Chapter
1—The Introduction
I don't
own Code Lyoko. The only characters that I own are Morwen and Ankoku unless
specified in a later chapter.
I stood outside the imposing building. I could feel my heart racing as I looked up at it. My parents had just left me standing on the curb, not even bothering to say "hello" to my brother, or to escort me into the school. He was the reason I was here. I had been perfectly happy back home at my own school, even if it was an all girl boarding school. I'd had a few friends that I'd shared my little secret to. But now I'd have to start over, and knowing my brother he wasn't going to be much help. We've never been close to each other. I've always seemed to make him nervous. He's always been the type to try to hide his feelings and emotions, and I've always been able to break right through every one of his barriers. He's Mr. Mysterious to every one but me. I've almost always been able to tell what he's thinking, at times before he's even aware of what he's thinking.
You could almost say that even though we look nothing alike, we have an odd bound. He has no clue to what's going on behind my blue eyes and I know everything that's going on behind his brown ones. The funny thing is we're twins and look absolutely nothing alike. He's got brown hair and eyes, where my eyes are blue, and I'm as blonde as can be. My hair actually at times is almost white.
Shaking myself lightly from my thoughts I proceeded up the walkway and attempted to find my way to the principal's office. I say attempted because almost as soon as I entered the building I realized I was lost. I was feeling more than a little nervous and the fact that there were no people around to ask which way the office was left me even more unhappy. After ten minutes I was ready to call my brother's cell phone and ask for directions when a short boy wearing all purple, with blond hair that had a purple spot in it came around the corner.
"Excuse me, could you tell me which way the principal's office is? I'm a bit lost." I mentally winced at how…British I came off sounding. I'd hopped that my accent and speech pattern would change after I'd left the English boarding school, I guess I was wrong.
The boy smiled at me and nodded his head. "Yeah, sure. I'm actually on my way there now. My name's Odd," He said and extended his hand to me. It took me a second to realize that he meant that his name was Odd, not odd as in different.
"Morwen," I answered as I shook his head. "I just moved here," I explained. I liked this boy, he reminded me of brother, even though he probably the complete polar opposite of him. I mentally shrug this off as Odd opens the office door for me.
"Ah there you are Ms." A man, I assume to be the principal, started and stops before he finishes my name. "Odd, what did you do now?" His tone carried a note of amusement and annoyance, causing me to realize that he probably deals with Odd on almost a daily basis.
"I fell asleep in Mrs. Hertz's class again, Mr. Delmas," Odd replies lightly, shrugging his shoulders.
"An hour of detention, tonight after dinner. I'll notify Jim," Mr. Delmas replies. "Stay here for a little bit, and I'll send you to class with the new students."
Odd nods his head and smiles at me, which I return. Mr. Delmas leads me into his office where another boy stands. This one, I already don't like. His stance is wrong. It's like he's ready to attack something. His eyes are dark, not in color, no they're bright blue, but they're cold. There's also the was evil seems to cling to him. He's seen and done horrible things, and doesn't mind doing them again.
"Ms. Stern, I'm glad you could finally make it," Mr. Delmas says sitting down at his desk.
"I'm sorry for being late. I'm not used to such…a different school. All the other schools I've ever attended had students or staff wandering around. Here the halls were completely empty, save for that of Odd," I answered once again mentally wincing at how I sounded. This other student is really putting me on edge. At least I can sense him, I'd be a lot more worried about him if he was off my radar.
Mr. Delmas looked over several sheets of paper. "You and Ulrich are related, correct?" He asked me.
"Yes. Twins, actually." The boy has stopped staring at his shoes and is now taking an interest in me. "Ulrich is several minutes older than me." Delmas nods and looks back down at the papers.
"Everything seems to be in order. Here are your classes and your room lists. Jim's taking your things to your rooms for you. After classes are over you may unpack. Until then I expect you to be in the remainder of your classes." He looked up and caught me glaring at the boy. "Oh, and I should introduce you. Morwen Stern" he motions to me "Ankoku Ougi,"
My eyes mentally widen. He's name, Darkness Prince, more than fits him.
"I hope you both enjoy your stays here at Kadic," Delmas says leading us out of his office.
Odd is sitting in a chair waiting for us as we exit the room. He was speaking rapidly to the secretary. He stands when he sees us. "I'll probably be seeing you tomorrow, Mrs. Weber," He says smiling.
"Let's hope not, Odd. You should be in class learning, not in here gossiping with me!" She says laughing.
Odd smiles at her then turns to Ankoku. "Hi, I'm Odd!" he exclaims holding his hand out. I actually had to cover my mouth to keep myself from laughing. Thankfully Odd didn't notice it; I think it would've upset him slightly to have me laughing at him so early in our relationship. I started when I thought the word 'relationship'. Karma is laughing at me, and I know that it knows that I know.
"Ankoku Ougi," Ankoku responds coldly, glaring at Odd. This is the first time I've heard him speak and it sends shivers down my spine, and not the good kind of shivers either.
I can see Odd's smile falter slightly, and his hand retreats. "Right let's get to class then. I'm guessing you both are in my grade?" He asks glancing down at my schedule.
"Yes, we are," Ankoku answers, and he looks at me. I honestly in all my years have never dealt with someone like him, and I've come across some pretty scary things.
Odd sees the way Ankoku is looking at me and offers me his arm. I gladly take it and he leads us to our class. On the way there Odd keeps me between him and the wall and forces Ankoku to stay on the other side of him. Odd opens the door again and Ankoku walks in, almost shoving both of us out of his way.
I admit, I'm nervous now. Ulrich has no idea that I'm here, and I know he's not going to be happy about it. I hope he's not too mad about it. "Hey, don't worry. Most of the people here are friendly, just stay away from Sissi. She's the only one you're going to have to worry about," Odd whispers to me.
I smile up at him in thanks and he leads me into the room, right as Ankoku finishes telling the class about himself. "Alright, Ankoku, you can sit behind,"
"What are you doing here?" Ulrich snaps standing up and interrupting the teacher.
I'm not surprised by his outburst, but the whole class is, including my blond savior. "I've been sent here. The adults that surround us seem to think that we're destined to be together," I stated and the promptly realized how that sounded.
"That's" Ulrich started and stopped. "I don't know why I'm bothering to say anything. You already know what I'm thinking, don't you?" His voice dripped of sarcasm.
"With that tone, of course I do. As does the whole class. Next time why don't you try hiding behind that little façade of yours and then we'll talk as we always have. Me being honest and you trying to keep yourself hidden." My voice doesn't rise above its normal level, but it seems to echo with the unspoken challenge. Fortunately before either of us can take this fight any further the bell rings, and the class quickly files out.
"Umm…what's going on here?" A girl with pink hair asks, looking between me and Ulrich. Odd shrugs and looks at me.
"My sister and I don't get along well," Ulrich responds glaring at me. For a brief instance I wanted to just snap at him and go off on how it wasn't my fault that we couldn't get along. I see in his eyes he's fighting the same urges I am, though for different reasons. I don't want to look like a bitch in front of people I don't know. He doesn't want to look like jerk in front of his friends.
"You two are brother and sister?" Odd asked surprised. "I would've never have guessed it!"
I smiled at him, thankful once again for his presence. "You're not the first one to say that," I told him.
"Why don't we do introductions on the way to class?" A blond boy with glasses asked looking nervously up at the clock. We all nodded our heads in agreement and walked out of the room, leaving behind a still slightly stunned teacher.
Ulrich was leading the way as Odd walked on one side of me with the girl next to me. The other boy was on the other side of the girl. "Hi, I'm Aelita."
"Jeremie," the blond boy now know as Jeremie said as he readjusted his backpack.
"Morwen Stern, Ulrich's twin, he's older than me, though," I replied. I was shocked at how easily the information slipped out and from the glance back at me so was Ulrich.
"Don't worry, Morwen, you're going to fit in just fine here!" Odd said excitedly. I smiled at him, it was hard not to, the way his energy just flowed. I could tell that Aelita thought so too, as she smiled at us.
"Hey, Ulrich!" A voice called out. We all stopped and let the girl catch up to us. She was wearing all black and had short black hair. Ulrich's face lit up when he saw her, so she was either his girlfriend or crush. When she stepped up next to my brother I could tell that she felt the same way about him, but they weren't dating, she was standing too far away from him for that. It took her a moment to see me but when she did her eyes actually clouded over. "Who's this?" Her voice had changed tones from a friendly tone to a much darker one.
"Yumi, this is my sister, Morwen. Wen, this is Yumi," Ulrich said introducing us. Her face relaxed into a smile. She thought I might have been competition for Ulrich.
I smiled at her and extended my hand. "It's nice to meet you, Yumi." She shook my hand and nodded.
"Likewise. Listen, I'll catch you guys at lunch. If I'm late for class again, I'll have more detention then Odd!" She announced running off.
"I like her!" I announced to Ulrich. Then feeling slightly daring I added, "You should go out with her!" I have never seen anybody turn that red that fast. I wasn't sure if I should laugh or run, and judging by the looks the others had they were in the same predicament that I was in.
"Shut it," He responded walking into the classroom.
The others looked at me for a minute. "I suddenly feel like I just dodge a ballistics missile."
"You did. We've been trying to get him to ask her out for ages!" Odd told me.
"Really? I'll have to remember that," I replied as I followed him into the classroom. Ankoku was already there, the teacher pointed to a seat since he'd introduced himself during the last class.
I dropped my stuff next to Odd's desk and leaned over Odd to speak to Ulrich. "Is alright if I tell them I'm your sister?"
He nodded his head. "Wouldn't it be kind of hard to explain your last name if you weren't?"
"Stern is a very popular name!" I protested smiling at him. He shook his head and smiled back. It's time like these we don't mind being related. I walked back up to the teacher. "Hello, I'm Morwen Stern; I got to class just as the bell rang."
The teacher nodded. "I'll have you introduce yourself to the class." I nodded my head and leaned on the desk waiting for the bell to ring. The bell rang and the teacher stood up from his desk. "Class, we have a new student who tells me she didn't have a chance to introduce herself in the last class. Please go ahead."
I looked over the class room and smiled as Odd smiled at me. "Hello, my name is Morwen Stern. I'm Ulrich's sister. I'm younger than him by about five minutes. Our parents thought that it was about time that the two of us were reunited and so here I am." I finished with a shrug. I didn't think there was any more that I really needed to say.
"Very good, Morwen. Please have a seat behind Ulrich."
My classes went really quick, and before I knew it, it was time for lunch. Odd practically bounced out of the room, only slowing down enough for us to catch up to him. We stood in line and after speaking with Jeremie; I decided on which foods would be the safest to eat. Only after sitting down did I realize how much food Odd really had gotten. It was enough to feed a small army.
"Does he eat like this all the time?" I asked Ulrich. Ulrich glanced up from his plate and looked over at Odd's.
"No. He usually eats more."
I felt my eyes widen. "You're kidding." I knew he wasn't but still the amount that Odd was packing into his mouth couldn't be humanly possible!
Yumi dropped down into her chair and smiled at the group. "How's your first day going so far?" She asked me.
"So far so good. These guys have been making sure I get to my classes without getting lost."
"Well your day's about to turn for the worst. Here comes Sissi," Ulrich stated, a look of utter boredom flash across his face. From the looks the others have I get the feeling that they deal with her often. A girl with long dark hair and dressed totally in pink came walking up to the table. So this is the Sissi I've been hearing about.
"So, you're Ulrich sister?" She asked her voice held that tone of false superiority that made me want to throw something at her. "Let me be the first to tell you there's some kids here that are cooler than others. This group, for example, is made up of total losers with the exception of Ulrich. Why don't you come and hang out with my group?" She asked motioning to an empty table.
"No, thank you. I think that I'm better off here. Besides that, won't your imaginary friends be jealous?" I was almost shocked at my last statement. I blame Odd for that one. He was the one sending out the "smart-ass" vibe. The rest of the group smothered their laughter as she walked away.
"Wow, you really let her have it!" Odd congratulated me patting me on the shoulder.
"She'll be back. She always comes back," Ulrich said throwing a sideways glance over my shoulder.
"Sounds kind of like a mildew problem," I muttered, turning around to see what Ulrich was looking at. Ankoku was staring at me from across the room. His cold gaze caused me to shiver.
Odd looked up from his food. "Are you cold?" I shook my head and turned back around to face the table.
"What's up with that guy?" Ulrich asked eyes locked onto Ankoku's. "He hasn't stopped staring at you since you sat down."
"I don't know," I whispered. "I've never seen him before today. He makes me nervous. I want him to stay as far away from me as possible," I whispered the last part.
"Well if he makes you that nervous I think it's wise for the rest of us to stay as far away from him as possible," Ulrich suggested in one of his rare moments of brotherly love. "You don't normally take kindly to strangers but you don't normally mind them either. For you to want to keep him at a distance probably means that he's trouble."
"Finally figure me out?" I asked playfully.
Ulrich laughed softly. "Yeah, figure you out. That'll never happen!" Ulrich joked.
"Morwen, where are you staying?" Yumi asked changing the subject. I pulled out a piece of paper with all my information on it and handed it to Yumi. "You're in the same room as Aelita!" She exclaimed handing me the sheet back.
"Wow, I finally get a roommate. This'll be different; I've never had one before!" Her exclamation had the table laughing, though I could see something different behind there eyes. It seemed like they were trying to hide something.
"Don't worry; I'm pretty easy to get along with as long as you let me sleep. That's really the only thing I'm fussy about," I explained to her.
Yumi shook her head. "Looks like I loose my place on the spare bed," She said glaring at me playfully.
"Well the bed yes, but do you mind air mattresses? I brought one with me that you're more than welcome to use. I enjoy having company!"
"Said the spider to the fly," Ulrich muttered handing his tray over to Odd.
"I'm going to choose to ignore that one, brother dearest," My tone falsely sweet. His eyes met mine and I could tell he was picking on me. I rolled my eyes and watched Odd devour what was left of Ulrich's meal. "So, how much can you eat?"
"Don't ask!" Yumi exclaimed. "I've seen him eat whole pizzas!"
"What's wrong with that?" Odd and I asked at the same time. Glancing at him I continued, "I've eaten nearly a whole pizza by myself."
"No, not one pizza. Try three!" Yumi exclaimed. I my eyes widened in shock. There was no way this, I hesitate to use the word scrawny, boy could eat that much. I looked over at Ulrich who nodded his head confirming what Yumi had said.
The bell rang signaling the end of lunch and telling us to get our butts to class. Yumi walked with us until she had to turn off to go into her class room. There was a boy there dressed similar to Yumi. Like her he had on almost all black, but his black hair was spiked. His face lit up when he saw Yumi, and he started talking to her almost as soon as she was in ear-shot of him. "Who's the guy?" I asked noticing Ulrich's glare.
"His name's William. That's all you need to know," He announced walking ahead of the group.
Odd shook his head and looked at me. "Ulrich and William are kind of in competition for Yumi. Only Ulrich doesn't seem to realize that William keeps backing down. He's trying to let Ulrich make a move before he does."
"Interesting. We'd better go sit down before we get you more detention time," I said walking into the room and looking for a spare seat, preferably away from Ankoku.
The group and I were all assembled in what is now Aelita and my room. I was just pulling on the red and black sheets when a strange beeping sound came from Jeremie's computer. I didn't even have to turn around to see that the whole group had just tensed up, and was now sending each other silent looks, while hoping that I didn't turn around. I actually think there might have been a little sign language going on behind me as well.
"Guys, we almost forgot that thing. You know that we have to do?" Odd said as he started to move to the door.
I rolled my eyes at the obvious attempt to escape. "What ever you need to do, go. Should I wait here for your return or go to dinner when it's time?" Oops a little irritation slipped out, I wish they would've just told me they had plans.
"If we're not back by dinner time, go ahead and go. We'll see you soon!" I heard Aelita say as she shut the door behind herself. I turned on my computer and waited for it to boot up before blasting some music, so could I finished unpacking without having to feel the irritation that I'd brought upon myself.
By the time I had put away the last of my stuff it was time for dinner. I decided to wait a few minutes before I left, to give the others time to come back. After waiting for almost half an hour I descended down into the great cafeteria. Thankfully I was either early or late coming; the cafeteria was almost completely empty. I ate as quickly as I could and went back to my room. I didn't want to get caught by Sissi eating alone, I didn't know her well but I know her well enough that eating on my own would only cause problems.
I spent the rest of the night in my room rearranging things and then settled down and hopped online to talk to a few of my net friends. There are times where I definitely prefer talking to people online and this was one of them. I didn't have to try to block out the other person's feelings or try to hide my own. It was well after one in the morning before I climbed into my bed. I'd only been in bed for a short while when Aelita came in the room trying not to wake me up. Truth be told no matter how silently she tried to creep into the room she would've woken me up. For some reason a door opening always wakes me up, it's been that way since I was little, just ask Ulrich.