Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. Characters; Benji and Tilly (KumoFuzei), Amelia (Somethingdictionaryrelated), John (tobiisagoodboy94) Kara (FallenAngel01) and Rocky (me)
A/N – Check out the topic for The Tangled Web! Here's the link – check it out please! topic/22352/116003425/1/#116079252
Go on, you know you want to! I'll be doing chapter twelve review replies soon – don't worry! And remember to post your guesses of who you think the egg in chapter thirteen belonged to for a chance to say what happens in the next chapter, chapter fifteen! (Aahhh!)
A/N 2 – I had trouble choosing who to do this chapter in the perspective of, introducing the first chapter from the perspective of Amelia Wallis!
Chapter 14 – Amelia Wallis
"Mum!" I could hear Lisa calling out to me. "Mum!" The elongated scream made me roll over, facing away from the door, as if I was asleep.
I only did this because it made me feel like I could drift away and not be affected by my broken house, complete with three wonderful, but limit-testing children.
"Mum! Anthony's taken all the raisins out of the muesli, and there's just the oats left in the box!" Lisa squealed in a high pitch. "Mum!"
"Alright! I'm awake!" I yelled back in frustration.
Rolling out of bed, I opened the curtains and looked out onto the street. There was a child walking her dog on the pavement which hit me hard in the chest – emotionally – because of Hope, Hope Autumn Curtis who lost Labramon so cold heartedly.
"MUM!" Anthony shrieked. "Lisa punched me! If she does that one more time, I will punch her right back!"
"Anthony and Lisa! I hope that's not true, and you better not young man!" I called sternly through the house, heading towards the kitchen.
Pushing the clothes horse to one side so that there was enough room to slip past and go down the stairs, which was littered with old toys no one played with anymore, a skateboard with light up wheels and an assortment of books, paper and school supplies.
"I thought I asked you three to clear up the stairs."
"Don't look at me, Mum. I cleared up my stuff that was on the stairs and in the upstairs hallway," my eldest child, Gwynn, replied dramatically as she tied a knot in her tie. "I'm going to the high street after school with my friends, so I'll be home, when I'm home."
I shook my head. "No, Gwynn, we spoke about this. We had a deal, and you broke it – which meant that you weren't allowed to go to the high street."
"Oh, but Mum-"
"No."
Gwynn couldn't stop scowling at me as she slammed the front door shut, making the mirror on the wall slip a little. She was a stubborn and tough girl who was trying her best to fit in with the other girls at school, but hadn't been so successful until she was invited to join some girls and guys at the high street.
After having a shower and getting dressed, I was in the kitchen seeing my two younger children, Anthony and Lisa, busy wrestling for the remainder of the raisins that were in one of the breakfast bowls.
"Come on you two. Break it up," I said calmly, rubbing Anthony's shoulder. "Now, your father's going to pick you two, and maybe Gwynn too, after school today. I will see you both on Monday for dinner, okay?"
"Yes Mum," Anthony sighed, looking up at me from one of the kitchen chairs. He was distracted enough for his sister to swoop in and steal the bowl from him.
"Come on, let's get ready to leave in five," I said quickly, before anything could be said to spark a fight between Anthony and Lisa.
A gasp from Lisa caught my attention.
"What's wrong, sweetie?" I asked, curious to know what had startled her. Turning to face the direction she was looking in, I realised what had entranced her.
Chuchidarumon.
I thought she was properly hiding, but clearly when she heard the fighting, she had to investigate. Chuchidarumon was always desperate to help out and look after the children, but the house was just too small for her to physically fit in. That's the one thing I dislike about living in a terraced house – the lack of space. If I had a bigger house, then Chuchidarumon would easily be able to help.
"Mum? What's that?" Lisa asked, squeezing my arm tightly, fear was taking over her body.
"There's nothing there, Lisa. Look," I said, lifting her up so that she could have a closer look out of the window.
In that time, Chuchidarumon was able to fully conceal herself again.
"See? There's nothing there."
"Maybe it was that strawberry milkshake Gwynn made me last night playing with my mind."
"Okay, five minutes are up. Let's get going, shall we?" I sighed, knowing that a lot more than five minutes had passed. After one last cautious and careful look out of the window to check for Chuchidarumon, I was out of the door.
At the end of the day, I realised that I had the house to myself – and Chuchidarumon.
Seeing as no one was around, I made a hot cup of Galaxy hot chocolate, and a tiny spoonful of coffee. I sat down on the sofa with my feet up and put the television onto some drama that had been on for a while, but I hadn't had the chance to watch properly.
You see, my children's father, James, we had a rocky marriage which ended terribly. So I revel in any alone time, but I still miss my children whenever they go to their father's.
But I have Chuchidarumon. I can still remember the time I, well – adopted her. She was a lot smaller than she is now. I was a young adult – maybe eighteen years old – and had been exploring the Digital World with the General. We came across a small village of Chuchidarumon, but I soon realised that the General had other ideas. He wanted to blow up the Digital World, and I couldn't just stand by. My little Chuchidarumon snuck into my camping rucksack – I was completely unaware at the time. Before the General do endanger any Digimon, I forced our swift return to the human world.
From then, I realised that there was far more to the Digital World than the General and I had ever imagined.
Just when I was getting up to go and make myself some dinner, I heard the doorbell ring, echoing through the tiny, narrow hallway.
A small groan escaped my lips, I just hoped that it wasn't someone I didn't want to talk to, or someone trying to sell me something. I cannot stand those kinds of people – no matter how many times I tell them I'm not interested, they keep on coming back. It's like they don't understand, and it's not the same company, it's the same person.
"Coming!" I inadvertently called out, before realising that I could have just stayed silent and sat down at the kitchen table until they left.
With my slippers scuffing along the wood floor of the hallway, I opened the door to find two people I didn't expect to see.
"Kara? Tillith? What are you-" I stopped mid-sentence as Tillith barged into the house and opened up her slightly stretched red leather jacket.
Liomon dropped onto the hall floor, scratching the light but dull wood with her sharp claws. Crouching down onto my knee, I scratched behind one of the feline's ear.
"Hands off, Amelia. She's my Digimon," Tillith growled arrogantly.
That girl didn't know when to sit down and shut up – she needs a kick up the backside.
"It's a shame you don't show more love to your partner, Tillith." I frowned at Liomon, who was now falling against the wall lazily- like she had an itch, but refused to actively move in order to suppress it. "Kara, let's have a look at Lalamon."
Kara seemed jittery, something was clearly bothering her.
"Kara?" I prompted her to tell me what was bothering her, but she didn't. Even though I didn't want to, I turned to Tillith, urging a response.
"Don't look at me, she's the one who dragged me here." Tillith dropped down on the sofa and made herself completely at home. "She has been moaning non-stop, all day. I can't stand it any longer, so I brought her here." She let out an exasperated sigh. "It's a nice place you got here, seems like DEPT actually pay relatively well."
"You're walking on thin ice, young lady," I warned her. "Kara, take a seat, can I get you a drink?"
Kara opened her mouth to answer me, but once again, Tillith had to open her mouth. That girl needs to know when to sit tight.
"I'd like and gin and lime please." Tillith rolled her head back and stared at the ceiling.
I sighed, "Young lady, if you keep this up, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
She was clearly trying to assert her dominance, but trust me, that was going to be a struggle with me.
I noticed Lalamon looked up at her partner with a look that said "you should tell her; she can help" which warmed my heart a little.
For me, it was rare to be wanted. Years ago, my children needed me, wanted me, but nowadays, they can't wait to see the back of me sometimes.
"Amelia, Rocky and Benji, they, they've…oh…" Kara definitely needed a little more coaxing than Tillith.
I tried to imagine what might have happened to the two boys – I even began to assume that they had been captured by DEPT at first, but it was really something a little worse than that.
Kara took a deep breath. "After me, Rocky, Benji and Tilly encountered Allomon-"
"You barely saw him- I did all the fighting, you did the running away," Tillith piped up, only for me to give her one of my coldest, sub-zero stares.
"We were abducted – me, Rocky, and Tilly too, we were taken away to the DEPT headquarters. Little Benji was brave- he found John and together they snuck into the headquarters. In the end, when we were almost home free, this portal opened – like the one you opened. Rocky and little Benji got sucked into it…" Kara looked absolutely terrified, which pulled at my heartstrings. "Will you help us bring them back?" she asked, almost helplessly.
I couldn't refuse Kara – she was such a sweet girl, she reminded me of Jordan. He was my eldest son; so kind-hearted and such a joy to have around. Jordan would always ask me how my day was – and he was a great comfort to me when I decided to separate from his father. Saying he was my rock and someone I hold dear to my heart is the honest truth. But I will never forget the day when I got a phone call from the hospital saying that he had been involved in a hit and run that had left him to be medically induced into a coma. I can still remember the last thing he said to me when he drifted out of the coma.
"Don't worry about me, you made me the person I am today. You did the best job, I couldn't ask for a better mother."
"Will you help us, Amelia?" Kara asked, placing her hand carefully onto my arm. It was like she was pursuing an answer and wasn't going to give up easily.
"Sorry, I got a little distracted," I replied, looking back at Kara. "But what is it you expect for me to do?"
Tillith swung her legs around off the sofa and sat up. "Why don't you just go to the Digital World, pick them up and bring them back?" Part of her must have realised that she was just beginning to step out of line a little. "Don't look at me like that- I'm not going to go and hope that you open up a portal for me to go back home. Kara wants to go, so why don't you just open up a portal, push her through, and be done with it?"
"Tillith Mayfair – you better hope that you're joking. I am not in the mood for those kind of jokes. I know full to well that you are just scared. Trust me, I've had four kids, I know exactly when they are scared."
Tillith glowered at me with eyes as blue as the seas I remember seeing on my honeymoon in the Maldives.
"I am not scared. Not a chance!" she yelled, squaring up to me as I stood up.
"Oh just sit down," I snapped aggressively, asserting my own dominance.
Kara stood up, jumping in between us. "Please, stop fighting!" she squealed. "I don't want any more breaks or cracks to form in this team – despite how strange this team may be. I can't stand this anymore."
"It's okay, Kara," I said calmly, keeping my cool. "So who wants to go to the Digital World? Because there's a slight problem with me going there."
"What's that, Amelia?"
"The Digital World has a cloaking device- no, a force field which prevents me from going there. It's as if a child's innocence is what allows you to see past the force field and enter the Digital World. Believe me, I've tried to go back there, but I just can't… The DEPT have been researching a way for adults to get through, I just hope that they don't find it."
"But I'm seventeen – does that mean on my eighteenth birthday, I won't be able to go there, and that I will lose Lalamon?" Kara picked up her Digimon partner and held her tight, protectively.
"No, no, no," I gasped, "I've still got Chuchidarumon remember. You just won't be able to travel to the Digital World."
"I can accept that." Kara nodded slowly, looking down at the carpet in deep thought.
"I've got a question- seeing as we are doing a little Q and A session here. Um, when Allomon attacked the town, someone came out of their house and barely even noticed Allomon – what is with that?" Tillith interrupted before I could ask my question again.
"Well, that could be the fact that the only people who can see Digimon are the people that understand or know of their existence. I know it's a peculiar concept, but I assume that man had no knowledge of Digimon so did not see the Allomon – all he would have seen was you in the middle of the street. Now, that is what I think the answer is- personally I think that children are able to see the Digimon because of their innocence or something similar. I have experienced the Digimon, so therefore have the ability to see them."
Tillith screwed up her face as if I was just spewing out a load of rubbish – it reminded me of the face that Gwynn would pull when I got her a tutor to help with her maths.
"Back to the question at hand; who is going to the Digital World?"
Looking between Kara and Tilly, I tried to decipher who was going to go to the Digital World. Kara seemed willing, but I didn't know if she was ready to go, whereas Tilly seemed unphased by the whole situation, yet I think deep down she really did care about the fact that her stepbrother had disappeared- maybe Rocky too for all I know.
"I'll go," Kara said boldly.
It seemed like a switch had been turned on in Tilly.
"I'm going too," she declared. "What? You're not going to end up sending her on her own, so I might as well go with her."
After sending Tilly and Kara off to the Digital World, I couldn't help but feel incredibly bad about sending them off like that. If I had been either of their mothers, I could have died knowing that I was never going to see them again. Or, if Gwynn, Lisa or Anthony had been disappearing off to the Digital World – that could have torn me apart knowing that.
Instead of worrying, I found myself at the Bradley flat – in particular, I was in the flat next door, preparing myself to inform Johnathan's father about his son's impending trip to Japan. Not that I had any idea what I was going to say, and it certainly wasn't going to be easy.
"Are you ready to tell your father, Johnathan?" I asked as he started to hover in the doorway, but when he remained silent, I knew that he wasn't ready to tell his father meaning that I need to give him a helping shove. "You are going to tell him today, Johnathan- you end up leaving in a few days anyway…"
Johnathan couldn't help himself. He burst out the door and I watched his fists tighten around the green flaky railing. "I can't tell him – why can't you tell him?"
I shook my head, ignoring the amber coloured eyes that were pleading me to change my mind, "Johnathan, you know I can't and won't do that. This is your job to do. I will go next door with you, but I refuse to do the job for you. You have to tell him – it'll break his heart if you don't." My pace slowed down, the more I spoke.
Johnathan took off his baseball cap and stuffed it in his jacket pocket before heading towards the door.
"Go on," I urged him to open the door.
He pulled the slightly dirty looking door handle that was probably gold at one point.
"Dad? Dad?" he called out, but there was no answer.
"Johnathan- is that you?" I heard an elderly voice reply. "I've been expecting you – you're running a little late, aren't you?"
"Yeah- m'sorry…"
Johnathan walked into the main living area where his father sat watching some pointless television documentary.
"Dad, turn the telly off," the youngster demanded.
"Son, I'm in the middle of watching a documentary. Can it wait?" His father peered around the armchair and saw us standing in the doorway. "Oh, who is this?"
"This is Amelia, she helps me out at school. I need to talk to you about something serious, and it's a little life-changing." Johnathan was getting desperate for a way to get his dad to just listen.
"Well, I suppose that I can give you a few minutes." Mr Bradley stood up slowly – it seemed that old age had taken its toll on him and his joints were beginning to stiffen up at this point.
"Dad, Amelia had offered me a position working for the firm she works for-" Johnathan gently guided the conversation slowly.
But it was not the firm I work for that is sending him to Japan – I am. Me and a group of specialists are trying to overthrow DEPT by finding Digidestined children across the globe.
"Oh really – well I'm pleased that Miss Amelia had been so kind as to offer you a job, are you going to take it?" his father interrupted his son.
"I've already accepted it." Johnathan awkwardly rubbed the back of his head and rubbing his hand down the back of his neck and shoulders.
This was it, this was a make or break situation because- Johnathan Bradley Senior could either flip out or be happy for his son.
"And you didn't think to tell me!" his father shouted, but the tone didn't indicate whether he was pleased, or furious.
"Well Dad, I'm not doing well academically and this is a great opportunity – but there's just one additional problem that I need to make sure that you are fully aware of." Johnathan paused, and turned to look at me.
I looked away, refusing to take over, but positioning myself so that there was no way out for him.
"It's in Japan…"
"Japan?! Are you crazy? You don't even speak a word of Japanese?" Johnathan's father started laughing. "What use can you be there?"
Johnathan replied with confidence in another language, Japanese. "It may be rusty, but it's enough."
His father looked at him with great confusion, I noticed his hand began to shake and tremble. "What did you say?"
"I know a lot of Japanese actually…" Johnathan mumbled.
"You're really going? What are you going to do there?"
"Something big, but I won't be alone – don't worry."
Johnathan Bradley Senior suddenly slapped a hand to his chest and squeezed his jumper, twisting his fingers around the material.
"Dad!?" Johnathan stepped forwards, but something stopped him touching his father.
"Johnathan, call an ambulance- he's having a heart attack. Mr Bradley, sit down. That's it, just sit down." I guided him to one of the kitchen seats. "Johnathan!" I barked, hoping he would move.
"Amelia, a Digimon's just come through, it's on my Digivice," he replied, his mouth hanging open.
I didn't know what to do; I was speechless. Chuchidarumon was sitting in the garden back at the other house – so I wasn't going to be any help with a Digimon, and Kara, Tilly, Rocky and Benji were already in the Digital World.
"Do something, Johnathan!" I yelled, urging him to make a choice.
He darted into his bedroom and left immediately after with Commandramon hot on his heels.
"Mr Bradley, I'm going to call an ambulance, you're going to be alright. Hang in there," I said calmly, taking out my mobile.
"Johnathan? Where is he?" He grabbed my other wrist, wheezing gently.
"He's gone out for a minute, he'll be back soon, I promise. Just try and relax." After explaining to the emergency services what the problem was, they told me that an ambulance is on the way.
"What's really going on?" he asked me.
"He's going to Japan- that's what's really going on. You're just going to have to support him once you get better."
My mobile began to ring. "Not now," I murmured. "I'm sorry, I have to take this… Hello?"
"Mrs Wallis, it's Miss Daynes- Anthony's teacher." Her voice was so delicate, but I knew she was just buttering me up for something.
"Right, well. What is the problem?"
"Earlier today, Anthony was involved in yet another fight. Fortunately, Gwynn was able to break it up and knock some sense into him… Mrs Wallis, this is the third time this week that your son has been involved in a fight. The school has already warned him, but if it happens again, then Anthony is going to have to find another school to go to-"
I instantly dropped my mobile when I saw Johnathan's father lying limp in the chair – almost lifelessly. His arm hung down beside him and his head was propped up on the wall behind the chair.
"Mr Bradley…" I said loudly.
Murmurs of 'hello? Mrs Wallis? Mrs Wallis, are you there?' could be heard from my phone as it lay on the floor.
I gently tapped his collar bones, hoping for some kind of response. Nothing. I started having flashbacks over my grandfather's death from a stroke, but I had no idea what to do.
"Mr Bradley? Can you hear me?"
Oh god. What am I going to tell John? He's never going to go to Japan now… Not now that his father's severely weak.
Johnathan must have left the door open because a paramedic moved me to one side, causing me to flinch – startled like a rabbit caught in the headlights.
"What's your relation to this man?" she asked, approaching him quickly.
"He's a friend's father…" I said the first thing that came to mind. "Is he… Is he dead?"
The paramedic put her fingers over Mr Bradley's wrist and moved her head back a little.
"I'm so sorry…" she murmured.
Thoughts from AspiringWriterGirl = Apologies for the absence of Digimon encounters, there was a little bit of information dumping here, hope you don't mind… Maybe that can reflect the fact that Amelia is meant to guide the Digidestined – like the Gennai equivalent :L I'm not happy with the ending (hope tobiisagoodboy94 doesn't mind about the ending- sorry!)
Remember if you haven't already, take part in the forum topic's question competition to have your say in what happens in chapter 15 :O All you have to do is answer this simple question,
In chapter thirteen, Rocky and Benji took care of a Digi-Egg for Hawkmon and Biyomon, and we know it belongs to another Digidestined, (found on the poll in the forum topic) but my question is…
Who does the Digi-Egg belong to?
You've got two guesses and comment on the forum topic (or ask me anything there!)
[No votes for Hannah, Jay, Asuka, or Seth – they've all been voted for! So get in there whilst you still can]
Happy guessing and best of luck from AspiringWriterGirl