Code Lyoko: Revolutions and Evolutions

Chapter 52

AN: This chapter took me a bit longer than anticipated due to how I wasn't satisfied with the pacing and themes until I reworked them. However, with patience and God's help, I gave you a chapter that I am quite pleased with. From this point on, I will be updating when I am happy with the chapter's contents. I detest rushed work, and so as much as I may like to upload once a week, the chapter might be uploaded on the weekend more frequently than mid-week as has been something of a tradition. I hope you all read, review, and enjoy as always.—Pagliacci-11.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of True Love Ways. The song was composed and sung by Buddy Holly. All rights belong to their appropriate holders.

Jacqueline entered the dorm and collapsed on her bed. She was exhausted from the conversation she had had with Magali. It wasn't a bad conversation, but it was very involved for someone of her age. Not only were there questions, but more than Jacqui had anticipated, Magali knew far more of real-life than she had given her credit for. Magali bore no marks of physical abuse, but as Jacqueline had talked to her for an hour and a half, she'd come to understand that abuse had many markings, and in Magali, she saw many echoes of herself. A lover of order, a deep-seated desire for supreme justice. But like Jacqui had to learn, which she knew Magali would one day have to learn, the aspect of mercy when dealing with the lives of others was, at times, far more precious than upholding the standard of justice.

In many ways, Jacqui pitied the young woman for the aspect that much like her, she'd been actively forced to grow up far quicker than she should have. It struck Jacqui when Magali revealed why she spent so much time dedicated to books and doing her very best. Because, to Magali, Kadic represented an escape, an escape from the drama of home. The overly harsh and critical nature of her mother, who, as Jacqui listened was responsible for shaping a lot of Magali's direct nature, was one of the reasons Kadic was seen as a form of sanctuary.

As Jacqui listened, Magali had explained it very simply, "Look, our expected standards of life are clearly different. It's hard to stand out amongst your family for your own talents when your mother is a gifted genius in mathematics, and your father is practically Robespierre reborn. My skills are in writing, making observations. However, in all reality, it is much harder when you consider that your parents don't value your skills because they don't suit the same importance as they perceive their skills to be. So, why do I like Kadic? Well, my aspirations aren't marginalized, and I don't feel as if I'm underachieving."

As much as Jacqui said nothing in response to this, she more than understood how Magali could feel the way she did. Equally, she knew that to be a satirist in all reality was all and good, she was one herself at one point. However, Magali's parents sadly had a method to their madness, and this was what Jacqui dare not tell Magali directly. Because Jacqui knew that Magali had a fire burning deep within her, to be taken seriously for what she had to say. But Jacqui knew that if Magali didn't get the traction she desperately needed and soon, Magali would come under fire from her parents for wasting her time and resources "chasing some stupid dream."

However, Jacqui knew there was plenty of hope still, and optimism remained because Jacqui had the tools to help realize the dreams of those whose ideas needed to be recognized. But equally, Jacqui knew very well that Magali was much like many youths her age, thinking she knew enough based on her observations. While this was true and for now served its purpose, Jacqui knew that if Magali embraced the elements of the real world her parents inhabited, her writing would be so much more vibrant. Jacqui debated telling Magali this but knew that given the relations she had with her parents, Magali would likely not be in the mood for overexposure to her parents. Even if she were, Jacqui had to figure out how long would these discussions last before devolving into self-righteous sermons of condemnation and condescension? If history was any guide, especially having been privy to similar prior experiences, not long at all.