Important Author's Note: Greetings everyone, I come before you with a special short story featuring a crossover between my Digital Human series, specifically Digital/Extra, and Fate/VRAINS, another great story with Hakuno Kishinami. Be forewarned, this short story contains MASSIVE SPOILERS for both Digital/Extra and Fate/VRAINS, and there will be three chapters in total.
It is highly recommended you read both stories before continuing on, as there is much information taken from both continuities.
THIS STORY FEATURES SOME LONG CHAPTERS! So grab a drink, a snack, and enjoy!
Enjoy the collab everyone! Know not all stories are spoken in a single path, as a tree that branches mighty and far can at one point touch the branch of another equally great tree.
Digital/VRAINs
Part 1 of 5
"Who says there's no such thing as monsters?"
"This is the third day in a row in which widespread reports of Network crashes across the globe continue, affecting many systems and forcing operators to make a full restart. Even the popular LINK VRAINS has trouble in many areas. Despite SOL Technologies' reassurances, many people are scared that some anonymous hacker group is testing the waters with newfound technology." A woman spoke on the news broadcast.
Sixteen-year-old Hakuno K. Zaizen wasn't paying attention to the screen, her eyes instead overlooking Den City from an elevated bridge over a street while she waited for her sister, Aoi Zaizen, to get a drink from a dispenser nearby. It had been four days since Hakuno Zaizen had defeated Julius, an old Master from the Moon Cell Holy Grail War that had mysteriously come back to haunt her, dueling both her and Aoi in a duel death match within LINK VRAINS. His appearance had and still did, confuse her, as well as the words he said.
His memories of events within the Moon Cell were different than that which Hakuno herself remembered. Not to mention the appearance of a Sakura look alike.
It was a topic she would think about later, and unable to re-enter LINK VRAINS, both Hakuno and Aoi were instead trying to catch up with sightseeing around Den City. Not that they could enter back into the Virtual Reality anyway, as these recent incursions of network issues shook the cyberspace environment enough whereby it required long maintenance.
Much to Aoi's disgruntlement.
Still, the younger Zaizen couldn't help but feel like something was up.
["You are tense,"] The voice of her Servant, Archer, echoed from the prototype Duel-Disk attached to her arm, which glimmered in the dusk sunlight. ["Try to relax, you'll only hurt yourself remaining like this."]
"I know," She replied. "But…"
Her worries were justified, there was an ominous dense mist that covered a large portion of the city, getting to Den Academy this morning had been a hassle, but that wasn't the real point of her concern.
"Stupid machine!" The familiar voice of her sister screamed in frustration.
Curious, Hakuno Zaizen walked towards to where Aoi was at, her eyebrow arched in confusion as her slightly older sibling proceeded to give up interacting with the digital panel and proceed to instead kick the drink dispenser as to make it work.
"Aoi-nee..." Hakuno trailed off, a slight smile shined on her face at Aoi's antics before she reached out with a hand to get her attention.
But, her eyes spotted something curious.
Aoi stopped kicking all the sudden, having noticed the same oddity, she took a step back from the dispenser. "Haku-nee, I think I broke it!" She said in mild astonishment.
Hakuno Zaizen narrowed her eyes at the interactive panel, it wasn't so much as Aoi broke it than it was going completely on the fritz. A series of data strings, ones, and zeros were flying through the screen in an erratic display of no particular order, but instead a chaotic jumble. She heard the audio of beeps join it soon after, a sound of static, and the dispenser lights flashing in and out like the power was being shut off and turned back on again and again.
She glanced to the side, looked through the fog to spot the street lights which also repeated the same gestures, their bulbs flashing repeatedly with no particular rhythm. Her eyes trailed down to Aoi's Duel Disk, which was going through the same mysterious outbreak the drink dispensers' own data panel was.
Out of concern, the youngest Zaizen sister checked her own Duel Disk, but unlike Aoi's, it remained functioning perfectly…
Despite every other digital and electronic appliance in the surrounding area going haywire.
"What's going on?" Aoi questioned as she too had been glancing around, the obvious insanity that was affecting all human-programmed devices making her wary.
"Grr…'
The Zaizen sisters looked towards the direction of the noise, which came from the drink dispenser.
"Did it just growl at us!?" Aoi exclaimed.
Hakuno Zaizen noticed a shadow overcast on the dispenser and looked up, there in the fog which began to clear a bit, the shape of a large creature took form, but before she could examine it further-
["Look out!"] Archer's voice rang out and Hakuno instantly grabbed Aoi by the arm and pulled her back, a large foot covered in crimson red fur smashed down on the dispenser, crushing it instantly with little effort. Aoi and Hakuno fell to the ground, staggered from the physical force, but the latter girl recovered quickly and stood up, reaching to draw a card before realizing…
She's not in LINK VRAINS.
This was all in the real world.
"Get up Aoi-nee, we need to run," She said to her sibling.
"I figured as much!" It appeared that Aoi had tried to use her Duel Disk as well, but like the younger sister, it was a fruitless effort.
Hakuno helped her sibling up, her eyes glanced upward, the mist had cleared away somewhat and revealed many more features of the rogue creature. It was massive, easily many meters taller than any Servant she'd ever seen, including Rani VII's Berserker. It's took the appearance of a ape-like animal, more akin to a mythological wendigo, it stood on two feet with a muscular frame, covered in dark brown fur with the exception of certain areas, like its hand, feet, elbows, and face, which all held a blood red hue.
It's face… It frightened her, an enlarged lips spread in some sort of sickening smile, with teeth shown, yet the emotion was more enraged than joyful. The two eyes were big, with little remorse, it almost seemed in pain somehow. On top of its head was a bone white mask, like that of a skull helmet with three yellow protruding spikes.
Oddly, in sharp contrast, there were bandages wrapped around the left wrist.
"Destroy…. Destroy!" It spoke in a lower tone before outright roaring the words.
"Yeah well go somewhere else to do it!" Aoi exclaimed back in reply as she stood up. "Let's book it, Haku-nee!"
The Zaizen sisters tried to make a break towards the other side of the bridge, which hung over a street that was strangely absent of movinges vehicles. Hakuno didn't wish to take her eye off the opponent, or whatever the monster truly was, as it held a likeness similar to yet different from any Duel Monster.
With the exception of her Moon Cell archetype deck.
Unfortunately, it didn't seem kind enough to give them much of a chance, and moved with speed unnatural to any living creature, leaping with great strength and landing harshly in front of their exit, the ground below it cracking apart as the structure shook. The wendigo turned slowly, face sporting that same glee from before, yet eyes betraying a desperation, a contrast in expression that unsettled the sisters' stomachs.
"A-Archer?" Hakuno Zaizen spoke with a plea of help.
"Move!" Aoi grabbed her by the arm, the girl heaved with all her might and managed to pull both Hakuno and herself out of the striking range of an arm that came down, skidding across the ground. The arm's sheer size, combined with the power behind it, created a line of craters from the impact, splittering fragments and scattering them.
Hakuno Zaizen felt a sharp sensation, her arm reached out and fingers touched a warm liquid right below her cheek, waving it over to where she could see…
She was bleeding.
This was no simulation.
Her heartbeat quickened, breath hastened, and she pushed herself upright, grabbing Aoi's hand and helping her up. They needed a better place, somewhere with more cover, this open bridge would spell their deaths if they remained here.
"Destroy!"
"Pepper Breath!"
A small fireball shot right past both Hakuno and Aoi Zaizen, blasting apart when it hit the wendigo monster, creating a sudden implosion of smoke and soot.
"Hakuno?" A male voice spoke and the girls looked up to see a tanned skin boy, around their age, wearing a white buttoned shirt with long sleeves under an open green blazer jacket, along with a pair of gray pants and white sneakers. His brown hair spiked up in numerous angles, not too dissimilar yet still more tame than other hairstyles that Hakuno had seen before. He seemed to do a double check when examining her in particular, looking briefly before his eyes widened in some sort of realization.
"Sorry, I mistook you for someone I know," He said as if he'd thought of something that changed his mind of the earlier word. "You both should get out of here while you can, it's dangerous."
"Ready when you are, Tai," It was then both girls looked to the side to spot a smaller Duel Monster-like being beside the boy.
It had spoken in a sentence.
Not surprising to her anymore.
Hakuno Zaizen focused her sight on the creature, it stood half the height of the stranger now identified as Tai and looked like an orange theropod dinosaur. Against the much larger, wendigo monster, there didn't seem like much of a chance it could last any longer. Still, Tai and the creature had helped both her and Aoi.
"Willis…" The larger monster trailed off with a deep voice.
"Don't know who you're after," Tai spoke. "But I can't let you rampage around! Agumon, let's send this guy back to the Digital World!" He pulled out some sort of gray device, small and rectangular in shape, but Hakuno couldn't further examine it with all the mist around.
A green light emitted from the device which functioned normally in spite of all other nearby electronics freaking out.
She took notice that when it glowed, the nearby street lights completely shut off.
"Koko Crusher!" Suddenly, a shockwave fired out of the wendigo, blasting apart the groundwork of the bridge, bending metal, and shaking its foundations. Aoi, her sister, placed her body in front of Hakuno as to protect her.
An explosion racked the area.
Hakuno Zaizen coughed as to rid of the dust trying to enter her lungs, with both mist and smoke, it was incredibly difficult to see anything occurring around her. Aoi kept a tight grip around her in an embrace, and Hakuno sighed in relief that her sister remained unharmed. Her eyes trailed upward, the smoke clearing away to revealed the gigantic form of large dinosaur with very sharp teeth and a brown bone helm on top its head… Yet, it remained between them and the wendigo, its body's position clearly indicating it had protected them from the blunt of the shockwave.
"Close one, Greymon," Tai spoke as he rushed towards them. "Haku- You both alright?" He had stopped himself from speaking her name.
How did he know her? Did the original Hakuno Zaizen know this boy?
"I'm alright, do you know Haku-nee?" Aoi questioned.
"No," He shook his head in reply. "Just someone that looks very much like her… You know, like how every person has a twin that looks like them out there," It was an excuse, or at least, Hakuno presumed it was.
"Ah, right," Aoi seemed just as doubtful.
"Still, you should get out of here while you can," He said as he stood up, walking to beside the dinosaur's, now named Greymon, side. "Go get him," Tai spoke up to Greymon.
"Grraaagh!" Greymon roared and charged forward, the wendigo remained motionless for a moment before its arms raised to catch Greymon's tackling form. It was a collision of giants, as Greymon's opponent didn't expect the strength behind the dinosaur's muscles and found itself pushed back to the side of the bridge which crumbled and cracked further.
Hakuno's sight went down towards the bridge, noticing a climbing number of splintering cracks that spread further… And further…
"We need to get off this bridge!" Hakuno shouted, "It's going to collapse!"
Aoi stood up immediately but winced as she stumbled off her right leg, it had been twisted from the earlier evasion of the wendigo's attack. Tai rushed up to her, grabbed Aoi over the arm, and looked towards Hakuno.
"Run!" He shouted as he used his strength to help Aoi move quickly, his body didn't seem to unused to the prospect, he had ample experience in physical conditioning.
"Nova Blast!" A large fireball erupted from Greymon mouth, but the wendigo slammed it's fist in an uppercut, directing the sphere of flame away and hitting a nearby building's rooftop, which completely blasted it apart into particles.
Particles.
Then, the bridge collapsed, just as the three of them left it, causing both Greymon and the wendigo to fall down, rubble falling inward and piling on top the two monsters. Tai took a sharp turn and began to rush down the nearest stairway towards the rubble, concern plastered on his face for what Hakuno Zaizen presumed was for Greymon, considering his earlier, friendly conversation with the dinosaur.
In fact, the interaction was more akin to something else, not a comradeship of allies, but something more similar to between her and Archer, a partnership.
Something stirred in the rubble, Hakuno wished it was Greymon, but instead the wendigo stood out of it, without much of a scratch on it. Tai halted his movements, his attention focused on the rubble still, likely hoping for his partner to recover from the damage dealt by the falling bridge and whatever attacks the wendigo had dealt earlier, including the shockwave which had struck him when Greymon defended them.
"Stand up, Greymon! We've been through worse than this bud!" Tai shouted words of encouragement.
"Go back…" The wendigo spoke in a deep tone towards the boy.
"Go back? Go back where?" He questioned as he took not a step back, but a step forward, his gaze fearless in face of the monster that could effortlessly squash him.
"Go back!" It suddenly charged at him with an outstretched hand, seeking to grasp him.
"Hey," Tai said. "Check your footing."
In response, the rubble shook and Greymon erupted outward with a roar, his arm smashing into the chest of the wendigo and staggering it back, too stunned to move due to the dinosaur's attack, Greymon reeled his head back, white embers sparked from the gaps in his jaws, before he unleashed it.
"Nova Flame!" A stream of pure, white flame rushed out, it seemed like it would envelop and destroy the wendigo once and more all.
But…
Something happened…
Hakuno Zaizen felt cold.
All around, Hakuno and Aoi Zaizen took notice of a peculiar phenomenon, tangible, visible air currents… Or something akin to them, flowed around in the mist, pushing it all around and circling the battlefield with the wendigo, Greymon, Tai… And them as well.
"Haku-nee, you're fading away!" Aoi cried out.
Hakuno Zaizen turned to her but noticed Aoi was also fading away as if being erased from existence. She knew that Aoi's concern was for her, but her heart gripped with fear for the sibling she had grown attached to. There wasn't much she could do, or at least, think of anything that could be done. She turned her attention briefly to Tai, Greymon, and the wendigo, they were also fading away.
Her thoughts and emotions froze in an instant.
And they were all gone.
The mist cleared away, revealing the decimated state of a destroyed bridge, cracked road, and the complete absence of three humans and two monsters… The electronic and digital appliances all resumed their normal configurations and settings like nothing had ever happened…
Thirteen-year-old Hakuno Kishinami pressed a hand against the sliding doorway out of the Private Room. The Digital Human was dressed in her typical attire, the brown long-sleeved overlay school uniform of Tsukumihara Academy, a blue ribbon tied just below her neckline with a string tied into a locket that contained the golden-hued Crest of Miracles, forming a rudimentary necklace. Hakuno tapped her dark tan shoes against the flooring, blank pantyhose covering her legs.
She wanted to figure out what happened to her Servant, Archer, but dreaded learning if he was truly dead at the same time. It has only been two days since the red-garbed Heroic Spirit vanished, the Command Seals tied to him, two of the remaining seven, going inactive; each reminder of his empty presence only served to strike her heart like hot iron to an anvil.
She breathed.
The Digital World was a massive place, while the magus girl hadn't figured out whether or not its size was equal to the Real World, it seemed more likely with every exploration. She didn't know where to begin, and the Digidestined had been oddly quiet to her the past two days, so she was out of the loop of any events occurring around them.
A gentle hand placed on her shoulder, Hakuno glanced to the side to spot one of her other Servants, Caster, Tamamo-no-mae.
The shrine priestess gave her a foxy grin that in return lightened Hakuno's mood with its silly smile.
"Caster," Hakuno spoke.
"I see you want to go explore outside, my dear husband! But aren't you injured?" Caster exclaimed, her fox ears twitched but her vulpine tail waved lazily behind the Heroic Spirit, it's bright orange furs matched well with her cherry blossom colored hair and royal blue shrine clothing.
"I'm fine," She replied.
But Hakuno was physically injured, the gashing wound bandaged around her abdomen had only so much time to heal since last time she ventured outside the safety of the Private Room, which was a large temple built in the middle of a bamboo forest, yet having a traditional Japanese home interior design.
Luckily, since her body was that of a Digital Human, she didn't have the same recovery time as an average human, which meant she healed much faster… Well, it was also thanks to the Digidestined and Caster than she was healing so well.
Still, Daemon had been terrifying… Hopefully, Archer's attack had defeated him…
Again, back to Archer, every time she let loose a thought concerning him, it felt like her chest sunk to the bottom of the ocean.
"Umu! Caster, Praetor needs some time outside this place," Another female voice chimed in.
Hakuno looked towards the second Servant, "Saber?"
Saber, Nero Claudius, dressed in her beautifully streamed red dress laced with golden lines, her blond hair matching perfectly with the shoulder pads on each side, nodded in acknowledgement.
"One cannot find themselves if stuck in this lone abold, it is time you ventured off to reacquire the artistic drive I know you have!" Saber exclaimed, waving her hand into the air like an actor, "After all, we cannot have our legendary plays without you at your best! Next time, the masses shall sing our praises, in fact, I can think of a song to sing!"
"No, that's fine, you don't need to sing…" Hakuno quickly said. "Nothing in the Digital World is worthy of your singing voice yet."
It was more in the case nothing would survive Saber's singing voice.
"I agree!" Caster added on. "She's completely correct! Nothing is worthy of it!" Tamamo had caught on quickly to what Hakuno was meaning to imply.
"Umu! Very well! Then we shall have to wait on that!" Saber said happily.
Hakuno relaxed, "Saber, you won't mind if I take Caster to explore, do you?"
"I do mind!" Saber retorted with obvious displeasure. "Your attention should be focused entirely on me, but since you insisted on us getting along... I shall restrain myself and allow the fox her brief and short time with you, Praetor."
"B-brief and short!?" Caster took it as an insult.
"We'll be back soon, Saber, make sure the base is protected," Hakuno said to the Heroic Spirit of the Sword.
"None shall dare raid the base of the Emperor!" Saber shouted with pride.
The door slid up with a small thud, revealing the outside environment that was the tall-standing bamboo forest, an artificial creation by the Digital World of its real counterpart. At least, that's what Hakuno Kishinami assumed it was. It was hard, at times, to describe the Digital World's peculiarities when all she had to fall back on as an example would be the Moon Cell's own artificial environments created through its many Reality Marbles by SERAPH.
She took out her Portable Terminal, examining the device she's had since the Moon Cell Holy Grail War, going through its applications she checked the current equipped Formal Wear: Phoenix Scarf and Protection Charm.
The Phoenix Scarf gave her the digital magecraft, Code Cast, ability to heal her Servant's injuries proved itself time and time again, and without the Items of the Holy Grail War, it served as Hakuno's only means to restore them in the midst of combat. The Protection Charm, on the other hand, while the Code Cast to enhance Caster's defenses would be nice, in hindsight, it wouldn't matter much considering the fox Servant's physical endurance.
Hakuno switched it the Protection Charm for Silver Earrings, a different Formal Wear that would instead give her the Code Cast to increase Caster's magical potency further.
Now, where will she start exploring?
"The Digidestined did mention that there are towns and cities in the Digital World," Caster began. "We should go check them out!"
That was a good idea, and Hakuno was mildly fascinated with how civilization was in the Digital World, the problem lies in which direction to start off with. However, she was hesitant about the idea of interacting with wild digimon, despite the Digidestined speaking otherwise, there had yet been an occasion of a digimon outside their partners that hadn't attacked her.
However, Caster should be able to deal with most wild digimon. Koushiro mentioned that Ultimate-level digital monsters were a rarity compared to those below that stage.
Hakuno glanced back at the Portable Terminal, deciding to just pick a region and try her luck. The surrounding regions were all 'Red', indicating areas she unwittingly controlled.
"We'll head here," Hakuno picked one and put away the Portable Terminal.
The first thing Aoi Zaizen did upon awakening is groan from a splintering headache she had, her yellow eyes taking in the sight of a strange, wooden roof above her. Aoi quickly stood upright after realizing that this wasn't her room, her home, or even the hospital. She glanced around, examining the surroundings, the architecture was completely out of place for Den City, much too old, even ancient, or just very traditionalist.
It was constructed entirely out of wood, the interior design reminiscent of Edo Period Japan shown in history books back at the Academy, the futon that she sat in, however, was far more modern in design. There were a set of windows and Aoi stood up to examine the outside through it, brushing away a strand of her brown hair as she looked outside, she blinked three times in succession.
At first, Aoi believed she was dreaming and pinched herself, but apparently, that wasn't the case, or it's a very lucid dream, hopefully, the latter.
"You're awake!"
A childish tone snapped Aoi around to its origin, her eyes darting towards the source only to arch an eyebrow at the white rabbit-like appearance of a small creature, no taller than her knee, painted with bright yellow symbols of crescent moons across its main body but its two… Four… Ears had blue markings.
"Yes, I am?" Aoi didn't know what to say, she wasn't in her LINK VRAINS Avatar… At least, not entirely?
Her clothing was nearly identical to her Avatar's, the elaborate design of the blue and white shirt and frilly dress, a choker around her neck, finally royal blue long socks going into boots… But that's where the similarities took an absent turn, the angelic wings were absent, and the feather adornments of the outfit were missing. Not to mention, while the clothing bore resemblance to her Avatar, the body, and facial adjustments were completely the same as her actual self.
She was Aoi Zaizen in the clothing of Blue Angel, but without the angelic features.
It didn't take her long to realize this little talking animal had the same color scheme as Blue Angel.
"Glad to know you are okay, Aoi! I thought I'll have to splash water on you later! Ice cold at that!" The rabbit-like creature spoke.
Aoi opened her mouth, then closed it, blinked, and took a few seconds to recollect her thoughts. "You know my name?" It had spoken to her with her real name, not the identity of her LINK VRAINS Avatar, Blue Angel, so that means it wasn't restricted the privacy protection laws of SOL Technologies.
"Of course I do. I've been with you since you obtained your latest Duel Disk! I'm your AI! Though I guess it's Lunamon now?" Lunamon spoke with a confused expression when calling itself that.
"You're my AI?" She pointed at Lunamon. "That means we're on the network!"
"I think so? But I've never been outside your Duel Disk, or ever have the form of a digimon!" Lunamon said then blinked at its own words. "Digimon…? I have additional knowledge in my databanks… Or is that head?"
Aoi at least knew now that Lunamon was tied to her Duel Disk, so the digimon, whatever that is, was the altered shape of something she brought with her everywhere, in and out of LINK VRAINS. Speaking of which, she glanced down and examined the electronic device tied around her wrist, and found it functioning… Somewhat…
The Duel Disk seemed to display symbols that it had never done before, but it did still retain its primary functions. Also, since the AI was…
A dawning moment reared its ugly head in her thoughts.
"Lunamon, where's Haku-nee?" Aoi asked.
"Don't know," Lunamon replied casually. "When we arrived here I helped bring you to the town, this building was empty since nobody lived here."
"Town... I'll ask around then!" She exclaimed with a determined expression.
"Sure, but I didn't see any other humans," The digimon replied.
"Wait, everyone around here are AI too? Or is it just a ghost town?"
Lunamon raised an appendage at the window, "Look for yourself, Aoi."
Aoi Zaizen turned around back towards the window, her eyes adjusting to the sunlight gleaming through before understanding what Lunamon meant to imply. There were others, but not humans, but a mismatch of what appeared to be Duel Monsters interacting in ways unlike them. They weren't any type of Duel Monster she had seen before, and there were multiples of the same type, as in dozens of them.
Also, like the interior design of the building Aoi was currently in, the rest of the town outside were also fashioned after ancient Japan's design, like something about of a movie.
A very cheesy movie.
This only made her a bit agitated.
She tried tapping at the Duel Disk, but it didn't respond to logging her out, fortunately, it did say that Emiya, her sister's Avatar name, was online. So that was a little bit of comfort if only her brother could solve this mess, but for now, she'd best play the overprotective older sister!
Even if Hakuno was only older by a few days.
That means actually finding Hakuno in the first place.
Lunamon spoke up, "Where you go, I will follow, Aoi! So point the way and let's have some fun!"
Aoi took note that her AI companion was much more lively than it ever was before.
"Alright then!" Aoi exclaimed to encourage herself, "Then let's go find Haku-nee!" She finished, walked towards the doorway and opened it wide.
Hakuno Kishinami stared blankly at the town before her, a reminiscent piece of civilization within the Digital World taking heavily inspiration or reference to ancient Japan. In the center, she could spot the foreboding image of a half-destroyed Control Spire, likely snapped in two by the nearby digimon residents after the Digimon Emperor's defeat and consequential release of all the enslaved digital monsters which led to its destruction. Still, it was actually quite a refreshing sight, as it reminded her of Caster's dream cycle, though not entirely.
"Now this is nostalgic!" The Servant in question, Caster, spoke up in her ever-so-bubbly personality. "If they have this type of appeal, then I'm sure they'll get along with Tamamo just as nicely! Have no fear, my lovely, adorable husband. They probably worship me here!"
The magus girl doubted that last part, but they didn't seem hostile so it should be safe to enter the town without any trouble. If, and if, someone did attack, Caster would be able to defeat them.
Caster grabbed Hakuno by the hand, escorting the young teenager down the hilltop and to the base of the town entrance, which was wide open. There weren't any walls, one could enter the town at any angle, the shopping district should be placed in its dead center, just under the vast Japanese castle created from wood and stone.
Hakuno felt anxious, there were so many digimon, most appeared to be that of the Rookie-level, but on occasion, there were some that she couldn't identify… Not without consorting to the Digimon Analyzer application on her Portable Terminal. The Digital Human stuck close to Caster's side, a sense of comfort and safeness washed over her as she walked by the Servant, it was a feeling that coursed through Hakuno every time she remained next to one of her Heroic Spirits.
"See, Master?" Caster waved a hand over the crowd. "Nothing to be concerned of! They know how amazing we are!" She finished. There were a number of glances towards both of them by the locals, most of them were directed towards the shrine priestess herself, but a few eyed Hakuno Kishinami herself.
Tamamo pulled out a folded piece of paper as they approached the center, the marketplace was decently sized, but it didn't match the large area of the district she explored back in the Real World with the Digidestined. It was, however, quaint and held a relaxed atmosphere compared to the booming business she experienced back there. Hakuno glanced towards her Servant, the piece of paper was something she recognized Archer gave Caster right before they journeyed to the Digimon Emperor's old base.
Her heart sunk with sorrow.
She closed her eyes and took a long deep breath, recollecting herself and reigning in the intense emotions.
A hand gently rubbed against Hakuno's back, it was Caster, likely having noticed her sudden shift in emotion. The foxy Servant kept a bright, cheery smile on her face, but didn't say a single word… It helped immensely.
"Ready to do some shopping? Let's check to see if all that Moon Cell generated currency actually has a use for once! If it does! Then we can look for some new clothes for you!" Caster exclaimed with an excited tone, nearly jumping in place as her ears twitched with joy.
Oh goodness, if Caster brings her clothing shopping, it'll be like Saber all over again.
Except, this time, no Digidestined to stop her.
They will be here for hours.
"Let's only look at the list first," Hakuno said, trying to keep a goal in mind so to distract Caster from bringing her Master to her inevitable demise at vulpine hands by constant dress up.
"I was going to do that anyway!" Caster replied as she opened the list.
It was a grocery list.
That wasn't surprising at the least.
A sudden feminine voice cried out, "Haku-nee! You're safe!"
Since it started out with her name, Hakuno Kishinami glanced towards the direction of the voice out of a response reflex. There was a girl there, rushing towards her at a brisk pace while avoiding any collisions with the digimon that moved around.
She looked very, very familiar for some reason.
Hakuno Kishinami focused her sight on the human girl, who was clearly not any of the Digidestined, though her age-matched with the older crew, for starters, her clothing was unlike any design she'd seen before… Outside of perhaps a combination of the Master Alice and the Cu' Chulainn, Rin's Servant… Well, actually, that wasn't the best way to describe it. Hakuno didn't have any idea on how to best explain it.
She shook her head, there was also a white rabbit-like digimon following the girl close behind, which might indicate she was connected loosely to the Digidestined… But there wasn't any Digivice Hakuno could recognize on the girl's person, however, while the older girl's clothing was unique, the fascination Hakuno could with her lies in her actual appearance.
The girl was fair-skinned, her hair was a light brown hue made into a bob-cut, and her irises were yellow, her facial structure reminded Hakuno of nobody else… But herself.
What…?
But before Hakuno could think further, the stranger was already upon her, enveloping her in a tight hug.
"O-Ow!" Hakuno reacted in an instant as her injury bit with a mild pain.
Caster stepped in immediately and pushed the girl off, placing herself between Hakuno and the newcomer. "H-hey! Back off! Hugs are strictly for me, and I guess a certain barbarian, only! Also, my lovable, adorable, ever-so-fantastical husband is injured! So no touching!"
"What you mean!?" The girl struck back with a passion Hakuno didn't expect, but it wasn't one like Caster or Saber, but something else she couldn't really pinpoint. "I can hug my sister- Wait, she's hurt? Haku-nee, you're hurt!?" She switched the subject really quickly too.
Wait… Sister?
She didn't have a sister.
Did she?
Well, she didn't really look into the original Hakuno Kishinami's history, but her counterpart had been cryogenically frozen for twenty years due to that genetic disease, so even if she had a sister… Well, that sister would be much older, not to mention, possibly dead from the war.
It would explain why this girl had a facial structure reminiscent of her own, there was also the fact that perhaps this world's version of Hakuno Kishinami had a sibling, which also implied that this world had a Hakuno as well.
But… That didn't make sense… Koushiro had looked into her and found absolutely nothing… So Hakuno Kishinami couldn't exist.
"Um… Haku-nee…?" The girl looked at her in confusion. "Earth to Haku-nee!"
"Oh sheesh, she's in her deep thought train," Caster's voice came through.
"Huh?" Hakuno said absently, then shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I think you have the wrong person," It was the most likely answer. "I'm Hakuno, Hakuno Kishinami."
"No, I have the right person, but you're using our old family name," The girl replied. "It's me, your older sister by a few days, Aoi!" She boasted it proudly, but her expression changed radically in an instant to that of concern. "You… You don't have amnesia again do you?"
It was then that Aoi took a step back to examine her.
Caster's ears twitched in agitation, she looked at her Master, "Dear? Who is this presumptuous character that dares try to use the sibling route to enter your heart!?"
Hakuno sighed, leave it to Caster to say something ridiculous.
Aoi then pointed at the magus girl's entire frame accusingly, "You're younger! I almost didn't notice at first! You're like… Way younger! What happened? Did that wendigo do some sort of Avatar alteration that changed your age?"
Wendigo…?
She didn't know what Aoi was talking about, but she did recognize the term of Avatar, it implied cyberspace, not the Digital World, but a much different area.
A Lunar Chimeric Sea flashed in her mind.
"Aoi…? Aoi what?" Hakuno pried for more answers, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"Aoi Zaizen," The girl replied, she opened her mouth to say more, but the words were caught in her thought as her eyes widened when looking at Hakuno Kishinami.
She was stuck, Aoi Zaizen had been frozen on that spot in a single instant, the girl in front of her, Hakuno Kishinami, had an expression, unlike anything she'd seen before. It was intense, unregulated, potent, a sheer look that seemed to bash against the forefront of her thoughts with its raw display. In the back of Aoi's mind, it reminded her of the time Hakuno awoke in the hospital, but even if it had similarities, there was a difference.
In those eyes, lit an array of stars, bright and burning, an unwavering determination in the face of…
It ended.
"You're… You're not my sister are you?" Aoi spoke out.
"I'm Hakuno Kishinami," The magus girl replied.
"You look exactly like my sister, down to the exact same appearance, even the name, aside from the clothing," She pointed downward at the odd brown school uniform adorning Hakuno Kishinami's body. "But… You're different…" Aoi said, unable to explain further.
"What's your sister's name?" Hakuno asked.
"Hakuno Zaizen," It was an odd question.
"Alright, that's enough!" Caster broke the atmosphere in an instant. "Too much intensity going on! As much as I enjoyed seeing your eyes, my dear husband, you're scaring this girl half to death! I doubt she's from there!"
Hakuno's eyes softened, "I'm sorry… I…" She shifted. "I'm just cautious."
She didn't mean to be hostile, just with the loss of Archer, her injury, combined with the recent imagery of the Moon Cell Holy Grail War had put her on edge.
Aoi released a breath in relief, "Well… Now you're much more like Haku-nee now."
Caster clapped her hands together, "How about we ease up? My dear needs to relax more, so let's go to this nice noodle restaurant we passed by on the way here!"
Hakuno Kishinami nodded, "That sounds nice," She said with a smile.
"But… Um…" Aoi seemed confused again. "Alright I'll follow along, I don't really know what's going on, Haku-nee-" She stopped herself. "I mean, Hakuno…"
"I'll come to," The white-rabbit replied. "I'm Lunamon, Aoi's partner."
"Pleased to meet you," Hakuno replied.
"Great!" Caster exclaimed joyfully. "This way, Master, and husband lookalike!"
"Husband look alike…?" Aoi trailed off.
"Master?" Lunamon echoed similar thoughts, though it was directed as Caster use of the term towards Kishinami.
"Follow Caster or else she'll force us otherwise," Hakuno responded as she walked after the Servant. It wasn't a threat, Caster would indeed persuade them, but not with curses, but a far deadlier weapon.
Fluffiness.
Those fox traits were dangerous tools of mass destruction.
Fortunately, Aoi and Lunamon took Hakuno's warning with stride, she guessed… The older girl and digimon walked just behind Hakuno and Caster, the former could feel Aoi's eyes on her as they approached the restaurant which aroma in the air from it left it incredibly tempting. As they entered the building, the interior design had shifted to a more Chinese setting, with elaborate gold and red colors painted along its walls.
Saber would probably like it here, but the Servant was still back in the Private Room.
Hakuno walled up to this eggshell digital monsters, "Excuse me," She said.
"What you want? You customers?" It replied with a tone that implied a little rudeness, but Hakuno ignored it.
"Do you accept this currency?" Hakuno pulled out her Portable Terminal and viewed the PPT finances she had on hand, then displayed it to the digimon.
"Mhm…" He looked at it through the eyes in the black void of the lone hole within his shell. "Let me ring it up on my register… Alright, tap your device on it." He pushed forward a flat white block that had a wire attached to the register.
Hakuno tapped the Portable Terminal against it, there was a small beep.
"Yeah, it accepts it." The digimon replied. "Now you customers or not?"
"Yes," Hakuno said. "Four."
The eggshell nodded the best it could, jumped off its high podium, then directed them to an open table.
Once the four were nicely situated in a relaxed, Chinese noodle restaurant, Aoi Zaizen spoke up.
"I'm sorry," She apologized. "You just look… So much like her, I'm having a difficult time adjusting to this."
"It's alright," Hakuno replied. "I'm sorry as well for earlier, I didn't mean to seem angry."
Lunamon raised a point, "It was less anger and more like a powerful invisible force."
Caster giggled, "That's her alright."
Aoi cleared her throat, "I guess I should start?"
"At how you entered the Digital World," Hakuno said.
"Digital World… So that's the name of this cyberspace, right?" Aoi questioned.
Hakuno nodded.
"Well, I was with Haku-nee and touring around Den City…"
It was a forest of black obelisks, Control Spires dotting a landscape, covering the sunlight with their onyx and gray hues. A foreboding presence, ominous and discomforting, not a single tower moved, staying still in a silent watch over a desert landscape. But, these constructs were no longer alone in this arid wasteland…
Then a clash of steel, bright sparks shot out, falling to the ground as a blade deflected a powerful slash of claws. It was indeed a hand, massive in size, able to gash a human with little effort once it struck.
A Bowman found his feet skidding across the ground, dust, and dirt was thrown into the air as he adjusted his footing from the push against him. His breathing was calm and readied, but a drop of sweat fell down his temple, eyes furrowed in concentration and hands gripping two short swords, one white, one black.
"You do not know how much I suffered from that last blow, Archer," His opponent floated down from a Control Spire, a simple kick to it causing the massive structure to tumble as the cloaked figure landed on the ground. "Still, to see that your human companion has recovered so quickly in such a short span of time… I underestimated her."
There, dropping from the bowman's backside and landing on her feet, Hakuno Zaizen took a few steps back, her breathing was ragged and her heart felt like it would beat out of her chest. Her brown hair, with strands of it, coated white, wavered in the breeze. The outfit she wore bore a complete resemblance to her Emiya Avatar back in LINK VRAINS, but the girl was already painfully aware that this wasn't the same cyberspace.
At an earlier time, Hakuno Zaizen had been ecstatic to know that Archer managed to somehow leave the confinement of her Duel Disk. While the region they were in left many questions that needed answering, as well as the concern for Aoi's safety after the encounter with that wendigo in Den City, Hakuno Zaizen was confident that unless they faced another Servant, there wouldn't be much danger.
Not twenty minutes later, they come across this incredibly powerful individual called Daemon.
Daemon had a huge vendetta against Archer for some reason neither of them could identify, the demonic humanoid being had spoken in a short monologue that seemed to indicate that Archer, and her as well apparently, at some point teamed up with the 'Digidestined' group to beat him and critically injure him.
It was that injury that kept Daemon from using his full power, and perhaps, the only reason both she and Archer were still alive. If Daemon had been at full power, the surprise attack earlier would have harmed the Servant to the point that without a Code Cast, there wouldn't have been anything to restore the Heroic Spirit enough to battle efficiency.
This wasn't a Duel, this was a battle, an aspect of combat that Hakuno Zaizen hoped to never come across again… Though, considering Julius a few days prior, she should have expected it.
They couldn't face Daemon right now, he had a number of advantages over both of them. Not only did the monster have critical information concerning Archer's skill set and combat style, but Daemon also knew the terrain, had abilities Hakuno couldn't recognize and fought with a ferocity very much like an enemy Servant.
A terrible situation no matter how much one looked at it.
Retreat was the best option.
"Archer," The Zaizen girl began, her eyes scouring the battlefield for a possible way. "Can you knock down enough of these towers on top of him to give us time to retreat?"
The Servant grinned, "Easy enough," He spoke.
"I'll leave it to you!" She knew that a distance had to be placed between Archer, Daemon, and herself. As the Heroic Spirit would be spending too much energy protecting her otherwise.
"Darkness II!" Daemon roared, an orb of violet energy swirling in his clawed hand before he heaved it at the bowman.
Archer gripped his blades, Kanshou and Bakuya, and threw them right at Daemon's position, one of the blades collided with the monster's techniques, exploding in a display of soot and ash. However, the black blade of the pair flew right past Daemon, who wanted to begin mocking the Servant for his missed aim, but quickly decided to fly upward in realization.
It came back, connected to its twin that Archer had reformed in one of his open hands, the Noble Phantasm spun around and cut threw a few of the spires, causing each to plummet towards the ground, but missed Daemon. The Servant leaped up, using a nearby tower as support, and caught the spinning weapon, he rushed upward towards Daemon.
The monster flew down to meet him in open combat, Archer halted his momentum and kicked the tower, jumping from one to another, Daemon had to halt his movement mid-air, his height now equal to half the nearby Control Spires' own. Kanshou and Bakuya were discarded into motes of magical light, a black bow forming in his hand as gravity started to take hold of Archer's freefall, but he remained calm and resolute as a crimson glow emitted from the bow string.
"You won't catch me like that- Ugh!" Daemon suddenly found the Control Spire behind him falling on top of his body, his eyes gazed back, there floating in the sky was a humanoid shape colored in green, its appearance that of an insectoid.
Hakuno Zaizen saw it, "Another one?" She questioned.
"Hakuno!" The voice of a boy called to her. "Over here!"
She looked towards the origin, standing at the top of a boulder was a boy, younger than her, dressed in a gray school uniform like that of a jacket covering his body neck to foot, with black shoes. He had a fair-skin complexion and dark blue hair in a straight-long style.
Archer took advantage and released the Noble Phantasm, "Hrunting!"
It fired off in a split second, faster than the eye could follow, it cut down spire after spire around Daemon which all faltered and fell on top of the creature. He didn't have time to examine his handiwork, the Servant quickly discarded the bow and bolted towards Hakuno Zaizen.
"Quick, I know a hidden passageway nearby," The boy spoke. "Stingmon! Let's go!" He shouted towards the now identified Stingmon who didn't so much as hesitate and flew right out, its form suddenly glowed yellow and it shrunk to the size of a stuffed toy, the light ended and the boy grabbed in the air the same colored creature, now a worm.
She blinked in astonishment but didn't question it right now. He directed and guided her into a cavern, Archer followed close behind, then the boy pressed hard on a nearby rock that pushed inward, which closed the cavern entrance with a boulder.
Thankfully, it was nicely lit in here, with what appeared to be electronic lights embedded in the ceiling.
Hakuno Zaizen released a long-drawn-out breath, "Thank you," She said.
"I owed you for helping me out when I was the Digimon Emperor," The boy said. "You don't need to thank me." He blinked when he re-examined her. "Uh, did you… Grow?"
"I don't understand what you mean by that," She replied, then reached out a hand. "Again, thanks, I'm Hakuno Zaizen."
He took a mild step back, looking her up and down, before focusing on her face. "You look so much like her…" He spoke out loud, then reached out his own hand and shook her's. "I'm Ken Ichijouji, pardon me, but are you her sister? I know you said Zaizen, but are you related?"
"You know Aoi-nee?" She asked, eager to know if her sister was alright.
Ken shook her head, "No, sorry, I thought you were related to another girl…" He said, but then looked to Archer. "Hello again, Archer, is Hakuno Kishinami alright?"
The Servant narrowed his eyes, Ken shifted uncomfortably under the gaze.
"What do you mean if I'm alright?" Hakuno Zaizen questioned.
"Huh?" Ken spoke in surprise.
She blinked, "What?"
Koushiro Izumi pushed aside a stack of books and folders, which all fell to the ground into a complete mess, but the Digidestined of Knowledge paid no attention to it, placing down his laptop on top of the desk while behind him stood some of the other Digidestined. His expression betrayed his concern and worry, biting his lip as he impatiently waited for the computer to boot up.
"Izzy," A girl named Hikari Yagami spoke, "Does this have to do with my brother missing?"
Yolei crossed her arms, "Yeah, and I haven't heard from Matt either, despite the fact he asked me to mix tape him something."
He took a deep sign, then turned to them, the group were Hikari, Yolei, Daisuke, Takeru, and Iori 'Cody'.
"We're being targeted," He began.
"But who!?" Daisuke interrupted.
Cody said, "Don't interrupt."
"Sorry," The fiery boy replied.
"As I was saying," Koushiro started again. "Something out there is targeting us Digidestined, and so far I presume it caught both Tai and Matt. However, Tai managed to send me a message concerning it." He pulled it up on his own D-Terminal. "It seems like a digimon called Wendigomon, which attacked Tai when he was in the Digital World with Agumon. However, Wendigomon displayed an ability that brought the battle to the Real World and then the digimon attacked two girls, one that looked very much like Hakuno."
"Like Hakuno?" Takeru questioned.
Patamon hovered nearby, "Maybe he got confused?"
"Tai seems to think it's after those with Digivices, perhaps it might have confused Hakuno's Portable Terminal for one, but that doesn't explain why it would-" Koushiro trailed off.
"Izzy," Yolei interrupted. "You said there was someone that looked like Hakuno but wasn't actually her. Which means the girl must not even have a Portable Terminal, to begin with."
Cody then brought up a point, "What if she's the one Hakuno was based off?"
The Digidestined looked at him in confusion.
"Hear me out," Cody said. "The Digital World is a mesh of data taken from our world's history and culture, but even though we can spot the similarities, many digimon and places are different than their real-world counterparts."
Koushiro clapped his hands in realization, "That's an excellent theory, Cody! That would explain why I could never find anything about Hakuno Kishinami, it's because her real counterpart would likely be named and act differently than her!" He exclaimed.
Yolei looked at them both, "So what you're saying is… Even though they would both look the same, they would be different people, like twins?"
"Ah," Hikari caught on. "We never considered that! Many digimon look the same but are different, we just never thought Hakuno could be similar circumstance cause she's human!"
"A Digital Human," Cody corrected. "But yes, that's what I'm saying. Maybe because of that, Wendigomon thought the girl was Hakuno. So tried to grab her too while kidnapping Tai."
"A case of mistaken identity?" Takeru questioned. "I don't know if it's that simple, in any case, Wendigomon is still targeting us Digidestined, along with potentially Hakuno, for an unknown reason."
"Did…" Hikari trailed off, "Did my brother say anything else?" She finished speaking.
Koushiro shook his head, "No, I don't think had time to… But if Wendigomon can defeat Greymon, then we should all assume he's either a powerful champion-level digimon or an ultimate."
Daisuke slammed a fist in his other hand, "Then how about we just team up and beat the snot out of that kidnapping monster!"
"How do we do that if we can't even find him?" Yolei questioned.
"He's targeting us, right?" Daisuke said. "All we have to do is a buddy system, each of us always has another Digidestined around, so when he pops up there will be two or three of us to stall him as the rest show up to beat him down!"
Hikari responded, "What about Mimi? She's in America, so unless a natural gate pops up around her, then the only way to get to her is by traveling in the real world."
Koushiro tapped away at his laptop, "Well, might as well experiment with my enhanced Digi-Port then, but we'll need Hakuno to try it."
"What for?" Cody asked.
"While it may not let her into the Real World, my theory is that if she does her Code Cast on the Digi-Port, it'll let us open a gateway nearby any other Digidestined, D-3 or not," Koushiro explained. "Then we can connect to Mimi or one of the American Digidestined."
"Nice!" Daisuke responded. "Let's go visit Hakuno now!"
"What if she's not home?" Yolei said.
Takeru replied, "She's still injured, why wouldn't she be home? She can use both her Servants to protect her easily against Wendigomon, so unless she decides to go for a walk, nothing bad should happen to her."
Hakuno Kishinami felt a bit of concern for Aoi Zaizen, as the older girl had slammed her head against the table quite harshly, after eating the stunningly delicious soup and noodles provided by the restaurant, seriously it was really good broth, but Aoi had become frustratingly, and understandably, confused on any explanations Hakuno had given her concerning the girl's current whereabouts.
It had taken a bit of subtle information gathering and analysis, but Hakuno Kishinami could piece together Aoi Zaizen's background and story with all that she provided the magus with.
They were kindred spirits, in a metaphorical sense, as like herself, Aoi was actually from a different world than the actual Earth connected with the Digital World. The terminology, history, and knowledge Aoi held were vastly different than the current technological level of the Digidestineds' own. Also, the formation and presence of LINK VRAINS, and the cyberspace network as a whole would directly contradict the Digital World. If Hakuno Kishinami wasn't from a world even more advanced than Aoi's, then perhaps she would have thought the older girl a bit crazy.
But, there was other information as well, namely that Aoi Zaizen's sister was her version of Hakuno Kishinami.
That had been an eye-opener.
In a technical sense, Aoi was her sister, but in reality, wasn't. A complication that Hakuno Kishinami didn't know what to make of, she never had a family before, the closest analog would be the whimsical relations between her Servants… But they weren't blood-related or acted like siblings.
Not when two try to get her into marriage, and Archer… Archer was more like a guardian butler, well, actually maybe he would fit the overprotective brother trope…
Moving on, Hakuno had explained to Aoi Zaizen about the Digital World, and in a limited sense, herself. The older girl did not need the knowledge that her 'sister' in this particular world was a digital copy of another, cryogenically frozen, version.
It would probably be too much for her to take in.
Aoi looked up, "So…" Her face was still expressing disbelief, but she seemed to try hard to accept it. "Companion AIs turned into our partners in the Digital World?"
She was referring to her digimon, Lunamon.
"Yes," Hakuno replied, but truthfully did not know how the Digidestined received their own partners. "Caster is one of my partners."
"One of…? You have multiple? Haku-nee has this AI called Archer," Aoi said.
She felt her heart quiver as sorrow stuck like a blade to her chest.
Hakuno Kishinami took a deep breath and beat down the emotion with willpower, "Yes, I also have Saber, she's back at my base."
Caster looked up from her third bowl of noodles, "There she can stay! For it is Caster's time for a date with my husband!"
"A date…?" Aoi spoke flabbergasted. "You date your AI- I mean, partner?"
"She just says stuff, Caster is very eccentric," Hakuno replied.
"You don't like, kiss and stuff, do you?" She pressed on, eager to learn more.
"I haven't stolen her third kiss yet!" Caster exclaimed with a pout as her ears twitched in agitation, "I can't believe that girl took her first and second kiss! The nerve!"
Aoi Zaizen's face lit up a cherry pink.
Hakuno sighed, why did Caster have to make things complicated?
"Oh, my goodness, my younger sister from another world got her kiss stolen by another girl…" Aoi was reflexly placing both hands on her face, as if either embarrassed or shocked… Probably both.
The magus girl wasn't really good at knowing emotions connected to the more romantic side.
"Younger sister?" Hakuno questioned.
"Yeah," Aoi recovered from her earlier emotion. "Sure you're not actually Haku-nee, but I'm sure the Aoi of this world won't mind me calling you my sister as well!"
Hakuno's face plummeted, " Um… There… I don't actually have a family."
"Wait… I don't exist here?" She questioned.
"Not to my knowledge," Hakuno replied.
She blinked, then shrugged, "Well, that doesn't change anything for me! Mhm… What to call you as a nickname… Can't use Haku-nee, so… Kishi-chan? No… Kishi-nee-chan?" She started listing off strange combinations of Hakuno Kishinami's name using odd additions.
What's with this 'nee' and 'chan' stuff?
Aoi Zaizen didn't know honorifics of such didn't exist in this world.
"Haku-chan!" She settled on that. "It's simple and not nearly as much as a mouthful."
"..." Hakuno remained silent, before breaking it, "But I'm not your sister?"
"Sure you are! I mean, in a way you are, that and you're my little sister! I've always wanted to see what's it like to be the big sister, Haku-nee doesn't count because we're practically the same age."
"Okay…?" Hakuno didn't even know what to think. "But you have to deal with Caster now."
"Huh, what do you mean?" Aoi questioned in confusion.
There was a squeal of excitement before Aoi Zaizen found herself enveloped in a tight hug, with a fluffy tail brushing against her legs. "Yes! Sister, get! You'll be my sister-in-law! Oh, by the way, Hakuno is mine, so no sibling route alright?" The fox girl, Caster, spoke whole patting Aoi's head like a puppy.
"S-sibling route!?" Aoi stuttered, her face turning a shade of red.
"Caster," Hakuno spoke.
"Just a bit more Master~" Caster sang a bit as she snuggled with Aoi a bit more, her hands trailing along the girl's body and-.
"H-hey! Stop that!" Aoi caught on and managed to dislodge the Servant's hands from her body.
"But you're so cute, like my adorable husband, very similar! I just had to check every part!" Caster said cheekily, twirling around to Hakuno's side. "Not matching her entirely, but I like this new older sister of yours!"
Hakuno sighed again.
Aoi followed suite.
Caster giggled, "In sync already!" She said. "Don't worry, my lovey dove husband, I won't sneak into her futon at night, you're the only one for me-"
"Caster!" Hakuno shouted to interrupt the Servant.
"Fine, fine," Caster waved it off. "I guess that's enough teasing for now."
Lunamon finally looked up from the bowl of noodles, "Something happened?"
"I wish it didn't," Aoi replied, trying so hard to ease herself while blushing madly. "I didn't know Haku-chan's partner was such a fox."
The digimon tilted its head, "Did the ears and tail not give it away?"
"Not in that sense…" Aoi said, "Haku-chan, how old are you exactly?" It was something she wished to know out of curiosity.
"Thirteen," Hakuno replied.
"You're kidding me…" She trailed off.
Hakuno Kishinami shook her head.
"I need to save you while I still can," Aoi said.
"Save me…?"
"Yes!" Aoi pointed a finger accusingly at Tamamo. "From that vulpine in heat!"
"I don't understand?"
"How do you not!?" Aoi exclaimed in disbelief.
"It's just how she is," Hakuno said. "I did say before her history causes her to-"
Suddenly, the restaurant shook.
Immediately, Hakuno Kishinami, Tamamo, Aoi Zaizen, and Lunamon stood up from their seats in anticipation of an attack. This was not an earthquake, the movement of the building was too spaced, with some parts not being affected. Then, a nearby wall crumbled apart, revealing the large bully form of a brown, animalistic digital monster.
"Go back…" A low tone, yet clearly heard, spoke.
"It's the wendigo!" Aoi exclaimed as she took a step back.
"Skill!" Hakuno shouted her order just a second after.
"Curse: Chaos Heaven!" A tag appeared in Tamamo's hand and she threw it right when it was made, it flew and stuck on the massive monster who didn't so much as pay any attention to it in favor of slowly making a step towards them.
It's mistake.
The paper tag lit up with a bright glow before exploding with a display of intense wind colored in a green color from the magical energy. Whether it was surprised or damaged, it nevertheless staggered back from Caster's spell.
Hakuno's magic circuits surged with od, inner magical energy.
She raised her hand, directed at her Servant, "Code Cast: Magic 16!"
A violet light erupted around Caster's figure, enhancing the potency of any further magic-based abilities. Tamamo revealed a beautiful mirror and threw it into the air, where it began to float and rotate around her body like a sentient object. She stood protectively in front of both her Master and Aoi, ready to engage in combat with the revealed enemy.
"You interrupted our date! So expect a thousand curses you cryptoid reject!" Caster insulted the wendigo-based digimon. "Let's show it the power of our love, my husband!"
Hakuno Kishinami wasn't so confident in having combat right now, she would be more limited than usual due to her physical injury, and while her magic circuits were still prime and ready, Caster's abilities were costly without proper set-up. Not to mention, this digimon was still too new, there hadn't been much information about it other from what she learned from Aoi…
But…
A beeping sound echoed from the Portable Terminal.
Matrix Information Gained!
Wendigo? - Level 1
She's fought with little information before.
According to Aoi's account, it had a range shockwave-based attack, which means enclosed spaces wouldn't do them any good. They should find a way to leave the interior of the restaurant to a more suitable location. It had the physical strength to match Greymon one on one and likely succeed, so Caster should avoid getting hit else she'll take some major damage.
"Can your partner digivolve?" Hakuno asked Aoi.
"What?" Aoi replied.
So that was out of the question, it would be Caster against it alone, as Hakuno doubted Lunamon, as a rookie-level digital monster, would be able to damage the enemy.
"Here it comes, Master!" Caster exclaimed.
It shot forward with quite the haste, its movements were unpredictable to her, not until she had more time to study them. It raised the left arm and smashed it down against the flooring, breaking the wood, then brought up its right and thrust it at… Her?
"Break!" Hakuno shouted as she decided to take a few steps back out of its reach.
The floating mirror came sailing down like a supersonic frisbee, smashing down on the wendigo's right arm with decent strength. This action disrupted the creature's action, allowing Caster to pull out another tag with her witchcraft.
"Curse: Frigid Heaven!" She stuck the tag on the arm and then leaped off it, grabbing her mirror in the air and returned to her Master's side.
It tried to bring back its appendage but the tag erupted outward in a display of ice crystals, freezing and encasing the limb in magic produced glaciers.
Hakuno lightly jogged and grabbed Aoi by the arm, "We need to leave!" She said, "No space here!"
"I know that!" Aoi replied as she went into a light sprint, easily going a bit ahead while Lunamon latched onto her shoulder. Noticing how simple it was to rush ahead of Hakuno Kishinami, Aoi turned to her. "Haku-chan? You're really slow?" It was a confused question.
"I can't run," Hakuno replied, her injury was already in pain, the body wasn't prepared for excessive movement just yet and it showed.
"Worst moment!" Caster exclaimed as she lifted her Master up gently in a bridal hold. "Sorry for the rough ride, but go!" She yelled the last part at Aoi and Lunamon.
"Caster stop!" Hakuno suddenly shouted and Caster came to an abrupt stop, just in time to weave out of being grabbed by the wendigo digimon that appeared out of thin air in front of them. The Servant gasped in astonishment then kicked off the floor and into the air, unfortunately with a ceiling, there wasn't much room to maneuver with a fragile girl in tow.
"Luna Claw!" Lunamon slashed at the massive creature with a paw radiating purple energy.
The wendigo bashed him away without much effort, Lunamon sent flying into the wall and destroying it.
"Lunamon!" Aoi exclaimed in shock.
It raised a hand and let it fall to grab her, but Aoi avoided it by rolling and running toward her downed companion.
"Watch out, Aoi!" Lunamon shouted as the digimon stood up and aimed at the wendigo beast, the antenna at its forehead conjuring forth an orb of water. "Tear Shot!"
Lunamon's ability fired off, the orb of water traveling through the air before splashing roughly on the wendigo, but it did nothing to dissuade the monster. However, it did manage to wet its fur.
"Caster, that electric curse!" Hakuno said as they landed at a safe distance, she remembered the Servant using that particular element against Tentomon.
"Oh! First showing! Got to make it sound cool," Caster said as she placed Hakuno down quickly and whipped out another tag out of her magical energy. "Curse: Thunder Heaven!" She threw the tag.
Tamamo-no-mae's tag stuck to the wendigo and burst outward in a display of electrical energy.
"Willis…" it groaned out while being electrocuted before the wind around them picked up, visible currents coming into view before they picked up in intensity and caused them all to cover their eyes…
And like that, the wendigo monster was gone.
Hakuno Kishinami walked up to Aoi Zaizen who was next to her partner, Lunamon, the digimon had already recovered from the earlier hit. "Are you alright?"
"Am I alright? What about you, Haku-chan? You're already hurt, aren't you? I think Caster mentioned that before!" Aoi angrily shouted.
Hakuno was stunned, she didn't understand why Aoi had gotten angered. "I did not choose to have that digimon appear?"
"Show me," Aoi firmly said.
"Huh?"
"Show me your injury, Haku-nee!" Aoi said, then realized what she said. "I mean, Haku-chan…" She trailed off. "Sorry, you look so much alike, I didn't mean to get angry at you for something out of your control… That was stupid of me."
"You're really close?" Hakuno Kishinami asked. She wondered what that felt like, to have a sibling.
Aoi smiled, "Yeah… We're getting closer together, she… She was in a coma for a while, some disease that gave her amnesia when she finally beat it. I've been trying my best to reconnect with her cause before then we were… Separating."
A disease? Likely a variant of the same disease her own original counterpart had, but unlike the real Hakuno Kishinami, Hakuno Zaizen survived hers without the need for cryogenic preservation.
Caster pats her clothes down from the dust, "Hey, I'm sure everything will be peachy, besides, you can check her out when we find that Hakuno!"
Hakuno Kishinami's thought process halted.
Wait… If Aoi Zaizen has crossed over to the Digital World, and Hakuno Zaizen was with her when it happened… Even though that Hakuno's AI companion was called Archer didn't mean it would turn into a Servant, likely it was also converted into a digimon that couldn't digivolve yet…
Which meant that Aoi's sister was near defenseless in the vast Digital World filled with enemies.
"We need to find your sister," Hakuno Kishinami said.
"Of course we do, Haku-chan!" Aoi agreed.
The Digital Human pulled out her Portable Terminal, the Digital World was too large to traverse and find a single person with just her and Aoi. Thankfully, the Digidestined may be able to help.
She only hoped that Hakuno Zaizen was okay.
"Hehe," Caster giggled.
"What is it, Caster?" The magus girl questioned as she tapped away a mail to the Digidestined.
"Nothing, just thinking how funny it would be if that Hakuno came across the Private Room, I bet that roman barbarian would be in for a surprise," Tamamo said.
Hakuno Kishinami doubted that her counterpart would be so fortunate, besides, what are the chances of her finding the base without a guide?