Dark Harvest Chapter 7: Ghosts of Lyoko

"It's a brand new day, October the 28th if you need to know. the sun is shining and it looks like the weather is perfect"

Jeremy woke up, his eyes glazed over from crying all night. All of their friends were dead. Sissi, Herb, Nicholas and their teachers. The school was as lively as ever but Jeremy saw no one, just the ghosts from before. He went to back to bed and wished he had never found Lyoko. The next morning, He went to class then went to the factory and locked the elevator door to die. Sissi appeared to him, smiling. She walked over to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. Jeremy was a wreck, his body was shaking all over and he looked like he was about to faint from fear. Jeremy turned to look at her and his mind froze. Inwardly screaming, he saw that she was dead yet alive. How was this possible? His mind finally reconnected and he realized the impossible: He was looking at a ghost. Jeremy fainted, when he awoke, she was still there, her face had a worried look.

"I know I was never allowed back into the group, but thank you for the memories anyway. Jeremy...for what its worth, I'm sorry for the pain I caused you guys. I never meant to cause any harm and my behavior was inappropriate. Please get up...for me"

She disappeared and Ms Hertz appeared:

"Fancy me meeting you here, my star pupil. At least I'm still my cheery self. Don't look so distraught young man. Death is just another path. One we all must take, but you need to live. Young man, get up from the ground, come on. I get it...yes, we're in spirit form, but don't let that frighten you. We're in a better place. JIM, GET DOWN HERE NOW!"

Jim appeared to Jeremy:

"Stand up straight, stop that quivering and be a man! Your friends need you. If I wasn't a ghost, I'd make you do ten pushups! Unlock this door now!"

Ms Hertz slapped him.

"I mean...get up and um...do your job?"

Ms Hertz slapped him again and they both left.

Jeremy finally got up, unlocked the elevator and lay on the floor in a fetal position, the weight finally causing him to crack. His poor mind broke in two.

"I guess this is it, You're just like me. Alone, afraid and broken. It was inevitable Jeremy"

Jeremy shot up and saw another version of him. Jeremy backed up against the wall, terrified and about to scream. His doppleganger sat on the floor and spoke to him in a calm manner.

"You are suffering from Shock and fear. Your mind has split into two personas, namely you and me, your conscience. You want to die? Death is horrible but who's to blame you if you do so, you put your friends through this hell...kidding! In all seriousness, you need to let go...breath and relax...breath...and relax. Are we good now? Yumi needs your help and Aelita and Odd are on the verge of breakdowns. You need to be strong for them. Now get up, get up and BE A MAN!"

The roar was like a freight engine. Jeremy turned around and indeed he was on a train. Yumi and Ulrich looked at him like he was nuts. Jeremy looked around, he was in First class.

"Wh- Where am i?" He asked nervously. Odd sat down next to him and said they were on a train to Kadic.

"But, we're enrolled there. The factory, Lyoko, Aelita!"

No response other than weird stares. Yumi asked what the hell he was talking about.

"Jeremy, don't you remember, we're going to Kadic for the summer, then heading back home. You don't seem like yourself"

As she said that, the room distorted and the Icon of XANA could be seen, Ulrich was racing towards Yumi, whose spine was ripped out. Odd was smashed to a bloody pulp as the Kollosus destroyed the skid. The train smashed into another carriage and Jeremy was flung out the window...into his classroom. He saw outside the window, Aelita with a flaming sword. He opened his mouth to warn everyone but nothing came out. Nothing could come out, it was like he was being choked by invisble rope.

"Now class, this is worth your grade for the semes-". The window was smashed as tendrils grabbed Jeremy and the rest of the class. Aelita could be seen along with the angels, battling the Flood. Jeremy lost consciousness and awoke back in the factory. His Doppleganger was there with him, waiting and watching. He prodded Jeremy awake and spoke to him again:

"Sleep well? Now you know what life would've been like if you'd never found this place. Your life is worth ten of theirs. You know what you have to do. This is the last time we will speak. Go back to the time before, you can do this."

Jeremmy input a RTTP. There was a white flash, then nothing. He went to bed, he woke up and went to class. He ate his food, he went to bed and slept. He had lost all sense of identity, he was for all intents and purposes, dead on the inside yet for all this, he held out hope for renewal. Sadly, his was the best fate of the four.

Aelita was a mess, she had no one to talk to and her mind had fractured into three places. Her rational, psychotic and angelic sides were all trying to kill one another. She couldn't sleep, she could barely eat and every day, had to fight the angel side of her trying to assert dominance. Eventually, she checked herself into rehab. It was a nightmare. Every night, the angel side of her beat against the bars of her cell, trying to escape, then turning its rage on her. The doctors saw bruises on her arms, scars on her face. She began to turn bulimic and sickly, her body wasted away. The tormenter inside of her, full of hellish white light was at long last pulled into heaven during one particularly violent outburst yet despite its dreams of reunification, was beaten into a bloody pulp by an enraged God for its treatment of Aelita. It was thrown back into her body but was no longer dominant. It was the servant and she was the master, as it should've been. Slowly her body healed.

"My name is Aelita Schaeffer, my mother is..my mother was Anthea Schaeffer. I am an orphan and have no parents left alive. Many of you will not believe me but I have been through unimaginable hell and suffering. I would tell it if the good people here would listen". The man shook his head yes and she was off, detailing her entire life story, oftentimes getting choked up but managing to tell without fail, Lyoko and her journey from a frightened child to a mature woman. Many in the circle began to break down with her, having lost family of their own. She sat down as the room was silent, there were no dry eyes anywhere.

"So now you know my story...Thank you for letting me share" she said. The circle talked about their struggles with loss, drug abuse and the like. Slowly Aelita recovered from her ordeal and she left rehab after two years of hard work. She went back to Kadic and attended her classes. One day she was in her room getting ready when the angel inside of her grew violent and choked the life from her. This was the final straw for Christ and he threw the disobedient angel into hell. Aelita was restored to life again, in the care of her friends at Kadic. She had no more issues from that day forward.

As for Yumi, Ulrich and Odd, they were reasonably well adjusted in any case. Barring a few episodes of anger from Odd, having gone insane from the ordeal, and after therapy coming back to Kadic, all was well.

The horizon shone a bright bloody crimson and all of them were sucked into a wormhole.

(The story continues in Crisis Core Part 1)

End