Recently I received a note that Topi is not the literal translation for hope in finnish. I apologize to everyone. In finnish, hope = tovio. I got the name off babynamesworld and it was there where it said Topi = hope. Sorry again.

Chapter 10 Reborn

"Why?" Matt in an instant grabbed hold of Topi and shoved him to the wall. The other fallen members ignored the battle but Tai and Kari immediately stepped forward.

Topi's eyes revealed he wasn't shocked from the reception. He turned to the members of the fallen, "Sisters, Brothers, if it be alright, I'd like to speak to them in private."

The cloaked people continued to eat their feast, except for the leader who nodded, "Very well, please use a different room however as we are still eating. We'll call you when it is time."

Topi pushed Matt's hand off of him, without much difficulty and lead them to another room. It was a fairly decent sized bedroom, with a bed on one side and a couch on the other. There was a desk in the corner and a large closet as well. Topi sat on the bed as he motioned for the others to go to the couch. The room was silent for a while, the tension was thick.

"Damn you... why did you lie to us all this time?" Matt was clearly upset. He was trying hard to hold back the tears.

Topi sighed, "I believe I have wronged you all... For that I apologize. I should never have met you all again in the first place..."

"That doesn't explain anything! TK, why did you lie to us about who you were? Why..." Matt was choked up.

"TK..." Kari's voice was quiet.

"Stop," Topi ordered, "I'm not TK... not anymore... The TK you knew," He paused, "Everything I know of TK and his life, they are faded memories, like dreams you made once upon a time. The TK you knew died when he was shot by that woman..."

One Year ago (approximately ch.2) – From TK(Topi)'s Point of View.

In one moment, it felt like TK was burning up in a sea of fire. He couldn't move my body to move away from that fire, hell, he couldn't even feel my body. He wondered to myself 'Why?' Why was this happening?

TK awoke to the sound of a woman's voice. She was singing a lullaby...

"Hush little baby don't say a word," she sang, "Mama's gonna buy you a mocking bird..."

Slowly he opened my eyes to my surroundings. The first thing he saw were a pair of eyes. Those eyes stared straight through me, unfocused as if staring off to space. The woman who owned those eyes was thin, and frail. She looked to be only 40 at most, but her face aged with sadness.

She changed the damp cloth on his forehead to relieve him from the heat a bit.

"Whe-" TK tried to speak but she shushed him.

"No baby, don't speak. Your sick but mama's gonna make you feel better," he recognized her voice. A flash of memories hit him and TK remembered her. She was the woman in the trench coat. The one who had attacked Kari and him. "Mama will make you all better. Cause Mama will never let her baby out of her sight. No, never, never, never."

"You ... aren't... my... mother." he told her. She frowned for a brief moment, her eyes constantly transfixed to nothing.

Her false smile returned. "Of course I'm your Mama silly-billy. You are just as funny as Papa. You look just like Papa too," she cooed.

TK lifted my head up and saw that there were bloody bandages wrapped around his chest. His arms and legs were bound to the bed. He tried to move but pain seized my body once more. My breathing fell short, and he noticed he began to sweat even more.

"No, no baby, you mustn't move or else your ouchie will open up again."

"You're the one who did this to me..." The blonde managed to spit out.

She stood up and ignored my voice, "Now Mama's gonna make you some soup so you can eat something yummy." She moved away from my vision as he looked around the room. From what he could see, we were in a tiny room, the walls were made of faulty wood, the roof was leaking. There was an oil lamp on the side table and a picture frame. The picture was of a young couple with the woman holding on to a baby in her arms.

His captor returned with a tray of food. She forced the spoon into his mouth and the soup had burned his tongue. "Isn't it delicious baby? Just like Mama always makes it," She cooed. The soup was disgusting. She force fed me until the bowl was finished. He spat up most of it, his stomach couldn't handle the concoction.

She went away to clean up, while doing so, TK tried to release myself from the rope. He failed, his body was weak. After a while he lost consciousness.

TK awoke seeing her in a wooden chair knitting something blue. Her eyes were distant once more. Her expression was lonely. "Oh you're awake again sweetie," she said a smile built on her face.

"Take me to a hospital," he groaned. The pain in his chest was getting worse.

"Never!" She cried aloud which surprised him, "Baby, last time you went to the hospital, they took you away from me, forever. The hospital is evil. I'll never bring you to the hospital!"

"I'll die if you don't," the digidestined of Hope pleaded.

"NO! You won't die, you'll be with Mama forever. Forever and ever and ever." He knew she was crazy. But she was lonely, her son must have died which caused her to go insane. He felt sorry for her, but even so, what she was doing was horribly wrong

Then the realization came to him. I really will die if I wasn't treated soon. That thought frightened him. He'd never live past eighteen. He'd never see his friends and family again. He'd never grow old and have a family of his own.

He coughed up blood. That was how he woke up that day. TK didn't know how long I'd been here. A week maybe. During that whole period the woman had only left him alone twice. Each time, he took advantage of it. Though his body was weak, he couldn't give up hope.

The second time she had left TK, he had finally managed to wriggle out of the arm restraints. As he sat up, the pain increased a hundred fold. He could have blacked out if he didn't force myself to keep going. He untied the rope around his ankles and attempted to leave the bed but fell over to the dirt floor. He couldn't walk so he crawled. Each simple movement was like a stab in the gut. Blood was flowing freely from the wound in his chest, blood was filling his mouth. The boy reached the door and managed to push the door open. He found himself in a small forest, in the middle of the day.

He trecked through the dirt and tried his best to keep his chest above ground. He probably went 10 minutes before she had found him. TK was probably only 500 metres away from the shack. Behind him there was a trail of blood in the dirt.

"What on earth are you doing?" The woman scolded him. She dragged his body back to the shack where she had kept him. She tied the boy up again, and decided to punish him. She took out a knife and started slicing his arms. They were thin cuts but the added blood-loss made him delerious. His vision blurred.

There was a time when he wasn't in pain. But it felt like it was a dream. But that dream was what kept me alive. He prayed... he hoped that someone could rescue him. Then maybe he could be happy again. He remembered my friends. He remembered the fun they had together. He remembered the digimon, and all of the adventures they had. He remembered Patamon, and his many forms. How they were linked together. He remembered his parents. He remembered Matt. His brother, the one who looked out for his most of my life.

And then he remembered Kari. Her smile. Her love. Her light. He remembered the smell of her hair. The smell of watermelons in the summer. He remembered running his hands through her soft hair and how it felt in his hands. He remembered...

"Sister, what are we doing here?" he heard a man's voice.

"I could smell the reek of death in this place." a young girl answered him. TK opened my eyes and saw two blurred figures in the shadows around me.

"Kari?" he mumbled out unconsciously.

"Oh ho," The man said, "So he's alive?"

"It appears so," the girl confirmed by pressing her fingers against his neck to feel the beat of his heart. They were as cold as ice. "His heart is faint. It is only a matter of time before his passing."

"Shall we put him out of his misery?" The man asked, "Despite his appearance, he looks quite tasty."

"You love your blondes do you not?" She kid.

"Well they are the most delicious. Since we came to Japan, we haven't seen many."

His stomach turned, "No... don't kill me..."

"He seems to have some life in him," The man said suddenly sounding bored.

The girl moved even closer to TK. He could see her face. She was very young. Only 12 or 13. She had short brown hair that cut off at her chin. Her eyes were light. Blue maybe. She stared at him intensely for a while. Then she turned to the man next to her. "He has a kind heart. I could tell. It's pure and full of goodness."

"Very well. Do as you must, Sister," He waved her off. "I'll return home and inform the others of your intention. If he does not perish, we will be ready." He disappeared before my eyes.

The blonde couldn't believe his eyes, he had to blink to confirm. "Where'd he go," he asked the girl.

"Home," She said simply. She changed the subject, "What is your name?"

"TK...TK Takaishi," he told her.

"Now then TK. I would like to give you a choice. I can see you are suffering. I want to take away your pain. If you would like, I can kill you right here and now. Or you can join me. I will make you immortal. However, once you join me, you can never return. You will live our way, and you cannot return to your old life."

She gave him a choice of life or death. "I can't go back... to my friends and family?"

"No. It will be for the best for everyone that way."

"I'll never see Patamon... or Matt... or... or Kari..." Death... death seemed good. He could leave this world happily. But if he were to live, he could stay here... even if she told him he couldn't go back... maybe... even once he could see them again... Maybe he was too afraid to die but the next words out of his mouth sealed his fate. "I want to live... I don't want to die..."

A smile crept her lips. "Very well. TK Takaishi, you will be reborn as a Fallen." The room around them changed. TK felt light. They were in the vastness of space together. For some reason, they had no clothes. His body was healed. There were no scars or blood. He felt no pain.

"Where are we?" The boy asked her.

"Nowhere... everywhere, one cannot define where we are," she paused, "Are you ready?"

"Yes... there is no turning back now..."

"You understand, that although you agree to this... there is a 1% chance you will be granted immortality."

"I understand." Well... a 1% chance of survival was better than 0% chance that the other choice gave me.

She grabbed hold of his hands. A tingle went through his spine. "I, Amara Quinque, call forth the powers of our nature. I bring to thee this young boy, TK Takaishi, to be accepted in our fold."

An intense burning sensation errupted from his heart. He fell to my knees. The pain that came was worse than all the pain from that week of hell. It was definitely worse than being kicked in the nuts. TK tried to breath. But there was no air to breath. He looked up and saw the girl watch him in his suffering.

"You told me that you'd stop the pain!" He cursed at her.

"To relieve you of pain eternally, you must experience the worst pain possible... if you cannot handle this you will definitely die."

TK screamed at the top of his lungs. He wanted it to stop. But in his heart he knew he couldn't give in. It would have been easy to give in. But that's not the way.

Slowly he stood on his own without any help. The burning within his body was still there. He gave out one last scream.

Do you remember your birth? I do. Then again I wasn't born like any human. I remember when I had my first breath. Flexing my already made muscles, I wiggled my toes, moved my arms, and blinked my eyes. Then I noticed my surroundings.

All around me was fire. I saw that there was a body in a chair being charred and burnt. I saw a girl in the fire. But she didn't burn. I noticed that I too wasn't burning. Actually, I couldn't feel even the heat. It didn't register to me.

"Welcome, Brother," the girl called to me, "Welcome to the world."

I didn't know who she was but then again I realized I didn't know who I was either. She held out her hand across the fire and hesitantly I accepted. In that instant the fire subsided and my mind filled with words and pictures. I even received the memories of a boy named TK. It took me a while, but then I finally figured out everything. I was like a phoenix: born from the ashes of my past life. I stared at her face and smiled. "Hello Sister. Thank you for bringing me to this world."

I walked outside with her. I saw that the outside of the shack was still standing. I laughed. I found it funny. The sky was dark. There were strips of cloth wrapped around, and they were drenched in blood. I removed them to reveal an unscathed chest.

"Shall we go?" Amara asked me. I nodded. She ran off. To the normal eye, it would have looked as if she vanished, but really, she was just running as fast as the speed of light. I could see her though so I ran after her at the same pace... well maybe a little faster.

We entered a cave which turned out to be the entrance to a secret room with a lot of thrones lined up. "What is this place?" I asked her.

"This place is our home... well while we're in Japan. We have many different homes around the world." She told me. "Before we meet the others I'd like to talk to you about the laws we, the Fallen, must abide by..."

She told me everything there was to know about our kind. There is a hunger within us which must be sated. We must feed on the flesh of humans, else our sanity will be lost. But, isn't it funny? Humans believe the practice of eating humans is monstrous, doing so would cost you your humanity. The irony of that within our kind is amusing. Without humans, we will become souless monsters. She said she had witnessed this happen several times, comrades who refuse to eat humans, and she watched them deform. We, the Fallen, are immortal, we cannot die, we cannot be killed. Those who stopped feeding grew tired of immortality and allowed themselves to be consumed by their ferocious desire. Where they are now... I don't know, its forbidden for most to know about it.

Though we only need to feed on humans, we can eat other types of food for pure enjoyment.

The Fallen cannot stay in one place for more than a year, else we affect the balance of humans living in one area. Amara has been to almost every single place in the world, where humans flourish. That said, she's only ever been to Antarctica. However, though we cannot stay in one place for too long, it does not mean we cannot return to a single location. Areas with large populations have drawn my family back over and over again. Take Tokyo for instance, it is the largest city population-wise in the world, it is no wonder they had enjoyed returning to it.

We do not kill intentionally unless for the purpose of the feed. We are not so cruel as to kill for sport.

We must not let anyone find out about who we are. If they find out, we as a council will decide if they shall live as one of us or be our meal.

We must detatch ourselves from the human world. We are aimless wanderers... and so we must not leave traces of our existance too much intact. If it does happen the good ol' I'm leaving to another country and I don't know if I'll ever come back here usually does the trick.

As we are immortal, are bodies will never age. Your body stops ageing the second you through yourself into 'the fire'. Our skin is very tough, very little can damage it, and what is damaged will heal a moment later. We cannot be beheaded for our bones are impenetrable. If you attempt to shoot us in the brain, our bodies will reject it the brain will heal fast. If you attempt to damage the heart, it too will heal in a minute. We will not die ever. We don't even need to breathe oxygen to survive, we can survive in space.

Our bodies are also 10 times stronger than the strongest human, and as fast as light speed. When running, we are invisible to the naked eye to the point where they believe we have teleported.

"Could you tell me about TK Takaishi?" Amara asked me abruptly.

Instantly my mind sought out the memories of that boy imbedded in my head. "Yeah, what do you want to know about him?"

"Anything really... family, friends, life..."

"Well, from what I know he's a tall blonde kid, who's lived for eighteen years. He has a mother and a father and an older brother named Matt Ishida. His parents divorced when he was little that's why he and his brother have different names, his mom took care of him, while his dad took care of Matt... He has a girlfriend named Kari Kamiya... for some reason, when I think of that girl my heart beats a little faster... is that normal?" I was curious to that phenomenon.

Amara looked at me with caring eyes. "Do you know what happened to that boy?"

"He..." I paused, then sighed, "He's me isn't he?"

"Yes, and no..." She began, "When a human accepts the terms of becoming a Fallen, he or she endures a change... I do not fully understand it myself and I have lived this earth for over two millenia. But when a Fallen is born he or she comes out different. Though you retain the memories of the human you... you don't feel you two are the same do you? Never once did you think you were this TK Takaishi. Even now there is a doubt in your heart."

I thought for a moment. These memories in my heart, they are vivid like a moving picture, yet it only stays a movie in my mind. Something tugged at me saying that these memories don't really belong to the me now. "..."

"Brother, right now it maybe hard to understand, but in time you will realize it..."

When we finished talking, we walked through a door beside the last of the thrones to the right. There I was a bit suprised as eight hooded figures greeted me as I entered the room.

"WELCOME BROTHER!" They all cheered in unison. At once they removed the hoods of their cloaks. There I met eight beautiful creatures.

The first who introduced herself was a girl named Chelsea Quarts (Seat 4). She was a bubbly one. She was from America. Blonde hair tied up in a ponytail and blue eyes, she looked like a little cheerleader around 15 years of age. 60 years ago she was lost hiking in the mountains when Amara had found her hiding in the cave which was one of the Fallen camps.

Next was a tall, stoic man. He didn't speak, he simply shook my hand. He was old. Probably in his early 60s. His hair was greying. Chelsea told me he never speaks to anyone except for Amara. His name according to her was Viktor Shest (Seat 6). Other than Amara, Viktor was the oldest of the Fallen. Most of the others were quite intimidated by him. He was Russian but other than that, no one had much of an answer of who he was.

The next two were siblings They were from Japan as well. She looked like she was 30 years old. He looked only 10. Her name was Akira Qu. His was Atsushi Dix. Though Akira looks older, Atsushi is actually the older of the two. Yet Akira still acts very motherly towards her brother and thinks he is so cute. Atsushi, in reality, is a foul-mouthed spoiled brat. Being 10 for over 500 years seemed to have made him this way. He was actually lost in the forest one day venturing away from the village when Viktor had found him. Viktor was very close to killing the boy when Amara stopped him and gave Atsushi second life. His parents thought that Atsushi had been taken away by demons and grieved very much. Five years later, however his mother conceived Akira, and died doing so. It was her and her father for 16 years until he was killed by bandits. She was then married (by her uncle) to a man twice her age immediately. However after several attempts, she was unable to carry a child and thus her husband had many concubines. Fifteen years later she was farming when she spotted Atsushi playing with a dog. She thought he looked familiar so she followed him and asked him where his family was. He told her to fuck off and ran away. She spotted him several nights later at the edge of the forest and tracked him down. She watched him as he met with Amara and Viktor, and was caught immediately by the three. They granted her immortality. It wasn't 'til years later that the two found out their origins.

A tall black man from Nigeria talked to me after. He had his hair in cornrows and had mystifying grey eyes. His name was Ajani Saba (Seat 7) and when I first met him I could tell he had a huge bloodlust. Ajani was a warrior in his tribe 200 years ago when he and his friend were caught by Atsushi. Atsushi had killed Ajani's friend as he begged for mercy. Atsushi wasn't very warm-blooded. But when he was about to take on Ajani, Atsushi immediately took a liking to him.

The next was a very elegant Chinese woman, about middle age (Seat 2). She had her hair up in a bun. Her name was Hsiu Mei Liang. She was the daughter of the emperor and a concubine 350 years ago. As such she was raised as an imperial daughter in the royal palace. How she became a Fallen was for the sake of 'love'. She met Ajani one day, and was not scared by his presence (which Ajani still finds annoying). In fact she fell for that foreign, dark skinned man who appeared in the royal garden one day. She ran after him in the night and left the palace walls. Her husband found out and chased after her only to die himself by Ajani. Hsiu Mei never cried tears of sadness for the man however, as he was cruel and sadistic. She only fell even more for Ajani, her 'saviour'.

A man who looked to be about 40 slouched in his stance. He told me he was from Brazil and his name was Ricardo Uno. He had a suave look to him like a Latin ballroom dancer. Over a hundred years ago, he was just a fairly rich man at the top of life until his family was killed by his enemies. He swore revenge on them and grabbed a shotgun and hunted them all down. Atsushi and Ajani had watched from the shadows as Ricardo soaked himself in the blood of the dead. They had enjoyed watching him so they brought him forth to be changed. Since then Ricardo has only ever shown emotion when he hunts.

I recognized the last man's voice. He was the one with Amara in the cabin when they had contacted TK. He was from India. He was Eshan Ut (Seat 8) and he looked to be in his early 20s. He was a poor Indian man, who went off to war in the 1940s under the British Navy. Almost killed in action, in the Pacific Ocean, he was saved by a small transport vessel, carrying Atsushi, Ajani, Ricardo, Viktor and Amara.

"So what's your name, brother?" the cheerful Chelsea asked as she showed me around my new home.

"Well... a name..." to me it didn't feel right to be called TK. TK was that human boy. "...ummm I don't really have a name..."

She still smiled, "Right of course... You don't want to use that ol' name of yours. Take your time."

"Oh... thanks." I tried to smile back.

"I never liked my human name anyways," Chelsea continued, "It was Petunia Bettie Jessabel Smith. Uggghhh... that name was aweful. I think Chelsea's a much cuter name don't cha think?"

"Where'd you get your last name from?" I asked her curious.

"Quarts?" I nodded, she chuckled, "Silly me. Everyone here choses their last name based on a number. The numbers don't mean much 'cept thats the chair you sit on...Like me, Quarts is related to the number four. And I sit on the forth seat from the right always... Its tradition to have a seat you keep to. Let's see here... Brother Ricky's last name Uno means one, he likes sitting close to the exit, god knows why? Then beside him is Sister Hsiu Mei. Sister Amara's last name is like Latin for five. Brother Viktor sits right beside her, then its Brother Ajani, then Brother Eshan. I guess you'd know that Sister Akira's last name is the number nine and Brother Atsushi's name Dix is French for ten."

"So that's why those two have different last names!" I said rather loudly. The others laughed.

"Hmmm... I know you'll sit right beside me!" Chelsea said, "Than makes it your seat ... 1... 2... 3!" She smiled giddy.

"3? San? That sounds simple and nice," I thought aloud, "San would be a nice last name."
"Alrighty!"

"For the first name... I ..." I scanned through all the names I could think of but none didn't really feel like me...

Her smile was soft and understanding, "I told you you could think about it. For now can I just call you Nii-Chan, Brother." (A/N: Chelsea is asking him if she could call him Nii-chan which is an endearing japanese term meaning older brother. Before when she said Brother or Sister she uses the english terms for it as does the rest of the Fallen)

"Nii-Chan? But your a lot older than me!" I protested.

"But you look older, so thus you look like a Nii-Chan to me!" She said

"Fine, fine" I sighed.

"Yes!" she cheered, and then stopped walking, "Oh here's your room, Nii-Chan." She escorted me to the room.

"Thanks," I told her.

"Take a nice long nap, you must be weak," Chelsea said, "Tomorrow we'll take you around town, and teach you the basics."

"The basics?"

"Yeah... hunting and stuff... well good night, Nii-Chan." That was my first few hours of being a Fallen.

Part One of TK/Topi's journey complete. Part Two will focus on finding a name, hunting, and digimon. Please comment for I love getting feedback =D