Chapter 10
Myotismon led her down to the main level, down a few hallways, and into a massive dining hall. The room was big enough to require three chandeliers hanging elegantly above a long dining table. The walls were lined with colored tapestries. The table ran the length of the entire room, but there were only two chairs, one on each end.
"Mother Francis," Kona gasped, whistling. It was impressive, to say the least.
M giggled, leading her to the end of the table, where a banquet of foods sat, just waiting.
"What a dump you live in, M," she said, grabbing a roll and biting into it.
The smile faded from his face. "It's a prison. If you lived and died here every day, you would think so too. Doesn't matter how beautiful it is."
Kona nodded solemnly, pulling the chair out and sitting. "So this just sits here? All this food? Doesn't it go bad…" she paused, realizing how stupid that sounded.
"Yes, this digital food is going to go bad," M said with a crooked grin, leaning against the wall and sipping his drink.
"Shut up," she said, stuffing more in her mouth. She motioned to the spread. "You don't partake?"
He didn't respond—instead he held up his glass, as if to toast her, and took another drink.
"So then… why is this all here?" she asked through a mouthful of food.
Myotismon licked a spot of blood from his lip. "Irony?"
Kona smiled.
Myotismon rearranged, watching her intently.
"What?" she asked.
"Tell me about that address. The one on your library card," he said.
Kona paused, setting her food down.
"I know you don't want to—that you try very hard not to think about it. In fact, you do a fairly decent job of it. I never saw much of it, even when I was in your mind. But we may very well be the death of each other. Might as well…"
He had a point.
She took a deep breath, steeling herself. She wiped her hands on her pants, more out of anxiety than anything.
"My birth parents died when I was really young. I floated around the system for a long time. I got really… bitter, waiting for a new family. As you've probably seen, I'm kind of… a handful. A couple of families came along, but none of them could handle me. They kept sending me back. Like returning shoes to a store. They kept walking on me, but never keeping me. I got really angry, you know… wondering what was so wrong with me. Why did none of them want me?
"When I was fourteen, this couple took me in. Reena and Owen Seuhlo. They had never fostered before, never had kids of their own. I just knew it wouldn't stick. That they would return me, just like everyone else. No way first-time parents could handle a train-wreck. They never said anything like that, I just… got the feeling, you know.
"So one night, I got really upset, packed my stuff in my backpack, and ran away. I just kept running through the city. The city I'm in now—Odaiba. I ran for days, not able to stop. I was just… panicking. But I finally stopped. I got scared. I mean, I've always been on my own, but… I decided to go back.
"But when I got closer, something was happening. There was this really thick fog, and I couldn't find my way. I went around in circles… I had only lived with them for a few months, I didn't remember my way back. But I finally did find my way back…"
She swallowed her dread, telling herself she wouldn't cry this time.
"Something had happened while I was gone. Some kind of… disaster. Half of Odaiba Bay had been destroyed… including… their house. I tried to go back, but there was nothing to go back to. And ever since then, it's haunted me. What if they actually wanted me? What if I left them, and then they died thinking that I didn't want them. It's a terrible feeling, knowing you're not wanted. And since then, I…"
Damn tears. They came every time. She wiped them away with her sleeve quickly.
She looked over at him, finding him looking… mortified.
"What?" she asked.
He took a deep breath, walking forward slowly, setting his glass on the table. His eyes were distant.
"What?!" she asked again.
"That… that was me," he said, his voice shaking. "When I… came to your world. They tried to destroy me, and only made me stronger. I evolved… I became a monster. Our battle, it… it destroyed Odaiba."
Kona felt a lump in her throat. Shock mixed with rage.
"You… you did that?" she asked, her voice low.
He nodded slowly.
Her entire body, her entire brain locked up. The one pivotal moment in her life. The moment everything changed. And it was him.
Kona stood, facing him. "I… I want to go home. My world," she said, pushing the chair away and walking for the door.
"Kona, please don't…"
"I said I want to go home!" she yelled, spinning back wildly to face him. "Everything shitty that's ever happened to me… every series of events that put me where I am… it was all you. You bring nothing but harm. Now send me back, or I'll find my own way."
He closed his eyes, his shoulders falling. The room began to spin, swallowing her up like it always did and spitting her back out on her pile of sleeping bags and ratty winter coats.
Her rage and anguish began to boil over, and she found herself struggling to breathe. She could have… had a family. If she had gone back, just given it more time. And she'd been prepared to give them more time. And they died… knowing she had left them there. And it was his fault. She grabbed a handful of sleeping bags, buried her face in her pillow, and she screamed as hard as she could.