…I stand here, looking over the vast landscape of this artificial faux-utopia that I now call home. I wonder if I ever will be able to go back home. Hell, I wonder if I will even be able to return my life to the more average state it was back then…I stand here, just wondering…wondering…
It had been nearly a full year since I had been living in France and taken residence at Kadic. This school has quite a bit of history. Though you wouldn’t realize this unless you knew what I knew. You’d think it was just another boarding school. Sometimes though it was unbearable…You know, the secrets I had to keep to protect everyone.
The day was cold and brisk. Made me want to run back to my room and crawl under the covers. Unfortunately I had already missed enough days so far. Mrs. Hertz would have probably come beating down my door wondering where I’ve been. I wandered out of the main dormitory building into the courtyard. The bell had rung just moments before and a swarm of students were already rushing towards the cafeteria. I was in no hurry though as I had more pressing matters on my mind I guess. That and I already scarfed down a few pop tarts that Kalani had left in my room the night before by accident. That was usually enough to hold me till lunch so I had a chance to sleep in more till class. Regardless, I began walking towards the cafeteria in an average pair of blue jeans and black sweat shirt while my hefty backpack was slung over my right shoulder. As I near the building, the wind had just picked up gently and began blowing the blanket of leaves on the ground from one end of the courtyard to the other, impeding my path just slightly.
Entering the cafeteria, I almost immediately begin looking around, seeing if anyone I knew had already taken a seat at a table. Of course I didn’t expect to see Aelita, Jeremie, Yumi, Odd, or Ulrich. It seemed as if XANA really had them on their toes lately. I hardly ever saw them around school on a regular basis anymore. I sometimes felt guilty though that all I did was keep the ill-informed on Earth safe when XANA decided to wreak havoc while the rest of the team did all the hard work at the factory. After I had almost nervously stood there for a few moments, looking for familiar faces, I finally spotted Wanre sitting at a table by himself off in the corner. He looked to already be occupied in his breakfast as I walked up and sat down opposite of him at the table.
“Hey. You seen your sis at all this morning?” I asked him.
He looked up at me as he finished his spoonful of cereal and waited to respond. “Yeah. Woke me up from a nice dream, too. Said she’d be in her dorm.”
I nod slightly as I shift the backpack on my shoulders and push against the surface of the table. “I figured she might need some help carrying her stuff to class with that cast and all.”
He merely grunted in answer as I finally got up and made my way for the door again. I still wondered some days how he thought of me and if he only talked to me just because his sister and I were dating. But I guess I should be relieved that he even lets me go that far with the stories I have heard from them.
But I set that thought aside and continued on my way back to the dormitories…
I walked up the stairs to the girl’s floor of the dorms, only pausing momentarily to see if Jim was afoot. I’d only imagine what hell he’d give me for even wandering up here, let alone during school hours. Arriving to the second floor, I walked catty-corner to Dorm 203 and knocked once. I could faintly hear the sound of music through the door. Only knowing how well these doors held in the noise, I cracked the door and waved a hand in to try and gather her attention. Again, there was no response. I walked in completely and closed the door softly behind me, just managing with the noise. Though oddly enough when I entered, I saw Kalani sitting on her bed reading a book with a set of earbuds in her ears on top of the music blaring into the room. But I guess I got used to this sort of thing. Her room was always well decorated. Moreso than mine. The single large window was covered with a thick black curtain that was decorated with tiny white stars and her bed was made with a black bed sheet with a purple galaxy illustrated on it. The rest of her room was decorated with a few astronomy related knickknacks. I guess I just never paid too close attention to that style stuff myself.
I snuck up behind her and gave her a soft tap on the shoulder, trying to gather her attention as cunningly as possible rather than scaring the crap out of her. I tapped her shoulder and she almost immediately turns around to face me. As she spots me, her face lights up as she chimes.
She quickly pulled the earbuds out of her ears and let them dangle at her sides. “Good morning, Chad!” she said simply in an enthusiastic tone. Greetings like these always seemed to brighten my mornings.
I smiled in return. “Hey. I just came in to check on you and see how you were doing. Seeing if you needed anything before I ran off to class.” I always seem to enjoy doing this kind of stuff for her even when it wasn’t asked of me. Maybe I had just gotten too attached. I mean, we were already going steady up to this point.
She merely nodded in answering. “Yep! Can you bring me the notes after class?” she asked me sincerely.
I nodded, the smile on my face creeping a bit wider. “Sure.” I chimed in a slightly cheerful tone before I shifted the backpack on my back to the opposite shoulder and began heading back towards the door. I opened it and promptly started out of the room not before I turned around and waved back to her. “See ya!” She waved back just before I finally exited the room. This was the last I saw her that day.
By the time I got out of the dorm building, the final bell for first period had already rang. Mrs. Hertz’s class was on the far side of the school. I had to make like track and field and sprint just to make it to class before Mrs. H got fed up with me.
I rush in the door noisily, panting from the extended run to class. I was hardly what you’d call athletic so I was in pain from the exertion. My chest felt like it was on fire. If it wasn’t for that fact, I’d actually be concerned that all the students were staring at me oddly.
“Sorry I’m…late…Mrs. H.” I stuttered violently as I leaned against the doorframe and tried to catch my breath.
Mrs. Hertz looked to be currently occupied in a book at the time I rushed in. She looked up just enough to see who I was and promptly returned to her book. “It’s ok. We’re still missing many students today anyhow.” She noted unenthusiastically.
I took this prime opportunity to quickly and quietly take my seat and blend in with the rest of the class so as not to get into further trouble. The moment I took my seat, I yanked the laptop out of my backpack and set it on the desk in front of me.
It was about halfway through the class. I finished the last bit of notes that Mrs. H put on the board and saved the small document I had open on my laptop, followed by closing it and putting the laptop away in my backpack. The rest of the class we had time to do whatever we want. Hertz was mostly focusing on notes this past week. So I sat there with my head down and began looking around the room quietly. The empty desk to my right. My friend Jesse across the aisle and the empty seat next to him. And Wanre nowhere to be seen. I had a sinking feeling that something was up. But with what I’ve seen, I get that paranoid feeling on a daily basis almost. But even so, I eagerly awaited for class to end if only to keep myself from dozing which I've been doing for the past fifteen minutes.
I jerked my head up off the desk, the ringing bell yanking me out of my dozing state. I quickly look around and notice all the students heading out of the classroom. I frantically reached for my backpack, finding it where I left it earlier on the floor at my feet. I toss it over my shoulder and run towards the door, following the last bit of students out who were still there.
I enter the dorm building from off the courtyard and turn the adjacent corner, stopping conveniently in front of the door adorned with the number of 105. Opening the door I step inside, recognizing my own familiar room immediately. The room was fairly plain. Like I said, I didn’t have much sense of style. The bed was adorned with a navy blue set of bed sheets. The only thing out of place was my leather covered journal which laid about in the center while a small doll sat on top of it. The doll was one of my own creations and resembled Kalani. It was a kind of spur of the moment project which I took on when she was simply a crush of mine. The back of the room had a simple desk and standard white desktop computer sitting in front of the window which really didn’t have any curtains on it. On the side of the room opposite the bed there was a plain 5 drawer tall dresser with an empty top. Yeah, my room was plain. As soon as I walked in, I walked over to the desk in the back and plopped down in the chair and dropping the backpack on the floor, simultaneously pulling the laptop out and setting it in my lap. Waiting for it to boot up, I glanced over the monitor for my main computer and out the window behind it. I could faintly hear the sound of sirens coming closer. But they were so faint that I just shrugged them off and returned to the laptop. Pulling up the notes again, I print them off. The nearby aging printer that I had inherited from my mother noisily whirred to life and sluggishly spooled off the notes. As I waited, I shut the laptop again and tossed it in the backpack as I stood up and impatiently waited for the notes to finish. Throwing the backpack over my shoulder, I glance out the window again just out of curiosity. Some of the students were running in the direction of the school gates I could see. I didn’t think nothing of it as the noise had soon died down in the room. I quickly snagged the printed sheets off the printer and trotted towards the door.
I walk back up the stairs to the familiar door of room number 203 and promptly knock on the door. I stand there for a few moments, waiting to hear if there’s an answer. I didn’t hear any music so she should have been able to hear the knock. Regardless, I went ahead and opened the door anyhow and stepped inside slowly. She must have fallen asleep. She was sprawled out on the side of the bed with her book open on the floor and still wearing the earbuds. I could faintly hear the music coming from the device. I wandered over with a smile on my face and kneeled down next to the bed. Putting a hand on her shoulder, I shake it gently.
“Hey. You gonna wake up?” I ask softly as I continue the motion. “I got your notes from class.”
…She didn’t respond.
“Kalani? Hey.” I continued, my voice raising a slight tone of concern. I knew she was a strong sleeper, but she at least squirmed when I tried to wake her. That’s when I looked up at her face. Her eyes. They were wide open and unmoving. They were staring somewhere off into space. But…she wasn’t moving. She was completely motionless. My heart nearly stopped for a moment. Worried, I quickly put my ear up to her chest..She still had a pulse which was good. Not really knowing what else to do at the moment, I fumbled for my cell phone and called the only real person I could trust at the moment.
“Wanre?!” I exclaimed over the phone. “Kalani’s room. Hurry…No, but it’s just as bad…I have no clue. Just hurry, ok?” I nodded and hung up as I looked back at the girl worriedly and continued to shake her gently, hoping for a miracle that she’d wake up or at least give some kind of sign that she was ok.
After what seemed like an eternity but was probably no more than a minute, Wanre finally barreled through the door. I looked up just momentarily to spot Wanre. He was breathing heavily, almost like I had done when I was running to class earlier that morning.
“What is it?” he asked through pants. My frown deepened as I turned to the girl again and shook my head in response. “I don’t know. I just came in here to give her the notes for class and found her this way.”
Wanre padded over and reached his hands in front of her face and snapped them violently…Still no response. “She’s still breathing. And there’s a pulse.” I noted.
“That’s a good sign.” Wanre responded as he smacked her cheek a bit, trying to wake her.
“Should..I call one-one-two?” I asked, trying to think of something to help the situation, already feeling somewhat helpless in that moment.
“It’d be for the best.” The boy said simply as he kept trying to wake her. I spared no time and quickly dialed the number on my cell.
“Yes? I, uhh, need an ambulance to Kadic Academy on Oakwood drive!..Yes. The dorm building. Room 203…I don’t know. She’s still got a pulse but isn’t responding.” I answered, trying to keep my voice from stuttering as I watched the two closely. The operator kept feeding me the usual expected shpiel to stay on the line and wait till the paramedics arrive and stuff like that. I didn’t really pay attention. Besides, it’s not like out of nowhere I was gonna hang up abruptly on them…Well, I take that back. If I had to hang up abruptly, I would most definitely have had more pressing matters on my hands than waiting for an ambulance.
The paramedics finally arrived and noisily rolled the stretcher into the already cramped dorm room. The bed rattled across the room and both Wanre and I stood up and aside to give them room. “What’s wrong with her?” one of the paramedics in white asked.
I could sense Wanre wasn’t exactly pleased with their question at this point. “Do you really think we would have called and said ‘I don’t know’ if we did know?!” he snapped at them. “Just get her to the hospital!”
“I don’t know really. Just found her like this. She needs to get to the hospital.” I responded calmly. I know Wanre and I have never seen eye to eye, but one thing always brought us together was we both cared about his sister. And I knew what the feeling was like in the atmosphere at that moment.
The paramedics merely nodded and rushed over to the bed. Picking her up, they place her on the stretcher and strap her in before quickly rolling her out of the door. Without any hesitation, I follow Wanre out after them.
We all end up just outside the dorm building. It looked as if they managed to get the ambulance all the way through the school grounds up to the building. As they rolled Kalani’s stretcher into the back, Wanre and I just stood back and watched almost dumbfounded. It was like a nightmare. She’s been sick before, but never that bad. As the paramedics were just about finished and were ready to close the the rear doors on the ambulance, I hesitated. Running up to them I called out loudly. “Wait! I’m going with her!” It came out unexpectedly, but the paramedics didn’t seem to mind as they motioned us in. I looked behind momentarily to see Wanre just behind me, calm and speechless. We both climbed up in the back of the ambulance on either side of the stretcher as one of the paramedics slammed the doors shut and immediately we were off with the sirens blaring.
…
There we sat in the hospital room. In a setting that you wouldn’t want to wish on anybody. Not even your worst enemy. The room was silent save for the rhythmic beeping of the EKG. Kalani was laying in one of the vacant beds with a trademark hospital gown on. A small handful of wires, an IV, and a nasal breathing tube all dangled off her like life giving umbilical cords. She still remained in her unchanging state. Both myself and Wanre sat silent in the adjacent chairs sitting next to the door, mostly staring oddly at the linoleum under our feet. I felt really bad, finally knowing what it’s like from the other side of the room. All I could think about is what had happened a few months before. I think I was in the same exact bed too. Aelita, Jeremie, Ulrich, Odd, Yumi, Kalani, and Wanre. All of them there seeing how I was doing and making sure I was alright. It never occurred to me before how much pain you could put someone through when you’re on life support in a hospital. And Wanre…He was her brother. I can only imagine what he was feeling like. Seeing as he was mirroring my pose in the adjacent chair, I was probably close enough.
A knock came at the door. I wasn’t really expecting anyone but under the circumstances I wasn’t about to go screening guests. “Come in.” I said in a sullen tone. Looking up at the sound of the door creaking open, I look up, spotting Aelita walk in.
“Hey. The boy’s told me they saw you leave in an ambulance earlier. What’d you do to yourself this time?” she said in an almost sarcastic tone. I don’t think she had yet spotted me in the nearby chair. “Oh…What happened to her?”
“I don’t know really.” I responded simply as I lifted my head a bit and looked back at the bed-ridden girl. It didn’t take long. I already heard the faint sound of another ambulance nearby as well as the sound of rushing people outside the door. Not much long afterwards a few doctors rushed in with another patient, almost knocking Aelita over as she was in the doorway. I couldn’t see the person on the bed amidst all the confusion.
“Would everyone please vacate the room?” A doctor pleaded as he attended to the new arrival. I didn’t think too much of it and walked out of the room following Aelita. Once the three of us were outside the room, I noticed Jesse across the hall sitting in a chair. Was kind of strange to see him here. He didn’t really know Kalani all that well I think. Just knew she was my girlfriend. At that point he looks up at us and quickly stands from the seat.
“Hey! Did the doctor say anything?! How is she?” he seemed a bit panicked. We all shook our heads at him.
“The doctor hasn’t said anything yet. She’s been in there for a little while.” I responded to him.
Jesse looked at us a bit oddly. “Crystal? She just got here! I came with her!” he exclaimed. Just at that point, the doctors walked out of the room.
“It’s ok to go in now.” The one said. We started to file back in the room but my attention was grabbed elsewhere as Wanre spoke up.
“My sister. And the new one you just brought in. Have you done any examinations in the ambulance? Heart rates? Pulse rates? You have any clue what's wrong with them besides the fact that they're in a coma?" he asked earnestly.
The doctor merely shook his head as he looked down at his paperwork. “No..Just the standard symptoms of comatose. That’s all I know at the moment.” He said as he already began walking down the hall. Wanre looked as if he was gonna say something more but he just shook his head once and walked back into the room.
We stepped back into the room and looked around. Jesse was already at the bed on the opposite side of the room. Looking over to the adjoined bed, I finally catch a glimpse of the adjoining occupant. Crystal’s form was laying in the bed, in a similar situation as Kalani. Lifeless and unmoving. I sat back down in my chair near the door and clasped my hands in my lap. Wanre was standing next to Kalani’s bedside, pacing the room a bit.
Aelita stood at the end of the room looking over the two patients and blinked softly. “Wow…It’s an epidemic.”
Jesse was sitting next to Crystal’s bed now. He had a cd player in his hand and was trying to set it on the bedside table.
“How nice of you to point that out.” I heard in front of me and looked up. Wanre had stopped his pacing.
Aelita remained at the end of the room and let out an audible sigh. “You know, Wanre, I’m just trying to have conversation here is all.”
Wanre turned his back to her and placed his hands into his coat pockets and continued his pacing. “Sorry.
I sat there slouched with my head facing the floor again. I didn’t particularly enjoy when bickering started. Even in that situation. I looked up after a few moments of silence to spot Jesse on the other side of the room. He had been fumbling with the CD player again in frustration. After a moment he seemed to have gotten it as a faint sound of music was heard from his direction. He sat there, looking to be enjoying himself. But his gaze seemed to tighten. His eyes staring off into space almost like the two girls. At that point I saw him frantically reach for the cords to the earbuds and yank them forcefully out of his ears. As he did, he sat there in a wobbily daze.
“Jesse?” Wanre had called out his name. He had been watching the boy boredly the same way as I.
“Ugh. Never had music do that to me before.” Jesse noted as he quickly shut off the CD player and set it back on the table. “It must be a new song. I’ve never heard it before.”
I sat there and blinked a bit. Something didn’t sit right with all of this. But I couldn’t place a finger on what.
“Maybe I just had it turned up too loud or something.” Jesse shrugged.
Wanre scoffed at him. “I don’t think loudness would do anything besides damage your ears.”
At that point, something snapped. I don’t know what. But something did. Even though I still had no exact idea what was going on. I looked up at Aelita. “Hey Princess? Where’s Einstein right now?”
“He’s still on holiday with his family, remember?” she said almost matter-of-factly. I had nearly forgotten. Holiday had just ended for most of the students. But Jeremie was still up in the mountains with his family and wouldn’t be back for another week. I glanced around the room quietly again and smacked my forehead lightly.
“Crap! I forgot my stuff is still back in my dorm!” I said as I got up from the chair. “I’ll be right back.” I said as I walked over to Kalani and kneeled over as I gave her a soft, almost mournful kiss on the forehead. I got up and slowly began back towards the door. “I promise.” …That word. ‘Promise’. It was one I should have trained myself never to use so easily. Many of my promises were never kept unfortunately.
I had walked into my dorm for about the umpteenth time that day and I quickly closed the door behind me before I ran over to the computer and plopped down in the chair and promptly tapped a few keys on the keyboard, causing the monitor to flicker to life. Nothing was amiss. The desktop was still idle and blank. I shrugged it off and stood up again, heading towards the door.
I walked back into Kalani’s room again, noticing my backpack on the floor near the bed amidst the slight mess that was left there earlier. What I didn’t notice though till I got closer was the faint and muffled beeping from my backpack. As I noticed it, I quickly took a seat on the bed and opened up my backpack, pulling the laptop out. This was obviously the source of the noise as it became more audible. Opening it up, a display showed on screen with a flashing red tower in the center of a few dozen others. I only knew too well what it meant and it explained my earlier suspicions. I quickly reached into my pocket and yanked out my cellphone.
“Jesse? Jesse! Look, I need you and Aelita to come to the factory immediately!...Yes. I can explain it better when you get there…I don’t know. Make an excuse…Ok. See you there.” I quickly hung up the phone and dropped it along with the laptop in the top of the backpack and ran for the door, grabbing onto one of the straps and forgetting to zip it back up.
I ran into the elevator, trying to keep my backpack from dumping all over the place. I slammed the button on the wall painted with a large white down arrow. The vertical door screeched closed followed shortly by a few metal sounding thuds as the elevator began descending into the shaft. The ride was always noisy. I can only guess that with the years of dormancy, the grease on the tracks must have dried up. It would certainly explain the occasional hiccup in operation sometimes. The elevator began to slow down as it neared it’s destination. I had finally gotten my backpack sorted and zipped up. Watching the large door into the lab brought back a few memories of when I first caught wind of the place. My father was on the Carthage team many, many years before. Knowing this, Aelita thought it was a good idea I joined the group in case something bad happened and they needed someone who had inside info on how the whole system worked. I kindly obliged…Which was a mistake I guess. XANA had only widened his efforts to stop us and had placed me in the hospital a number of times and near-fatally stranded me on Lyoko once or twice. Now he had Crystal and Kalani in critical condition…I shook my head violently to get the thoughts from my mind and looked back into the lab. I quickly trotted over and sat down in the raised chair.
As my body weight hit the seat, the rotating track whirred to life and sent me spinning around the holosphere to the opposite side of the room where the dangling computer console was. By the time I got my bearings, it was already displaying the general location of the activated tower. I quickly narrowed this down with a set of rapidly typed keystrokes. By that time, I heard a clatter above my head and quickly looked up. Jesse and Aelita had begun crawling down the ladder from the adjacently connected machine room.
“Why’d you come in that way?” I asked simply. Jesse jumped off onto the floor about 3 rungs up and walked over in my direction. Aelita climbed the full way down.
“I don’t exactly like that rickety elevator. Scares me.” He responded, a noticeable cringe emanating through his figure.
I shrugged a bit and began rapidly typing at the console again. A few player cards came up along with a timer. “Get to the scanner room, both of you. I’ll be along in a second.”
The two nodded and quickly jogged to the other side of the room and crawled down another ladder in the floor that led to the scanner room below. As the two disappeared, I finished my work and hopped up from the chair. At this time, the timer had already begun to count down from a minute. Rushing to the ladder, I climbed down it as fast as I could. Jesse and Aelita were already in their scanners. The moment I stepped in, the door shut with a loud thud and almost immediately the scanner began whirring to life. The experience always scared me, but not nearly as bad as the first time. Sounded like I had stepped inside the turbines of a jet engine. I had to stand still and shut my eyes tight because what always came was a blinding light all around followed by a blast of air from the floor that was more violent than you may think. But by the time the blast of air hit, the process had already begun. I began to blank out momentarily.
Soon enough my vision and thought processes returned as I ended up in the familiar blue environment. Once I was fully virtualized, I dropped like a rock onto the icy surface below, crouching involuntarily from the force. I was always kind of embarrassed of my Lyoko form. When Jeremie first virtualized me, he said something with the precognition program bugged up so I had to choose a pre-existing avatar or else I’d end up a formless ghost. Aelita and Yumi’s were out of the question right off the bat. I wasn’t too fond of Samurai’s. So that only left Odd’s. Yes. I was a purple cat. Quickly standing up, Aelita and Jesse were already there waiting. Jesse was fairly tall here on Lyoko. Had a bright white robe on and carried a large staff almost as tall as him. Aelita had the same outfit as always.
“So uhh…Which way?” Jesse asked. I looked around and pointed off towards the east where there were some large glaciers obstructing our view.
“There. It should be just behind that wall of ice.” I noted. The three of us began running off, heading through the small opening that was in the wall of ice. As we got to the other side though, A few blok’s came up from behind and fired straight at us. The shot that hit me straight in my back was enough to knock me on my knees. Though it was probably from getting caught off guard. Aelita and Jesse were already defending themselves well. I quickly rolled onto my back and aimed at one of the blok’s.
“Laser Arrow!” a trademark arrow began flying from the area in front of my wrist and went straight for the blok. Almost simultaneously, it fired back at me. I hardly had time to react. By the time I pushed myself up off the ice, the shot had hit me square in the chest with enough force to push me backwards. I slid back uncontrollably towards the edge on the slippery surface of the already narrow passage over the open digital sea. Feeling myself go over, I scramble and throw my hands out front and latch onto the ice with my claws. I felt my body dangle off the side as I firmed my grip onto the ledge.
“Jesse! Aelita!” I yelped. I already got the shcpiel from Jeremie before about what would happen if someone fell into the digital sea. I did whatever I could to keep my grip but the body heat from my hands was already starting to melt the ice under my claws. Another explosion went off nearby. I watched as a few pieces of blok fell off the edge into the sea. I could barely see her, but Aelita ran by in front of me in the direction of the tower. Jesse was still occupied I guess as I still heard shots being fired off to my right. I began to slip even further. The melted ice had dripped down my arm and onto my face, accelerating into an even stream. I could tell I didn’t have long to hold on.
“Jesse!” I yelped again.
“Hold on! I’ll be there in a second!” he called back, still attending to the last Blok.
I felt my hands slipping even further. I probably only had seconds left. The only thing that kept running through my head was the possibility of this being my last moment alive and what it would do to everyone I cared about. The thoughts had overwhelmed me so much I guess I had inadvertently lost my grip. I lapsed back to reality too late to see Jesse leaning over the edge trying to reach for me as I fell rapidly downwards. I only saw him for a short moment before my vision began to white out and the falling sensation was soon replaced with weightlessness. After a few moments, I think I must have passed out.
I didn’t know how long I was out. I just know I felt really weak. The totally white vision was still there but it had faded enough that I could see faint, undeterminable figures around me that were also an off white that easily blended in with the rest of the surroundings. Oddly enough I heard some form of techno music echoing all around me, enveloping me in what felt like a pillow of sound.
“Ugh…Where am I?” I uttered weakly, hoping for an answer from anyone. The music abruptly stopped the moment I said something, but there was no verbal response.
“J-Jesse?...Aelita? Are you there?” I called out again.
“Chad?” a voice echoed all around me. It was female and sounded familiar. It sounded like Kalani, but I couldn’t be certain through the echo’s.
“K-ka-Kalani?...I…need help.” It’s like it was taking all my energy just to speak. Every word I just got weaker and weaker.
“Chad? Where are you?! What happened?!” the voice returned, sounding a bit worried. I was slowly putting the voice to a person. Even my thought processes were being impeded drastically.
“So tired…So weak…Get…Jesse.” I uttered out as best I could. That’s the last audible thing that came across for a while. I began to slowly fall asleep in my unknown state. The weightlessness and warm sensation made it only that much easier.
“Come in!” I heard as a faint echo. It knocked me out of my light slumber. I could also hear what sounded like another voice but it was too faint to make out. I began to attempt to maneuver myself closer to the second voice but it just made me weaker. I made a rough push off what seemed like nothing and began to slowly float off. The exertion made me blank out momentarily as I did so.
“I..I’m not sure, he..I..could just hear him.” Her voice returned though didn’t seem to be aimed at me.
“Can you do me a favor Kalani?” The other voice, noticeably male, became much clearer now but still somewhat distant.
“Sure, what is it?” Kalani responded to the voice. I was still trying to piece together the male voice. The mental exertion doing nothing to help my situation.
“If you hear from him again…tell him that…I tried, and that I’m sorry.” The male voice responded, sounding real disappointed…Jesse?
“…Alright.” Kalani agreed, her voice sounding a little distressed.
“Don’t worry. I’m sure…wherever he is…that he’s fine.” The male voice came back.
It was Jesse. I could hear it. But it sounded like he was about to leave. I had to do something.
“No. Jesse!...I’m still…here!” I began screaming as loud as I could. But the more I exerted my voice, the more it seemed to chop up, my words getting lost in silence. “Get…Aelita…Retrieve…Memory!” This was just enough to send me over the edge. The pain had gotten so excruciating from the exertion that I had passed out completely.
…
“Ok, I guess.” I had slowly regained only what I assumed was consciousness. Kalani’s voice echoed around me again. It sounded a bit sullen.
“Ka-Kalani?” I called out again as best I could in my weak state.
“Chad?! Chad, you there?!” She responded with an eager tone.
“Yes. I’m still here. You hear anything from Jesse or Aelita?”
“No I haven’t. I’m sorry…Where are you?” She continued to sound worried and I couldn’t blame her one bit.
“I’m sorry. I wish I could say. But all I see is a blinding white light and that’s it. All the human contact I have here is you…Next time you talk to Jesse, tell him to go see Aelita for me about this, ok?” I responded, starting to become weak again.
“Alright. I’ll tell him…But how did you even get…wherever you are?” her voice continued to echo, sounding more distressed as it did so. As much as I wanted to tell her where I was, I couldn’t. But..What could I tell her instead?
“…Last..I remember..I was back in my room picking up my backpack..and now I’m here.” I lied as believably as I could.
“That’s weird…I wish I could do something to help……Besides talking to Jesse and Aelita and such.” She noted. One side of me wanted to just tell her the truth about anything. Maybe if she knew exactly what was going on, she wouldn’t be so worried about my predicament. On the other hand, XANA had already gotten to her once. It would only be magnified if she joined the team. Still, I felt terrible about all this.
I heard yet another voice, but this too was too faint to make out.
“I do too. Sadly the only two who could really help are Aelita and Jesse.” I responded, sighing.
“I don’t have a radio in my head, thank you!” she exclaimed, seemingly at someone else. Another voice seemed to enter the conversation. My brain kept trying to focus on all of them and only made me weaker. I was afraid I was gonna pass out again. “I’m sorry…Too…weak…I have to go…I love you.” I choked a bit.
“No wait!! Come back!!” She called out insistently. But her voice seemed to fade out a bit as I got weaker and weaker.
…
I was getting worse. I could feel it. I woke up suddenly, not realizing I had passed out again previously. I heard a few muffled voices but couldn’t make out coherent words. Like I was getting more distanced from my very existence. I just wanted to cry, but even that I couldn’t do.
“Ka..lani? I wish…there was something I could do…To get me home sooner…I…I miss you so much.” I emitted audibly, not really knowing if anyone could hear me anymore.
“Wait, no! Come back! I miss you! Stay here!” Kalani’s voice suddenly returned in a very audible level.
“I’m still here…Barely.” I strained, trying to hold onto my consciousness as best I could.
“Please try and hold on! I want to see you again!” she exclaimed and insisted.
“I promise.” I said…That word again…
…It happened again. I regained consciousness once, not knowing I passed out. I think the Super Computer was attempting to further delete my avatar. It was probably pretty close to doing it too.
“Kalani? Are you there?” There was no answer. But oddly enough I had sensed she was still there but was probably sleeping. I felt so torn and tired at the same time. I just…I grabbed onto the nearest thing I could in the seemingly dream-like environment which was a vague, white, fluffy cloud-like thing. I grabbed onto it and hugged it as tight as I could. As I did, I seemed to doze off at my own will.
“Chad?” I got awoken from my slumber again.
“Yes?” I responded.
“Chad…It’s Christmas.” She said, a noticeable distressed sound in her voice.
I had nearly forgotten with everything going on. It was Christmas. The day before when I got trapped was Christmas Eve. “I..I know.” I responded. After a few moments, all I could hear was a sobbing sound.
“I'm...sorry...I didn't mean to get you worked up over this...I wish I could explain things a bit more, then maybe you would understand what's going on a bit better...But I know the other's would probably kill me if they found out.” I tried to plead with her, not really knowing what to do at the moment.
“Chad, it's not about where you are or how confused I am, it's that you’re not here!...I know it's not your fault.” She exclaimed.
I just felt worse and worse as these conversations went on. I think as time went on, my emotional pain overwhelmed the physical that I had from getting trapped in this place. "I'm so sorry...I...I...I just..." I tried to reason with her, just getting more and more frustrated. I grabbed onto the nearby cloud again and squeezed it tightly, trying to force myself to cry. But nothing came out.
"D-don't be sorry... Y-you didn't.... I had j-just thought you'd... be here.." she had uttered through her still noticeable crying.
“…Kalani?” I called her name again. I had thought of something just then. Something that may have helped my situation.
“W-what?” I heard echo from her teary voice.
“I don't mean to hurt your feelings or anything like that but...could you try and talk to Jesse again and see if he can help? Just tell him he knows where to find me and that Aelita can walk him through the process...I'm starting to become real weak again..." I told her, trying to remain conscious as best I could.
“Of course. Anything…Besides, I’m being rather selfish anyway.” She insisted, her voice seeming to calm a bit. I just sat there quietly, not really knowing the best way to respond. She had been through too much. I wanted it all to end.
“Chad? Are you still here?” she called back to me after a long pause.
“Y-yes…I’m here.” I responded simply.
“Take it easy, ok?” she said back in a sulky tone.
That was the last I heard as the silence took over for a good long while.
~~
I woke up and immediately I was greeted with a dark, almost black ceiling. I sat up slowly, still a little weak. ‘Where am I?’ I kept asking myself. As my vision cleared I finally saw the room around me. An all too familiar location. All the walls were covered in a kind of brushed metal with the occasional dirt blotch seen at the seams. I stood from the half-deflated air mattress and looked around. Everything seemed well in place. The beanbag chair in the corner. The ceiling hatch was shut. The hidden door in the wall was nowhere to be seen. But I still felt horrible. I guess I was still lost in the dream I had. Wishing it was real and not just a dream or simple flashback. But I was stuck there along with everyone else I cared about and forced to worry about our well beings every day.
Alas, I was stuck where I was. I began slowly brushing off my flat black skintight suit and walked over towards the hatch in the ceiling. I climbed up the wall and reached for the handle on the hatch, sliding it out of the way as the sound of screeching metal filled my ears. Nearly leaping out, I end up in the open plain behind the large leaning tree out in the distance. I slid the hatch shut again and fixed the patch of grass that had been covering it before I stood up and walked off.
I ran into the watering hole frantically and nearly leaped into the large lake with a splash. I wasn’t paying attention and had the huge lion on my ass. I learned never to get caught in a solo fight with one of those things or I was dead. I sat there floating in the water with just the top half of my head sticking out of the water. The tall, yellow grass surrounding the lake in the area did a good job of concealing my identity. The lion just stood there sniffing around quietly. Thankfully it soon gave up and wandered off out of sight. I let out a sigh of relief and pulled myself up halfway onto the bank of the lake as I tried to catch my breath. I guess I was in a particularly crabby mood that day. I couldn’t think of much else but Earth. I was willing to so much as join XANA, the very being that had threatened my life before and landed everyone here in the first place, just to get back home. I mean, Kalani had joined months before when I let my foolish pride get the best of me and she was still the same as she ever was. Though I regret to say that we hardly ever saw each other around anymore. What was I thinking? I couldn’t join XANA. It would go against everything I stood for. As much as I just wanted this whole war that began years ago to end and the hostilities towards the factions to cease, I wasn’t gonna join my own mortal enemy to do so.
I shook my head violently at the thought and just turned around to look at the middle of the lake. I didn’t particularly want to see anyone at the moment. Just wanted some time to myself. I took as deep a breath as I could, grimacing at what was coming next, and dove under the surface of the water. I swam and swam further towards the bottom. The light dimmed more and more the farther I went down before I could barely see anything in front of me and had to go in by feel alone. Eventually I felt the familiar soft patch of sludge at the bottom and pushed my way through as hard as I could.
I surfaced into the damp and muddy cave, covered in layers of mud and sludge. I frantically pulled myself to the solid edge and wiped enough mud from my face so I could breathe. Once my mouth was cleared, I emitted a loud gasp and began catching my breath. As I slowly regained my strength, I sat up and began wiping the rest of the mud off my suit and out of my hair. I absolutely loathed coming in that way, but it was the only entry available at the time.
I got up and quickly began to walk through the adjacent tunnel into the rest of the caves. The whole place, all dark, rocky, and damp, reminded me too much of the underground caves my family and I used to visit back in America when I was only 10…Oh god, my mom. She was probably worried to tears after not being on Earth for nearly a full year with no contact. As far as what the newer arrivals have mentioned, XANA’s focus has only been on the general area of France so the rest of the world was out of his reach. But the whole war that he started between France and all the other countries of the world probably had her worried about my safety. It just made me want to get back to Earth even more. If just to tell her that I was safe.
A loud, fear-inducing snarl came up from behind me, snapping me out of my daydream fairly quickly. I turn around as fast as I could to see a dark blue-green dragon, a miniature one in comparison to normal size to fit into the cramped caves. My reflexes weren’t fast enough though as the beast opened its mouth and spewed a large stream of flames at me. My suit was protective, but it was certainly no fire retardant suit. I could instantly feel the scorching heat against my skin. A few sections of the suit had quickly begun to burn away, revealing bare flesh out in the open. The attack continued for what seemed like forever. When the dragon gave up, I opened my eyes again and tried to regain my bearings as well as launch whatever attack I could before it attacked again. I placed a palm behind my back and focused a bit as a small black shuriken materialized out of thin air. Gripping it firmly and bringing it in front of me, I aimed as best as I could on the dragon and tossed it quickly at the beast. It seemed to aim well but merely bounced off of its scaly hide with a ‘clank’ sound. It didn’t take long and the dragon had launched another attack, spewing more flames in my direction. I was backed up into a corner with nowhere to go. And already having existing burns from the previous attack, it didn’t take much to create an unbearable atmosphere for me. As it let up, I scrambled as best I could past the dragon and ran off, almost tripping over myself as I did. My life points were pretty drained. I needed to find a place to lay low for a while and recoup. I ran off as fast as I could down the nearest dark corridor before the dragon had a chance to attack again. Where I had wandered into was an extremely small crawlspace. Even crawling along on my stomach, I felt trapped. And the existing burns I had didn’t help the situation as the open flesh rubbed against the smoothed, but jagged rock on the ground.
As soon as I forced my way into the next corridor, all I could hear was another loud snarl. I felt an extreme blaze of heat as a stream of flames enveloped my whole body.
~~
I woke up in a slight shiver. Something was missing. I absentmindedly wrapped up tighter in the covers as I opened my eyes and glanced up, the only window in the room letting in a stream of sunlight and making it difficult to go back to sleep. But I couldn’t sleep. I had work that day. Looking at the other side of the bed and finding it empty once again, I frowned a bit and sat up, running my fingers through my overly messy hair before pushing my legs off onto the floor. I was already feeling a bit chilled the moment I crawled out from under the covers so I walked to the end of the bed on my tiptoes and grabbed the clothes I had laid out the night before and stepped out of the room and walked right into the nearby bathroom door, promptly closing the door shut behind me.
Quickly flipping on the water in the bath of this fairly small apartment bathroom, I began to strip out of my PJ’s as I waited for the water to heat up. As I sat there waiting, I kept thinking about what happened the past few weeks with the random disappearances. Before I had time to really think much about it, the steam began to waft into the rest of the bathroom. I quickly stepped in and shut the glass door as I began to take my morning shower.
I finished, shutting off the faucet with an audible squeak and stepped out of the bathtub, dripping water profusely on the rug. Grabbing a towel I dried off as quickly as I could. While doing so though, I hear a noise from outside the bathroom door. I quickly walk over and crack the door open, looking outside.
“Kalani? You back?” I called out. But I got no response. I shrugged and closed the door again as I continued drying myself while looking in the mirror over the sink. My hair had begun to look like a big fluffy mess as it always did after a shower. I quickly finished up and got dressed before I grabbed a brush and ran out of the bathroom. I glanced at my watch and noticed it was already 8. I was going to be late for work again. I quickly brushed my hair as I ran over towards the TV and used the only free hand I had to pick up my backpack and grab the keys that were lying on top. I finished with the brush and tossed it to the couch before I ran towards the door. I frantically shut it behind me and nearly forgot to lock up as I wandered down the narrow, open air walkway looking over the yard in front of the apartment complex. Coming up to apartment 2, I knock quietly on the door and hear a muffled ‘Come in’. Opening the door quietly, I step in to see Kalani and Jordan sitting together on the couch in the middle of the living room while I could hear the TV going in the corner. I smile weakly and head inside, closing the door quietly.
“Hey.” I said in a quiet tone. “You guys doing ok?”
Jordan smiled back and nodded before turning back to the TV and grabbing a handful of popcorn that was in a bowl on the coffee table in front of them. I continued walking over towards the couch.
“Good...Better.” Kalani responded.
I leaned over the back of the couch between the two girls and rested my chin on the fabric.
“Take it you still haven’t heard anything?” I asked cautiously, not wanting to bring up bad feelings again. Though everyone was a little on edge those past few weeks. Too many odd disappearances in the area. And a few of them hit close to home. Wanre had disappeared early on without warning. Kalani hadn’t taken it too well and nearly had another attack when she found out he had went missing. No one knew anything about what happened to him. Even Jordan was having a difficult time with his disappearance.
“Nothing. I’ve kept my phone on all night hoping he’d call. Still nothing.” Jordan noted.
“Chad?” I heard Kalani ask right after Jordan finished. I looked over at her and tilted my head a bit.
“Promise me you won’t disappear like Wanre did? If you do, at least make sure to call, huh?” she said with a small smile.
I smiled in return and gave her a quick peck on the lips as I assured her. “Promise. Cross my heart.” And almost immediately stood up off the floor. “Look, I gotta hurry before I’m late. Stay safe you two, huh?” I said as I reached down and wrapped both arms around them in a strong hug. “I’d hate to have either of you go missing as well.” I then let go and started off for the door again, opening it as I turned around to look back at them. “Call me if anything new comes up, huh?” I said as I began stepping out of the apartment.
“We will. Have a good day.” Kalani said as she waved weakly back right before averting her attention to the TV. I then stepped out completely and shut the door behind me.
I exited out on Constellation Blvd. Even at nearly 8 AM it was nice and sunny out. I walked down the sidewalk, hearing the bell nearby at the school. It was breakfast time. I had about an hour remaining. I neared the corner by the school gate before I heard a loud commotion nearby. I stopped and glance around a set of shrubs in a yard of a house that I was standing in front of. Looked like the whole family was outside. I wasn’t usually one for snooping on people’s private business, but I heard something about the disappearance and it was nice to get any information I could get on the matter. I probably stood there for half an hour but didn’t hear anything new except the mother and father fighting over their son running away from home. I shrugged it off and continued on towards the school grounds.
I walked inside the gate following a large pack of students. The grounds were always well manicured and looked like a forest some days with all the trees. I took the long path through the shaded area.
“Chad?! Hey Chad!” I heard a familiar voice behind me. I promptly turned around to spot the individual. It was Yumi.
“Hey! You’re here early.” I said, surprised to see her here before noon.
“Yeah. Hey, was there going to be anything specific in class today that I need to worry about?” She asked.
I blinked a bit and shook my head as I answered. “No. Just notes mostly. I don’t know about Mrs. Hertz though.”
She nodded and stopped in the middle of the path. “Good. Just tell the boys I won’t be in today, huh? I have some…family issues at home.”
“Sure. Take care, huh?” I said in her direction. But she had already begun to walk off back towards the school gate. I turned back around and continued towards the main school building.
I stepped into the empty classroom, oddly sighing as I walked up to the teacher’s desk and plopped down in the chair as I set the backpack on the floor in front of me. I sat there as I glanced at it, getting lost in a daze momentarily. Something just didn’t feel right about anything those days. Like I was in a parallel universe. I lazily pulled out my laptop and dropped it on the desk and grabbed out a foil wrapped pack of pop tarts and ripped them open, shoving a single pastry in my mouth as I stood up and walked over to the blackboard and picked up a piece of chalk. I began to idly write the notes out on the board, going by memory alone, as I grabbed the pop tart out of my mouth and began munching on it. As I completed the notes, I heard a knock at the door and looked over, still having a mouth full of pastry. I looked over and a girl of about 5 foot, 5 and having dark brown hair was standing in the doorway.
“Hey Michelle.” I tried to utter through a full mouth but only managed out muffled, incoherent words. I held up a finger as I swallowed my food and tried to speak up again, chuckling lightly this time around. “Hey Michelle. Something you needed?”
“Not really. You seen my cousin yet this morning?” she asked as she continued leaning against the doorway.
“Of course. Why do you ask?” I responded, turning back to the board as I finished up the last bit of notes and promptly brushed off my hands accomplishedly.
“Just curious. No word about Wanre yet, huh?” she noted.
I merely shook my head and plopped down in the chair and opened up my laptop as I continued to watch the girl. “Unfortunately. Not a peep.”
She sighed a bit and glanced at the floor. “Alright. Well…See you later in class then.” She said just as she began leaving the room.
I waved weakly at her and swiveled the chair back around to the desk. “See you, Michelle.”
I glanced up at the clock momentarily and it was nearly 9AM. A few students were already beginning to pile into the classroom. Amidst the dozen or so that had wandered in I spotted Jeremie and Ulrich who were real quietly heading for their seats. I glanced back down at my laptop screen as I called out to the students.
“You all can get started on the notes for today. There are no lessons but you will be getting a worksheet at the end of the class.” I noted simply. I was Miss Meyer’s replacement while she was on Maternity leave. I was the math class’s student teacher. More students continued to enter the classroom while I was slowly taking attendance. The first bell was still about 10 minutes off.
The class had went on for about half an hour before I heard a heard a racket in the corner of the room. Looking up, I saw Jeremie and Ulrich arguing back and forth. “Hey!” I exclaimed, trying to get their attention. “Jeremie. Ulrich. Outside.” I insisted, pointing at the door. They didn’t seem to have any objection as they promptly walked out of the room.
“Everyone else, please finish your notes.” I noted as I followed the two outside into the hallway.
“So what’s with all this arguing going on?” I asked.
“You know exactly what’s going on. The argument that took place last night!” Ulrich exclaimed, seeming to be a bit perturbed.
“I told you I was sorry!” Jeremie rebutted.
“Look guys. I may be your friend, but my job as a teacher takes precedent here. If you guys are going to continue to argue, I’m going to have to send you to detention. We already covered this last night. It was a minor slipup.” I mentioned.
“Oh really? Then why isn’t Yumi here? She’s obviously still annoyed that /JEREMIE/ nearly left us all stranded.” Ulrich exclaimed again.
“Hold on!” I yelled. “Is that what this is all about? I just talked to Yumi this morning before class and she said she had some family problems. That’s all. She mentioned nothing about being annoyed about last night.” I had nearly forgotten about the drama that had taken place the night before. The rest of the warriors were off at another replica placed in Antarctica and were once again supposed to destroy this one. Jeremie had sent in a virtual clone of himself to aid the others when XANA had wiped them out. But he had made the mistake of destroying the super computer holding the replica without giving the group any warnings. They had barely escaped onto the network before the whole server disappeared. Yumi was the most vocal about this, being the most mature of the group, and explaining over and over that Jeremie could have given the fair warning to escape.
“Right. You know how well she keeps these things to herself.” Ulrich muttered, not seeming to agree with me.
“I said I was sorry, alright! If Yumi has a problem, she can easily come talk to me.” Jeremie added.
It looked like the two were going to be immature about it and continue arguing so I intervened. “Alright. Detention with the both of you. Immediately.” I said as I leaned partially into the classroom. “Class, I want you all to finish your notes. When you are done, there’s a stack of worksheets on the front of the desk you need to complete for tomorrow.” And turned back around. Jeremie and Ulrich were still looking at me oddly as if they didn’t believe me.
“Let’s get going. Library.” I insisted to the both of them, getting my point across firmly.
I sat in the school library at one of the vacant tables, idly reading a book. Jeremie and Ulrich were fairly quiet on the other side doing homework. It had already been nearly a half an hour. I suspected class would be over soon. I looked over my book at the two and put the book down on the tabletop.
“So are you two off this fighting business yet?” The two merely snorted lightly at the question. I shrugged it off but before I could do anything else, the sound of a set of alarms went off. The all too familiar alarms. Almost simultaneously, Jeremie and I pulled out our laptops and glanced at them. Jeremie was about ready to stand up but I stopped him in his tracks.
“Ah ah ah! Jeremie, I think it’s best you stay behind so you don’t get in more trouble with the rest of the group.” I insisted as I got up and grabbed my backpack. Jeremie had an expression on his face as if he was about to protest to the idea but he quieted down and didn’t say another word. I followed Ulrich out and watched behind me to see if Jeremie was going to follow but he did not.
The factory was brightly lit this morning from the clear skies. Ulrich and I swung down effortlessly to the floor below and rushed into the elevator while I tried to urge Aelita over the phone.
“Aelita!...Yes, I just got the notice a few minutes ago. We’re in the elevator now…Notify the others if you can. I’m sending Ulrich in A-S-A-P…Ok. See you.” Just as I hung up, the elevator doors swung open on the lab. I quickly trotted towards the center of the room where the all too familiar holosphere stood and the console hung from the ceiling. As I did, I heard the elevator close once again behind me.
I had been with the gang for a few years now. One could have considered me Jeremie’s personal assistant. I had nearly learned everything he knew about operating the super computer. I sat down in the chair and begin frantically tapping at the keyboard. I stopped momentarily just long enough to put on the headset and continued at the keyboard. “Ok. The skid’s already booted up. Ulrich. You know the drill. Get to the platform and wait for the others to arrive.” Some days I surprised myself. I sounded like a more fitting commander than Jeremie. Then again I had him beat in age and maturity by about 5 years.
“What do you mean ‘wait for us to arrive’?” I heard over the intercom from a familiar female voice. “Just send us all in already.” She insisted. Without hesitation, I began by calling up Ulrich, Aelita, and Odd’s avatars. I was never much for the over-dramatic command exclamations like Jeremie was so I just rapidly sent them on their way.
“Yumi? You’re next.” I called through the headset and immediately brought up her avatar as well. As they all arrived I switched the screen to the player tracking map to keep a close eye on them. It was a boring job, but since the last few incidents I had when going to Lyoko, I’ve shied away from doing it any further. Much safer for me to spectate from the outside.
“Chad, you idiot! You should have just let Jeremie do it!” … “Yeah, Chad! He made a mistake but at least we could have made it back! You nearly KILLED us!!” … “Maybe you should just go back to teaching and just keep the other students safe, huh?”
~~
I woke up in an odd manner. I was shivering erratically, but not from cold. It might have been subconscious. The dream I had brought back not-too-fond memories for me. I gathered all my willpower to push myself up off the cave floor. I was still weak and my form was badly mutilated with scattered burns and singe marks. Thankfully there were no dragons around. Or at least none that I could immediately notice. But I didn’t want to give them any time to find me. I got up on my feet and wobbled off as straight as I could to the nearest opening I could spot.
…It almost seemed like hours. Like I had nearly travelled the whole caves many times over. I’m just glad I wasn’t caught. Even though I was never in any real mortal danger, those dragons scared me and they really hurt. I’d take fighting Wanre any day over them. It was about that time I heard some trickling water off in the distance. I followed the sound as best I could. Even though my vision was fairly blurry, I saw what could only be surmised as an inviting sight: A trickling fountain which glowed a calm blue-ish green. But I couldn’t make it all the way over so I just turned into the room and collapsed onto the floor with my head up against the wall.
“Ugh…Those dragons are incessant bastards.” I uttered out in pain, probably involuntarily out of all the mess.
“Get attacked again, huh?” Though I couldn’t see anyone, the voice was familiar. It was Kalani’s. I sat up a little bit painfully.
“Yeah. Barely took a few steps in here and had one right up in my face.” I uttered. I could hear the pattering of wet feet coming closer. Her form soon came into view as she leaned down in front of me and reached for my arm.
“Here. Come sit in the fountain. It’ll cool off the burns.” I pushed myself up off the floor as best I could with her help and wobbled over to the fountain under her support. When we approached the water, I slipped down in carefully, hissing in pain as the water began meeting the fresh burns on my body. But the water was cool and relaxing. Felt like I could fall asleep right there. My eyes slowly began to focus as I regained a bit of energy.
“In a few minutes the burns should be cooled off.” She mentioned as she looked down at her feet which were dangling in the translucent water. “And the water still feels nice on mine.” Even through the rippling water, I could notice a fairly large burn on her pale skinned foot.
“Eesh. That looks painful.” I winced at the thought. “I take it the dragons weren’t too friendly to you either?”
“One attacked me, but it only managed to burn my feet before I was able to run.” She noted as she stood straight up in the small fountain. “Burned a few holes in my boots, unfortunately. Glad that none of my stuff fell out.” She began to walk to the other side of the fairly small fountain and sat down in the water.
I sat there quietly for a bit, relaxing as best I could in the circumstances. I inadvertently stretched my legs out, taking up almost all the space in the pool. But she didn’t seem to mind. In fact, I don’t think she noticed. She just continued staring blankly into the water.
“Something wrong?” I asked curiously.
“No…Not really.” She began to scratch at the back of her neck. “Just…a little homesick I guess.”
“Yeah. I know what the feeling’s like.” I tried to sympathize, which wasn’t too difficult at the moment. “I’d give anything to go back home right now.” I finished, a small sigh escaping from my lips.
She stood up and began sloshing through the water in my direction. I involuntarily pulled in my legs, scrunching them up towards my chest. She eventually plopped down on the small lily pad formations circling the fountain next to me. “At least you know what your home really is.” She murmured as she rested her elbows on her knees in a sullen pose. I had nearly forgotten about the whole mess only a month or so ago. I guess I was so happy for her to finally have her memories back that I let everything else slide to the back of my head since then.
I slowly pulled myself out of the water, wincing slightly as the pain from the burns decided to arise again. “I’m sorry.” I carefully reached my hand around her back, avoiding the thin, fragile bumblebee-like wings that protruded from her like-designed suit. “You know I’ll do whatever I can to help you find your real home…Regardless of where it’ll lead.” I hesitated, not sure exactly where ‘it’ was or what it was for that matter.
“Thanks.” I heard as her head dropped on my shoulder. “No problem. I’m really curious to find out where you came from anyhow.”
“Thanks. Me too.” She reached a hand over to my knee and scooted a bit closer. I couldn’t help but wonder exactly where she came from. For as long as I’d known her up to when she first got sent to Lyoko, I had assumed she was just a normal human being like me and everyone else. But the moment she arrived abruptly to Lyoko and lost all her memories, the truth began to come out. She had been a program originally; Created to help the guardians, whom were the Lyoko warriors before XANA had us all trapped here. But no one knows who created her.
Snapping out of my sudden daze, I glanced over at her, looking at her feet dangling in the water. “Feet feeling any better?”
She glanced up at me, smiling a bit as she wiggled her toes. “My feet have been feeling better for a long time. I should be the one asking if your burns feel better, yours are fresher.”
I paused momentarily but threw my hand up in a ‘don’t worry’ kind of gesture. “Oh. They’re fine. Slightly tender, but I think I’ll manage.” I lied slightly, beginning to fidget with the frayed edges of my suit where the burns were. The smile on her face faded as she looked down at my legs and pressed gently on one of the open burns. I winced at the slight but noticeable pain. She quickly pulled her hand away and sighed a bit. “What? Something wrong?” I asked in a quit tone, trying not to harbor bad feelings.
“No.” She responded simply as she shook her head in a gentle motion. I didn’t respond much but lowered my head onto her shoulder gently as I closed my eyes, relaxing. I could hear the calm sounding trickle of the water and the light sloshing from moving feet which I could only guess as being hers.
I sat there quietly in the calm and cool atmosphere, feeling like I was about to fall asleep. “I…I miss the old days.” I murmured almost involuntarily.
At this, she reached over and lightly grabbed onto my hand with her fingers as she asked quietly herself. “…What about them do you miss?”
That was a loaded question. I missed everything really. “…Everything…Hanging out together...Some of the fun times we had with our friends...Our apartment...Even school was fun some days in comparison.” All I could hear from her was a small agreeing noise. I opened my eyes long enough to look over at her. She looked like she was about to fall asleep herself. I closed my eyes again sleepily.