Chapter One: Something is Coming
Kari stood in her family's apartment, hands behind her back, looking out the window, but not seeing the skyscrapers and buildings of Odaiba. Something is coming, she thought. But are we ready?
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Tai sprawled on his bed, eyes closed. The leader of the Digidestined was still fiery and proud, but he was tired, worn and battle-weary. He had been fighting for eight years, eight exhausting years. And now…another battle was coming.
Mina, a fellow Digidestined from India, had requested a face-to-face meeting with Tai, who was the Supreme Leader. He had agreed, as she had actually called (from India, no less!) and spoken to him. She had sounded panicked and there was an urgency in her voice that disturbed him.
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It had been four years since the defeat of Malomyotismon. Throughout the years, though, Digimon would break through the barrier Yukio Oikawa had imposed and wreak havoc in the real world. The Digidestined's services were still needed to send the Digimon back. Sometimes they were able to disable the Digimon and send them back without causing any real harm, but sometimes, they were forced to kill. The Digimon obviously had no qualms about killing.
Two months after that last bittersweet day in the Digiworld, the Digidestined had gone back, back to Oikawa's grave, to honor him.
There, they had formed the Order of the Digidestined. Tai was elected Supreme Leader, despite his vehement objections. It was a unanimous decision (even Matt, who disliked, even hated Tai, had agreed he was the best leader), so he had reluctantly acquiesced.
The Order had sworn that they would stand together and fall together. They swore they would dedicate themselves to keep the Digital World and the Real World safe, even if it meant losing their lives.
Tai, being the leader, underwent a magical ceremony, where he was bound to each and every Digidestined, a magical blood binding. Every Digidestined had lightly nicked their wrist, letting a single drop of blood fall in an ancient stone bowl, carved in the shape of a Digivice and infused with centuries of age-old magic. Then they allowed a single ray of light emanate from their Digivice into the bowl. When the light hit the stone, it turned into liquid, which mixed with the blood. Then they said, "With my blood and light I bind myself to you." When every single Digidestined had done this, Tai too let the blood and light fall, but he said, "With my blood and light, I bind all to me." He then picked up the bowl and drank it all. It wasn't much, only about a cup or so. Later he said, "It didn't taste like blood at all! It tasted…I don't know how to describe it…kinda wild…oh gods, I don't know! It's indescribable!" After that, he was able to sense the life force of all the Digidestined who had bound themselves to him. He would be able to tell the exact moment they died, and the reason why. Whenever new Digidestined joined the ranks, which was a rare enough occurrence, they too underwent the Binding, as the ceremony was referred to.
Over the next four years, the Order had grown strong, proficient in fighting and diplomatic skills, among others; many of them had to deal with the government and other people (especially the media) bothering them on a regular basis. Often, during Digimon attacks, the Digidestined fought hand-to-hand with the Digimon themselves. Izzy had set up a private message board on the Internet for the Digidestined, which could only be accessed with a complicated and long procedure, with several passwords. Still, it was a small price to pay to insure privacy. It was a way for the Digidestined to keep in touch, posting news and discussing Order business. Tai had made it a rule that every night the Digidestined had to check the message board for updates, no matter what. He recommended that you set up a schedule with your group (for example, in Odaiba, Tai would check at four, Sora at five, etc. and if someone could not log on, he/she could call someone and ask them to check. If anything came up, they were to alert the rest of the group, no matter what time it was. They could communicate using their Digivices, which would give a little electric shock to wake up its bearer). Also, Izzy, with Gennai's aid, had been able to find a way to "port" from place to place in the real world, using the Digivice. All you had to do was hold up your Digivice and say, "Port open" and the location of the place. In the Digital World, you had to hold up your Digivice and say "Digiport open" and the location of the place.
The Order met once a month in the Digital World and the members would discuss business, and after that, would have some fun. Then was the time that patrol schedules were handed out. Everyday, there would always be several teams of two or more Digidestined and their Digimon patrolling the Digital Worlds. Gennai had explained that all Digidestined spoke a form of Digicode, which was understood universally (though no one would be able to tell they were speaking Digicode), so that was the reason why the Digidestined and their Digimon could communicate without a problem.
Recently, attacks had escalated in frequency and in casualties. It was rare for a week to go by without an attack, and already five Digidestined and seven Digimon were dead. They had all been buried and honored in the Digiworld. It was alarming, since in the past four years, only four Digidestined and three Digimon had died in attacks (one Digidestined had died of an unrelated reason). [Author's Note: Just because a Digimon's partner dies, doesn't mean the Digimon dies and vice versa. The deceased Digimon/Digidestined's partner would just continue fighting, sometimes with a new partner, though the two would never share the same bond as the original partners.] And now Mina, who was known for her powers as a Seer, had called. Tai hoped she could shed some light on what was coming.
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Exactly fifteen minutes after they had hung up, Mina ported into the living room of Tai's apartment with her Digimon, Meramon. She was greeted by Lily Kamiya, Kari and Tai's cousin and fellow Digidestined. Though Lily had been born in Japan, she had been a Chinese Digidestined, since she had spent all her Digidestined years in China. Her relatives in Japan had not known about her status, and she in turn had been ignorant about Kari and Tai's adventures. It had been a shock to all three cousins when they had seen each other in the Digital World on the day of Oikawa's death.
Lily Kamiya was the only daughter of Akio Kamiya and Jia Chiang. Akio Kamiya was the brother of Tai and Kari's father, Susumu Kamiya. Jia was from China and had come to Japan to study at a university. There she met, fell in love with, and married Akio Kamiya. Akio had died shortly after Lily's birth, leaving Jia a widow with a young daughter to care for. Despite offers of help from her in-laws, she had decided that it would be best for her to move back to China, her homeland and raise Lily there, among her family. Lily had grown up speaking Chinese and Japanese, so she had no problem communicating with Kari and Tai. However, since she was a Digidestined, it didn't really matter a bit.
Jia and Lily had moved back to Japan a year after the defeat of Malomyotismon, so Lily could attend high school with Kari. Then, barely three months later, Susumu and Yuuko Kamiya were brutally murdered by the D'Reaper, which had somehow escaped a different universe and come to this one. Its one goal was to see the Digidestined fall.
Kari and Tai went to live with Jia and Lily. Tai became grim, though still hot-tempered; he became an absolute fanatic, throwing himself into Order business and obsessed with tracking down the D'Reaper. The latter of the two goals had never been accomplished. The D'Reaper had never reappeared. Even with help from honorary member of the Order Ryo Akiyama, a wandering, universe-jumping Digidestined who had, for a time, lived in the same dimension the D'Reaper was from and had helped defeat him, they had failed. Kari had become greatly withdrawn; seeing her parents' bloody remains had traumatized her greatly, and she rarely spoke, though she regularly participated in Order business, patrolling, reading the message board, and whatnot. She fell into the depths of depression, including a not-so-brief bout with cutting which had been brought to an end just last year, when Tai had come home early and found her in the bathroom with cuts on her arm and a knife in hand. He had immediately hauled her off to a doctor and therapist and personally monitored her until he was satisfied that she had broken her self of the habit. Still, she was painfully silent, though she did speak more than an American Digidestined called Taylor McCarlen.
"Hey Mina! Hey Meramon!" Lily greeted her fellow Digidestined cheerfully. "How've you guys been?"
Mina offered a strained smile. "I'm not sure I should say well. I've been feeling…disturbed. I just read the fires."
Meramon did not smile at all. Her grim silence told Lily all she needed to know.
Lily's smile disappeared. "Oh dear…well, Tai's in his room, you go right in." She pointed at a door and turned, then paused. "Afterwards, you and Meramon will stay, have some tea and maybe a snack?"
Mina smiled, a real smile. "Sure."
She walked to Tai's room and knocked. A curt "Enter" prompted her to open the door. Tai was looking out the window, hands clasped behind his back. Agumon sat on a cushion on the floor. "Mina. Meramon. Hello." Agumon gave them a slight wave.
Mina performed the formal bow the Digidestined used to greet each other: she inclined her head, her fist over her heart. Meramon copied her. "Greetings Tai, Agumon."
He turned and sighed. "Drop the formalities, please, Mina, Meramon. We're comrades fighting the same war…though I am the leader, I don't expect that crap." He sighed again. "Take a seat." He indicated a cushion on the floor. "I'm sorry it's not more comfortable…"
She hastened to assure him, "It's fine," as she sat, Meramon kneeling beside her. Tai nodded at her and plopped onto a cushion opposite her, by Agumon. "You wanted to see me?"
She paused. "Yes." She sat as if in a trance for a few moments, her elbows propped on her knees, her hands clasped beneath her chin. "Before I called you…I read the fires."
Mina was a priestess at the Temple of Quinglong in the Himalayan Mountains, the Holder of the Talisman of Fire. She was able to control fire, hence her title, the Holder of the Talisman of Fire. She was also able to see visions in fire.
Tai watched her, waiting. "And?"
"I—I felt…a disturbance. Something was terribly wrong. But I could not sense it!" Mina looked distressed and wrung her hands. Meramon placed a calming hand on her shoulders. "Everything was all mixed up. Chaos. Utter chaos. I saw darkness and a multitude of confusing images, sounds, colors! But I could not understand…I could discern nothing. Nothing. All I know is that something is coming…something evil…and nothing can stop it."
There was silence. Finally, Mina ventured a question. "What do you think?"
Tai's face was blank, emotionless. "Like you said. Something evil is coming."
"But what can we do?"
Tai rose and went to the window, placing his hands on the sill. In the fading light, his face looked haggard and worn. "We must brace ourselves. Prepare for the worst."
"And then?"
"Hope for the best."
Author's Notes:
Inspired and based off Teenager Kari's "Return of the Dark Ocean." Special thanks to BoarderKC and Lord Archive for allowing me to use their characters and for their invaluable help and criticisms! Also lots of thanks to my beta reader Jennafer Klingbile and Belldandy! Go her!!
Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. However, I own Lily Kamiya, her parents, the Order, the fact that Mina is a seer, and of course, this story. Taylor McCarlen belongs to BoarderKC. Mina's title (Holder of the Talisman of Fire) and location (Temple of Quinglong in the Himalayan Mountains) belongs to Lord Archive.
I'm working on the assumption that Tai was eleven and Kari was eight in the first season in 1999 and that he was fifteen and she was twelve in the second season in 2003. Everyone else's ages figure from there. Lily is the same age as Kari.
Yes, I believe Susumu Kamiya is Tai's father's real name, according to this website:
I've decided that Oikawa's death placed a (rather ineffective) barrier between the Digital World and the real world and it would prevent Digimon from "bio-emerging," though Digidestined could still port in between the two worlds.
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