"Two Faces, One Mask"
'Wandering minds.'"Lord make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
And where there is sadness, joy.
Oh divine Master grant that I may
Not so much seek to be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive-
And it's in pardoning that we are pardoned.
And it's in dying that we are born to eternal life,
Amen."
'Prayer of Saint Francis' Sarah McLachlan
A large figure made his way further through the mountainous regions of the Digital world, and as he made his way through the white landscape, he startled every Digimon nearby with his large wings and crimson robe. Daemon was on a journey, a journey he had been on for almost two years now. And nothing distracted him from his path. He would make it to his destination even if he had to die trying. For every step he took, vengeance drove him, hate fueled him and insanity blinded him.
He grumbled under his breath, "I will destroy you Ken Ichijouji, mark my words, I will have my revenge on you for locking me away in the Dark Ocean."
He stopped by the open mouth of a cave. The cave looked cold and evil, the way the snow dusted the roof of it and left the remaining gray rock damp and dark. A frigid draft tumbled from the mouth and chilled Daemon's already cold ankles. He grumbled again and began speaking in a dark tongue, "Tuo madess, ratiz et laianar. I beseech access to the Dark Ones."
A hollow, deep echo breathed a rattling breath from the cave itself, and spoke, "Enter."
Daemon crouched in order to enter the cave and as he stepped into the shadows, he vanished from sight, not because the shadows swallowed him, but because he simply vanished from the realm of the Digital world.
"And as you can see from the diagram…"
Kari leaned over to her friend Yolei and whispered quietly, "Do you have any idea what he is talking about?"
Yolei smiled to herself and looked around the large room, filled with chairs and a mixed variety of 'interested' and 'bored-out-of-their-skulls' students. The lecture room had many distractions for every student, but only one for Yolei and that would be the person giving the lecture on computer software and programming at the front of the class. She turned to Kari and giggled quietly, "Yeah, I get special after school classes."
Kari stifled a giggle and replied, "Well, if you actually have notes, could you pass them in my direction? Ken's lectures aren't exactly stimulating."
"Why did you take this class then Kari?"
The twenty-year-old shrugged, "To be with you I guess. And I figured it's the future so I better know something about computers. I'm just so glad I didn't sign up for his Psychology class as well. "
Yolei rolled her eyes and grinned. She was about to turn her attention back to Ken, when she remembered to ask Kari a question; "We are still all meeting at the park aren't we?"
Kari sighed heavily and couldn't help but look horrified at the idea of it, "Yes. I don't know if I want to play soccer today Yolei, last time I was full of bruises and I was so stiff the next day."
The corner of Yolei's mouth lifted as she tried to repress a grin at her friend, "Aww, come on Kari, it will be fun!"
"Yeah, fun for you maybe, you have the star soccer player on your side while I have two so-called-men who fight about me endlessly, on my side."
"Oh, you know Davis is just kidding about it now. Besides, he likes a girl in his class. He told me so. They're cooking partners."
"Really? Well, that's great for him. Why didn't he say anything?"
Yolei smiled to herself, "He's afraid he'll jinx it."
"I see." Kari shrugged, "Well, then maybe the soccer game will be better. We'll still lose though."
Yoleis' smile faltered, "I don't know Kari, Ken's been really distracted lately. All he can think about is that new program he's been working on. He's up all night working on it and I can't have a normal conversation with him because mid-way he comes up with an idea to add to it. Drives me crazy."
"Don't worry Yolei, he'll finish it and then you will have him all to yourself again."
"I guess, but I can't help but think he's focusing on one thing to avoid another."
Kari cocked her head to the side, "What do you mean?"
Yolei shook her head, "Nothing, never mind. We really should be paying attention."
Kari turned her gaze back to the front of the class in order to watch Ken's lecture, but she couldn't help but wander what Yolei had meant.
"So Kari, how's TK enjoying his advanced writing class?" Cody asked as he made himself comfortable under the large Elder tree in the park of Odiba. He loosened the tie of his school uniform and removed his blazer.
The barer of the Crest of Light smiled and replied, "He's really enjoying it. And he's getting really good. He writes me poems and short stories all the time and they are so beautiful. But you can ask him yourself. Here he comes."
Cody turned his head in the direction Kari was now looking and saw TK approaching them along with Davis and Ken.
"Hey guys." Cody smiled.
"Hey Cody." TK said as he waved hello and moved to his girlfriend to sit by her.
"How's school?" Davis asked joining them and placing the soccer ball in his lap.
"It's okay. You know, high school." He shrugged.
The group nodded at this statement and fell silent; thinking about when they were back in high school and the adventure which had interrupted it.
"Shall we get started?" Ken asked suddenly and they all nodded and got up, making their way towards their positions.
It was a beautiful day, they couldn't have asked for better. The sun pierced whatever small cloud which might have shaded it and the sky was a rich baby blue. The air smelled of freshly cut grass and the birds filled it with their songs and conversations.
"Hate to break it to you Ken "The Rocket" Ichijouji," Davis started, "but today is the day you are going down!"
Ken grinned and replied, "Is that so? Well we'll see about that."
Yolei and Kari looked at each other and rolled their eyes.
The game went on and all players seemed to be having the most fun they had had in years. It had been about two years since the whole saga of Ebonwumon and the Codes, and Ken had found a way to deal with all his feelings by talking to Yolei, most of the time. They had become extremely close over the years and for a while Ken hadn't had any thoughts of his darker days. But lately something was disturbing him. What, he wasn't sure, but it was a pull of some kind. A will and want to succeed on this project. For some reason he couldn't stand to fail on this program. He knew he wouldn't be able to deal with it. He hadn't told Yolei this, because he knew what she would say, and she would be right. It was his darker impulses, his desire to prove himself again, to his parents, to his friends, to the world really. He didn't know why he felt like this lately, but he did and he wasn't going to push it away. He was going to do this, because it made him feel good. He was tired of being average.
"KEN!" Cody yelled from somewhere behind him.
"Damn." He muttered under his breath. He had lost focus again and Davis had stolen the ball from him. He quickly rectified that problem and was about to make a goal of his own, when Davis went in for a sliding tackle. Yolei gasped, as the scene looked horribly familiar. Davis' foot connected and cut Ken's shin as it came across Ken's leg, tripping him.
TK cheered Davis on as Davis whooped. Then he extended his hand to his best friend, but Ken's mind was somewhere else entirely.
The memories flashed in his mind like still photographs. That day Davis tripped him on the soccer field, then him as the Emperor in the Digital world, making Davis cower and beg for his friends, then Ebonwumon doing the same thing to him. He shook his head and looked up at the Goggle wearing youth with his hand stretched out. He looked away and got up without Davis' help.
He made his way to his bag to get a sweat towel and wipe his face.
Davis made his way over to him, "Sorry Ken. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." Ken snapped. Then he took a deep sigh, "I'm fine really. It just déjà vu, you know?"
"I'm sorry buddy. Did it remind you of…"
Yolei frowned at Davis as she looked at the bleeding gash on Ken's shin. "Davis! You should be more careful! Jeez, it's just a friendly game."
"It's alright Yolei, I'm fine." Ken assured her.
"Are you sure? You seemed kinda out of it just now."
"Yeah…" Ken's gaze went blank and he started to stare off to the horizon, before snapping it back to his friends and saying, "I have to go quickly! I just thought of something for the program." He picked up his stuff and started running off but there was something in the way he said this that made Yolei think he wasn't being completely honest.
"Ken!" Yolei yelled, "Wait! Will I see you at home?"
"Yeah see you!" he yelled behind him.
The lavender haired girl sighed and sat down.
"What was that all about?" Cody asked.
"I would love to know Cody." Yolei breathed, "I better get back home, Ken will not remember to feed Poromon or Wormmon in the state he is in."
Mae turned on her side and looked at the clock on her bedside table. The red digits glowed 2AM in the dark surrounding room. She sighed and turned onto her other side to look at the person sharing her bed. She stroked the caramel hair and ran her soft palm down his neck and along his muscular arm. He shifted and turned to face her. "Something wrong love?"
She smiled weakly, "I did not mean to wake you Gennai, sorry."
"Don't be." He smiled warmly, "Something is bothering you I can tell."
She huffed and pushed herself off the bed. She slipped on her electric blue silk nightgown and looked out the window. On the street below she could see taxi cabs speeding by, to destinations unknown to her. She could hear people taking, laughing, crying, whatever people did at one in the morning in New York City. She opened the window of her Queens apartment and leaned on the sill. She could smell the air, which was not clean like the Digital World's, but something about it, she loved. She took a deep breath and exhaled softly before answering Gennai. "Something's wrong. I can feel it. Something is coming."
"You had a vision?"
"No, not yet anyway. But it's something. I am not sure what." She turned to him with a deep concern etched on her features, "I hope it's nothing."
"Me too." He motioned for her to come back to bed, "You need the sleep."
She smiled at him, knowing full well that she did not need sleep and slipped back into his arms. Though it took her much longer to drift off to sleep than it did for Gennai.
Ken sat in front of his computer and stared blankly at the screen. Wormmon watched him from his position on the bed, next to Poromon. He didn't say anything because of the way Ken had entered the room. He had burst through the door and dumped his bag on the ground before hastily sitting down on the chair by his desk. Then he had let out an angry cry and ran his hands through his chin-length indigo hair before throwing all the papers and stationary off his desk. And then he just sat there, staring.
The little worm made his way to Ken's feet and was about to open his mouth to question him, when Yolei entered and after closing the door behind her, gasped at the mess of papers on the floor and then her boyfriend sitting at his desk. She slowly moved over to him and looked closely at him.
"Ken-chan?" she asked hesitantly.
He wordlessly and expressionlessly turned his head to her.
"Ken, what is it? What's wrong?"
A small frown started to form on his brow and his eyes became watery, "The pressure Yolei, I can't take it anymore. It's too much, it's so close and so familiar."
Yolei narrowed her eyes trying to understand what he meant.
He looked directly into her eyes, "I don't want to fail Yolei, but I don't want to become him either."
She knelt down in front of him and took his hands in hers, "Ken, you don't have to become him in order to succeed, you can do that on your own! You have done for years now…and if it's too much for you…then maybe you should take a small break on it?"
He slowly nodded his head; "You're right Yolei."
She glanced at his shin and the soccer sock that was now blood stained, "I'll get a plaster for that and some antiseptic." She got up and moved to the bathroom.
"It's fine Yolei, really you don't need to…"
"Let her take care of you Ken-chan." Wormmon said while looking up at him.
He half smiled at the digimon before picking him up and hugging him, "Hey buddy."
Yolei stopped in the doorway of the room and rested her head on the frame to watch her lover and his digimon together. He turned to her and gave a smirk, "What is it?"
"Nothing," she said as she moved towards him and knelt down once again to dab the cotton wool soaked in antiseptic, on his cut. "I just enjoy watching you."
He gave her a warm smile but a sharp pain in his head tore it away and his hand flew to his temple to ease the pain.
"What is it?" Yolei and Wormmon chorused.
"It's nothing, I just have a headache. I think I need to lie down or something."
"I think that would be a good idea. You haven't been sleeping much since you started this program." Yolei commented.
Daemon stood in a dark, dank cave-like area, an area dimly lit with torches of fire on the walls, casting eerie shadows over his face as well as the three 'people' sitting in front of him. They sat arranged in much the same way a court is, with the older looking male with short black hair in the middle and on the highest seat. On his right was a slightly younger looking man with long black hair and on his other side was a fairly young woman with a long sheet of black hair. She smiled wickedly with her luscious red lips. They spoke as one, "Daemon, you have traveled far to reach us."
"I have and I have brought you an offering." Daemon presented his gift in his claw-like hand. And there in his palm was a small bottle of a glowing liquid substance.
"Mmm, power from the Sorceress' cupboard. It will do nicely. Now tell us what it is you are here to ask of us."
"I wish for revenge on Ken Ichijouji, the bearer of the Crest of Kindness…"
"And Cruelty." The woman added with a sly grin.
"Yes. I wish for him to suffer and then die. But he is protected by his Crest Guardian."
"As I understand it," the younger man started, "she is living in New York, far away from Ichijouji, what is to stop you from carrying out your wish?"
"She knows when he is in danger, she senses it and will be there to protect him. And not only that, but she is able to kill me so easily. Is there no way you can get rid of her powers…or Mae herself?"
They began to speak in union again; "There is a way. We strip the Crest Guardians powers, leaving her mortal and unable to protect Ichijouji. The problem is we only have the power to do so when she is in the Dark Ocean, and when we strip her powers, it will split not only her soul in two, but Kindness' as well. Meaning that the Sorceress and Emperor will become a separate entity. The other problem is not only do we have to get the Mae in the Dark Ocean, we must have Ichijouji there as well. We can do this while they sleep, but we must warn you Daemon, whatever plans for revenge you have, you must make them quick as you will only have a week, at the most, in order to carry them out."
"Thank you ever so much my lords." Daemon said with a small bow.
(Author's notes in story form, since we can't do script format anymore.)
Well that's the first chapter, and Ken is looking at me as if to ask, "Where is this going?" He knows I'm hatching an evil idea. Funny thing about this chapter is the timeline fits. It's taken me such a long time to get this story done for some reason, but I hope it is worth the wait.
Also, I want to add that the time difference between New York and Japan (Tokyo) are roughly correct. They are about 13 hours apart. No one will appreciate that except me, 'cause I sat working that out.
