Chapter 5: My Horrible Sleep
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I woke up from the same nightmare for the fifth time In a row, the one with XANA taking control of my body and making me nearly kill Ulrich. I looked at my alarm clock, which said 4:40 AM APRIL 24th. Yawning due to my lack of sleep, I decided to give up the possibility of going back to sleep. After checking the hallways for Jim, I snuck my way to the bathroom for peace and freedom from my mind.
After finishing my morning routines, I went to go get breakfast as it was nearing 7:00 AM. Sometime later, Jeremie, Odd and Ulrich sat at my table with my new boyfriend to my left and the other couple sat opposite of us. Jeremie decided to say something since he noticed my half-opened eyes and groggy expression.
“Are you okay Sero? You look like you haven’t slept for a week.” Jeremie said with worry in his voice. He placed his hand on my shoulder, trying to help me become aware of my surroundings.
Looking around before speaking, I decided to tell the group. “I’ve been having nightmares… About XANA controlling me. I haven’t been getting any sleep for the last five days. I just don’t know what to do guys.” I said while trying to hold back a tear, I wasn’t sure what else to say my friends.
After a short pause, Jeremie decided to speak up. “Well, I DO have one possible solution in mind and I think you may like it.” He said with a smile.
“Einstein, are you thinking what I’m thinking? Odd said with a grin while Ulrich gave a similar look.
“Get over here, before someone sees us.” Ulrich said, motioning his hand to me in the middle of the night. Before moving out of the bush, I took a mental note of the area in the likely case that I got lost in the forest. “What are you waiting for? Hurry up before Jimbo catches us.” Odd said, looking around the forest.
“Down here.” Ulrich said, pointing at the slightly rusted manhole cover. “I swear this thing gets heavier each time we get here.” He added with a small groan as he heaved the cover off of the manhole. After going down into the sewers, Odd pointed towards two skateboards and one scooter. “So which one do you want to take?” Odd asked me.
“Will ‘None of the above’ work as well?” I said with a smirk as I tapped the tip of my shoes on the ground, releasing the wheels from my shoes.
“I don’t normally allow off-paper answers, but that will pass for now.” Odd said with a bit of a surprised look on his face.
“Come on guys. Aelita and Yumi are waiting at the factory in case of a XANA attack.” Jeremie said while he grabbed his scooter while Ulrich got on his skateboard. Odd and I looked at each other before he grabbed his skateboard while I started to gain speed on my roller-shoes.
As we exited the elevator, I looked around the room. “Wow, this place looks so… so…” I couldn’t find my words as I looked at everything. My nervous personality forces me to look at every detail of a place I haven’t been to.
“Awesome?” Aelita said to me as I continued looking around, noticing a computer attached to the ceiling and a hologram of what I assumed was Lyoko in the center of the room.
“I… I guess so.” While I didn’t doubt the existence of Lyoko after my… Experience, I still found the mental picture in front of me breathtaking. “So, how do I get into Lyoko?” I asked Jeremie.
“Take the elevator down to the scanners. Aelita and Ulrich will join you after you get virtualized.” He said back.
Once the elevator door opened, I noticed three pod-like things that I assume are the scanners. “What do I do now Jeremie?” I said, trying to shout but due to my quiet nature, it was like normal speech to everyone else.
“Get in a scanner, the supercomputer will virtualize you into Lyoko. You will go first if something happens.” Jeremie said from above.
“Transfer Sero.” Jeremie said. Once the scanner doors closed, I started breathing rapidly as my throat tightened in fear; I’ve always had a fear of close spaces.
“Umm Jeremie, is it a bit late to say that I’m claustrophobic?” I said between short breaths. “Sorry Sero, but I can’t just stop the process of the virtualization.” I heard Jeremie say somewhere outside of the scanner.
“Scanner Sero.” Jeremie said. Once he said those words, I instinctively closed my eyes as a bright light surrounded me.
“Virtualization.” Once that happened, I blacked out.
When I found my consciousness, I fell to the snowy ground of Lyoko’s Ice Sector. Looking around, I saw that I was on the edge of a large, flat iceberg with what looked like a Way tower based on how the others described them. Inspecting myself, I had an emerald-jade scythe with a handle made of a dark metal. While looking at a reflection in the digital sea, I was impressed as I saw myself wearing dark-gray robes covering my entire body with an intricate deep green pattern hovering above my robes. But the strangest part was that in place of my face, there was only a dark shadow. After hearing a sound, I looked behind me as I saw Aelita and Ulrich get virtualized into Lyoko.
“So Sero, enjoying the new look?” Aelita said to me.
“Definitely my style, makes me look like a fancy Grim Reaper. So Jeremie, is there anything special that I can do?” I said to the virtual sky above me.
“That’s weird… You only have 50 life points instead of the usual 100. But back to your abilities. your first one lets you become ethereal, like a ghost. Your other ability is a pair of wings like Aelita’s, but I think you want to try the former first. Try imagining yourself as being invisible, but be careful! There is a ‘Sanity’ percentage meter by your ID card and I can’t figure what it is at the moment.” Jeremie said. Taking his advice, I imagined myself becoming invisible. After opening my eyes, I looked at myself to see only my scythe levitating where my left hand was holding it.
After about twenty seconds of checking out my invisible self, I decided to talk. “Wow this is awesome! Thanks Jeremi-” I cut myself off as I held my hands to my head as if it was being split into two. Blinking rapidly, I saw everything in red and involuntarily charged at Aelita, who couldn’t react. “Help me, I can’t control myself!” I shouted as I failed to stop myself from swinging my scythe at Aelita but in the nick of time, Ulrich’s katana stopped my scythe inches away from Aelita and instinctively kicked me away from her. Breaking out of my bloodlust, I managed to make myself visible again and slowly regain control of myself.
“Hey Jeremie can you explained what just happened? One second Sero was completely fine but now he almost tried to devirtualize Aelita!” Ulrich shouted to Jeremie, who was at the supercomputer. “I think I figured it out. Sero, your sanity meter went down as you stayed in your ghostly form. The meter is now at 50% and is slowly rising back up now, so only use it as a last resort. I have no idea what could happen if it ever reaches 0%” Jeremie said from his seat.
“Now that I had time to show off and nearly devirtualize Aelita, can we go back now?” I asked. While I did want to stay in Lyoko, I wasn’t up to unintentionally killing my friends.
“Negative, there is an activated tower in the Ice Region. It’s not far so you don’t need your vehicles.” Jeremie said. “I’m virtualizing the others, so stay put.”
“I’m sorry Aelita and Ulrich, I just couldn’t control myself. It felt like something else controlled me, but it didn’t feel like XANA.” I said to the two. “Don’t worry Sero, you had no control and you didn’t know better.” Ulrich said to me as he pat his hand on my back. “And apology accepted.” Aelita said as she smiled at me like I had never tried to kill her. I heard a sound behind me as Odd and Yumi got virtualized into Lyoko.
“Ready to help us with your first tower?” Yumi said with optimism in her voice.
“Why not?” I said with a smile on my face.
Chapter 6: Love & Influenza Is In The Air
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Jeremie woke up from a knock on his door. Rubbing his eyes, he checked his alarm clock which said 2:40 AM APRIL 27th. Opening the door, he saw Jim holding a portable mini-mattress. Jeremie also noticed Sero, who looked as tired as him, standing behind Jim.
“Wha-whats going on Jim?” Jeremie said while he rubbed his eyes again, making sure that he wasn’t dreaming.
“Sero’s room has a water pipe leak. He asked me if he could sleep with you until we fix it. I have to ask you first of course.” Jim replied, not before covering a cough. Jeremie took a look at Sero, whose soaked pajamas confirmed the story.
“Umm yeah that’s perfectly okay with me.” Jeremie said, noticing a smile from his boyfriend, which made him blush.
“Very well then. Mr. Sero, be nice with Belpois and I don’t want to see anyone else leaving their rooms now!” Jim shouted, setting up the mini-mattress before leaving the room.
“Mr. Sero?” Jeremie asked Sero, curious about the title Jim used.
“I prefer to not use either of my families’ surname mainly due to… You know.” He said. After telling the gang his life story, I understood his reason for only using his first name. “By the way, got any spare pajamas I can wear? These aren’t good for sleeping in now.” He added.
“I do, but they are a bit big for you. If you don’t mind of course.”
“You know I don’t mind.” Sero said, not before stealing a kiss and a smile from Jeremie. Jeremie couldn’t help to stop himself from blushing.
“Even though we both know that we love each other, I need some shuteye now. So goodnight.” Jeremie said, before going back to his bed and pulling his blanket over himself.
“You can change now, I’m not looking and my spare pajamas are in the bottom of my dresser.” Jeremie added, keeping his eyes on the wall. Sure he wanted to see more of his lover, but he didn’t want to look like a pervert. After hearing the dresser close, he pulled his bed sheets over him. Closing his eyes, he went to sleep.
Jeremie woke up when he heard Odd, Ulrich, and Sero walking into the room. “So your water pipe just cracked when sleeping?” Odd asked Sero, who was in his normal attire minus his hoodie, which revealed a plain clover-green shirt. “yeah it was the strangest thing! At least it was only me and my bed that got wet.” Sero replied back. Seeing that Jeremie was still in bed, he said “So I guess you don’t know what time it is?”
“Please just tell me that today is a weekend…” Jeremie said, yawning again.
“And your assumption is correct Einstein, today is Sunday.” Ulrich said.
“But maybe you should still check the time.” Odd said, who looked like he already took Jeremie’s serving of breakfast for the day. Taking his advice, Jeremie looked at his alarm clock which read 9:09 AM April 27th.
“Crap, how did I sleep through breakfast?” Jeremie said, coughing afterwards. He has been on a decent sleep schedule since XANA’s attacks have slowed down recently.
“You got a cold Jeremie? It sounds kinda bad to me.” Sero told Jeremie, Covering a couple of coughs. “Oh come on, now I got it too!” He added with several more coughs.
“Don’t you dare give it to us!” Odd and Ulrich said simultaneously. Jeremie and Sero couldn’t blame them. Flu season was slowly starting up for Kadic and no one was in the mood to get sick, especially since the second semester was filled with school dances.
“Oh calm down you two, it’s just a cough, not the black plague.” Jeremie said, covering a cough. “And besides, all students sick with the flu are quarantined in their dorm rooms until it passes over.”
“Wait, what? So does that mean that… that…” Sero said with some anxiety in his voice. Unfortunately for Sero, he had ADHD, short for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. This meant that he preferred exploring the wide open world around him than the enclosed area of Kadic Junior High.
“Yes. Since you can’t use your room due to the broken water pipe, you have to stay with me for possibly up until the next week…” Jeremie said, who was not up to sharing his room with his lover and a possible XANA attack made it even worse, plus the matter that he would be in the same room as his boyfriend for days will become VERY awkward.
“Looks like the lovebirds will have plenty of time to get to know each other.” Odd said as he made a kissing sound. Ulrich couldn’t help but smile at the lover’s new situation. “Now if you excuse us, we would like to have the power to leave our rooms. Have fun being together longer than you ever wanted!” Ulrich said as him and Odd left the room holding hands and laughing slightly.
After leaving the love-birds in their room, Odd and Ulrich met with Yumi and Aelita during lunch, where the four talked about the flu and other recent events. “So Sero’s room got a water pipe leak AND he has the flu? That must suck bad.” Yumi said, eating her croissant.
“And that’s not even the best part! Since Sero asked Jimbo if he could crash in Jeremie’s dorm, him and Sero will be within talking distance for the next few days because they have the flu!” Odd said with a devilish grin as he finished his second muffin. “Which means that the lovers will get plenty of time to know each other and more.” Ulrich said with the same grin as Odd. The group laughed as they finished lunch and decided to surprise their sick friends, bringing some spare food for the two.
“why does this feel so… Awkward? We have all the time in the world, but we are too embarrassed to do anything.” Jeremie said with some sulking and coughing. While the two enjoyed their free time, Jeremie wanted to go slow with their relationship, which made Sero go lustful. Normally he would pleasure himself every other day, but since the two are stuck in one room for the next few days, Sero can’t get any decent alone time.
“You know, we could try fooling around a bit, see where it takes us.” Sero suggested with a sexy look on his face, which was hard to do with a runny nose. he wanted to get in perfect Equilibrium, in perfect harmony with his lover.
“Alright fine I’ll give in, but can we try to keep it above the belt? I don’t want this to be about sex yet, promise?” Jeremie asked Sero, who looked like he wanted to explore every inch of his body.
“Ok fine, I promise to not reach third-base with you for now.” Sero said with some slight disappointment in his voice. “Now how about we get down to business, our shirts won’t get rid of themselves you know?” Sero added with a sexy accent in his voice as he took off Jeremie’s sweatshirt. He blushed slightly as he took off Sero’s green shirt with ease. The couples’ hands wandered their chests while they locked lips and played a little game with their lips. “Te amo, o mea sola voluptas.” Sero said when he momentarily took his lips away from Jeremie’s. “Since when could you speak Latin, mea speciosa florere dicuntur?” Jeremie said with a smile on his face, which had gained Sero’s runny nose. The two resumed kissing for what seemed like eternity, during which the couple moved from Sero’s tiny portable mattress to Jeremie’s bed. Sero thought for a moment and decided to move his hands down from Jeremie’s chest to his pant’s zipper and proceeded to slowly unzip it. Jeremie was about to say something when some very familiar friends came through the door…
“Hey Jeremie and Sero! We saved some lunch for you if you-AHHHHHHH!” The couple heard Odd exclaim, who screamed as if it was a XANA attack. The lovers turned around in shock when they saw a fainted Odd in Ulrich’s arms, who had Odd’s spilled food on him also. The two also noticed Yumi and Aelita slightly shocked at what they saw. The lovers quickly covered themselves up with the bed sheets even though only their chests were bare.
“Do you want us to come back when we put Odd in his bed?” Yumi said, trying to keep her perfect composure. Ulrich cursed to himself when he saw the amount of food that Odd unintentionally threw on him. “And get Ulrich a new shirt.” Aelita added, which made Yumi smile and Ulrich blush slightly.
“N-n-no please, but try to convince Odd that it was a dream or something.” Sero said with what was his biggest blush on his face. Jeremie did nothing but nodded in agreement with him. As the group left the couple in their room, Sero said something after what seemed like forever, “Maybe I should’ve locked the door… Like Odd suggested to me.” The couple smiled in embarrassment.