Mukuro: Ten chapter anniversary! With this chapter and the next chapter, the first of five arcs of the story reaches its climax as Akira receives his partner. Who is it?

Disclaimer: I do not own digimon, and that goes for the action figures, videogames, cards, and everything else.

Digimon: Illuminated Dusk

Chapter 10: The Rebirth of a God, Part 1

"…" After Hirukos' accusation, Celemon just stared at him, unmoving.

"It seems you really are quite unemotional. That is surprising… One wouldn't expect that from a human."

"Cele-Shower." Celemon said, firing an arrow up in the air, which split down into many small white stars that fell towards Hiruko.

"Not bad…" Hiruko said, and each star fell towards him but he managed to step out of the way each time. Each star hit the ground and disintegrated, with Hiruko standing there without a scratch.

"…" Celemon still remained expressionless, but I could sense a small inkling of displeasure in her.

"What, that's it? I don't receive even an ounce of acknowledgement for dodging your attack completely?" Hiruko asked, smiling.

"…" In response to his question, Celemon loaded an arrow and fired it at Hiruko. Hiruko simply smiled and held out his right arm. In front of his hand, a large shield of energy in the shape of a hexagram appeared. The arrow struck the hexagram and shot back at Celemon, who dodged it within a hairs width.

"Nice reflexes. You really are his kid, aren't you?" Hiruko asked, smiling.

"…" This time, Celemon didn't seem to radiate emotions of displeasure. It seemed to be something different… She seemed to expel an aura of bitterness.

"What, no reaction? And here I thought you'd have more respect for your father than that." Hiruko said, smiling. "Oh, well. If you won't make the first move, then I will." The presence of Hiruko changed. His arm began radiating a dark black aura. This aura quickly spread across his body, until it enveloped him completely.

"Now then, let's make this more exciting." Hiruko then moved at an incredibly fast speed towards Celemon, and used some form of attack that moved too fast for me to read. The end result, however, was that Celemon hit the section of the wall where it met the ceiling. Her body seemed to be almost imbeaded into the wall.

"You stupid human!" Lilamon shouted. "I'll deal with you!" But, before she could do anything, Celemons' silver eyes opened.

"Stay out of this. He's mine." Celemon then disappeared and appeared right behind Hiruko, who swung his arm at a supersonic speed. The end result was that Hiruko had the tip of his right hand at Celemons' throat, while Celemon had and arrow aimed right at the side of Hirukos' head.

"…" Celemon simply stared at Hiruko while ignoring the fact that she had a claw pressed to her neck.

"You are good." Hiruko said, smiling. But before Celemon could respond, the room began shaking with tremendous force.

"It has begun." Celemon said. She then teleported back up to the balcony, and walked out the door she had come from.

"Hey! Celemon! You haven't finished them yet!" Karonimon shouted. He then turned to us. "I guess that means you just aren't worth the bosses time. So, I'm gonna kill you instead!"

"Stand down, Karonimon." Another digimon said, jumping down. "You have received no orders to eliminate these humans.

"What are you talking about, Kyukimon? These are humans! We need to eliminate them!" Karonimon shouted.

"If Mistress Celemon did not kill them, then that must mean that she thought that killing them was unnecessary." Kyukimon said. She then glanced at Hiruko. "Also, I would like to observe that humans' arm with more detail."

"Wait!" Eve said, running up to them. "One of our friends is in need of medical attention! Please, can you help him?"

"Don't worry." Kyukimon said, smiling. "I'll do everything I can."

"So, tell me one thing." Hiruko said, sitting down next to Ayumu on the bed.

"Of course. What is it that you wish to know?' Kyukimon asked.

"How exactly did Celemon meet up with you guys?" Hiruko asked.

"It's complicated. She just appeared one day out of the blue. We had heard from other inhabitants of the tower that a strange digimon was in the lake room, so we rushed down immediately."

"Okay, then what happened?" I asked.

"Well, we saw Celemon just… standing there. It was strange. I believe that Salamon said that she looked like a lost child, on her own for the first time with no idea what to do. Well, naturally, we attacked her. But Celemon just began knocking us away one by one. It was a struggle to even get near her, let alone strike her. Then, after such a long time had passed, Celemon just looked out over the lake we were next to and said 'I will protect that which lies here at all costs.' And that was it. Ever since then, Celemon has been helping us find food, and protect the tower from intruders. And every free moment she has, she spends in that room, looking over the lake."

"I see…" I said, looking down.

"Ryuko, it must be passed your bedtime. You should probably go to sleep now." Kyukimon said, smiling. She then gestured over to one of the cots, as if to say that I should sleep there.

I awoke within a black abyss again. Once again, I was facing that same mirrored wall. My reflection then opened its mouth and mouthed the word 'soon'.

"What will happen soon?" I tried to say, but my voice refused to work.

The next thing that happened I couldn't describe. My reflection placed his hand against the glass, and pressed outward. Then, like a form of slime, the mirror bent out as the hand slid through the gelatinous mirror before breaking the surface.

"I have been waiting for this, Ryuko." My reflection said, grabbing onto my arm.

Hiruko POV

"Hey, Ryuko, are you awake?" I asked, walking in to see Ryuko sitting up in his bed.

"Hey, what's going on?" Hiruko asked, staring into Ryukos' frozen eyes.

"It's time, Ryuko." Ryuko said.

"Ryuko?" I asked, staring at Ryuko.

"It's time." Ryuko said, staring at me with those frozen eyes.

"I see…" I said. Ryuko then stood up.

"So, what are you going to do now?" I asked.

Ryuko then turned to me and smiled. "Isn't it obvious?"

"How troublesome." I said as Ryuko walked out.

No POV

"Hey! What are you doing here?" Karonimon asked as Ryuko walked down the stairs towards the bottom of the tower.

"…" Ryuko grabbed Karonimon by the head, lifted him up, and tossed him behind.

"What are you doing here?" Celemon asked, turning around.

"Celemon… Your efforts have all been for naught…" Ryuko said, remaining expressionless.

"Your…"

"Celemon… You have tried so hard to keep me entombed there… But unfortunately for you… I'm not that easy to kill." Ryuko said, walking past Celemon.

"The world won't face your evil again. I'm going to take you down, even if it costs all my power." Celemon said, turning towards Ryuko.

"Do you honestly think you can?" Ryuko said, turning towards Celemon.

"Yes!" Celemon said, holding up her hands. "Zen Madness!" Celemon fired an enormous blast of energy towards Ryuko.

"Not bad." Ryuko held up his hand, and the blast of energy froze solid. Ryuko then flicked the frozen data, and it shattered. "But still not good enough."

"Well, well. It seems that you're a guy, after all." Ryuko said, staring at Celemon as she reverted back to her original form, a male human and a small digimon.

"Darn it…" The human said, trying to stand up from his kneeling position.

"So, it's finally time for my awakening…" Ryuko said, walking up to the lake that Celemon was watching over.

"Searching this forest has been very dangerous for me." Neigoramon said, brushing a tree out of the way.

"So this is what they did to you, old friend." Neigoramon said, walking up to a stone coffin in the center of several large rocks placed in strange positions.

"What's this…?" Neigoramon lifted the lid of the coffin, only to find a mirror lying on it.

"Well, it seems your awakening is contingent upon his. Well then, all I have to do is adjust each thing." Neigoramon then proceeded to move each rock around so that a hole faced another rock and the coffin.

"Now, we wait…"

Mukuro: SO, what will happen next? This is getting weirder, right? I also have one last question. Do you think I should make Hiruko one of the digidestined this time, too?

Jami: Next time, on Digimon: Brightly lit Dusk. Okay! More light has been shed on the mistory! So, Celemon is a human! But what's going on with Ryuko? What is Neigoramon planning? What is the thing sealed away in that coffin? And what does Omega Red have to do with this? Maybe you'll find out the answers next time in "The Rebirth of a God, Part 2"