Hey guys, this is the last chapter of A Dark Secret! If you don't like that fact, just wait for the sequal, which I shall put up as soon as possible.
This chapter is basically just tying up all the loose ends I had going throughout the last couple chapters.
There is a lot of foreshadowing in this chapter, see if you can find all of it! (foreshadowing is giving a vague hint of what might be coming later)
This chapter is dedicated to absolutely everyone who has ever reviewed!
(Aelita P.O.V.)
"Thanks Odd." I said before I was devirtualized. I ended up back in the scanners, nearly falling down as I stepped out. I managed to grab a hold of the side though, preventing me from falling all the way. As I stepped out, my first thought was of Jeremie. I look around, I didn't have to look far. Jeremie is curled up in the scanner that Ulrich usually takes. I walk over to him and kneel down, he's crying.
"Aelita…." He says without opening his eyes. "Aelita how could you?" He says. I don't think he even knows I'm here.
"I did it for you." I say, and he opens his eyes.
"Aelita!" He says, but quickly malice fills his eyes. He turns away from me, facing the wall of the scanner. "Go away. I don't want to see you right now."
"But I want to see you." I don't fully understand what he's feeling right now, but I know it's not good.
"Go see your boyfriend, Odd."
"Odd isn't my boyfriend, I didn't want to kiss him."
"You kissed him back though, I saw you."
"Only to help you." He still refuses to look at me, so I drape my arms around his shoulders lovingly. He doesn't shy away from it, but I don't think he is enjoying it. Or maybe he doesn't want to enjoy it. I don't know, human emotions are too complicated for me. They are definitely way more complicated than computer programming.
"Please Jeremie, let me explain."
"It's okay Aelita, you don't-" He begins, but I cut him off.
"No. I need to explain. I kissed Odd to break the hold Xana had on you. I didn't know it at the time, but I was. Macas spoke to Odd and me telepathically, telling us to do it. It was the only way to free you."
"I'm sorry Aelita, I jumped to conclusions, when I saw you and Odd-"
"Don't be sorry," I whisper into his ear, "You had every right to jump to conclusions. Anyone else would have done the same thing if they had seen what you had."
"Does this mean you forgive me?"
"Already done." I say. He turns around and kisses me. I missed that kiss, I haven't had it for so long….
"Thank you Aelita," He says hugging me, "for everything."
"You're welcome Jeremie. Now, we need to go and devirtualize the others." We stand up and see the middle scanner warm up. Odd steps out, gasping for breath. "Well, except Odd." I say giggling. Jeremie laughs along with me, Odd just looks at us.
"Hey, don't laugh. That tarantula took a cheap shot." I just help Jeremie stand up and we all get into the elevator. We ride up to the control room, Jeremie has his arm around my waist. Jeremie, my Jeremie, sits in the chair and puts the headset on his ear.
"Man, it feels good to be back." He says.
"It's good to have you back." Ulrich says over the speakers.
"Thanks. Did you guys have any problems?"
"Nah, just a couple of tarantulas. Nothing we couldn't take care of." Macas says.
"Well, except Odd." Ulrich adds.
"Hey!" Odd says loudly. Jeremie laughs.
"Alright, I'm bringing you guys back now." Jeremie says, and types a couple of keys. After that, he stands up and puts his arm around my waist. "Let's go now." He says, and I nod my head.
(Odd P.O.V.)
I was fighting the tarantula, dodging most of the lasers. I dropped into a roll, and then leaped into the air above the tarantula. Shooting three arrows, I destroyed it fairly easily. I landed on my feet after doing a flip, only to be devirtualized by another tarantula shooting me in the back. I cursed myself as I entered the scanner. The doors opened, and I leaned out, gasping for breath. The return trip is not fun at all, especially not when forcefully devirtualized.
"Well, except for Odd." Aelita says looking at me.
"Hey, don't laugh. That tarantula took a cheap shot." I walk over, and we all get into the elevator. One short conversation and Ulrich making a joke of my being shot later, we're all back in the elevator, heading for the factory floor. We get out and head back to the school, but none of us want to go back now, so we stay in the forest.
"I know a nice place to go." Ulrich says. Already knowing where he's talking about, we go with him to his favorite tree. It really is a nice, relaxing place. A large, full tree, with lots of branches for shade. A small stream goes by not far away, it provides a nice sound. The green grass growing around it, the path that goes nearby, but not too close to disturb him, it's no wonder why Ulrich likes it so much. Ulrich swings up onto a low branch like he always does, and I follow suit. Yumi climbs up also, I change to a different branch to make sure there's not too much weight on that one. Ulrich puts his arm around Yumi, like always and turns to me.
"So Odd," He says somewhat quietly, "Did you feel… anything… during that kiss with Aelita?" He says. I look down, Jeremie, Macas and Aelita are sitting against the base of the tree, talking with each other. I look at Ulrich and smile.
"Yup."
"Say what?" His asks, obviously wondering if I'm joking or not.
"Yah, I felt something. I felt kind of creeped out because I was kissing one of my best friends. Especially because I have no romantic interest in her whatsoever anymore." I say.
"Odd, if we weren't in a tree, I would hit you." Ulrich says, relief evident in his voice.
"Ah, calm down Ulrich. Jeremie and Aelita are happy together. I'm not going to do anything more to disturb that."
"Odd, you know what?" Yumi asks me.
"What?" I look down and see Jeremie and Aelita about to kiss.
"You've matured." I fish around in my pocket for something.
"Don't be so sure." I quickly grab a pen from my pocket and 'accidentally' drop it. It hits Jeremie on the head just before they kiss, stopping them. He looks up and me and I look away innocently. Ulrich and Yumi laugh. I see Aelita sending me death glares, but I don't care. I'm happy that I'm alive, and so are all of my friends. The only thing that is still bugging me is the fact that I thought I really loved Aelita. But I didn't. How am I supposed to know in the future if I really love a girl…?
(Jeremie P.O.V.)
We walked to Ulrich's favorite tree in the park by his suggestion. I haven't ever been here before, but it is a very peaceful place. I can understand why Ulrich likes it. Ulrich, Odd and Yumi hop into the tree, but I sit down near the trunk. I pull Aelita down close to me and hold her even closer. Macas lays against the trunk of the tree on my other side.
"Hey Jeremie, I'm sorry I had to do that." He says to me.
"Which part? Where you horribly beat me in battle, where you had the love of my life kiss another boy, or where you stabbed me?" I say, half jokingly.
"I'm going to be safe and say all of them." He says and we laugh. "But seriously, I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it. In fact, I should be thanking you for freeing me from Xana's evil grasp. Even if Aelita did have to kiss Odd for it."
"Hey, it was all for the greater cause." He says.
"Macas, why didn't you just say Odd is going to kiss you, you need to kiss him back?" Aelita asks.
"Say what?" I ask bewildered.
"Because," Macas says chuckling, "I wasn't sure how you would react. I wanted you to promise and trust me before I would have told you."
"Did you wonder about my love for Jeremie?" She asks mockingly.
"Of course not." He said. "Even if I did, there is absolutely no way I would admit it. You both would most likely kill me, and then Yumi would for good measure." He says and puts his hands behind his head, closing his eyes. I turn back to Aelita. I lean my forehead against hers gently, taking in her wonderful scent.
"I love you Aelita." I say.
"I love you too Jeremie." She responds, and I lean in to kiss her. Just before our lips meet, something bounces off my head. I look up to see Odd right above me, Yumi and Ulrich are laughing. I look down and see that Odd dropped a blue pen onto me, most definitely on purpose because he's trying to look innocent. Aelita is glaring at him, he just smiles and leans against the trunk of the tree. I turn to Aelita and put my finger to her lips, signaling her to stay quiet. I grab the pen and look up. Odd has his eyes closed.
"Hey Odd," I say throwing the pen up towards him, "Think fast." He opens his eyes and leans forward just in time for the pen to bop him on the nose. He recoils reflexively, and nearly falls out of the tree in the process.
"No fair, you know I can't think fast." He says. "I barely think at all." Even Macas starts laughing at that. We're interrupted by Aelita's cell phone ringing. She answers it, and after a moment goes pale.
"Yes Mr. Delmas. I'm in the park right now. I will be there in about fifteen minutes." She says and hangs up.
"I forgot. Everyone else still thinks you're missing!" She says, turning to me. Everyone else turns and listens.
"Yah, I kind of figured that they would." I say.
"Your parents are at the school." She continues.
"Wait, what? How are we going to explain how I just showed up completely unharmed? This is not good, my parents are pretty sharp. They'll figure out something is strange if I were to just show up."
"Well, you don't have to appear completely unharmed." Macas says. "We could rough you up a little, make it look like you were hurt."
"That's a good idea. But what am I supposed to say? I was abducted by aliens? Kidnappers who took me and gave me back?"
"Don't say anything." Odd says, dropping out of the tree and landing on his feet.
"Eventually, I'm going to have to say something."
"No, just tell them you don't remember a thing. The last thing you remember was going to dinner on Friday and then waking up here in the forest."
"Odd… that's a good idea! It's amazing, you came up with something reasonable!" I say. Ulrich and Yumi hop down next to Odd. I stand up and spread my arms out.
"Okay guys, rough me up. Just don't hurt me too bad." Ulrich and Macas proceed to 'rough me up.' It consists of basically ripping my shirt and pants a little, spreading some dirt and mud on me, tousling my hair and slightly bending my glasses. Odd, Aelita and I are going to go into the school, I'm going to pretend to be half conscious when we get closer. If everyone were to come, it might look suspicious. I just hope this works. I never was much of an actor…
(Yumi P.O.V.)
"Jeez guys, be careful." I say, looking at Ulrich. He ripped Jeremie's sleeve a little bit too much, it almost tore off completely. Macas and Ulrich are doing the honors, we refused to let Odd try and help. We didn't want him to do something stupid and actually hurt Jeremie.
"Okay guys, that's enough." Jeremie says. He walks off with Odd and Aelita towards the school. Hopefully, this will be convincing enough for his parents.
"So Yumi, do you want to go home now?" Ulrich says looking at me. Oh God I wish I had a camera. This is the absolute perfect picture. He's looking at me and smiling, the sun is setting right behind his head, setting the forest ablaze with reds and oranges. He looks angelic….
"Yumi, are you okay?" He asks, his face changing flawlessly into one of concern. I shake myself a little.
"Yah, I'm fine." I walk over and hug him, he embraces me with his strong arms, making me feel so… safe. "I just wanted you to know that I love you." He strokes my hair.
"I love you too Yumi. And I will do anything for you."
"I know."
"I'll take you home. Do you want to come along Macas?" He says, turning back to where Macas is watching us. He waves his hand.
"No, you two have fun. I don't want to be a third wheel. Besides you have the right to enjoy each other's company without my interruption. So just get going." He says.
"Okay, I'll see you later." Ulrich says and we walk off.
My heart is strong, my body is strong, even my mind is strong. Everyone knows that I would rather hit someone than reveal my emotions. But not around Ulrich. I always melt into his arms, my defenses are shattered. But I don't care. It's Ulrich, and I would do anything for him. Just like I know he would for me.
"Are you going to be okay Yumi?" He says, still holding me close.
"Yah, I'll be okay. Jeremie is safe now-"
"No, that's not what I meant. Your father left you, your brother nearly committed suicide. Jeremie was captured, Macas was severely hurt by him, and Odd nearly died trying to save him. You nearly lost five people within the last week." I feel tears begin to come to my eyes, but I hold them back like always.
"So…?" I ask, trying to still be strong.
"Are you going to be okay? I care about you Yumi, and no one will hurt you ever again. But what I am most scared of is of you hurting yourself."
"W-what? Why… why would I hurt myself?"
"You already did." He says, looking at my arms. I took the bandages off already, but there are still scabs where the knife pierced my skin. They are going to leave some pretty ugly scars.
"I just don't want you to get hurt, by yourself or otherwise." He says. My defensive walls break down, just like always. Tears come to my eyes, and roll down my face. He holds me tight, and I cry into his chest. I already begin to feel better, just because I'm in his arms. He strokes my hair gently, and we just stand there for a couple minutes. After a little while, I look up at him. Tears are rolling down his face as well. This, more than anything else, upset me. To see my strong Ulrich crying, it's heartbreaking.
"Ulrich, what's the matter?" He smiles at me through his tears.
"I feel your pain Yumi. I feel misery whenever you are sad. When you are happy, I feel overjoyed." He says. Without saying anything, I lean up and kiss him.
"Thank you Ulrich." I say. We resume walking back towards my house in comfortable silence…
(Ulrich P.O.V.)
When we reach Yumi's front gate, I stop. I turn back towards Yumi. She looks so beautiful in the fading twilight.
"Do you want to come in? It's now just as much your house as much as it is mine." She says, looking at me. I shake my head.
"No, I have to get back to the school." I say, but I don't leave yet. "But I want to say something first." I say. She stops and stares at me. I reach into my pocket and pull out a small, simple, black, velvet covered box that I got when I got the chain for Hiroki's necklace. I quickly pull it out and open it.
"Yumi, this is a promise ring." I say quickly, before she gets the wrong idea. She stares at it. It's very beautiful, worthy of Yumi's hand.
"Whenever you wear it, I want you to remember that I promise to always, and I mean always, take care of you." I say. I take the ring out and clench it in my palm. "I also want you to promise me something." She looks at me with her warm dark eyes.
"Anything." She says softly.
"Whenever you are feeling depressed, at all, I want you to come and talk to me. I will help you get through it. Those who hurt themselves intentionally usually try to do it again, but I will not let that happen to you. You scared me to death last time. Can you promise me that?" She looks at me and nods.
"Yes, I promise." She says confirming it. I take the ring and slip it over her middle finger, so no one thinks it is an engagement ring. No matter how much I want it, right now is not the time.
"Can we seal it with a kiss?" She asks quietly, looking at me. I quickly lean down and grab her by the waist, bringing her up to my height and kiss her gently. I set her down and she walks through her gate.
"Goodnight, and sweet dreams Yumi." I say.
"Goodnight Ulrich." She says, and I walk off into the fading twilight, back to the school…
(Macas P.O.V.)
Yumi and Ulrich walk off into the fading light, but I still just lean against this tree. I have a feeling I will be coming back to this tree to think many times in the future. I sit quietly and think about what has happened to me in the last week. I moved to a totally different country, made new friends on the first day here. I was quickly and falsely blamed for an attack on one of my new friends, and now acquitted. More importantly, I found out about something that is threatening the world. I never would have dreamed that I would end up fighting an evil computer virus who is threatening to destroy the world. One of my new friends was captured, and I fought him. He attacked and infected me with a virus that nearly killed me. One of my other friends nearly died in the process of trying to save me.
Most importantly though, is my new relation to this new virus. The creator of the virus apparently made a prophecy before he was lost. The prophecy proclaimed that someone like me would come and destroy it before it could get out of hand. I am the Knight of Lyoko now. There is no denying it. My feat on Lyoko proved that my destiny is to destroy this virus, and to save the Princess of Lyoko: Aelita. I have never believed in fate, or destiny, or even karma. I always hated the fact that something could be in control of my life besides me. But there is no denying it now. I am the Knight of Lyoko. I will defend it with all my power.
"Macas Keloly: Knight of Lyoko. I like the sound of that." I say to myself. I stand up and look around.
In one swift pull, I find myself on the branch of the tree. I climb some more, until I reach as far as I can go. Any farther, and the tree will not support my weight. But I am still high enough to see over the tops of the trees. I look beyond, and I can see the roof of the school, but that isn't what captivates me. I see the sunset, lowering slowly into the vast trees of the forest. Soon, the sun is gone. The landscape has completely consumed it. Night is coming. Thank God for stars.
End of Code Prophecy: A Dark Secret.
Be on the lookout for Code Prophecy: Starsin the Night, coming soon.
Yup, it's over! All gone... don't worry, I'll have the sequal up soon.
Again, I say thanks for all those who reviewed, especially those who said they loved this story. I have a feeling that most people who see mine don't want to read it because it's 36 chapters long...
There's only one thing I ask for you to put in a review. I figured out that my writing style is different than most. Most people have a set plot that they stick to until the story is finished. I have a basic concept in my head, and I write whatever pops into my head. That's why I had about three or four different plot lines going through this entire story.
So! Tell me in a review if you liked it or not. If you want me to keep doing that, say yes. If you would like it to be less complicated, say no and I'll try in the next story to keep to one plot line more. No guarantees though.
Thanks again too everyone, and I'll see you in my next story! Before I leave, I will end with a bunch of quotes!
418. I'm not cheating, I'm just changing my answers to match yours.
419. Mental Note: Stop making mental notes.
421. Only in America can a pizza delivery guy get to your house faster than an ambulance, guaranteed. (I thank my friend Seanna for that)
422. poke
408. Put a :D on!
366. It takes a true genius to prove himself wrong while trying to prove he's right.