THE CREST OF UNITY: Part 12
::cracks knuckles:: And thus comes the next part of the story…::sighs:: thanx again to the people who ARE reviewing *hint hint* ^_^ and if you aren't, please do! Input is much appreciated! Cause I know there are people reading this story…lots in fact…::narrows eyes:: I checked my statistics!…/8-I
Anyhoo, I don't own digimon yada yada yada and don't sue cause I have no money…you can have my stamp collection though! =^_^=
"Izzy…"
The computer whiz slowly opened his eyes.
"Izzy…"
Eyes still heavy-lidded, the redhead clumsily lifted his head and squinted, for there was a sudden bright light…all around…
"Koushiro Izumi!"
Izzy blinked, startled, and looked up fully, eyes half closed as the dazzling white light surrounded him. As his eyes adjusted he could see a white figure standing in front of him.
"Who…are you?" he asked with his natural curiosity. Although he could not clearly see the person's face, he could sense him smiling. He walked forward and knelt down in front of the young scientific genius, pressing something into his hand.
"Make sure she gets this"
"Who gets what?" the boy asked, confused. Although his visitor was now close up, the image was still a blur…a dark-haired male dressed in white was all he could see as the bright light blinded him.
"You'll know when you see her…just make sure she gets it" the figure began to slowly fade away in a misty light.
"Wait! Who are you?" Izzy called out, but the figure was gone.
Izzy woke up with a start. He sat up straight, his metal chains rattling against the cold courtyard wall.
"hmmmm…I wonder what that was about?" the boy analysed his dreams, much like he would any other situation. He was about to bring a hand to his chin to ponder what had happened, when he felt something solid clenched in his gloved fist. He was startled as he realised how familiar he was with the oddly shaped object.
Like lightning he brought his hand up in front of his face and opened it to reveal it's contents. Lying in his palm was a tag and crest…and they weren't his own. He fell back against the wall as he wondered whose it was. He thought it had all just been a dream…
He looked down at the crest in his hand. Oh it was real alright…but whom did it belong to?
Suddenly he heard a movement nearby and turned to see Melody stirring in her sleep. He smiled to himself as he thought about how graceful she looked in her slumber…although dirty and unkempt, she still was very beautiful underneath the cuts and bruises… He blinked, trying to figure out what he was feeling, but unlike so many puzzles he had triumphed over in the past, his own emotions were still unsolved mysteries…
"Izzy?" he looked up as the blonde girl groggily sat upright, her voice husky and warm with sleep. He felt his heart do a small dance number in his chest.
"Uhh…y-yeah?…" he stuttered.
"Why…are you…awake?" she yawned, looking incredibly cute as she did so, blinking dazedly.
"Well I-" the redhead was stopped in mid-sentence as his eye caught sight of something peeking out of the pocket of her torn and battered black skirt.
"Where did you get that?" he asked sharply, his breathing becoming shallow and his excitement slowly building. Melody looked puzzled for a moment and followed his gaze to the pocket of her long skirt. When she realised what he was looking at she pulled out the object.
"What? You mean this?" she held out a digivice. Izzy breathed in deeply and looked from the digivice, to the crest and back again.
"What's that?" the blonde artist gestured at the tag and crest. "Can I have a look?" she asked, her own curiosity almost as great as his. He nodded and held it out. For once in his life he was speechless. The redhead bit his lip as her hand reached out for it and during that brief moment it began to glow. Melody pulled her hand back in surprise and gazed down at the digivice in her hand as it began to shrill loudly. She looked back up and watched with awe and fear as the crest and tag floated out of Izzy's hand towards her. The blonde girl shrank back, as it's cords slipped over her head.
"Don't worry…it's alright" Izzy assured the girl and she sat stock still as the crest and tag hung itself about her neck. The digivice stopped its screeching and all was silent as the blonde artist cautiously held up the crest in front of her.
"What…is it?" she whispered. The computer whiz suddenly heard a voice speak to his heart and he blinked, listening.
"The-Crest of…Verity…" he said, dazed. He gazed at her with awe.
"You're…a digidestined…"
Matt felt the dawn light hit his eye-lids, warm and bright; it was going to be another hot day…He blinked and proceeded to sit up but realised something was weighing him down. The rebel glanced down and saw the angelic face of the digidestined he had come to love; long black tendrils of hair scattered over her skin, causing him to smile. She stirred slightly in her sleep and one of her arms came up to circle his neck. He grinned and was overpowered by the heated urge to kiss her. Not realising what he was doing, the blonde leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, tasting the salt from her tears of the previous night. Harmony's muffled sigh passed his mouth and suddenly her own lips pressed harder against his as she began to wake up. He made a gruff noise in the back of his throat as she came into full awareness, her tongue slipping into his mouth, dancing over and around his. The guitarist sat up and before they knew it they were both frenching madly.
"Hey! You two! Would you like to have breakfast, or would you prefer to eat each other's faces?!"
They broke apart; arms still around each other, to see Tai grinning madly at them. But instead of getting angry, Matt just smirked at him.
"I think you're just jealous!" The leader was surprised by the rebel's mild reaction and was about to form a comeback of his own when he felt someone's arm slip around him.
"He better not be!" Sora grinned, squeezing Tai. They laughed and the tomboyish girl held up some fish she had caught. Biyomon danced up to her side.
"Breakfast!!!" the pink bird digimon cried, waking up Joe and Mimi.
"Well well well, if it isn't sleeping beauty and her charming prince!" Gomamon grinned, having woken up earlier. Joe and Mimi blushed, causing the digimon and other digidestined to laugh. Suddenly TK and Kari came running up to them, followed closely by Gatomon and Patomon.
"Dessert!" they shouted together, dumping a large pile of berries and other fruits they had found on a flat rock.
"Well, let's get started on breakfast then!" Gabumon stared at the food hungrily and they all set about creating a small feast for themselves.
Matt looked down at Harmony.
"Well, what do you think?"
"Hmmm…I definitely like your idea of a wake-up call!" she licked her lips and smiled up at him mischievously. He blushed slightly.
"I was talking about breakfast!"
"Sure you were!" Harmony winked and Matt was startled by her easy, laid-back attitude. She seemed so happy. He sighed, shaking his head and grinning.
"Come on!" he took her by the hand and helped her up, leading her over to the others to start the meal.
Lady Teleoromon was once again at her tower window, watching Izzy and Melody. She was suspicious of whatever it was they were talking about for they were chattering away quite excitedly…
The evil digimon turned away and slammed her fists down on the table again. Her plans were going astray and she knew they were all based on the single hope that Harmony and Melody would fight each other- but what if they didn't?
The witch leaned back against a wall, lost in thought. It seemed the only way to get them to fight was to gain control of Melody again, but this time she would have to make it more…natural… Last time she had controlled everything Melody did and it had taken all of her power, which was why the digidestined had nearly defeated her with just two pathetic digimon… No, when she met up with them again she could not waste all of her power on controlling Melody. This time she would use one of the oldest tricks in the book…
She clapped her hands together and a book of spells appeared in front of her. The pages flicked over by themselves before stopping at the one she required. She looked up, eyes narrowed.
This time she would just use Melody's natural feelings and magnify them ten fold…until all hell would break loose…
"Oh yeah that was good!" Tai leaned back, feeling fully satisfied after a large breakfast. The others all agreed but Tentomon remained silent, looking down at the ground. Harmony watched, feeling sorry for the digimon who had hardly touched any of the food. She glanced at Tigramon who had also noticed something was wrong.
"Are you alright Tentomon?" the cat digimon asked sympathetically. He sighed.
"I'm worried about Izzy…" the mechanical bug answered sadly. Agumon put a claw on his back.
'I'm sure he's fine buddy!"
"Yeah- c'mon, finish eating! When you find him, you want to be able to digivolve, don't you?!" Gomamon encouraged him. Tentomon looked up in shock.
"Yes, of course!" he began to eat away hurriedly and Sora smiled.
"So what's today's plan of action?" she asked, looking around.
"Well I say we keep going towards that spooky castle! I bet that's where we'll find Izzy and maybe even Melody!" Tai glanced at Harmony for a moment then turned to Matt, expecting him to disagree. He was surprised when the blonde remained silent and nodded in agreement.
Matt was AGREEING with him???!!! Well, there was a first for everything…
Tai was about to continue when suddenly the flat rock they had been eating off began to shake. They all jumped up and backed away, watching in surprise as a familiar holographic image appeared. Gennai. But instead of seeing a clear image, the hologram began to blink wildly, the signal interrupted.
"Signal…talk long…other…digi...find…"
"What are you talking about Gennai? We can't understand you!!" Tai said, frustrated. Suddenly the connection was broken and Gennai disappeared.
"Wait!" he called out, but it was too late. He swung a fist through the air.
"Damn!" Sora took hold of his arm, trying to calm him down.
"I wonder what that was all about?" Joe spoke up, pushing his glasses back up his nose.
"Well- whatever it is, it will have to wait! We need to find Izzy…and Melody…" Matt slipped his hand into Harmony's and gave it a comforting squeeze. She smiled up at him gratefully. By this time, Tai had calmed down.
"Yeah- you're right! Let's go!" he said and everyone cleared up the campsite and moved out towards the huge castle still miles ahead of them.
"Remember who you are…"
Cobrastramon writhed in his sleep, he just wanted to forget.
"No! What are you afraid of?! Remember your past without fear, return to your true identity!"
"NO! I can't!" the snake cried out in fear.
"You can, remember who you are!"
"Who I am?"
"Yes, your identity!"
"My identity- but this is all I have ever known!"
The voice continued to haunt him.
"It isn't all you've ever known! Don't you remember?"
"All I remember…is I was waiting for someone! But she never came!"
"She has now…find her"
"But, who is she?"
"You will know, it is in your heart…" the voice faded away.
"Wait…wait…."
"Wait!!!" the snake woke up fearfully, looking around his pitch-black room.
The dream…what did it mean?
The snake's eyes flicked open in shock as the answers flashed before him, sending tingling shocks up and down his spine to the tip of his tail.
He knew…he had always known, he just ignored it…
Cobrastramon narrowed his eyes in the darkness.
He had ignored it for so long…but he couldn't anymore…he knew who he was looking for, and he had found her…
Izzy watched in horror as once again Lady Teleoromon forced Melody to drink a black, oozing potion. The blonde girl began to choke as she was thrown to the ground, writhing in agony.
"Melody!" the computer whiz called out anxiously, watching the artist fall unconscious. The evil digimon began to laugh.
"Really, if I didn't know better I'd say you cared for her! Well say your good-byes while you can because when your friends get here, I shall destroy you all!"
the witch roared with laughter and walked away, back into her dark, gloomy castle. The redhead looked down sadly and reached out to stroke the blonde hair of the latest digidestined. Suddenly he heard a slithering sound to his right. He looked up, startled and locked eyes with his well known, snake-like enemy; Cobrastramon.
"What do you want?!" Izzy said spitefully, for the first time finally understanding what it was like to feel pure anger towards someone.
"I- I'm sorry" the digimon hissed, causing Izzy to fall back against the wall in surprise. He watched as the snake twisted his tail around so a pair of keys on a chain became visible. He remained in silent shock, watching Cobrastramon fiddle with his chains, unlocking the iron cuffs. The metal fell to the ground with a loud rattle and the snake looked around in fear, almost afraid of his own shadow. Izzy stood up, letting the circulation return to his limbs and grabbed the keys off the snake, hurriedly undoing Melody's bindings. The girl groaned.
"mmm….Izzy?"
"Shhh!" the redhead put a finger to his lips.
"Quick! We must get out of here! Follow me!!!" Cobrastramon whispered anxiously.
"Why should we trust you?" Izzy turned on him. The snake looked down.
"Why indeed?" They remained in silence for a few moments and the computer whiz sighed.
"I guess we have no other choice…help me with Melody" the snake nodded and wrapped the blonde artist tightly in his coils like he had done with Izzy, raising her high in the air.
"Let's go…"
The redhead raced after the fast-moving snake, towards a pitch-black entrance, their only way out of the nightmarish castle.
Harmony was meters ahead of everyone else, anxious to find her sister.
"Woah! Slow down Harmony!" Tai called out to her and Matt pushed him slightly.
"Can't you see she's worried about Melody? Geez…"
Tai was about to fight when he felt Sora take hold of his arm.
"Leave it Tai" she whispered. He sighed and let Matt go, watching him run to catch up to Harmony.
Matt slipped a hand into Harmony's.
"She'll be okay" he said softly and wrapped an arm about her waist. She sighed and leaned against him, laying her head on his shoulder.
"I- I just…" but she was interrupted as her digivice began to beep. Matt looked down in surprise as his did the same. They both stopped walking and looked at the electronic pieces.
"What's up guys?" Joe called out, wondering why they had stopped moving. The guitarist and rebel grinned, looking up at the others.
"I think we've picked up Izzy's signal!" Harmony called out happily. Tai looked startled.
"No way…" the others all ran up to them and soon their digivices began beeping too.
"Then he must be in the castle"
"We're so close"
"Yay! We found them!" everyone began talking at once and Kari and TK jumped up and down. Harmony watched them sadly and walked a few paces ahead. Suddenly her digivice began beeping twice as much. Glancing down, she was shocked to see a second dot appear on the small screen, very close to Izzy.
Matt glanced up, wondering where Harmony had got to. He was relieved to see her standing only a couple of meters away in front of them, but frowned as he watched her face. She seemed surprised over something…
As if she could sense him staring at her, she glanced up at him with a bewildered expression on her face.
"What's wrong Harmony?" Matt called out anxiously, causing the others to stop chattering.
"Guys…please come over and stand here with me and tell me if you see the same thing as I do on your digivices…"
The others looked at one another, puzzled, but complied with her request and crowded around her, staring at their digivices.
"What the…" Joe started.
"But that can't be right…" Kari spoke up.
"Another signal?!" Matt voiced the thought going through everyone's heads. On each of their digivices was another small dot, very pale and weak compared to Izzy's but there all the same. They all looked at Harmony's digivice over her shoulders and were surprised to find the signal slightly stronger on hers.
"That's weird…why would Harmony's digivice pick up the signal better than ours?" Tai asked out loud and watched in confusion as the guitarist's eyes widened.
"Melody…" she whispered softly, but loud enough for the others to hear. They all fell into shocked silence.
"You don't think that…"
"But how…"
"Gennai!" TK said suddenly and they all turned to look at him.
"Don't you remember…we couldn't understand what he was saying, but it was about finding something…"
"…or someone!" Matt caught on quickly.
"Yes…now that I think about it," Sora began. "I heard Gennai say the word 'digi' but I thought he must have been talking about digimon, or digiworld…but he could have been talking about-"
"A digidestined" Tai finished for her, everyone falling silent again. Matt watched Harmony carefully as she turned away from them, looking towards the castle.
"Melody…" she whispered. "You don't think…she could be the tenth digidestined…do you?"
When the others remained silent she turned towards them, wild-eyed.
"I- I have to find her…" she turned and began running, leaving the others frozen where they were. Tai shook his head.
"Come on!"
"This way…" Cobrastramon hissed and Izzy ran after the snake, following the glowing rings around his neck and tail in the dark passage. They came to a fork in the hallway and the snake digimon turned a corner only to see an enormous black dragon hopping towards him. Cobrastramon backed away, bumping into Izzy.
"Detour…" he hissed and turned down another passage only to see a large sphinx-like bird digimon coming towards him that way.
"Damn" he snarled and turned towards Izzy.
"We're gonna have to go back the way we came" Izzy nodded, frowning and began to run back towards the courtyard, Cobrastramon right behind him. He came into a large open room and skidded to a halt as he heard the familiar voice of Lady Teleoromon call out.
"Cobrastramon!"
The snake nearly dropped Melody at hearing the witch's voice.
"Quick, take Melody!" he shoved the girl into Izzy's arms and pushed him behind a wall.
"You're gonna have to find your way out of here on your own! I'll try and keep Lady Teleoromon busy as long as possible!"
The computer whiz had no time to form a reply as the evil digimon in question entered the room.
"There you are Cobrastramon! Come! We must prepare my forces to fight those tiresome digidestined!" she turned around and the snake had no choice but to follow her, glancing back briefly towards Izzy and Melody's hiding place.
The computer whiz breathed out in a sigh of relief as the snake and Lady Teleoromon left the room. By this time Melody had regained her senses and was able to walk of her own accord…with a little bit of help from Izzy…
"Where to now?" she whispered in his ear, causing him to shiver as the hot air danced over his neck.
"Uh- I-I guess we ummm…go back to the courtyard and uh…try and get out…that way" he said breathlessly. He blushed, glad it was so dark as he grabbed Melody's hand.
"This way!"
Harmony stood staring up at the high, black stone wall in front of her, feeling disheartened.
"How do we get in?" she turned around to look at the others. Suddenly Biyomon came flying their way.
"The place looks deserted" she said, panting slightly.
"Well, is there a way in?" Sora asked her digimon.
"Yes- a draw-bridge."
"Where is it?" Tai asked.
"This way!" the pink bird flew off, following the high wall to their right. The others looked at each other and shrugged, following Sora's digimon until they could see a huge draw-bridge…but instead of finding it locked, it was already down…
"Almost as if, someone is waiting for us…" Joe trailed off and felt Mimi grab hold of his arm.
"Don't say things like that!" she said worriedly.
"Don't worry Mimi! I'll protect you" the spectacled boy whispered in her ear and she blushed slightly.
"Like I said- the place is deserted" Biyomon repeated, feeling anxious.
"Hmmm…could be a trap" Matt said seriously.
"Well, there's only one way to find out!" Tai bravely walked towards the bridge, leaving everyone with no choice but to follow him. Harmony fell into step with Tentomon.
"Thinking about Izzy?" the mechanical bug nodded. "Probably as much as you are about Melody" he answered. The two fell silent. Matt looked back and was about to go comfort Harmony when he felt Sora grab hold of his arm.
"Leave them Matt, right at this moment, they really need each other" she said and the rebel sighed.
"Alright" he replied indifferently and walked up to the front next to Tai. He knew Harmony would never be happy until they found Melody, and right then he felt he would do almost anything for her.
Lady Teleoromon began to laugh maniacally as she watched the digidestined walk into her castle, totally unprepared for what they were about to face. Cobrastramon sat coiled up a few metres from her, feeling worried about both Izzy and particularly Melody. Suddenly he felt his heart twist in his chest as one of the witch's servants burst into the room.
"Lady Teleromon!" the small, spider-like digimon cried.
"Rghh…I thought I told you not to disturb me!" the evil digimon turned around in a flurry of black and red satin.
"I know M'Lady…but, the blonde girl and the boy with the crest of knowledge have escaped!"
Lady Teleoromon fell back in shock and Cobrastramon closed his eyes in despair.
"WHAT?! NO! Come Cobrastramon!!!" she stalked out of the room and the snake reluctantly followed her.
Izzy looked up at the high wall, lost in thought. Now how was he going to get out of this mess??? Suddenly a loud voice interrupted his daydream.
"ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO LOOK IN THE COURTYARD?"
"That's Cobrastramon!" Melody whispered.
"He must be trying to warn us! Come on! Hide!!!!" the two split up and scrambled to find a place to hide. Melody ducked behind a pile of broken stones and bricks while Izzy quickly climbed a small tree and hid within its branches.
"Rrrhghhh…show yourselves! I know you're here!!!" Lady Teleoromon screeched but all was silent as she glanced around the courtyard, eyes narrowed.
"Very well! By the stars and the planets…" the witch began, invoking one of her spells. Izzy held his breath, wondering what the evil digimon was doing.
"Melody! Come forth and do my bidding!"
The computer whiz gasped as Melody moaned loudly and suddenly stood up from behind the pile of rubble, walking in a zombie fashion towards Lady Teleoromon. Izzy gritted his teeth and closed his eyes in despair. They flicked open again as he heard Melody scream. The witch digimon had Melody by the neck and much like a cat, one of her nails flashed forward out of her finger, lengthening to the size of a sharp kitchen knife. She brought it close to Melody's neck.
"Alright boy!" she sneered, referring to Izzy. "Show yourself or she DIES!" the redhead closed his eyes again and gripped the branches he was sitting on tightly. He had no choice…
"NOW!" the digimon screamed and the computer whiz slid down out of the tree. As he showed himself the witch threw Melody to the ground, Cobrastramon watching in horror. Lady Teleoromon raised her hands above her head and created a ball of burning black light, much like the one she had thrown at Tai.
"You have served your purpose as bait! Your friends are now in the castle, exactly where I want them so I have no further use for you! Say your prayers!" she snarled, throwing the fiery ball at Izzy. The redhead stood frozen to the spot when suddenly his legs came crashing out from under him, the black light zooming over his head. He heard the attack slam into the tree he had been hiding in and it fell to the ground with a thundering crack. The computer whiz, looked around, trying to find whom it was that had saved him. His eyes settled on Cobrastramon. The snake had used its tail to knock him over- the snake digimon had saved him!
"What is this about Cobrastramon?!" Lady Teleoromon snarled.
"You said you wouldn't hurt them" the snake narrowed his eyes. The witch laughed loudly.
"I said no such thing Cobrastramon, and even if I had, you should know that I never keep promises!" she raised her hands again and her body glowed black. The snake screamed as he began to glow black too.
"Now you shall pay for your betrayal!" the evil digimon howled with laughter and threw the snake into a wall incredibly hard. Cobrastramon groaned and crumpled to the ground, leaving his imprint in the stone wall.
"Cobrastramon!" Melody cried out and crawled over to the hurt digimon.
"Foolish girl!" Lady Teleoromon spat and turned back to Izzy.
"Now to finish you off!" raising her hands in the air a third time, her eyes glowed black.
"No!" Melody screamed. "Izzy!!!!"
K, ummm…sorry to end it here but there really was no other place that I could end it cause otherwise it would be WAAAY too long! So, I hope you liked and Jehana; I know you wanna see some action between Melody and Izzy so go read the next and final part! ^_~ That's right! Only ONE MORE PART TO GO!!! ::sniff:: man I'll be sad to see this end…^_^