ACT II: The Nameless City

After an eleven-hour flight, the plane finally touched down at the Munich Airport. He left with relief, the muscles in his long, cramped legs moaning. His work may require him to move roughly once a week, but that didn't change the fact that Grigory Nictapolus absolutely hated the constant relocating, the flying, everything about travel. If the work itself wasn't so fun, and the pay wasn't so good, he probably would have quit long ago.

Trench-coat flapping around his legs, he strode into the terminal. His contact was waiting for him, quivering like the insignificant bottom-feeder he was. He held the leash to two great black Rottweilers-Hannibal and Scipio, they were called. They were disciplined enough to not race to their master, and he disciplined enough to not smile at them, but Grigory Nictopalus felt tendrils of affection twist through him.

The contact held out the leashes in a shaking hand and a keyring with the other. "For her," he whispered.

Grigory paid him no attention, taking the keys and the dogs and walking away without so much as a thank you. You didn't thank the servants, after all.

One of the keys unlocked a battered old pickup truck. Grigory tossed his bags in the back, Hannibal and Scipio leaping after with a grace that belied their size. He revved the engine and began the second part of his journey.

Even driving without breaks, stopping only to allow his dogs to stretch their legs, it was hours before he reached his destination. He'd made sure to pay only with Euros and force the truck to a screaming one hundred eighty kilometers per hour.

Finally, at three in the morning, Grigory turned into the city of Paris. He ignored the charming little houses and shops that greeted him; sightseeing had long ago lost its appeal. Only once did his truck slow; when it passed a tall and narrow villa surrounded by a wooden fence, Hermitage written on the plaque.

He smacked his lips, ran speculative eyes over the building, but didn't stop. That place was for later.

Following the curve of the road, the Hermitage was soon swallowed up by trees. He drummed his fingers against the steering wheel and peered around for his target.

There-a great, walled enclosure. Over the tops rose black-roofed buildings. Circling to the front, he found the wrought iron gates closed; beyond he could barely make out a pathway, cleared of snow. If he were to scale the wall, drop to the other side, and follow the path, he knew he would arrive at Kadic Academy, boarding school for spoiled rich kids and brats unwanted at home.

He parked the vehicle somewhere it couldn't be easily seen and exited. He grabbed one of his bags and hefted it over a broad shoulder. Well-aware of the drill, Hannibal and Scipio bounded out of the back, tails wagging and tongues lolling. Grigory patted their big heads fondly. "I know, you've been cooped up too long. I'm sorry, boys. But now we can get started."

On its own, investigating was fun, in a way. There was a thrill that came with stalking a target. You could either play it so they never knew you were there, or mentally torture them a bit, make them jump at shadows. Both had their merits. The real joy, however, came from knowing the investigation would lead to greater things. Things that were really fun.

He looked up again at the walls of Kadic and smiled.

He did so love his job.

She was lying on her stomach in the living room, working very hard. Her tongue stuck out and her eyes were concentrated slits as she studied the paper. Her hand moved back and forth, grabbing, using and discarding crayons. Her foot waved in the air as she worked, worked, worked.

She held up the drawing, smiling. It was her and Mommy and Daddy and Mr. Puck. Daddy was working outside, clearing away snow, so she ran to his room with Mommy to show off the fruits of her labor.

"Mommy, Mommy! Look what I-"

Aelita stopped and stared, eyes huge. Her picture slipped out of her hand and fell to the floor, forgotten. The wardrobe was wide open, Mommy's dresses scattered and trampled. The glass had been smashed in the window frames. It was eerily quiet.

"Mommy? Mommy, where are you?"

She stepped forward, quivering. Tears filled her eyes. She couldn't see Mommy anywhere in the room; she didn't like how her things were all upended and broken. Daddy made a lot of messes like that, but Mommy always scolded him and told him to be more orderly. Mommy would never stand for her room to be this dirty.

She approached the door leading Mommy's bathroom. It was closed, but on the other side, she could hear someone breathing. She placed a tentative hand on the knob. "Mommy?"

There wasn't a response, but the breathing got louder. Aelita hesitated. You were supposed to knock before you entered a bathroom in case someone was on the toilet, Mommy had taught her. But no one had answered. In that heartbeat, it was like she was all alone in this room-she didn't know where Mommy or Daddy were-nothing existed except this room, this moment when she swung open the door-

And a huge black dog leapt out, muzzle soiled with blood. Aelita screamed and ran. She could hear the thud of its paws as it chased her, so close she could feel its rancid breath on her back. It was barking joyously, and another dog was joining in, and her house was gone and she was outside alone in the snow being herded and chased by dogs and wolves were after her too and the barking was getting louder and louder-

She gasped as she jerked awake. Her sheets were soaked with sweat and her heart was pounding. For a moment, Aelita was paralyzed with fear, convinced the dogs had followed her out of her dreams and even now stalked her. She listened, holding her breath; but there were no growls or barks. Just silence.

Maybe I'm going mad.

Shivering, she seized her phone from its beside table and punched in the first number she thought of. After seven rings, a sleepy voice answered. "Mmm...whassa matter? XANA?"

"He's dead, Jeremie," she reminded him. Still huddled under the covers, Aelita pulled her knees into her chest and squeezed Mr. Puck.

"Right...forgot." On the other side of the line, there was a sound like rustling sheets. She got the impression he'd sat up and was groping about for his glasses. "What time is it?"

She swallowed. "Can you come see me? Please?"

Five minutes later, he was knocking on her door. He'd brought hot chocolate, with a lot of sweetener; he must have stopped by the vending machines on the dormitories' ground floor. It was very thoughtful of him, and he blushed when she told him so.

"You know," Jeremie said, after several peaceful moments of sipping their chocolate, "You should probably transfer to a double room. You'd have a companion at night, so you wouldn't feel so lonely."

She shook her head. "No."

"Why not? You've always had been a restless sleeper, but it's gotten worse since your father passed."

"It'll get better. Besides, we're all restless sleepers, and you still sleep alone. Yumi has her own room at her parents'. I don't see why I should be singled out."

Her tone indicated this was her final call. Accepting it, Jeremie sighed. "Well, what was the nightmare? Same as always?"

She finished the rest of her chocolate and hesitated, thinking again about the dark-haired boy she'd dreamed of last week. Most of her recent dreams have been of her mother, but she'd seen him twice or thrice more. Compared to the dreams of her mother, there was no fear with him; there was joy and fun and complete trust, and she was becoming more certain the boy was very important to her before she'd disappeared.

She harbored some hope of finding him, but frustratingly, though she knew the names of him and that city in her dream, she could never retain them upon waking. Either would be a great help; Googling 'walled city with a bridge' or 'dark-haired boys 1990s' had turned up nothing. She'd even asked Emmanuel Maillard if he had a brother, in vain. The road to finding him currently led to a dead end, unless she could get some other perspective.

But...Jeremie always got jealous about other guys. Even just a hug from Odd! She didn't want to know how he'd react if he learned she was dreaming about another boy, much less one as handsome as William (she liked Jeremie, of course, but she wasn't blind). So she never told him about those dreams, just the ones with her mother.

"More or less," she hedged. "But this time, I actually swore I heard dogs when I woke up."

"It's probably just your imagination." He patted her hand, and she sighed.

"I hope so."

"The fear will pass, you'll see. Now, I'm gonna head back to my room and get dressed. Then we can meet the others for breakfast."

That morning, the Lyoko Warriors had met up to discuss their progress on finding Aelita's mom-which was to say, none. "Men in black" was pretty vague-it could have been any number of organizations, in any number of locations. Jeremie was reluctant to recklessly hack into government databases, so the only thing they could do was look through public records for anything about Anthea. It was as fruitless as one would expect.

Then Sissi had come to sit with them, and they'd quickly clammed up, receiving a suspicious-and hurt-look from the girl. That expression had stirred guilt in Odd's gut. Sure, Sissi could be a total goober sometimes, but she was still a friend. One who was already hurting from Ulrich and Yumi's new relationship. But it was just better to not let her get involved in anything involving Lyoko.

Now, barring Yumi, they were madly rushing through the halls, hoping against hope to make it into class five minutes late and still be 'on-time'. Odd's too-full stomach gurgled and groaned in complaint; Rosa had served eggs with black truffles this morning, and he couldn't getting help getting fourths. They were so good! But now they were threatening to come back up...

Fortunately, before he could get reacquainted with breakfast, he spotted their classroom ahead. The teacher was just stepping out to close the door. With a burst of speed, they barrelled through and inside. Odd, in the lead, had to skid to a halt to avoid crashing into the tall figure of-

Principal Delmas, oh crap! What's he doing here? Suddenly, his stomach was the least of his worries.

"Daddy!" Sissi said, recovering from her shock. "Fancy meeting you here!"

The principal gave his daughter an unimpressed look. "Ah, Elisabeth. How kind of you to finally bring you and your friends here, after the bell has rung."

"Well, you see-" Odd began, a witty story already on his tongue-and then he saw the girl next to Delmas.

Beautiful. Hot. A babe. Drop-dead gorgeous. All those words flew through Odd's head as he gazed at her, paralyzed. She was taller than Aelita, but not as tall as Yumi. Her fair hair was cut in a short bob, her complexion was golden, and her eyes were large and celestial. She had to be new; he would definitely have remembered seeing that face around campus before.

Several pick-up lines warred for attention. Did it hurt when you fell from heaven? Can you give me a map, I got lost in your eyes. This is the police, you're under arrest for stealing my heart.

"Uuuuuuuuh," came out instead.

"Della Robbia, are you waiting to take your seat?"

Delmas's snappy, authoritative voice jolted him out of his daze. Odd started and realized his friends had all gone to their desks. Mumbling incoherently, he followed them-thankfully, he didn't trip on his way there (how embarrassing would that have been in front of this beauty?).

When he sat down, Delmas cleared his throat. "Very well! I am sorry that this announcement could not have been made a week ago at the beginning of term, but better late than never, yes? In any case, students, I am happy to present you a new classmate all the way from the United States, Ms. Eva Skinner."

Eva...Eva. What a beautiful name! And-oh, she was smiling! "Pleased to meet you," she said in perfect, unaccented French.

"My pleasure!" he yelled, too loudly. His classmates burst into laughter. Odd felt himself flush all the way to his ears. Gaaaaah, first you stand there like a dufus and then you make a fool of yourself?! You are not rocking these first impressions, Della Robbia!

"Yes, thank you, Odd, we're sure it's a pleasure for you," the principal said, after he silenced the class. Odd glowered, humiliated. If there was any question where Sissi got that tongue from…

Principal Delmas turned back to Eva. "So, Ms. Skinner, why don't you tell us about yourself? What city are you from?"

Eva stared at him, that bright grin still on her face. But she didn't answer. The principal smiled indulgently. "It's alright if you're still struggling with our language. Where do you come from?" The last sentence was asked slowly, enunciated. Odd felt very insulted on Eva's behalf. She's speaking in perfect French! How can you possibly think she's struggling?

"We came from America."

See? She's mocking you, Delmas! Ahhhhh, foreign, blonde, beautiful, and witty? She's a dream come true...

A starburst of pain rippled out from his ribs as Ulrich jabbed him with an elbow. Odd snapped his mouth shut-wait, when did I start gaping?-and quickly straightened up, trying to look like he hadn't been drooling. His friend gave him an amused look.

"Well," Principal Delmas said finally. "I suppose you'll tell us about your home city in due course."

Turning to the class, he continued, "I wish for you all to receive Eva enthusiastically. She will not be living on campus, as her parents live not too far away, but remember that today our friend is taking her first steps on a long journey…"

Odd found his mind slipping away from Principal Delmas's droning speech. Instead, he returned his gaze to Eva, who was much more interesting. She was standing with her spine straight, hands clasped in front. Those lovely blue irises were drifting around the students' faces, studying each and every one. When they fell on Odd, she gave him a smile, and his heart did cartwheels in his chest.

"...in short, please help her to integrate into our school community and make her feel welcome. Not too welcome, Mister Della Robbia, I beg of you."

More laughter ensued, but Odd didn't even care. Not when Eva Skinner had smiled at him.

The girl gave a little wave to the class. "Thank you for the welcome, Principal Delmas." And was it just Odd's imagination, or was she looking right at him as she added, "I look forward to getting to know you all in the future."

This was gonna be a great semester.

A/N: Emmanuel Maillard is one of the students in Kadic, who looks a lot like William-just with a different hairstyle.