A/N: Second story on this site, new fandom. Like Flightless Night, how often I update this will be entirely dependent on my whims and current interest in the fandom, although for sure I will never permanently abandon it. Update sizes will also be variable, with a 1,000 word minimum and no maximum. Since I have six main characters for this one, however, it is very likely that the chapters will go for much longer than 1,000 words. As another consequence of having six main characters, along with their six Digimon partners, I'll be doing a large amount of POV changes, especially in this chapter and the next one, where all six will get a section to themselves. However, after these first two chapters, I will try to limit myself to two or three POVs per chapter when possible. This first chapter in particular, being the prologue, has a lot more things that I'm probably not going to do on a regular basis, such as all dialogue, no dialogue, and no named characters in a section. Will such things happen again? Maybe. A lot? Heck no.
Anyway, as I stated in the summary, this was based on the distant future portrayed by 02's epilogue, where everyone has a Digimon partner. (I still haven't decided if I want this story and 02 to be in the same universe or not, though. Either way, no canon characters will show up.) Someone had pointed out all the problems inherent with giving everyone a Digimon, in the way that people with lesser morals would inevitably start causing a lot of trouble. My immediate response to seeing this was 'Don't be silly! No one with a Digimon to guide them will turn out evil!'. Even though that is also wrong, it inspired this, sooo... Currently there aren't any particularly specific warnings, just for violence and general unhappiness in the main characters' lives. K+ for now, but it may get moved to a T later. Beyond that, there aren't really any guarantees for anything, except that I will be only using official Digimon due to personal preferences. Also, if at all possible, this will be looong.
Finally, I would like to state that, although I will not ask for them again unless I want opinions on specific things, reviews are always appreciated and loved. Critical reviews and reviews pointing out my mistakes are absolutely wonderful, reviews with compliments are extremely great, everything will be cherished with the exception of flames that don't tell me what to fix. I especially want feedback on my characters and how I'm handling them, since this fic is primarily a way for me to work on my personalities and interactions between characters, even if my terrible action scenes get mixed in. (By the way, if you do review, since I'm not revealing the Digimon partners until chapter 3, I'd be interested in seeing what you think they'll be. No real prizes for guessing right, since I don't really have anything I can do for you, but you'll get acknowledgement if that makes it worthwhile.)
Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon or its characters in any way, form, or fashion beyond some bought merchandise. All rights go to the creators, and they always will for every chapter that I write.
xxxx
It was a good time to be alive. There was no war, there was no mass hunger, and sickness was easily cured. While there was still destitution, for the most part the living standard for the poor was still higher than ever. Anyone could find a way to earn a living somehow, as there were plenty of jobs to go around, and everyone did their fair share of work. Technology had advanced enough that everyone was connected, but without the price of face-to-face contact being utterly scorned. Crime was almost nonexistent, and even in the few areas it did thrive the justice system took care of things both fairly and efficiently. Poverty was hard to fall into, and easy enough to get out of, so long as the person in question was willing to make the effort. And everyone, with the exception of a miniscule portion of the population, had a Digimon partner to call their own. Only a few people suffered unfairly for things beyond their control. It still made a difference.
x.x.x.x
Her breathing was harsh as she ran, each desperate step renewing the burning in her legs. The path she took, rounding turning countless corners and cutting through innumerable alleyways, would be impossible for most people to follow. Unfortunately for Ashley, the group pursuing her, six strong, had grown up in The Maze just like she did, and could perfectly follow her every turn.
"Blue Blaster!" the Gabumon narrowly behind her called, and she had to veer sharply to the left in order to avoid the flames aimed at her. For a moment, her shoulder scraped the brick wall of the building next to her, and she stumbled.
A hand closed around her wrist as the fastest of them, the skinny boy partnered with the Gabumon, caught up to her. Of course, she had not completely lost her momentum, and her stumble turned into a fall that dragged him down with her. For a moment, he was dazed, and Ashley took the opportunity to expertly break his grip and roll over so that he was the one underneath her. Her fist slammed into his face once before his friends reached them and pulled her off.
Immediately she started thrashing around, trying to break the grip of the bear-like teenager holding her. Unfazed, he shook her, which stunned her and cut off her yelling. Ashley went limp in his arms, although he was well aware that she hadn't given up the fight just yet, judging by the way that his grip only tightened.
While a temporary moment of relative calm settled over them, the others took the chance to get things done. The Gabumon went to his partner and helped the boy up, wiping off the human's bloody nose with part of his pelt. Although Ashley had to tilt her head to see either from her current position, she heard the sounds of a Gotsumon and a Kokuwamon taking up places on either side of her. Finally, a girl that was clearly related to the guy holding Ashley marched up in front of her, coming to a stop with her feet spread wide and her hands firmly planted on her hips.
"Now, now," she said with a nasty smirk on her face. "Look what we have here! A pathetic little piece of trash! Demon child, my foot!"
Ashley spat at the other girl. "Heh," she snarled. "At least I don't need anyone but myself to beat up little girls."
"Shut up!" This shrill command was accentuated by a sharp kick to Ashley's stomach, leaving her doubled over as best as she could, hacking and trying to catch her breath again. "I wasn't finished yet," the girl continued, calming down remarkably quickly. "I was about to say that if you're so weak, maybe everyone's just talking trash again, and you're just some screwed up freak. But look at you! Even if you can't fight, you're still a menace!"
Anticipating where this was going, Ashley started struggling again, pulling at the teenager's arms. "Lionel!" he barked, which prompted the skinny boy to approach, if somewhat more hesitantly this time.
"Even if you can't actually do much, it's best to stop you now." The girl appeared to be completely unconcerned that everyone else was ignoring her speech at the moment, pacing back and forth while the skinny boy and his Gabumon attempted to recapture the arm that Ashley had broken out of the teenager's grip. Ashley successfully punched the Gabumon in his jaw, sending him reeling back, and wildly slapped the skinny boy. Said slap was weak but well-aimed, and the boy howled in pain as his probably broken nose was disturbed once more.
Her advantage in the fight was lost there, for the Gotsumon and Kokuwamon chose this moment to step in. When she lashed out against the Kokuwamon, she yelped like any other person who had tried to hit metal before her. Her attempts to kick the Gotsumon ended less badly for her, but the stone Digimon was still completely unaffected by her attempts to attack, and effortlessly forced her legs to the ground. It was almost just as simple for the Kokuwamon to grab her arm in its pincers, and she suddenly went still, very aware of just how easy it would be for either Digimon to seriously injure her.
"…Are you finally done with that?" the girl asked. "Good. Anyway, since you're easy enough to contain, I guess we'll just let you off with a warning this time. Not a nice one, though. You clearly don't deserve that. Boys, you may do what you wish."
The next several minutes were agony for Ashley as they proceeded to rough her up. By the time they let her go, laughing and jeering, she was covered in bruises and had to spend a while recovering on the ground. When she finally picked herself up, she winced as she placed weight on her left leg, hissing out a shaky breath through her teeth. This would only get worse in the morning, too. Glancing around, she finally got a good look at the alleyway she had been caught in. On one end, it opened up to the streets, where people passed by uncaring and rushed to reach home. Darkness loomed on the other side as it extended farther and went between buildings. A giant symbol was painted on the wall, in the shape of a stylized sun. Well, she recognized that particular piece of graffiti, so at least she wouldn't have any trouble finding her way home.
Ashley sighed heavily and limped back into the maze of alleyways. It was better to go home now than to wait too long and end up getting attacked and hurt even worse than she already had been. Again.
x.x.x.x
One second blended into one minute into one hour into one day into one week into one month into one year. The time that her brother was gone didn't seem very long now, having been all smashed together in a blur of activity so that her brother wouldn't think that she was slacking off when he came back, but now, in this final day of waiting, every second seemed to stretch out into another year. Her mom said this was the last time she would get to see him for a very long time, even longer than a year! She HAD to make the most out of this visit, but first he needed to hurry up and get here!
Terra sat practically smashed up against the window next to the front door, watching the street in front of her with hawk eyes. Behind her, she could sense that Lalamon was hovering, mildly concerned for her partner's daughter but otherwise understanding of the situation and willing to allow Terra to have her peace. Gwappamon was off… somewhere, probably trying to help her father cook. Oh, her brother wouldn't like that, she vaguely thought, he only liked their mom's food even if he was too polite to actually say it.
"C'moooon," Terra whined, starting to get impatient with the empty street. This was taking waay too long. Where was her brother?!
"You need to be patient, Terra," Lalamon said from behind her.
"I knooow," the human groaned, pressing her cheek against the glass. "But he's been gone for foreveeerrrrr."
Lalamon was about to reply, but movement caught Terra's eye, and she focused back on the world outside. A moment later, she squealed, and moved to throw open the door.
A Tortomon was walking down the street, with a lone human riding on it. He made for an impressive sight, especially with his military bags hanging down beside him. This effect was ruined by the Digimon he was on sporting a silly grin on its face that only grew wider as it spotted Terra. It was further ruined once the man slid off of his partner, sprinting over to Terra as she ran across the yard. Just moments before they ran into each other, Terra jumped and her brother opened his arms to catch her. They fell down into a laughing heap, and a few seconds later the Tortomon reached them and nosed his way into the pile so that Terra would hug him, too, even if she could only wrap her arms around his nose. "Heya, kiddo!" the man chuckled. "You've gotten so big since I last saw you!"
After several minutes of more greetings and declarations on how they missed each other, Terra got to her feet, pulling the man up with her. "C'mon, Bernard, I gotta show you what Mom did to the house while you were gone! She painted the walls and moved all the couches and now everything looks reaaalllllyyyyyy different! And she and Lalamon planted a new garden, too, and now I get to water the flowers and also an apple tree we planted, too, and Lalamon says that soon it'll grow big enough that we can eat its apples and Mom says that I'll be able to pick them myself, and maybe if I do good and care for it we'll plant an orange tree, too, so I've been taking care of it reaaaalllllllyyyyyy well but I need you to check and see if I need to do better! Oh, and Dad's been teaching me how to make music and play the guitar and stuff, and he helped me write you a song, so now you have to hear it! And all sorts of other stuff happened, too! I wrote to you about a lot of it, but TONS more things happened, so now I need to tell you about it! And and and…"
She babbled on cheerfully while her brother indulgently listened. Later on he would ask questions and tell stories of his own, but for now he simply allowed his sister to mindlessly talk. However, although he was acting happy, when Terra turned away for a moment to close the door, she caught a glimpse of him frowning sadly at her. Not that this was unusual, course. Her family always seemed so sad when they looked at her! It wasn't like she was sad at all most of the time, so why were they? But they never answered when she asked, so she supposed that she just wouldn't get to know and would have to try and cheer them up regardless. Silly family! Everything was alright! Even if she might never see her brother again after today, in the end everything would go just fine! There was nothing that they needed to worry about!
And that was why she spoke so much. So that they could see that.
x.x.x.x
"Where have you been?"
Percy froze in place, his only movement being to slowly turn his head around so that he could see the speaker of that question. A pair of stern blue eyes met his gaze, belonging to a white feline perched on the back of the living room couch. He allowed himself to relax the slightest bit, relieved that it was Gatomon, and not Angemon or their partners, speaking. She was probably the best to deal with out of his four guardians, even if she had a nasty temper.
"Out," he thus said, keeping his eyes down. From previous experience he knew that anything but this kind of submissive reaction would end badly for him.
"Out where?" Gatomon demanded, jumping down from her perch and stalking up to him. Without being asked, Percy shrugged off his backpack and opened it up, showing her the contents within.
"The library," he replied. "I needed to work on a project."
"Mm-hmm, sure." The remark wasn't necessarily a disbelieving one when said by Gatomon, especially since she appeared to be satisfied by the school books she found when digging through his backpack. "And who did you inform of your plans for after school?"
"Well…" Percy said, stalling for time as he tried to come up with a good excuse. "I tried to call the house, but no one was answering, so I assumed that you would be out for the night."
"Everyone else is," Gatomon confirmed. "I only stayed for part of the event, though." After one last suspicious look at his math textbook, she reloaded his backpack and closed it before handing it back to him. "Well, I guess I can give you the benefit of the doubt just this once. However, from now on, if you get no reply you must come straight home after school, do you understand? As punishment you'll go without dinner tonight. Now. To your room."
Percy groaned but hurried away from her and up the stairs of his house while she was still in such a generous mood. Really, he should have known better than to try and go somewhere without permission even if getting permission was currently impossible, so he deserved worse than that. Chances were that Gatomon would keep it a secret since it was his first time offence, too. As he thought about it, he felt luckier and luckier. Going without dinner for another night was nothing in comparison to what could have happened, so he couldn't feel anything but grateful to Gatomon for her mercy.
…Now that he thought about it even more, that was a terrible way to think.
"I bet my real parents wouldn't put all of these stupid rules on me," he muttered to himself. "I bet they'd actually love me."
Not that he had any proof of that. He flung himself onto his bed, dropping his backpack down on the floor beside him, and started to just stare at the ceiling and think. Truth be told, if it weren't for his current guardians, he probably be doing terribly right now, if he was even still alive by that point. It was a miracle that anyone would ever want to adopt someone like him in the first place, and even more so that they were treating him so well. Percy had far more freedoms than he probably deserved, and was regularly given things that his birth parents probably couldn't even afford. If he was being honest with himself, then he had absolutely no right to complain about his life.
Still, he silently did, and longed for the life he could have had had things turned out just a little bit differently.
x.x.x.x
"I'm home!"
"Good, now give me my digivice back already!"
"Ugh, calm down! I'm giving it to you already, you don't have to grab at me like that!"
"Give me Kunemon, too!"
"I'm not stopping him from going to you, sheesh!"
"Kunemon, hurry up and get over here, then!"
"But it's so comfortable, being on her shoulders like this…"
"Kunemon!"
"Alright, alright, I'm coming…"
"Good."
"You don't need to be so harsh to him, do you? He's had a pretty long day, everyone was sparring over lunch."
"Why'd you let him do that?! He could have gotten hurt!"
"He'll get hurt if you keep hugging him like that. Besides, it was just a friendly match, no one was aiming to injure. We're supposed to pretend that he's my partner, remember? It'd be blatantly out of character if I refused just because you didn't like it."
"Well, you should have had different character!"
"I thought you were fine with me fighting!"
"Now I'm not!"
"Is it because Veemon got hurt? He's not even your partner!"
"Well, we're pretending he is, remember?"
"…Touché. But still. Now you learned a lesson: Don't be reckless. This doesn't mean that you should be so overly cautious, though."
"Hey, stop talking to me like that! I'm older than you, you know!"
"Then act like it!"
"Claudia! Lupe! That's enough!"
"Yes, Mama…"
"Now, Lupe, Claudia gave you your digivice back, and Kunemon's not hurt at all, so I don't see why you're complaining. Go back and help Lora with your chores."
"Yes, Mama…"
"Claudia, stop fighting with your sister! She's older than you, so you shouldn't be disrespecting her in such a way!"
"But Mama-"
"No buts, now go and do your chores. Be grateful that she's letting you borrow Kunemon at all."
"Yes, Mama…"
x.x.x.x
Three people, two girls and one boy, walked down the sidewalk. A Gazimon closely followed one of the girls, while an Otamamon rode in the boy's backpack. The other girl, lacking a Digimon, lagged a few steps behind the others, politely listening to their conversation, started by the boy.
"Hey, did you hear? One of those Digiless killed a guy yesterday."
"What?! How?!"
"Apparently the guy had gone out shopping or something, and the Digiless broke into his house. When the guy came home, the Digiless was hiding, and he jumped out and stabbed him!"
"Wow…"
"Yeah. The guy's Digimon caught the Digiless, but by the time the guy got to the hospital it was far too late."
"Man, that's what, the second time this month? Sixth time this year? They're getting bolder…"
"They are, aren't they? Then again, I don't know why anyone would ever expect anything different. That's all they are, violent criminals!"
"Yeah! I hear they have this look about them, you know? Like they're just looking for an opportunity to attack whoever they're with!"
"And if you aren't careful, they'll rob you blind!"
"God, I'm glad that I have Gazimon to protect me! Imagine being alone with one of them!"
"…Um…"
This last sound came from the girl behind the pair, who had stopped in her tracks. The boy and the other girl stopped to, turning around with surprised gasps as they remembered who was with them.
"Oh, but not you, Faith!" the girl quickly said, growing flustered. "You're totally different!"
"Yeah!" the boy chimed in. He at least had the decency to look slightly apologetic. "You're actually pretty cool!"
Still, Faith hugged her arms around herself and looked down to the side. "No, it's okay. I know that I'm never going to be able to be like you."
"Aw, don't be like that!" the boy said, walking over and putting a friendly arm around her shoulders. "C'mon, we still have that project to finish up, don't we? Let's get going so that we can work on that!"
"Alright," Faith softly agreed, giving the two tamers a small smile as she followed them again. A few moments after they had turned back around she let her smile drop back down into a sad little frown.
x.x.x.x
Isaac had mixed feelings about his school.
On one hand, it was loud and noisy and everything that he had ever despised about any sort of place. There were no apologies if someone ran into him, and it was almost inevitable that he would accidentally step on a few toes and draw some unwanted ire from others. When he was having a lucky day, he might find a place to eat his lunch that had relatively few people in it. If he ever found a place completely devoid of people, he might as well go and buy a lottery ticket. Plus, he didn't have any friend, so even though there were so many people he was still completely isolated. While everyone laughed, joked, and chatted amongst themselves, he didn't have anything to do but doodle, take notes, and read. He became a good student simply because he had no other choice of ways to spend his time. What else could he do? Stare at his bedroom wall and contemplate how lonely and bored he was? Isaac had gotten tired of doing that years ago.
Despite this, there was still another hand, on where his unbearably large school unwittingly provided a blessing. No one knew who he was, and no one cared. Only the most observant would notice that he didn't have a Digimon amongst the general chaos that the digital partners could provide. Even if they did, they were probably somewhat glad that he wasn't helping to cause any more trouble in the classrooms, and thus left him alone. Every so often someone would remember him and everyone would start rumors and give him a wide berth in the hallways, but then he would just keep doing what he always did and a week later they'd forget him in favor of the newest scandal. So long as he kept his head down and didn't say anything, it was actually pretty easy for him to survive school life, no matter how much he hated it, however much he despised having to remain unknown amongst his peers. Not that there was much special about him in the first place, but he never even got to have a ghost of a chance in the first place.
At least when the bullies waited outside of the school gates, they were planning on jumping the nerdy kid walking next to him or someone else that wasn't him. At least when someone got horribly rejected by the most popular girl in school, it was someone else asking her out, not him. At least when a stupid remark or action got laughed at by the entire class, it was someone else's, not his. At least when parents beat their children and called them nasty names, it was the parents of someone else, not him. At least anything bad that happened publicly happened to someone else, not him.
Children walked past him down the hallway, heading for home. He took his time at his locker, knowing that there was no point in rushing. It wasn't like his parents would care what time he got home at, so long as he didn't disturb them. Besides, he liked to keep his locker neatly arranged so that he could grab his things quickly from it, so if he wanted it to look nice in the morning then he had to put in the effort now. It was absolutely necessary that he carefully replace his textbooks and notebooks in their designated spots so that they were arranged by subject, especially so that he could look busy while the local school bully and his BlackAgumon tromped past behind him. It was rare that they ever paid him any sort of attention, but sometimes if he looked like he was staring they might notice him. That was never a good thing.
So really, it was good that he was practically invisible, just another face in the crowd. Because of this, Isaac was safe. And that was all that he could ever hope for.
x.x.x.x
"It is time," the figure stated to the six creature below. "I am still unable to tell you much, but if you follow my instructions, then you will learn for yourselves why you have been waiting and what you are missing."
"Finally!" one of the creatures called, looking torn between being annoyed and excited. "I thought you'd never get around to telling us why we're here!"
"I still am not," the figure replied calmly. "Someday I will, though."
Before the first creature could speak again, a second interrupted. "Be grateful that we get that much," it muttered to the one beside it.
"Yes," a third chimed in. "Plus, what we are getting should be even better!"
"Heh, as if," another snorted. "This'll be laaaame."
"Y-You don't know that for sure!" the fifth said, only to cower back when the fourth turned to give it a nasty glare. "…S-Sorry…"
Only the last remained silent, even when the figure's gaze was directed onto it. "And you?" the figure asked. "What do you think of what I've had to say so far?"
"Whatever," the figure growled. "Just get on with it already."
"Alright," the figure said. "Then I will."
In front of the figure six lights appeared, each glowing a different color. The figure beckoned the first creature to move forward, and one of the lights, glowing orange, floated down to it. Almost immediately, the light died down to reveal a strange device, orange and white and shaped somewhat like a rectangular box. With a wave from the figure, a white string also appeared and floated down to the first creature, attaching itself to the device and then looping around and tying itself into a knot in order to form a necklace, which then settled itself on the creature. As soon as this happened, the figure started speaking.
"This will reveal to you what you have been seeking all along. To find what you are searching for, go to the palace where evil reigns over what was once pure and innocent. There, you will inevitably encounter someone, although I cannot describe them to you. However, be not dismayed, for you will know them when you see them. Give my gift to them, and they will be able to use it. Help them on their quest, and they will help you on yours."
"Alright!" the first exclaimed. "That's easy! I'll have this done in no time!" It stepped back to allow the next to step up, obviously eager to get going to its destination.
The second to speak was also the second to go, and a pink light floated down to it. What happened the first time happened once more, except that this time the device was pink where the first one had been orange. Once more, the figure spoke.
"This will reveal to you what you have been seeking all along. To find what you are searching for, go to the forest border of the land of a people living in fear and desperate for a savior. There, you will inevitably encounter someone, although I cannot describe them to you. However, be not dismayed, for you will know them when you see them. Give my gift to them, and they will be able to use it. Help them on their quest, and they will help you on yours."
The creature nodded gravely. "Thank you," it murmured, before stepping back and allowing the third creature to take its turn.
This time, the purple light came down to create a device, although nothing else about the process changed, and the figure's words still changed little.
"This will reveal to you what you have been seeking all along. To find what you are searching for, go to that place where the paths of darkness and light diverge. There, you will inevitably encounter someone, although I cannot describe them to you. However, be not dismayed, for you will know them when you see them. Give my gift to them, and they will be able to use it. Help them on their quest, and they will help you on yours."
"Thank you very much!" the creature said with utmost sincerity, happy as it moved back and the fourth moved forward.
It rolled its eyes as it received the golden light, and it was obvious that it stopped paying attention to the figure's speech after the location it needed to go to was named, but it at least kept silent until after the figure fell silent.
"This will reveal to you what you have been seeking all along. To find what you are searching for, go to the cliffs that none can climb and none can survive a fall from. There, you will inevitably encounter someone, although I cannot describe them to you. However, be not dismayed, for you will know them when you see them. Give my gift to them, and they will be able to use it. Help them on their quest, and they will help you on yours."
"Yeah, yeah," the creature said, turning around. "Go and run around some more, you don't think that we've gone on enough dangerous quests yet, blah blah blah."
For a few moments no one moved, and then the fourth shoved the fifth forward. "Come on!" it said. "Not all of us have all day!"
A blue light responded to its presence, not stopping even when the fifth flinched away. It trembled as the figure spoke.
"This will reveal to you what you have been seeking all along. To find what you are searching for, go to a place where water, earth, and sky meet, and where all are prepared for the fickleness of the waves. There, you will inevitably encounter someone, although I cannot describe them to you. However, be not dismayed, for you will know them when you see them. Give my gift to them, and they will be able to use it. Help them on their quest, and they will help you on yours."
The fifth calmed down somewhat upon hearing where it would go, although it still hurried to get away from the figure. Even before it started moving, however, the sixth and final creature was stalking up.
Although it tolerated the speed at which the red light came down and the string joined it, as soon as the necklace was formed it snatched the device out of the air and placed it around its neck. "Stop being so slow," it growled.
Despite this, the figure was undisturbed as it started speaking.
"This will reveal to you what you have been seeking all along. To find what you are searching for, go to a place between two teeth of the land, where death is the only unbroken law. There, you will-"
"I know this already, we all heard this the first time, you don't have to keep saying it!" the creature snapped, shocking the other five. Without waiting for an answer, it promptly turned and left.
After a few moments of shocked and uncertain silence, the figure spoke again, still perfectly calm. "Well, then, I believe that you all know what you need to do. I have nothing else to tell you. Go now, and may the best of luck follow you all."
Without further argument against this definitive statement, the five creatures also turned and left, following the steps of the sixth.