Note: I own the following characters: Ariyuki, Midori, Kii, Ariyami, Neomon, Digimon Sovereign, Digimon Baron, Alanoko, Merikah, Lilith Tsutomo, Lyle Tsutomo, William Knightsphere, Aika Hitzubi, Miriku Hitzubi (more to come in future chapters...that's a mouthful, isn't it?)I don't own the Digidestined or their parents, but you knew that.^_^
Chapter Ten:
Enter Death
Born from darkness, in the light, the child exists in shadow,
Born from hatred, given love, the child exists to fight.
Yet know he not the road is long and should he stray from right,
Grow cold his heart, grow dark his mind, may Evil grow that night
The policemen all around were trying to comfort Molly, but she continued to cry using her apron. Ken and his brothers ran to her. "Mama?" he asked, "Is everything alright?"
Molly looked up into her son's eyes. "Ken, uh...your father, he..." then she buried her face in her hands again.
"Where's dad?" Ariyami asked.
"Ariyami, sweetie," Molly began. She pulled Ariyami to her and held him tight, as though knowing that what she had to say would set him off like a time bomb. "Everything's okay. Your father's just..."
"What's happened, Ken?" Ariyuki asked, tugging at Ken's sleeve.
Ken didn't know what to say. He knew something was wrong, but Molly just couldn't tell them what. Then Ariyami heard it for the first time since he arrived; an ambulance going off. "Dad!" he cried before scrambling to his feet and dashing to the door.
"Ariyami, wait!" Molly cried, but Ariyami was already out the door.
He teleported down the stairs, the cold night air adding to his worst fears, and in front of the complex. There, a large ambulance was flashing and police and doctors were all around it. "No," he whispered. He ran toward the large van, but was then flocked by three policemen.
"What's this kid doin' here?" one of the men asked.
"This must be one of his sons." said another.
"Well, get 'em back inside before he makes a scene," the first one instructed.
"C'mon, kid. Everything's gonna be alright." said the man soothingly to Ariyami.
"Tell me that's not Cal," Ariyami commanded.
"What?"
"Tell me Cal Ichijouji isn't in that van!" he bellowed.
"Calm down, kid! There was a carjacker! He was shot!"
"What?!" Ariyami broke free of the policeman's grip and dashed into the ambulance, knocking over two doctors and a policeman in the process. He looked in and found his father lying on a stretcher. "Dad," Ariyami ran forth and grabbed his hand. "What happened?"
Cal could barely see; he was exhausted and his breathing was uneven. Ariyami noticed, with the jump of his heart that blood was issuing from his cotton vest, somewhere around his heart. "It...it happened so fast. Si-since last night, when I headed...back to...work, I was too...late to hand the evidence in. I tried earlier today...and before I got there...a man came to the...the car with a gun. The next...thing I knew, I was lying on the...ground, and he...he took to evidence and the car..."
Ariyami stared at his dying father. This couldn't be happening, not to Cal! Then Ariyami, felt a strong pair of hands grab the back of his shirt. "What're you doing in here, kid? This man needs to be taken to the hospital!" a policeman threw Ariyami out of the ambulance and, just before the doors closed, Ariyami could hear his father saying something.
"I'm sorry, Ariyami! I didn't mean to hurt you!"
Tears filled Ariyami's eyes; this situation was hopeless. Ariyuki didn't have the experience to heal Cal, and those doctors weren't going to do any better. Then, it hit him; the carjacker. He was responsible; he shot Cal; Anger and utter hatred filled his body, his heart, his very soul. He wanted to hurt the carjacker, to kill him; make him pay!
Then he heard Ken and Ariyuki on the floors above him, "Ariyami, come back up! There's nothing more we can do!"
"Maybe there's nothing more you can do, Ken, but there's something I can do. It's called revenge!"
"Ariyami, what're you saying?" Ken asked. Then, Ariyami flew off into the air. "Come back, Ariyami!"
"Where's Ariyami going?" Ariyuki asked.
"To get himself into trouble."
Ariyami soared high in the air in search of Cal's car. It was blue and small and shouldn't be too hard to find. Sometimes, however, he would fly down to the street to check some of the cars, scaring a few people out of their skins. Then Ariyami saw it; the dark blue automobile, swerving here and there, apparently nervous; yes, that was his car.
He bolted his speed to catch up to the car; there was a man inside and a folder on the passenger seat. That must be the evidence. Then the man looked out the window and screamed at the sight of Ariyami. "What the hell are you?!" he shrieked.
"Just your Angel of Death!" Ariyami smirked cruelly.
The man was in a definite panic. "Nooooo!" he howled and made a very sharp turn to the left, heading out of Tokyo; Ariyami still followed. He wasn't going to let him out of his sights for anything. Then, taking Ariyami by surprise, the man made another sharp turn off the pavement and on to a gravel path. Ariyami conjured up a ball of purple light and hurled it at the car, knocking out the rearview mirror and causing the carjacker to spin out and crash into a tree.
He stumbled out of the broken door and made to run into the forest, but was cut off by Ariyami. "You won't take me, demon! I'll kill you first!" he screeched, pulling out a handgun and aiming it at Ariyami.
Ariyami laughed. "Go right ahead. Waste your bullets and my time." the man let loose and shot at Ariyami with every bullet he had, but, to his terror, didn't even scratch Ariyami. Looking down, he saw his bullets on the ground in front of this strange boy. "Are these yours?" he asked, smirking with delight.
"You're from Hell!" the carjacker cried and took off down the gravel road.
"No, I'm not, but that's where you'll be wishing you were when I'm through with you!" Ariyami picked up one of the little bullets and held it between his thumb and index finger, looking at it curiously. Then he looked at the panicking man running in the opposite direction. He grinned and hurled the handgun bullet at lightning speed toward the man, striking his leg and sending him to the ground, screaming with agony.
"Oh," cooed Ariyami, "Did that hurt?" he hovered over the cowering man. "Well that's only a demonstration of what I have in store for you." he picked the man up and bashed him extremely hard against a tree, his face inches from the carjacker's. "Did you ever stop to think that this is what would happen to you when you shot my dad?! Huh? Answer me!" Crying like an infant, the man shook his head. "No! And ya wanna know why? Because you're a hopeless, careless, murderous-" every time he called him a name, he'd bash him even harder against the tree "-Worthless, evil-"
"Ariyami?" called a gentle voice behind him. Still clutching the carjacker, Ariyami spun around and saw a familiar red head figure; it was Lilith. She had a confused expression on her face as her eyes roved from Ariyami, to the carjacker, to the crashed car.
"What're you doing here?" he asked.
"We heard gunshots from the house." She pointed further down the road. Sure enough, when Ariyami looked, he saw a two story house in the distance with all the lights on. Next to Lilith was a parked tan-colored van. The doors on both the driver and passenger side opened and out stepped two men. One, Ariyami identified as William, but the other was a blond man he hadn't seen before.
When the blond man saw the carjacker in Ariyami's hands, he gasped. "Miriku Hitzubi! I figured you'd be in prison by now!"
Lilith sauntered over to the blue car, reached in, and extracted a folder. She skimmed through it. "I'm sure he would be if this evidence here was turned in." she explained.
"Hang on," said Ariyami, "I'm confused. What's going on?"
"Miriku is a murderer," explained the young man.
"Yeah, Lyle caught him in the act just three days ago. We figured the evidence would have been turned in by now. I guess he had other plans." said Lilith.
"Yeah," growled Ariyami, "And now I've got a plan! I'm gonna kill him right here and now!"
"Ariyami, wait," said Lilith sternly.
"He deserves to die!"
"I'm sure that's true, but it's not for you to decide. It's for the police. What you want isn't the law. You'll only be guilty of murder too." Lilith placed a gentle hand on Ariyami's shoulder while Lyle brought out a pair of handcuffs. "You didn't chase him down just because he hijacked a car, did you? What happened, Ariyami?"
"That monster shot my dad! He's in the hospital, dying right now!" Ariyami was in a rage, shaking the carjacker viciously, tears streaming down his face. Then he fell to his knees, too dizzy to rampage anymore. Lilith kneeled down and comforted Ariyami, embracing him and calming him.
Then she walked to the van and took a blue bag from the back seats. "Lyle, you take the man to the police station and give them the evidence. Ariyami, take me to the hospital."
Lyle shrugged at Will and obeyed, cuffing the carjacker's wrists tightly and throwing him in the back seat. "Why do want to-" Ariyami began.
"Ariyuki isn't the only person with healing abilities, remember?" I think if we work fast, I might be able to save him. Ariyami nodded and obeyed. He held Lilith in his arms and slowly lifted himself off the ground (he wasn't familiar with flying with a burden). Once in the air, he soared at top speed toward the hospital, praying they weren't too late already.
"Why do ya need the bag?" Ariyami asked, staring at it.
"There are some herbs in here that should help speed the healing process," she shouted back through the wind. Soon the Yukenji Hospital was in sight and Ariyami slowly dropped to the front doors. Clutching her herb bag, Lilith, with Ariyami behind, darted to the front desk. "Please, ma'am," she said breathlessly, "We're looking for Cal Ichijouji. Is he here?"
They both watched patiently as the blond young woman swiftly scanned through the files. "Oh, yes!" she exclaimed, withdrawing a card. "Cal Ichijouji. He's on the fourth floor, dearie."
"Thank you." they both said quickly as they ran for the elevator. Riding to the fourth floor, Lilith watched as Ariyami held his hands together in worry. "Don't worry, Ariyami. I'm sure this'll all turn out alright." she said soothingly.
"I feel like it's my fault," he told her. When he saw Lilith's confused expression, he added, "The last thing I remember saying to him was 'I hope you disappear off the face of this Earth and never come back.' If only I'd known."
Lilith gripped his shoulder. "It's not your fault. Your dad was a victim of a crime. This had nothing to do with you, kay?" At that moment the elevator doors opened and they found themselves on the fourth floor. Overwhelmed by worry again, Ariyami dashed down the halls, Lilith tagging along behind. Then he came to a stop in front of room 405.
It had a clipboard on it with the name Ichijouji, Cal on it. Lilith, finally catching up to Ariyami, took the clipboard down and read it. The file had one word stamped on it that made Lilith and Ariyami's insides turn cold: "FATAL...Estimated time left, four hours". In panic, Ariyami yanked the door open and ran inside. He and Lilith found Cal alone in the room, life support running slow and his IV removed.
Horrified, Ariyami made to run to him, but Lilith grabbed his shirt, gave him a stern look, and nodded toward the door, indicating him to stand watch while she worked. She stood over his stretcher and his eyes slowly opened. "It's alright, sir. I'm here to help you." whispered Lilith, opening her bag. She withdrew a bunch of what looked like fuzzy white flowers.
When she started tying them together, Ariyami asked, "What're you doing? What are those?"
"Shh. I'm making a crown of Princess Feather," she replied, not taking her eyes off the flowers.
"Princess Feather?"
"Amaranth," she placed the crown on Cal's head and took his hand. "A crown of amaranth worn on the head helps speed the healing process. Now please be quite; I really need to concentrate..." She closed her eyes and searched inside herself for her blue healing light. Hardly a second passed before she found her power and brought it out. She lifted her head up and she and Cal, instead of outlined, were engulfed in the bright blue radiance.
Ariyami realized that she was using the full force of her power to heal Cal. He watched as Cal's eyes shot open with shock at all of his pains going away at once. He felt his wound closing and sighed with the soothing and relieving feeling overcoming him. Then he heard Lilith panting with the effort of keeping the spell in play. Thinking quickly, he jerked his hand away and the chain broke, causing the light to vanish.
Lilith stood up and swayed. The next thing she felt was hot dizziness and her body falling backward. Ariyami quickly stooped down and caught her, easing her to the ground. "Lilith! Hey, kido. Hang in there!" she heard Ariyami's voice call. His worried image slid in and out of focus, though, and it was becoming harder to hear him.
Then she submitted to weariness and Ariyami felt her body go limp. She had fainted. Ariyami gently placed her in a chair next to Cal's stretcher and covered her with a blanket. Then he turned to his dad, who was sitting up and grinning. "Dad! Are you alright?"
"I'm alright and better, son," he turned to the unconscious Lilith. "That's quite a special friend you've got there, Ariyami." he smirked. "Don't lose sight of that one."
Ariyami felt shocked, but overlooked it. "She's more Ken's friend than mine, dad," he said with folded arms.
"Oh! I see. So, who do you have a crush on?"
"Dad," interrupted Ariyami, "You've just escaped death's grip. Can we talk about something else?"
"Right, right," Cal began, laying back down. At that moment, however, three doctors came bursting into the room, their eyes mad, searching for the invader.
"You're that brat that wouldn't leave us alone back at your house! Leave at once! This man is-" but he stopped at the sight of Cal waving cheerfully at him.
"I don't suppose you'd kick my son out, now would you?" Cal asked politely, a warning fire in his eyes.
"You-you're-but you're suppose to be-"the surgeon stuttered, then took a final glance at Ariyami and left, slamming the door behind him. Ariyami pulled down both of his lower eyelids and stuck out his tongue.
While Cal laughed, Ariyami took him by surprise and hugged him tightly. "Whoa! Hang on, Ariyami! Just because I'm gonna live doesn't mean it still doesn't hurt."
"I know. It's just...I'm sorry, Dad, for everything I said." Ariyami was choking back his tears, "I didn't mean any of it."
"No, it's me who should be sorry. You are a big boy and can take better care of yourself than I can. I guess I was in fear of losing another boy." Cal smiled at Ariyami, who looked confused.
"What's this other boy I keep hearing about?" Ariyami finally asked.
Cal suddenly looked solemn. "We used to have two sons. One, of course, is Ken, but there was an older one. His name was Osamu, but we called him Sam. One day, he...was in an accident; a car accident. Ken took it pretty hard."
"Is he the boy with frizzy blue hair that Ken keeps a picture of on the desk?" Ariyami asked.
Cal nodded. "Ken would never lose that picture. He misses Sam a lot. In a small sense, you remind me of him, Ariyami. Sure, he was smart, a genius like Ken to be exact, but he would never listen to rules. He had a rebellious heart and a short temper to his enemies, just like you."
"I've got a short temper to everybody," retorted Ariyami in mock pout.
"I know, but that's why you're Ken's counterpart. Ken used to be short tempered to everyone too." Cal stretched and yawned. "Ya know, I reckon it's time for bed. Why don't you take Lilith with you. She can rest at our house for the night."
"Sure," Ariyami gave his father one last hug before picking Lilith up from the chair. She moaned and mumbled in her sleep, making Ariyami and Cal smile. "Bye, Dad!" and with that, Ariyami opened the window and flew out of it. Lilith shivered in the cold night air and awoke slowly.
"Ariyami? Where are we?"
"We're just heading home. You should go back to sleep, Lilith." Lilith mumbled again and snuggled into Ariyami's chest for warmth, making him blush. To his relief, Ariyami spotted his apartment's balcony and gently pulled in for a landing. He slid open the door and Molly, Ken, and Ariyuki all ran over to them. Molly had a tear-stained face and Ken and Ariyuki had worry and exasperation on their faces.
"Where have you been, Ariyami? I've been so worried!" Molly stopped, however, when Ariyami put his finger to his lips.
"She's asleep." he told them.
"Why is Lilith with you anyway, Ariyami?" Ken asked.
"Let's make a bed for her on the couch and I'll tell you everything."
With Lilith snoozing on the sofa, Ariyami quietly explained how he'd chased the carjacker down, how he ran into Lilith and her brother, and how she healed Cal to almost perfect health. Molly burst into tears again and held her son. "Oh, Ariyami! I don't know what to say! I thought Cal had died!"
"Don't tell that to me," replied Ariyami, "Tell that to Lilith."
"So that's why she's so wiped out," mused Ken, "She used up all of her energy to heal Dad."
"We should all visit Daddy tomorrow, right guys?" suggested Ariyuki.
"That's a wonderful idea!" exclaimed Ken.
"I'm all for it!" said Ariyami.
"Yes. And we'll all bring him presents," Molly added, wiping her tears away. "However," she picked up Ariyuki, "I think it's bed time now. There's been enough excitement for one day."
Glancing at the kitty cat clock hanging from the kitchen wall, Ken suddenly felt exhausted; it was 2:30 A.M. He rubbed his eyes, then ambled into his room along with his brothers. Ariyuki pulled on white pajamas with different colored cats jumping, sleeping, or playing with a ball of yarn on them while Ariyami buttoned up a blue pair of pajamas with nothing but bubble designs all over. Ken wore a pair of light blue pajamas with snowflakes embedded in them. Remembering Lilith, a thought crossed Ken's mind; "Uh, Ariyami, where are you gonna sleep?"
"Aw, I wouldn't worry about that. I can sleep in the air, Kenny Boy." Ariyami replied, disappearing.
Ken shrugged then entered the living room where Molly was tending to Lilith. "Oh, dear. Ken, honey, would you hand me the ice pack, please? This little dear has a fever." Ken obeyed and opened the freezer where their trusty ice pack laid, waiting to tend to the need of another poor soul.
"Here it is, Mom," Ken handed the cold compress and a little bit of string to Molly and she tied the ice pack to Lilith's head.
"The poor, sweet dear. She used all of her strength to help us. Bless her little heart." Molly beamed at Lilith, then bustled into her room to change for bed.
Ken was left alone with Lilith. He sat next to her and made sure her blankets were securely over her. After he finished making preparations, he smiled at her. Though she was asleep she still looked something like an angel. He couldn't help but remember first meeting her; that shy but brilliant girl who sat next to him in class; now she was one of his best friends and possibly more.
Then Ariyuki called from the bedroom, requesting that Ken tell him a bedtime story. He laughed and shook his head, strolling into the bedroom. After telling Ariyuki the chilling tale of how he and the others defeated Malo Myotismon, he climbed the ladder to his top bunk and almost instantly fell asleep.
"I'm telling you, she's starting to figure it out!"
"Master, there's no way. She's not nearly smart enough-"
"Baron! I know what I'm talking about! She's becoming more conscious of me, and if she realizes who I am, my mission on revenge could be jeopardized! She might even tell the others!"
"Yes, I could just imagine how well they'd like to be her friend then."
"Oh, well. It doesn't matter. Soon that magic talisman will be in my possession and, even if she does figure it out, it'll be too late. I'll have destroyed the Digital World and my revenge will be complete. That's all that matters to me now, even more than my very soul. Let us go, Baron."
Lilith awoke the very next morning, remembering her dream. She even began repeating the conversation; it was like she was actually there listening to the Digimon Sovereign and Baron. Her thoughts were interrupted, however, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and saw Ken with two glasses of orange juice; he handed one to her and sat down next to her. "Sleep well?" he asked.
"I guess," she muttered strangely, making Ken glance at her with doubt. She sighed then faced Ken. "I think the Digimon Sovereign is getting stronger, Ken. I heard him and the Baron in my dreams. He was talking about some magic talisman that would give him power." she searched Ken's face for some form worry or doubt in her, but there was none. Instead, he began to ponder.
"If what you're saying is true, then that means we need to find the Digimon Sovereign and fast. If he finds this talisman, he could be unstoppable." Ken started to pace back and forth, thinking.
Lilith just watched him, fear coursing through her with the memory of something else from her dream. She was afraid to tell him, but had no choice, "Ken," she began, "I think this also has something to do with...me."
Ken stopped and stared at her. "Why you?"
"I don't know." Lilith sighed and stood up. "I just remember the Sovereign talking about someone, a girl realizing who the Sovereign was. I don't know; it could be someone else. It's just...I had the dream..."
"Well, I don't see any reason to worry about that right now. I think we need to call the others." Ken walked to the kitchen wall and picked up the phone, dialing Davis's number, feeling shocked at himself for doing so. After the tiring conversation with Davis, Ken put the phone back and walked back to the sofa. "Davis says he and the others will be at the park waiting for us at about 6:30," glancing down at himself and blushing, he added, "I'd better get dressed."
Lilith giggled while Ken stumbled into his room. While waiting, Lilith slid open the balcony door and stepped outside; the weather was beautiful and the sky was lovely. The clouds in the sky were light and see-through; a light breeze filled the air, carrying the scent of cooking noodles from a restaurant downstairs; the slight sound of speeding cars and chattering people filled her ears; she sighed in contentment. Five minutes later, Ken emerged from his room, dressed in his blue jeans, white shirt and blue jacket. Spying Lilith on the balcony, he smiled and approached her.
"Anything new going on down there?" he asked, making her jump slightly.
"I wouldn't know," she said. At that moment, Ariyuki made his appearance behind Ken, dressed, and looking like he was ready to play.
"Are we ready to go outside yet, Ken?" he asked energetically, swinging Ken's hand around.
Ken grinned. "Sure. Let's wake Ariyami too."
"That won't be necessary," hummed a voice everyone recognized as Ariyami's. they stared around and finally Ariyuki found him floating about ten feet in the air above them.
"So, what's the news from the sky, captain?" Ken asked.
"Nuthin' much. Clear skies until three, then a downpour of rain," Ariyami announced cheerfully, landing on the balcony.
"Why are you in such a good mood?" Ken asked suspiciously.
"I just got dad a get well present!" Ariyami pulled out a bag from his pocket and extracted a box of chocolates.
Ken and Ariyuki's faces brightened. If they knew their father, he loved chocolate. "I think we should all buy Cal a present," Lilith suggested.
"Yeah! Can I buy him a toy?" Ariyuki asked.
"I think you'll be playing with it more than dad, Ariyuki," said Ken, patting his head.
"We'll just see what's at the store," said Ariyami, walking through the balcony door.
Getting their shoes on, the Ichijouji boys and Lilith stepped outside into the warm weather, which, Ariyami told them, wouldn't last very long. They made their stop at a grocery store first. Ken was shocked but pleased when he saw the same brown-haired store clerk he'd seen on the night when he met Ariyuki. While they chitchatted for a few minutes, Lilith and Ariyuki went to the back of the store where the frozen goods isle was. Lilith knew that flowers were always sold back there.
Lilith picked out a bouquet of princess feather, orchids, little meadowsweets, and bluebells, while Ariyuki chose irises, white soft fox gloves, and daffodils. Their combined scent was beautiful and refreshing. Ken was impressed with their gifts and was pondering what kind of present he should give. Ariyami suggested more candy, but that was already taken and there was no point in sending Cal to the dentist while he was still in the hospital. Finally he decided on buying him a mystery book called "Murderous Love" which, Lilith warned, would probably keep him up late at night.
At the hospital, Cal was pleased to see them all and to have some company. Ariyami presented him the chocolates with enthusiasm and Cal took them with the same kind of joy as Ariyami. Ariyuki presented his gift of flowers next; Cal put his nose to them and sighed at the scent of the beautiful fragrance. Taking Lilith's gift, he stared at the princess feather, then dug around his bed for something. He found what he was looking for and held it up; it was Lilith's crown of amaranth.
"These are the same flowers that were on my head last night. What do they do, Lilith?" Cal asked.
"They help heal. I almost never go anywhere without some. Speaking of heal," Lilith turned to Ken and Ariyuki. "I've got a feeling that ever since you two got your magic powers, you've been neglecting your practicing."
"I'm sorry," admitted Ariyuki truthfully. "I just can't find anything to practice on."
"I haven't been slacking, Lilith. I just don't know how to use my magic," explained Ken.
"Well, why don't you two come with me to my house? I can start teaching each of you the basics. It'll be fun!" Lilith smiled hopefully at both of them.
How could they refuse? "Sure," said Ken. "I'd love to get a handle on my powers."
"Okay!" Ariyuki danced around the room with excitement.
"Ken," Cal spoke suddenly, "You never told me you had magic. When did this happen?"
"Good question," Ken admitted, shrugging. "I just found out I had powers about a week ago. Lilith just helped bring it out." Cal nodded, though he wasn't sure he fully understood.
"Why don't you three get goin now, then?" Cal suggested, "I mean, there's nothing much for you to do here."
"What about you?" Ken asked. "Won't you be lonely?"
"I'll stay with 'em," explained Ariyami. "I've already got a good grip on my magic."
"Alright. See ya later, guys!" Ken waved good-bye and shut the door behind him, Ariyuki, and Lilith.
"So, what other things can you teach us, Lilith?" Ken asked, turning anxiously toward her.
"It all depends. The things I can teach you can only be things that come to you naturally. You'd need a pretty wise mage to teach you other things," Lilith replied, flicking some dust off of her blue skirt. "I think it's obvious that Ariyuki's natural magic is Life and Love Magic. While most have to be taught to use Life Magic, also known as Healing, when it comes to Love Magic, you can use it and not even know it. Love Magic can have an impact on almost anyone.
"It surrounds your aura with a sense of gentleness and kindness and makes people all around feel good when the person with the magic gift feels good. However, this can also be a bad thing; Love and Life Magic almost always come together in the same magical package, if you get what I mean. There are some evil mages out there who hunt down those who have the gift of healing. The evil mages want the person with the magic so they can take it and use it for themselves so they can be nearly unstoppable. They find the people who have the gift by feeling for their aura."
"That's a lot to swallow," said Ken, looking down at Ariyuki. "But, what do you think my magic is?"
"That's a good question." Lilith started to think. "I'll have to conduct some tests when we get to my house."
Ken nodded, but then remembered something about Ariyuki. "Hey, Lilith. I remember Ariyuki also being able to break things with his magic."
"What'd you mean?"
"I mean that one time when we were captured by the Sovereign, his Digimon, Midori was under attack and his anger flew off the charts along with his magical force."
It didn't even take Lilith a minute to respond to that. "That's easy to explain. When a mage loses control of his mind, mainly caused by anger, their primitive power comes forth. It's used for defense to obliterate any form of harm to them or their friends." Lilith went red, "I've, uh...I've used my Primitive Magic once in a while too."
"Yeah, that would explain that incident with Skullmeramon," Ken pointed out.
"Exactly."
Once at Lilith's house, Lilith proceeded to introducing Ariyuki to Lyle. After being held, cuddled, and called "A cute little thing" by Lyle, Ariyuki, being lead by Ken and Lilith, ambled upstairs to Lilith's room. He showed the same kind of reaction as Ken did when he first saw it. After being given a little tour around, Ken and Ariyuki had to sit on the floor while Lilith dug around her hope chest for her rules of incantations.
"I know it's in here somewhere," her voice came from the chest. "Aha! There you are!" she climbed back out and Ken and Ariyuki saw a large book in her hands. "Okay, this old baby should help me identify what kind of magic Ken has. Ariyuki, Lyle's been having some back pains. I want you try and fix it, alright?"
"Sure thing!" Ariyuki saluted and ran out the door, letting Nekomata in. While she settled herself on Lilith's bed to snooze, Lilith began flipping through the pages of her large text.
"Okay, have you ever had a headache or sneeze attack before a storm or rise or fall in temperate occurred?" when Ken shook his head, Lilith continued to flip through. "Alright, so you don't have Weather Predictions," she said absently, "Good thing to. Not a very useful talent. Okay, when you get mad, upset, or delighted have things tended to move around?" Ken once again shook his head and Lilith once again scanned more pages. "Alright, have you been able to strangely find lost or thrown away things that you adored, or have things ever seemed to find their way to you?"
"Nope." said Ken, stroking Nekomata who had come for attention.
"You're a confusing case, Ken!" Lilith's eyes glinted when she flipped to another page somewhere in the middle of the book. "Alright; now we're in the powerful section; This oughta be good. Have you ever been able to bend spoons with your mind or experienced a strange tingling sensation before danger ever finds its way to you? No? Okay; when you're upset or when you cry, does it seem to rain?"
"Never," said Ken, "Or it would have rained last summer time when I was crying and cursing how hot it was."
"Then I don't know what to tell you," Lilith told him, closing her book and throwing it on her bed. "There's just nothing in the book that could tell me what kind of power you have. Oh, well; we'll find out later. Why don't you, me, and Ariyuki all go get an ice cream?"
"That sounds great," said Ken, "My stomach's having a seizure on me."
Heading downstairs, Ken called for Ariyuki who was finishing up on Lyle's back. Lilith headed for the kitchen to take some money off the counter, but Lyle beat her to it. "Oh, no you don't. I'm comin' with you."
Lilith's face was contorted into a childish sulk, but she ran back into the living room with Ken and Ariyuki. After all four of them got their shoes on and headed outside, Lyle made to go to his car, but Lilith stopped him. "Oh, no. We can walk, Lyle." she told him, making him pout too.
"Sometimes I wish you hadn't gotten Mom's personality," he complained, reluctantly walking down the stone steps and gravel road with the others.
Finally making it into town again, Lilith and Ken strolled in the lead, discussing Ken's possible magic ability while Lyle demonstrated his strength to Ariyuki by holding him up with just his left arm. While Ariyuki laughed with enjoyment, a couple walked by and the wife, watching Lyle and Ariyuki, complained to her husband: "See? That man play with his son all the time!" When the couple was out of ear range, all four of them let out their laughter. A few blocks down, once the ice cream parlor came into view, two other familiar figures did too; Ariyami and Kari were sitting at one of the shaded tables, talking about Digimon.
"What are you two doing here?" Ken asked, approaching them.
"Well," Ariyami began, "Kari had found out about Dad on the news and came to the hospital today with some get well roses and a card. After sitting and talking to dad with me, he insisted that me and Kari go get something to eat. We decided to come here."
"Well that's great. We can all eat ice cream together!" announced Ariyuki.
"Alright," said Lyle, "I'll take orders and get the stuff and you three sit down. Lilith, I know what you want; Ariyuki, what settles your fancy? A milkshake, alright. Ken? A cone? That's it? Chocolate. Okay; I'll be back in a minute."
After receiving their ice cream, all six of them decided to go for a walk to Lilith's house to relax. They waited patiently along with a group of other people for the crosswalk light to turn green. When the little green man appeared, they waited for the other people to go first. Ken and Lilith went next; that's when trouble hit.
Right when Ken and Lilith were in the middle of the street, a jeep came careening out of control, driven by an extremely drunk driver and three passengers in the back seats. They were heading right for them. Kari, Ariyami, Ariyuki, and Lyle all shouted for them to run, but even if they did, they wouldn't make it to the others side on time. The jeep was only feet away; Lilith screamed and covered her eyes; Ken shielded himself hopelessly with his arms. This was the moment when all hope seemed lost...