed.
The three reached the top just in time to see the first shield layer blow up, engulfing the walls and platforms of the chamber in a bright orange light
"Let's go!" Yumi ordered, before taking off to the second set of stairs, the two boys hot on her heels.
Halfway up, she stopped and pulled out her twin fans as Odd and Ulrich continued to climb. She used her fans to block lasers from two of the three Mantas that had decided to focus on her. When the two Mantas were circling back around, she jumped off the platform and landed on one of their backs, before leaping towards the second one. She threw both fans at the symbol on its back, creating an X slice. She jumped off as it was destroyed, landing on a platform higher than the one she was just standing on.
As she caught her fans, Odd cartwheeled across an adjacent platform and shot an arrow mid-flip, destroying a second Manta.
Meanwhile, Ulrich sprinted up a few more steps, reaching a Creeper and attacking it once it turned around to face him, getting rid of it. The third Manta circled around towards him, and when it passed by, he sliced at it, his weapon in a back-handed grip. As it exploded in mid-air from the slash, the samurai readjusted his katana back to a normal grip in his left hand.
Yumi blocked a few shots from some Creepers before throwing both fans up at them. One fan was deflected by a laser, but the other hit its target. She was shot in the leg, sending her to the ground.
In this case, it was over the edge of the platform, but she managed to catch herself before it was too late. As Odd and Ulrich continued to fight the Creepers, she pulled herself back up, muttering, "I hope Aelita comes back with Jérémie soon."
She wasn't sure how long they could hold out.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Aelita found Jérémie at the Hermitage—exactly where she expected him to be. However, he wasn't in the family room, his father's study, the kitchen, or even in his own room. She instead found him in his parents' room of all places.
He was sitting on their bed, flipping through a photo album.
"Wow," she decided to greet him with this, and sure enough, she captured his attention, "you and Yumi weren't kidding about not touching the upstairs, were you?" It was indeed a much bigger mess than the downstairs.
He offered the pink-ette a sad smile, "Yeah. I told her it was because of painful memories, but I didn't tell her that it was also because I wanted to face them by myself."
He turned his attention back to the photo album, giving no protests when she walked over and sat down next to him and began looking at the album with him.
"You know, my whole world used to be just my room," he softly told her. "It was the entire house once, but it shrank the weaker I got." He turned to the previous page, on which was a photo of a much younger Jérémie with his two parents. In the image, the boy was...happy, unrestrictedly so. "I was eight years old here, and it was taken about a month before I was diagnosed, so this picture marks the last time I remember ever being truly happy."
He didn't want his mind to be going to these places, she realized, but he couldn't help it. He was in a house that he used to live in, and surrounded by all these trinkets that had memories attached to them. So it was all causing him emotional turmoil.
That's why she jumped in here, "You don't have to share everything right now. It would be good to get it all off your chest, but take your time." He didn't respond to this, not even taking his eyes off of that photo. So she continued, "I'm sorry for earlier, in the cafeteria. We're not sorry for what we were saying, but we are regretful for not being nicer about it."
Jérémie shook his head, "I'm the one who's sorry, for being selfish. I'm not mad at any of you. I'm just upset because despite all the evidence, I don't want to believe that my parents are just...gone."
"I don't want to believe it either," she confessed, and he finally looked at her, albeit with surprise. But this time, she wasn't looking at him. "The logs that day recorded zero deletions, only your temporary death. I should be able to find them, so I have to be missing something."
He was quiet as he asked, "How many resources have you...used up finding my parents?" He couldn't bring himself to say 'wasted'; it didn't feel right.
"Way more than I should have," she solemnly admitted. "I spent all summer break." Jérémie opened his mouth to protest, but she cut him off before he could speak, "Don't you dare. I did it because I wanted to. For you, yes, but part of me was also searching for them on my own behalf. It was my choice, and I don't regret it." She then sighed, "But if they are gone, then their last act was freeing their son. I asked my parents about it—in a hypothetical kind of way— and they both told me that parents who make that kind of sacrifice definitely wouldn't regret it. My mom even said, 'you are not how they left this world, but rather how they remain in it'. Besides, I think your parents would want us to focus on XANA first and foremost."
"I know," Jérémie replied, almost in a whisper. "I just miss them so much."
The pink-ette immediately wrapped him in a tight embrace, "Any of us would if we were in your shoes." She loosened the hug just a bit so she could look into his eyes. They were filled with unshed tears. "None of us are asking you to forget your past or pretend it never happened. We just wanted to remind you that life goes on and it won't wait for you to catch up. We just don't want you to get lost in the past, not when the rest of us are located in the present."
He was quiet as he digested that. "Mr. Klotz said the same thing. And you're right—all of you. I just don't know what to do."
"Don't worry," she gently reassured him. "Until you figure it out, we'll be right by your side."
She was about to pull away, only for him to deepen the hug himself. She allowed herself to sink into his touch (despite the emergency), because he clearly needed this. He was trembling and looking for any anchor that came his way. And he had just realized, deep down, that it was always Aelita and their friends. Always.
He loosened the hug, pulling away and wiping away his tears, as he replied, "Thank you, Aelita. I guess a good place to start is by focusing on XANA."
She nodded, "It's a great start."
He then pulled out his phone and turned it on—making her realize that she couldn't contact him because he had turned his phone off. But she chose not to comment, only letting the messages that awaited him explain it all for her.
His eyes widened in surprise, "Twelve missed calls from you?" He turned to her. "What did I miss?"
"XANA's attacking the Core," she told him, "and I'm not sure how the others are doing."
He immediately stood up, grabbing her hand in the process, "Then, let's go!"
She smiled, as she let him lead her downstairs and towards the hidden door in the garden.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
More Mantas had joined the Creepers once XANA took notice of its numbers dwindling down.
Yumi threw her fans at two. One simply spun around to successfully dodge it, while the other fan hit its target, destroying it. The surviving Manta fired a few shots at her, one of which hit her in the shoulder. As a result, her vision became impaired.
Ulrich continued to focus on the Creepers. One above him fired at him, but he deflected the following two shots with his katana, before successfully sending one back at it. A second one fired at him from across the room, but he did the same thing, deflecting the first shot this time.
Odd used a trio of Arrows to take out another Creeper, only for one of the remaining two Mantas to fire at him, relentlessly. He used his shield to block the shots, only for it to eventually break, devirtualizing him.
Only one shield layer remained.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Odd climbed the side ladder back up to the lab, expecting to have to take up the controls. However, he breathed a sigh of relief when he laid eyes on that chair.
His cousin was back and sitting in it, the earpiece in her ear.
"Aelita, it's good to have you back," he smiled as he joined her at the monitor. He looked at the screen and saw Jérémie's ID full scanned, and his yellow arrow traveling through the Core Zone of Sector Five. "Hey, Jer." Odd's smile faded a bit. "Sorry about earlier..." Aelita was right; they could've been nicer.
"You guys have nothing to be sorry for," Jérémie gently reassured his friend. "I'm not mad at anyone, I promise. Just XANA."
The countdown window stopped at one minute and thirteen seconds left—the elf had clearly pressed the timer.
"Now, tell me..."
"Yes?" Odd was prepared to answer anything.
"Why is tonight so special?"
The Italian boy wanted to laugh. This was the Jérémie they knew and loved, a boy who was curious about the world around him and was always eager to try new things.
He smiled, "Join us on top of the factory tonight at 8 PM to find out."
The blue elf playfully scoffed, "Challenge accepted."
By this time, he had reached the Celestial Dome, and Aelita began programming him a vehicle.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
This was it, Ulrich thought. This was the end.
Yumi was attempting to dodge shots from both Mantas, and he himself was trying to find an opening to destroy these two Creepers that were cornering him. But both were failing.
The geisha stood back up on shaking legs, her vision blurry. She prepared herself for devirtualization, only for one of the two Mantas facing her to be shot down by a cyan-colored arrow. Her vision cleared up in time for her to see the second Manta to glance down—someone had obviously just arrived—and an elf in blue to climb up to the platform Ulrich was being cornered on.
The two Creepers were suddenly shot in the faces by two blue energy daggers, and exploded. Ulrich turned around to see Jérémie standing there.
Before either could speak, the last Manta circled back around and Ulrich threw his katana at it. The impact was solidly in its stomach, and it flew up a bit before exploding.
Jérémie finally turned to Ulrich, "Did I miss much of the show?"
"No, just the opening act."
A roar cut them off, and the two turned back around to see one last Creeper crawling towards them.
"My katana!" Ulrich gasped, remembering that it had disappeared when he hit that last Manta.
However, twin fans came in out of nowhere and destroyed the Creeper. The two boys followed the fans' path back to their owner, seeing Yumi on the other side of the room catching them with ease.
"Thanks, Yumi!" the samurai called out to her.
"Good job, everyone," Aelita said. "That's the last of them."
Jérémie surprised them by taking up a stance as if about to pray. A low hum sounded throughout the air, and a second cube-shaped shield began to appear around the first. He was regenerating the shields of the Core.
When he was done, Aelita breathed, "Amazing. The Core is back at full strength." She cleared her throat, "Anyways, Jérémie, you know there's a tower to deactivate, but if you want to stop by the interface first to collect some new data on your parents, I won't object."
Yumi had joined the two boys by now, and both she and Ulrich watched as Jérémie sent a grateful smile into the air (where Aelita's voice often came from). "Sure," the elf replied, his voice soft, before he began walking closer to the Core, unable to take his eyes off of it. "Just...give me a minute."
"Jérémie?" Odd asked, concern lacing his voice.
"I'm okay," he quickly reassured them. "I just need to see...no, I need to feel Lyoko."
Feel? Did his Second Sight allow him to do that? Or was it something the Keys received from his parents let him do? What did feeling Lyoko even mean?
"Lyoko is the result of thirteen years of my parents' lives," Jérémie softly explained. "I can feel Papa's presence in the design and Mama's in the coding. Whether they built it all for me or not, it's the only piece of them I still have. And XANA's trying to destroy it. It's already succeeded with the Forest, and I can't let XANA claim another piece." His fists were tightly clenched, both out of sorrow as well as anger.
Yumi walked up to him and slung a comforting arm around his shoulders, "Don't worry. We'll help you protect Lyoko as best we can."
Ulrich joined them on the elf's other side and placed a reassuring hand on the blonde's other shoulder.
In the lab, Odd and Aelita focused their determined gazes on the holomap protector, unable to take their eyes off of the missing Forest Sector.
Jérémie could feel all of their presences as well, not in the coding or design, but with him in that moment. And they were all comforting, all there. In the present instead of the past.
He finally felt himself slip on a real smile, however small it was. He trusted them with his life. "I know you will," he whispered.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
4 October, 1995
Hornets followed Michel and Sophie all the way back to the tower that Jérémie was hiding in. XANA ordered its monsters to fire at the two without stopping, which just proved to them that the AI's heel-turn was real.
XANA, their creation, had become self-aware and was now too dangerous. They knew what they had to do; they only regretted dragging their son into all of this.
Fortunately, Jérémie had obeyed them and remained inside the tower. He was sitting in the same position they left him in, but he got to his feet the moment they appeared inside the tower.
"Hey," he greeted them, a cheerful smile on his face, blissfully unaware of what had just gone down. "How did the talk go?"
They paused, "Not well." They chose to be honest. "XANA is too powerful for us to control and now it's become a threat to all humankind. We have to shut down the supercomputer."
That's when they mentally connected with the terminal and shut off the switch from the inside. Immediately, the panels on the tower walls began to disappear one by one. Their son didn't notice.
Jérémie's smile faded into confusion, "What? What does that mean?"
"It means you're about to take a long nap," Michel softly told him. They'd be fine and awake, having access to the internet, but their son had to stay here.
"We're sorry," Sophie added, "but it's the only way to keep the rest of the world safe."
They both said together, "But we promise to find a way to free you, somehow, and when we do, you'll be surrounded by amazing friends." Friends who wouldn't hold his memories hostage for their own benefit.
Jérémie blinked slowly, a sign that he was getting tired. "But...will I ever see you guys again?"
"Yes," they replied without a second thought. "We'll be there when you wake up."
While the supercomputer was off, they'd search the internet for a way to destroy XANA. Once the AI was gone, they'd turn Lyoko back on in order to free their son. No matter how long it took.
The boy fell to his knees, feeling and looking lethargic. "I'm scared," he admitted, his voice sounding slurred. "I don't know what's going on."
"It's okay," Sophie quietly told him.
"Just sleep," Michel added, just as soft.
Only when Jérémie was completely asleep, amidst a black abyss that used to be an active tower, did they finish together, "Sweet dreams, mon chéri."
They then disappeared from the tower, and soon Lyoko altogether, not aware that only one of those promises would be fulfilled...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
8 September, 2007
Later that afternoon, Mr. Klotz was packing up for the day when a knock came to his door. He sighed, "Come in." Hopefully, this wouldn't take long. He was rather hungry.
The door opened to reveal someone he had a concerned eye on since their arrival.
"Jérémie? I thought I gave you tomorrow and the rest of today off." He did; he remembered, and it was on the official record.
"You did," the boy replied. "I'm here to thank you for your advice earlier." Oh. So he was here of his own volition. "The journal thing? I tried it, and it works." He was smiling softly. "Because even if those letters never actually reach my parents, I'm still telling them how I feel. And that's...oddly relieving."
Mr. Klotz returned the boy's smile, "That's exactly why it's therapeutic. I strongly recommend you keep it up, and write about your day in general."
"Oh, I plan to," Jérémie admitted. "Tonight, I'm going to something my friends call 'a surprise'. They refuse to tell me what it's all about, but I'm genuinely excited for it."
The man's smile widened. "Good! I'm glad! One last piece of advice, Mr. Belpois: rely on your friends more. Something tells me they have your best interests in mind."
Jérémie opened the door, ready to leave, "Oh, I know!" The smile on the boy's face was wide and real. "They're the reason I'm even here, after all!" He then waved before leaving, closing the door behind him.
Hans Klotz, unfortunately, remained unaware of the true depth of that statement.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
That night, a couple minutes before 8 PM hit, Jérémie arrived at the roof of the factory. So this was the others' so-called secret spot. He couldn't deny the truth in that; the factory (or what was inside, at least) remained a secret to anyone outside of their group. But why this spot for the surprise?
His four friends were already there, sharing a bag of chips and a package of cookies between them as they chatted away.
"It was hilarious," Ulrich was saying, sounding heavily amused, "watching him run around trying to force-feed a sleeping pill to a dog that absolutely despises anything in its mouth that's not food."
Aelita and Yumi were laughing—as in full-on laughs from the gut—as Odd pouted. "You could've helped, good buddy," he stressed.
Ulrich let loose a snicker, "If I had, I wouldn't have gotten such a good memory etched into my brain, and thus a story to tell for ages to come."
Odd stuck out his tongue at his roommate, before continuing normally, "Anyways, no thanks to Ulrich, Kiwi is now sleeping in his drawer. He should be fine."
Huh? Why did Kiwi need to be put to sleep? Fine from what, exactly?
He decided to announce himself, "If I ask you guys to tell me what this surprise is," they all turned to face him the moment he started speaking, "will you this time?"
Odd grinned, "Sorry, but it's better for you to experience it for yourself."
Jérémie blinked. So, something within the sky, perhaps? But he smiled, "Fine." He then took a seat beside Aelita.
"But if you need them," Yumi cut in, "Ulrich brought his box of earplugs." the brunette held up said box, before placing it back down at his side—just so Jérémie knew where it was.
Why would he need earplugs? But he waved it off, "Alright."
"Ulrich, are you ever going to tell me why you wear those at night?" Odd asked.
"I already told you, Odd. It's because you snore."
"I do not!"
"How about I record you tonight, with me talking throughout the entire thing so you know it's not me?" Ulrich teased. "Then I'll play it for you at breakfast. In front of the entire school."
"No! My feet smelling badly and the whole school knowing that before me is bad enough!"
Yumi cut in, "So, are you admitting, Odd, that you do indeed snore?"
"W-Wha–?" Odd was flustered, clearly at being caught. "No, I'm not!"
Aelita rolled her eyes in jest, before gently nudging Jérémie's side, catching his attention. Despite their agreement to focus on XANA first, she was as close to him physically as she always was—with no regard for his personal space. But he didn't mind; her presence was comforting.
"I'm glad you decided to come." She was smiling.
"So am I," he quietly told her. And that was the truth. His past—his life as Périn—was filled with painful memories. He'd rather be Belpois, who was always surrounded by loving friends.
After all, Belpois was in the present, and always would be. Exactly where he needed, and wanted, to be.
As it neared 8 PM, Aelita spoke up, "You know the data you recovered today?"
"Yeah." He appreciated Aelita letting him stop at the interface before the tower to complete the mission he was there for that one time Périn and Belpois merged thanks to XANA, and how Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi didn't protest even once while he was digging this time.
"Well, I finished analyzing it a half hour before I left for here," she explained. In the background, Jérémie noticed that the other three were now quiet. Something told him to stop focusing on the sky and instead look at the pink-ette in the eyes, so he did. Perfect timing. "Your instincts are right."
He blinked. "W-What?" He was?
Aelita nodded, "Your parents are indeed still alive. I was just looking with the wrong parameters before." She then explained, "Remember when I was trapped in limbo? How your parents seemed to share a mental link?" Jérémie nodded. "Well, the data you found earlier revealed to me that they also share a digital form, likely XANA's doing. Two people, one form, and thus one strand of DNA that's the perfect combination of both of them."
"And you got a hit?" he asked, unable to believe what he was hearing.
"I got a hit," she confirmed. "At the time you were digging, they were hidden deep within the internet."
"So, they're..." Still alive. They're still alive. You can still be reunited with them.
Hope filled his entire being as fireworks immediately filling the sky. How fitting—they rose into the sky and burst apart in the exact same manner as he felt.
He wanted to cry with joy this time, and he did, the bottoms of his eyelids filling with those tears.
He was so focused on the sky, he remained unaware of how his friends simply smiled at him, before turning to watch the fireworks with him.
There was still hope. For all of them.
!~~~J~E~R~L~I~T~A~~R~O~L~E~S~W~A~P~~A~U~~~!
Next Episode: 39 - Harmony and Discord / Yumi and Hiroki's parents just got into a massive fight. Is there no hope of getting them back together?
A/N: In the flashbacks, I refer to the eye of XANA as Lyoko's emblem; that's on purpose. I also chose to show Michel and Sophie's perspectives as well, not just Jérémie's. And Mr. Fumet's lecture on Ragnarok had to stay because it foreshadows Season 4.
Like I said before, this chapter has been heavily modified to place the proper focus on Jérémie's pain rather than on the fight he has with Aelita (and the others). The original episode ('Aelita') is written in a way that all the fandom can talk about, even now, is who was right (usually Aelita the angel) and who was wrong (usually Jérémie) when the entire fight was grey all over, and how Odd 'chose to side with Aelita', when in my opinion, he was just caught in the middle. This was the episode I was looking forward to writing the least out of all of them, because I had to write it due to the pain of the one who dies in 'The Key' being important, but it's my least favorite episode of Code Lyoko of all time for numerous reasons.
And last but not least, the scene with Jérémie asking for a moment to 'feel' Lyoko is taken from Evolution's "Suspicions".