The
Value of a Soul
By Cybra
To Mika Ryoko San: Thanks for being so patient with me as I tried to get a balance between writing and my graduating semester. :) Here's your prize for naming "Fragments".
Disclaimer: Code Lyoko isn't mine.
Herve caught Jeremy completely by surprise, ambushing him as he strolled towards the passageway in the park. He pinned the blond down and held a knife over his chest, taking deep breaths.
It was part of their deal: he'd kill Jeremy, and XANA would give him Aelita. After all, once the blond twit was dead, the pink-haired beauty would need someone to comfort her.
Not that she should grieve over this waste of space. Looking at the younger boy infuriated him to no end: Jeremy always got the highest grades; Jeremy always got the awards; Jeremy always got everything!
And that wasn't the end of it. No, he also had the beautiful Aelita that had held Herve spellbound since her so-called cousin introduced her. But what really made his blood boil was that he'd seen the blond make her cry, seen them argue until one or the other stormed away. Yet despite the fact that he was sure that this time she would never return to Jeremy's side and (maybe) she'd notice him for a change, guess where she ended up?
Right back where she started with Jeremy.
It was enough to drive one mad.
The blond struggled beneath him, but Herve ruthlessly jabbed his knee into his stomach, making the younger genius gasp.
"What…are you…doing…?"
Herve didn't want to talk. No, if he talked with his intended victim, he'd chicken out since his lust for blood would be diverted.
He aimed the knife with a trembling hand.
Blue eyes beneath him widened as their owner froze. Then those eyes seemed to search him, looking for something he could only guess at. Judging by the way the boy whitened, he didn't find it. "Why?"
The black-haired boy supposed he owed Jeremy that much, to know why he was about to be sent for final judgment. "For her."
He raised the knife and prepared to plunge the point into the other's chest.
Those eyes widened just a bit more, and understanding filled the bright blue orbs. And then something Herve didn't expect:
Pity.
"Was it worth it?" Jeremy asked.
The black-haired boy never got the chance to demand what he meant as his arm swung down and, suddenly, blood was everywhere.
Three years later, Herve gazed about the ruins of Kadic Academy, perched on what used to be the bleachers of the athletic field. The school, along with most of the city around it had been reduced to rubble as XANA began its extermination of the human race.
It turned out that Jeremy had been one of XANA's largest obstacles though the artificial intelligence hadn't let that on when they first made their deal. Without the blond's skills, the other four members of his group had been slowly picked off. Ulrich had been first. Then Odd. And then finally Yumi. They and Aelita had struggled to stop XANA, but in the end it had led to nothing.
Now Aelita sat beside him as XANA had promised, but she was a shallow reward. Even in despair she'd continued to fight in memory of the four friends that had freed her from the supercomputer and helped her regain her memories. The only way XANA could make her stay was by crushing her mind. Now the pink-haired girl was little more than a living doll.
"Was it worth it?"
Those four words had continually haunted him over the past three years. There was that knowledge that somehow Jeremy had figured out what was going on, that he'd made a deal to in essence sell his soul for a chance with one (admittedly special) girl.
"Was it worth it?"
As the girl who wasn't Aelita rested her head against his shoulder and the sunset bathed the ruined landscape in blood red, Herve had to say "no".