A/N: This is a story I've had in my brain for years. I've tweaked it and perfected it as time went on, but I never really had any intentions to make it anything more than a story I sometimes thought about, because fanfiction was never really my forte. I decided to finally write it out and share it after much thought, because I've had severe writer's block about anything but this particular story. I really hope you all enjoy it, I have pretty much the whole story structure planned out from beginning to end, and it's going to end up being around 75 chapters I think. Quite long I know. I might split it up into different stories, but for now please enjoy Volume 1!
Volume 1: Earth
Chapter 1: A... reunion?
Night had descended upon the city; dark shadows cast by the moonlight suffocated the alleyways and outskirt homes in a perpetual black. But tall skyscrapers, small erect buildings, street lamps, neon signs, the blinking of hundreds of car headlights, and much more illuminated the city, providing a false daytime light, allowing its citizens to carry on long past the setting sun. A large blinking sign exclaimed, 'RENEWED OSAKA I.D. PASS, get yours now!'. It was raised high above spiraling highways, it's light penetrating the darkness, the glow reaching out to reveal a lone figure perched atop a roof, crouched, hidden from passerby's. Continuing to hunch down out of sight, the figure turned its brown eyes to the cityscape, searching with a hunger, a need. The trail was stale, and a warm aroma rose from the bakery below, filling the figure with another type of hunger. She stood up, and loosely curled red hair cascaded over her shoulder to hang limply in the dead air. A second figure materialized behind the first, as if it was born from the shadow surrounding it.
"It's getting late." Said the second figure.
The girl ignored her companion and strode away in the opposite direction. She reached for the red device at her side, a blinking white light told her it was near, but she could not see anything. It must be a small one, she thought to herself. She stepped on to the landing and teetered on the balls of her feet, turning her head back to look into the misty blue eyes that belonged to her large, fox-like partner. Without her saying a word, the other knew exactly what was to come next. Words were no longer necessary between them at this point. She pushed off, hard, and leapt into the night, the bright yellow fox following in her stead. The wind whipped past her, billowing around her dark red dress, sending her scarlet curls tumbling behind her. Down below cars and people passed by, nothing now but small points of light on a larger labyrinthine grid. That's all they ever were to her, small, and meaningless. Boots found concrete, and the girl landed gracefully atop another building, only long enough to run across and jump fearlessly to the next. She traveled this way for quite a while as the blinking white light became more and more prominent.
Suddenly she stopped atop an old private school, the fox landing quietly beside of her. Nestled down in an abandoned street, between two garbage cans, panting and scuffed, was her prey. Disappointment filled her entire being, not only was it small, it was weak and exhausted. It had been weeks since her last hunt, and something so unsatisfying as a half-beaten foe sparked a fierce anger within her. She lazily fell on to the pavement, not worried about bracing her fall, and grabbed the device at her side once more, watching with a half amused smile as it quickly transformed into a long, rose-colored whip. Even after all these years, the sight still filled her with awe.
"Do you want me to take care of it?" The fox asked.
"No Renamon, I've got this." She replied, stepping forward towards the red birdlike creature slumped against the dirt stone wall.
The creature took notice as she approached. Eyeing the weapon in the red head's right hand, panic took over the creature, and it attempted to rise and flee, only to collapsed mere feet from it's starting position. Weighed down by injury and limits of the body, it could do nothing but turn around and accept its inevitable fate. The girl swayed forward once more, lifting up her weapon hand, rearing back to strike, but was narrowly blocked by the appearance of a masked human, who slid in between the oncoming attack, and blocked the lash from her whip with a large, rectangular shield. Armored in bronze and dark blue, the new player was backed by a large, towering machine. Taking this cue of safety, the bird creature managed to lift itself up, and stagger down an alleyway, separating itself as far away from the battling two as it could.
"I know you." The girl smirked, "I thought you were just a story. Trying to play the hero?"
The armored man did not speak, but stood ever still, commanding a revered silence.
"Have it your way." She shrugged, stepping back and stancing herself to fight.
In seconds she was on her foe, whip cracking through the air, slicing and colliding sharply with the man's tough armor. She moved serenely through the air, as if gravity did not apply to her motions. The blunt force of her attacks whelped holes in the metal. The man dodged the next oncoming set of whips, turning sharply and jumping forward, busting his shield into her chest, knocking her back. Staggering, she reclaimed herself and leapt forward, wrapping her whip around his shield arm and drawing him towards herself. Their eyes met, brown eyes piercing blue, and before the gaze could last another second, he broke free of her binds and fell back.
"Gaurdromon, attack!" He finally shouted, commanding the metal beast behind him.
Gaurdromon sprung into action, barreling forward straight at the girl and her fox. The stone cracked beneath the weight of the giant machine, rippling outwards and creating tiny gray puzzle pieces out of the once strong slabs. Lifting his right arm, an angry faced bullet projectiled from the top of his forearm, swirling swiftly at the redheaded girl, tiny wisps of smoke lingering in the space behind. Renamon dashed sideways, grabbing the girl just in time as the bomb missed her by inches and collided with the brick school wall instead. Fire blazed instantly, stray bricks went flying in every directions, debris littering the pavement. The smoke finally cleared, and the once intact wall now contained a gaping hole the size of a semi-truck.
"This is what I was looking for!" The girl exclaimed gleefully, falling back and motioning Renamon forward.
The fox however was not amused, she turned her head away from the silent machine and motioned for the girl to follow her. Vivid anger spread across her face, but the red girl followed the fox's lead, jumping once more on to the rooftops, taking one last searing glance down at the man she could have defeated, the power she could have had.
"This one is not worth the fight, not yet." Renamon detested, "He is too strong to overtake."
She said nothing, but disagreed in silence, she knew her limitations, and knew that, if given the chance, she could have smite him down, taking what she would have won, and become that much stronger for it. But not without Renamon, and so she followed, setting once more out into the night, heading this time not towards prey, but to home.
She could almost see him, he was there up ahead talking with one of his friends. She wondered which class he was going to, she should have said something earlier, when they shared the same room, but her fear kept her back. Maybe she could bump into him after class, start up a conversation. She wasn't really good at that kind of thing though, she never was.
"Addie! Hey, Addie!"
"Whaaa..?" Addie spun around, almost colliding with her pixie haired friend, "Oh sorry, Charlie, I didn't hear you."
Charlie fell into step with Addie, and the pair continued to walk down the crowded school hallway, " Didn't hear me? Pleeease, I called your name seven times, you were obviously distracted. I bet it was that boy again, you really should just ask him out you know."
"Jeez, Charlie, not everything in the world is about teenage hormones."
"It is with me. And if you're not into him, why've you been so enamored lately. Seems like a waste of a perfectly good stalking to me." Charlie joked, grinning from ear to ear.
"Isn't your class in the other direction?" Addie asked, steering the subject somewhere else.
"Yeah, but I figured we could skive off last period and go hang out at the arcade. We could stop at the candy shop, my treat. Not like your dad would care anyways."
" That sounds really tempting, honestly, but I should really get to class, big test today you know." Addie looked away, guilt eating her insides. She didn't like lying to Charlie, but she had other pressing matters to attend to right now, something much more important than teenage hormones or skipping school. "Besides, I haven't renewed my I.D., they'd never let me downtown without it."
"Ugggh fine. No point in me leaving early to hang out by myself. I'll see you after school loser!" And with that Charlie skipped off, rushing back to class in hopes of not being late.
Addie pressed on, turning a corner and watched the boy go into classroom 4-A. She leaned against the cold drywall and waited for the period to begin. Her class wasn't too far away, but she couldn't chance missing him again, she had to do this today, had to get it over with. The school wasn't that bad of a place, she thought to herself, not with how the rest of the city was going. Identification for this, thumb print for that, limits on how much you can buy, where you can go, who you can see even, the world was in a state of distress, and she knew exactly why. The government had saved them from the virus, the thing that plagued their lives. No one had done anything about it though, no one stood up for their rights. Everyone was just glad to be safe again, and maybe with time the urge to be free would overcome the urge for safety, but now was not that time, not for Addie, or the world.
No, the school was a good place, the teachers knew about how things were before, and wanted to give the best options to their students. Addie felt like they could get away with a lot more here than anywhere else. Most schools would report you immediately if you skipped class, but here it only became an issue if it was a frequent offence. A line that Charlie had learned to teeter on quite dangerously. A report to authorities meant at least a slap on the wrist, with restrictions placed even more heavily on where you could go, all depending on the crime of course. Hard punishment could mean re-education, or even worse, elimination. Addie didn't want to think of it, not now, not while she was more or less safe. She let herself get lost in thought about other things, other days, and before she knew it the bells rang and last period was finally over. She readied herself, she was going to do it.
"I think she's still outside there man." Riley smacked Lalen on the back, "You must have done a number on her."
"What?" Lalen was snapped out of thought about his next art project, and brought back to reality by his large, muscled friend Riley, "What girl?"
"Just wait till the bell rings, you'll see what I mean. She followed us here from last period."
"Didn't you think it could be possible that she followed us because she is interested in you?" Lalen rolled his eyes in disinterest.
"Of course I have, just throwing you a bone man."
"Well don't."
"I know, I know, you have your eyes set on that bookstore girl."
Lalen had been friends with Riley since they were children, and while the two branched off towards very separate directions socially and interest wise as they grew up, they had managed to stay close best friends through it all. Riley had seen Lalen at his worst, helped him through times he'd rather not remember, and you just can't not be friends after something like that. Of course, that didn't stop Lalen from teasing every once in a while.
The bell rang, signaling that the school day was over. Students got up in unison, rhythmically placing objects back in their purses and bags, and shuffled towards the door. Riley was talking with another jock about something that happened last week in the locker-room quite loudly behind Lalen as they filed outside, and jabbed Lalen in the side with his elbow to get his attention, pointing towards a mostly empty corner of the hallway. Lalen spotted the mystery girl Riley had mentioned, standing awkwardly to the side, waiting for the classrooms to empty. Her eyes widened when they met Lalen's, and she bustled over, determination etched in her face. Lalen turned away from her, and almost jogged past the herd of students, making his way outside into fresh daylight, and breathed in the afternoon air. He didn't feel like dealing with whatever this was right now.
Regardless, she had caught up to him anyways, and Lalen was taken aback as a stranger's hand had grabbed his shoulder and wheeled him around, forcing him to look at the mystery girl head on. She was his age, with brown hair that fell to her neck, with a piece in the front longer than the rest, and deep green eyes. He couldn't muster any reason as to why she was confronting him.
"Uhm... I uhh" She trailed off.
"Do you do this to all the guys you like?" Lalen tried to break the awkwardness.
"It's not like that." The girl tried to assure him, "I've been trying to talk to you for a couple of weeks now, ever since I figured out who you were."
"And who am I exactly?" Lalen raised his eyebrow, intrigued.
"I'd rather not talk about that here. I've been trying to scrounge up the nerve to ask if you would come over to my place so I can talk to you about it."
"No offense, but this is really weird. You are a quasi-stranger, asking me to come over to your place, for reasons that you don't want to talk about in public?" Lalen turned to leave.
"My name is Addie, Addeline Flynn to be exact. I promise this isn't some weird... entrapment thing, I just want to have an honest talk with you for maybe... an hour. An hour of your time is all I ask."
"...I don't know," Lalen stalled, not sure what to say at first. "Could I bring someone, just so it's less... weird?"
"Sure! Bring whoever you like, and I'll invite my friend Charlie. That way it's not two quasi-strangers alone together. Is later this evening okay for you?"
"...Sure. I'll be over at seven, alright? But no funny business." Lalen left her standing, stunned and forming a smile.
What just happened? He asked himself. Who was this Addie girl? What did she want? He shook off the jeebies that were starting to set in, and rationalized it by telling himself that it was just an hour. Just an hour and she would have said her say and he could get down to the bottom of this... this... weirdness.
Lalen's first stop before leaving school was to find Riley and ask him to meet at the old drugstore at 6:45. Riley happily complied, and didn't ask to many questions as to what the hell was happening. Lalen always admired his loyalty, even in the face of absurd mystery girls. He then hopped on his bike, peddling with gusto as he headed towards his usual after school haunt, The Pageturner, the local used bookstore. The entire ride there he couldn't shake the feeling he was being watched, shadows danced in the corner of his eyes, taunting him to look, break his concentration from steering. He ignored his instinct and finally made it to his destination. It was one of the last old-fashioned buildings left in New Osaka; wooden pagoda style rooftops, vibrant pink cherry blossoms nestled out front, and red banisters lining the steps and porch front of the entrance. It was a colorful splash of happy in the gray dreary landscape surrounding it. The door knob was old black iron, and Lalen twisted it with some force, hearing the familiar chiming of bells as he stepped inside. Books lined every wall, every corner, every nook and cranny. Some legal, some not, but somehow The Pageturner had managed to avoid problems with the authorities. The old structure smelled of wood and paper, a calm and relaxing scent to Lalen as he traveled inside, opening books and peaking at their contents. He had already looked at most of them, but he still liked coming by.
"You know, you really should buy something today." The dirty blonde clerk behind the counter mused, leaning forward and gripping the marble counter top, "Risa appreciates your company though, we all do."
"Quinn, back from vacation?" Lalen asked the glasses wearing book enthusiast.
"Yep! Feels good to be back in here to be honest. You looking for Fiona? She's in the back moving some stuff around right now, I could get her for you."
Lalen turned red, "No, that's fine. Uh... Rupert around too?"
"Of course I am, I live here you know." Rupert emerged from behind a bookshelf, carrying a high stack of tomes.
Lalen immediately stepped forward and grabbed some of the load and helped heave them on to their proper shelves. After he was done, he turned and glanced at Rupert, who had curly black hair that naped at his ears and neck, and vibrant green eyes the color of clovers. Rupert was already feet from him, talking animatedly with a girl who had wavy brown hair pulled into a high ponytail. Fiona gave off a motherly glow, even though she was barely older than Lalen's own seventeen years. She wasn't your average twenty something, not from Lalen's experience. She didn't have self-serving ambition or goals, only selflessness. He never saw her miss an opportunity to give instead of receive. It was something he admired, something he lacked. She gave Rupert a quick hug and Lalen felt, just for a moment, jealously bubble up inside of him. He pushed it away and re-immersed himself in the conversation.
"You just missed Mari by the way." Fiona acknowledged him. "I swear, if it wasn't for you two, this place might go out of business."
"I wouldn't say that, I hardly buy anything." Lalen retorted playfully, "But how did Mari beat me here? Her school is downtown."
"You didn't hear?" Another voice joined the mix, and a black-haired older woman descended the stairs to his right, long wavy hair flowing past her thighs, "Her school fell under some sort of attack during the night! No one knows what happened exactly, some bombing they think. Makes a woman scared, maybe I should just avoid downtown from now on, you know? Would like to live for the rest of my forty years unharmed. Oh, and Lalen, take that bike helmet off in my shop."
Lalen sheepishly grinned and pulled of his bike helmet with a quick swoop. He buckled it around his backpack and turned back to Risa, "So she's out of school and loving it, huh?"
"I guess so. I was out book hunting while she was here. Just got back. It's nice to leave the store in Quinn's hands while I'm away. Rupert may be my nephew, but I'm always afraid the store is going to explode when I leave him in charge."
"Thanks, Aunt Risa." Rupert rolled his eyes and twitched his mouth into a careless smile.
"Do I need to offer you a job, boy?" Risa teased Lalen as she fumbled with files behind the register.
"You know I would if I could, mom says no." Lalen sighed, heaving himself into a warm cushy arm-chair, noticing that fleeting shadow in the corner of his eye once more.
Risa gave Lalen a small smile, and for only a moment, he thought he could see a faint sadness buried behind her curved lips. She shuffled the papers in her hand, the reason she had descended from upstairs to join them, and made her way back to where she had come, spouting instructions for the three workers below as she went.
Addie sifted through the dusty folders, searching vigorously for what she wanted to show Lalen. She was positive she had hidden it in one of them.
Out of respect, she had never gone through Johnathan's things. His room was left the way it had been the day he ran away, almost eight years ago. But stumbling through pitch dark, making her way downstairs to grab another soda from the fridge, is when she saw it; A faint glow underneath the door crept past her toes, as the blue tinge of light made a faint line among the carpet. She had never seen a light come from Johnathan's room, and she sure had never heard the hum of an old computer as it powered on. She glanced around, wondering if her father was rummaging around in his son's old room, but she knew that he wouldn't be home at this hour, he usually didn't come crawling home drunk from the bars until past midnight. Her curiosity betraying her, Addie pushed open the door, and the blue light spilled into the hallway like the radiant light from a heavenly being. She saw not a soul inside, just a very, very dusty cobwebbed infested bedroom, papers littered the floor, file boxes overflowing with charts and data and lines of code she did not recognize. Nestled in front of a dirty window was the old computer monitor producing the eerie glow. She stepped forward into the room, ignoring her fears, and her new-found investigation began.
That was almost a month ago, and the wealth of knowledge she had discovered was almost too much to bear alone. Charlie would never understand, not really, and the thought of bringing it to her father's attention was laughable at best, and scary at worst, especially after what she had discovered. No, Lalen was the right choice. She knew that from almost the beginning. She had to share her findings, and who better to do that with than someone who was effected by it just as much as she was? Aha! She had finally found the large round disk wrapped in plastic and stuffed away between two red folders in the back of one of the filing cabinets, just in time for doorbell ringing to bring her out of her musing. She turned still crouching, and could have sworn she saw a dark shadow pass in the corner of her eye, only for a second.
Addie straightened up quickly, stashed the disk in her back pocket and almost skipped down the stairs to answer the door. Thankfully her Dad was gone by the time she had come home, meaning she wouldn't have to explain why strangers were in the house. She also wouldn't have to explain her mess of a father to the strangers either, something she was most grateful for. She turned the doorknob, and was happy to see the smiling face of Charlie on the other side.
"Took you long enough! They should be here any minute." Addie shooed her inside.
"I don't know what you insisted on me coming over Addie, if you're trying to woo the boy, you really should have had your first date somewhere nice, with fewer people." Charlie collapsed on the couch in the living room, propping her feet on the old wooden coffee table.
"How many times do I have to tell you, I don't li-" The doorbell ringing a second time stopped the words from coming out of Addie's mouth. She straightened out her shirt, and opened the door for the second time.
"Uhhm, hey there." Lalen said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head, "This is my friend Riley, the one I brought along..."
Riley put on a sly smile, shook Addie's hands while making pleasantries, and stepped inside first, motioning Lalen to follow. He was very much the opposite of his auburn haired scrawny friend. Muscled and slightly ungroomed, Riley was surprisingly courteous and kind, all while flashing a cocky smile. Suave, Addie thought. His short brown hair was kept messy and unstyled, cropping around his ears and almost shaved in the back. He looked around as if he had never seen a home before, and his eyes spotted Charlie yawning and sprawled out on the couch. A slight twinge of excitement leapt in his eye.
"And who are you?" Riley asked, sitting carefully on the couch, putting an appropriate amount of distance between himself and Charlie, as to not overstep his boundaries.
"The woman of your dreams, obviously." Charlie smirked, inching her way closer to Riley.
"Her name is Charlie," Addie said with a slight bewildered look. "How about you two get to know each other, and I'll take Lalen upstairs so I can show him... the book I found?" She made a quick excuse, not wanting to let on about why there were all actually there.
"Book?" Lalen's interest obviously piqued, "You should have just said so! Now this all makes sense."
"Uhh... yeah," Addie continued, going along with Lalen's interest, "Yeah it's upstairs in my room. It's really old I wanted your er... opinion on it."
She grabbed him by the wrist and lead him towards the stairs, taking one last uneasy glance at Riley and Charlie, who had inched so close towards one another she was almost surprised they weren't in each other's laps, and trudged forward towards her brother's old room. Once upstairs, she turned the sharp corner down the hall and blocked themselves from Riley and Charlie's view. She let go of Lalen's wrist and turned, feeling a little guilty, to finally brief him on why they were actually there.
"First of all, I'm sorry I lied but this isn't about a book." Addie noted the disappointed frown that spread across Lalen's face, "Secondly, you can't tell a soul what I'm about so show you. I know that is asking a lot from someone you just formally met this morning, but I need to know I can trust you." She knew she didn't need verbal confirmation of his trust, she knew the minute she decided that Lalen was the only person who could help her.
"...Okay, I promise." He said, attempting to act disinterested, but his face gave him away.
Addie opened the white oak door behind her, and a stale stench of dust and age wafted into the hallway. The room was moderately sized, with a bed and desk juxtaposed on two separate walls. The desk held an old computer, a model Lalen hadn't seen since he was a child, and piles of yellow tinged papers. He entered the room before Addie, common sense and manners taken over by curiosity. It was like he had stepped into the past of ten years ago. Posters for old movies were plastered on the walls, a small tv stood broken and unused on a crumbling stand by the bed, rows of books lay moldy and undisturbed on crooked shelves, one book was even propped open on the messy unmade bed as if the owner had just been there seconds ago.
"What happened here?" He asked.
"It was my brother's old room. He ran away after my mother died, and my father couldn't bear losing both of them, so he avoided the room. I had hope that my brother would return one day, so I never came inside out of hope that when he returned he would be pleased to find everything the way he left it. That dream died a long time ago, but the habit must have remained. Anyways, the thing I wanted to show you, is this." Addie pulled a large disk out of her back pocket, it glimmered silver from the light that shone through the dirt encrusted window. Turning around, she popped it inside the old computer, and booted it on, bringing to life a low humming noise and the sound of the hard drive struggling to work after so many years of unuse. "About a month ago I noticed light coming from this room, light that shouldn't have been in here. I did some exploring, and what I found, well, Lalen what I found was completely fascinating."
"Addie..."
Lines of code were now displayed on the old monitor, gibberish to Lalen but obviously meaningful to his counterpart. She opened whatever program was on the disk, and began typing vigorously on the keyboard with excitement.
"I think I've found some clues about what happened ten years ago, what started the virus." She turned to look at Lalen, who was beginning to back away subconsciously out of confusion.
"What are you going on about, Addie? We know what caused the virus. We learned about it in history class ninth grade year."
"I believed that too, I had no reason NOT to believe it wasn't the air-borne illness cause by pollution, but the stuff I found in here Lalen... Johnathan, my brother, he found out that whatever it was didn't come from here, it came from another world!"
Lalen stood shocked in silence, Addie wasn't sure if he was shocked from her revelation, or if he thought she was insane. Either way she wanted him to say something, anything, to make her feel better, "Well?"
"Well what? I don't know what you're playing at Addie. I can't read computer code, I don't understand."
"I can't really read code either, but my brother could apparently. It's not the code on this disk that swayed me..." She gave up trying to convince him with words, and instead turned back to the computer.
Addie reached over and pulled out the drawer in nearby file cabinet. She grabbed a large stack of papers, and from what Lalen could tell, read the instructions about what to do next. He watched as she darted her gaze back and forth between the monitor and the stack of papers, which she would periodically reshuffle. The minutes ticked by, and all he wanted to do was inch back downstairs, grab Riley, and run away. But his curiosity kept him anchored here, in this moment, with a girl he barely knew and an impossible theory in front of him. After what seemed like ages, Addie let out a little squee of victory. Lalen didn't have to wait long to figure out what it was, as the computer screen began glowing a vibrant blue, the light drenching his surroundings and engulfing him completely. He felt connected to everything in that moment, and he almost couldn't mentally separate where he began, and the universe ended. The light somewhat subsided, and what stood before him was no longer just an old computer monitor, but a small glass screen that seemed to be unfathomably deep. From first glance it might seem like any regular screen, but looking at it, you could see that it wasn't a two-dimensional flat surface, but an image that was actually a deep entrancing blue gate, with white lines that crisscrossed and zagged downwards, creating a curved depth in which Lalen could not calculate.
"This is what I wanted to show you." Addie stood up triumphantly, "This is what I meant. Another world Lalen, a digital dimension alongside our own. I didn't believe it at first, but I read all the papers my brother left here, they said the virus leaked from the opened door that was created ten years ago, he must have found out that it existed while trying to find a way to heal mom, and left all these notes behind for me to find one day. He must have tried to fix things somehow Lalen, but I don't really know what happened after that, he ran away from home... at least, that's what I thought."
Lalen took his first step forward and grabbed Addie's shoulders, "Addie... do you think... your brother could have ended up on the other side somehow when he was trying to close the door?"
"That's exactly what I think." Addie's eyes slowly began tearing up, "Lalen this is everything to me, I've had a difficult life, all I've ever wanted was for my brother to come home and rescue me, but I think... I think I was the one meant to rescue him."
"I don't understand though, what does any of this have to do with me, why did you choose me? We hadn't even really met before today." Lalen scrunched up his brow.
"But we have, actually." Addie began, "Our families knew each other, I remember meeting you when I was little, it's hazy, and I had completely forgotten about it until last month, but it happened. Your father is tied to this project somehow... I'm not entirely sure in what way, I just found his picture in a file among all the data Johnathan was collecting, and that sparked my memory of meeting him, and you."
"I have no idea what my father has to do with any of this, I haven't even seen him in six years." Lalen bit his lip, "But, I want to help you. We should find out more about this door that was opened, maybe we could open it again safely, and find your brother?"
"I've already found out how to open it Lalen, but I didn't want to do it alone. There are notes upon notes on what went wrong the first time, I don't think Johnathan wrote all of these, he couldn't have he was only eighteen when all of this started. But it looks like there is a final line of code, one that will allow safe passage between the worlds."
"Leave it be." A whispered voice intruded into the room. It was quiet, but filled every corner and crevice with its urgency.
"Who's there?!" Lalen barked, backing up against Addie.
"Do not continue your search, leave it be." The voice whispered once more.
What has she gotten me into? Lalen cursed, pressing his back against Addie's as they circled the room, looking for a source of the mysterious voice, "Show yourself."
A black haze manifested in front of him, dark swirls of shadow grew from the paneled flooring, entangling themselves around one another, growing together to form a more solid mass. A figure stood in the darkness before them, concealed almost entirely in shadow, before stepping out into the blue glow, and losing all shadow along with it. What appeared before them was a strange, human like creature, with a long pointed hat, purple cape, and a staff that was topped with a broken, wavy sun.
"I am Wizardmon." The being introduced itself, "And you two must be the ignorant humans he spoke of."
Wizardmon strode around the room, looming closer and closer towards the old computer, "I was sent here to warn you of your actions. My sender, while not someone I would call master, as no being owns me, is someone who I greatly admire. He has fought hard to prevent certain things from coming to pass, and now all rests on the shoulders of two unknowing humans. You two to be exact."
"Us?" They both said in unison.
"My sender has predicted that the fate of the universe will be dependent upon the actions of two specific beings. You two are the ones who stand in the way from the end of all things. Not really who I would have picked, but he is usually never wrong."
"What is going to happen, who is your sender?" Lalen demanded.
"I was sent here because I am not as strong as some of my other companions, there are still small doors and holes that lead between our two worlds, but only if you know where to look, and only if you're small and weak enough to make it through. My mission is to guide and watch over you. I've been watching this girl in particular, ever since she discovered the main gate." He motioned towards the computer, "I do not know what could come of it, but I feel like opening the gate again would be a bad idea. I cannot let you do it."
Addie furrowed her brow in frustration, "How do I know I can trust you, that you're not lying? This could be the only way to save my brother, and I'm not letting you stop me."
She swiveled back around and began copying the lines of text from the stack of papers on the desk, typing each one with careful precision, determined to defy Wizardmon and open the portal between worlds. She was down to her last few letters when she felt a hand pull her arm back, she craned her neck around to see Lalen gripping her arm.
"I don't think we should do this Addie, not yet. We don't know what could happen."
She ignored him, pried her arm away, and typed the last few numbers needed, and as she was about to hit enter, Lalen grabbed her arm again, making her slip and press the L key just before her pinky hit the enter button. A blast of energy knocked them back, shaking the house and rumbling the earth below. They heard startled cries from downstairs as Charlie and Riley ran up the stairs making their way towards Johnathan's room. Wizardmon held out his hand and the door behind them slammed and locked into place. The computer screen in front of them ebbed and warped rapidly, pushing inwards and outwards, unsure of what form it wanted to take. For a moment, a green mountainous landscape appeared on the other side of the screen, only to fade to black quickly as the computer powered down and the monitor took its natural form. Riley and Charlie banged and pounded on the other side of the door, trying desperately to get to their possibly injured friends.
"What have you done?!" Wizardmon bellowed, jolting forward and pushing Lalen to the side as he made his way towards Addie.
In the moment that he touched Lalen, a bright yellow light erupted from his touch, it filled the room even more heavily than the blue light produced by the computer monitor. The two hovered briefly together in the air, their hands inches from one another, unnatural wind whipping around them as the light died down and slowly formed a small, triangular device in the space between their fingertips. It fell gracefully in to Lalen's open palm, and he looked up and gaped at the strange, unknown figure that stood before him. Anger and loathing etched into every corner of Wizardmon's face, he quickly reached and grabbed for the device, but Lalen wrenched it from his grasp just it time, still in awe at the yellow triangular device that was now... his. Yes, he knew whatever it was, it belonged to him, it was always there before, and now it has made itself known and physical, and somehow tied him to the creature called Wizardmon.
Outside the window, perched high up in the old maple tree, a lone figure tossed aside her curly red locks as she watched the scene play out before her. A self-serving, triumphant smile crept across her lips as the boy and wizard became partners before her very eyes. The fox-like demon behind her smirked too, its claws tapping and digging lightly into the shoulder of its counterpart.
"Gotcha." She said, not taking her eyes off her prey.
A/N: So there you go! Chapter 1 of many more chapters to come. I have quite a bit planned out and I'm really excited for you all to see everything unfold! Reviews and constructive criticism are most welcome of course! :)