Disclaimer: I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.
Author: Higuchimon
Fandom: Digimon Adventure 02
Story Title: Broken Siren
Characters: Taichi, Yamato, Chosen Children||Pairing: Taichi x Yamato/Yamato x Taichi
Word Count: chapter: 2,475||story: 29,802||Chapters: 14/15
Genre: Romance, Fantasy|Rated: PG-13
Challenge: Diversity Writing Challenge, J4, 7-15 chapters; New Year's Mini-Advent, fic length determined by dice roll; (10,000-50,000 words); Valentine's Day to White Day Advent 2016, day #23, write a fic where everything turns out alright (no one said it had to start that way); Easter Egg Basket Advent, day #5, include someone almost, but not quite, dying; Word Count Set Boot Camp, #8, 32,589 words; TaiYama/YamaTai Week on Tumblr, prompt #2, bonds
Challenge Location: Diversity Writing, New Year's Mini-Advent, Valentine's Day to White Day Advent 2016, Easter Egg Basket Advent, & Word Count Set Boot Camp may be found at the Digimon Challenge forum on FFnet. TaiYama/YamaTai Week is hosted on Tumblr.
Notes: This is an AU. Things will probably be confusing now, but I will try to explain it all by the end.
Summary: Sirens are forbidden to exist in Prince Taichi's kingdom. He barely even thinks of them. So when a mysterious stranger with a compelling voice arrives at his twenty-first birthday party, Taichi's only desire is to get to know him better, no matter the cost.
Miyako made her way through the corridors of Vamdemon's hidden palace. Once she'd found a window she'd been in. Now she just had to find Taichi and whoever Vamdemon kept as a blood source.
And then I have to get them out of here while it hurts to walk and I've got no chance of shifting and I have no idea of what's going on out there. She cast a glance behind her; she had to trust that the others would at least keep Vamdemon at bay long enough for her to pull off the rescue. She couldn't do a lot more other than that.
She listened at every door she came to, pausing at cross corridors to see if she could figure out which way to go. What would be even worse would be finding a way to get back out again.
I'll do it like I do everything: on a wing and a prayer. Even if I don't have my wings right now.
She turned a corner after listening for several minutes to figure out if anyone was there. She'd taken no more than a half a dozen steps before a door opened and a figure stepped out. She couldn't take another step beyond that before whoever it was turned to look at her.
Miyako froze in her tracks at the sight of those large green eyes. She blinked several times before a name came to her lips.
"Iori?"
He stared back at her. He'd grown respectably since the last time she'd seen him. The bite marks on his neck weren't all that fresh, except for one. That told her one thing: she'd found Vamdemon's blood source.
"Miyako?" A thread of hope wove through his voice as he turned to take a step toward her. "Is that you?"
"Who else would be stupid enough to come into a vampire's castle with almost no weapons and not able to change to get out of here if my friends can't take him down?" She raised one eyebrow at the question, hand on her hip. Iori had never been one to smile much, but she recognized the joy in his eyes anyway.
Then those eyes widened with worry. "If we're going to leave, then we need to take His Highness with us."
"Yeah, that's who I was looking for. Him and you." She hesitated for a few seconds. "When this is over, you're going to tell me why you're here and why you're not dead." Her eyes flicked to his pulse, almost invisible from where she stood, but she hoped it was there. It had to be; vampires couldn't feed off of other vampires.
"When it's over, yes." Iori nodded, then gestured her along. "I know where he is. But he won't be able to leave willingly."
Miyako let loose an annoyed sigh. "Vamdemon did something for that?"
"Yes." Iori hurried along and she followed. "But I think I might know a way around it."
That wouldn't surprise her; Iori had always been a smart one. Finding he was the unknown blood source gave her a boost she hadn't thought she could feel with the way she still throbbed in multiple areas.
Now everyone else could just finish off Vamdemon and it would be a magnificent day.
For the thousandth time – but who was counting? - Taichi envisioned slamming a huge stake in between Vamdemon's ribs and watching as he screamed, flailed, and otherwise made a complete fool of himself before finally fading away never to be seen again. This time he added the extra detail of picking up Yamato and seeing the blond no longer had fangs and his voice didn't compel others.
It was his fantasy, he could do whatever he wanted with it.
Soft footsteps, little more than whispers of movement, sounded from the door. He expected Iori, though he wasn't sure what the other could want here.
He expected Iori and he wasn't disappointed, but who he didn't expect was the phoenix princess Miyako. He blinked at her; he didn't know her that well, but he didn't think the bruises and general battered condition was standard issue for her.
For a moment he opened his mouth, then his lips slammed together again. Oh. Right. I'm not allowed to talk to anyone who comes in here. He tossed his head; this wasn't going to be fun at all.
"Vamdemon gave him orders to stay here and not speak," Iori murmured to Miyako. Taichi found he could nod in agreement to that and did so.
"You said you knew a way around it?" Miyako kept her voice only a fraction above a whisper. Taichi's eyes lit up at the thought of being able to leave here and listened intently as well.
A small smile made its way around Iori's lips. "I can't promise it will work."
Taichi nodded his head with all the speed he could manage. He wanted to at least try it! He hated being trapped like this, unable to do anything at all. I'd prefer being chained up. At least then I could see why I couldn't do anything! As it was, he sat there like a lump on a log or some kind of wax doll for someone to play with. It wasn't a position he wanted.
"Let's give it a try!" Miyako declared. Taichi nodded even faster. Iori gave him a measured look, then pulled his fist back and -
Miyako blinked as Taichi slumped over, a quickly flowering bruise where Iori's fist struck. "That was your idea?"
"He couldn't leave of his own will and he would've had to fight us otherwise," Iori said. He'd definitely grown since the last time they'd seen one another, as he scooped up the prince and carried him over his shoulder. She was more than willing to let him do that. Just the movement she'd done already was enough to make her long for her bed.
She let out a long breath from her nose. "All right. Let's get out of here." Maybe they'd get there in time to see the others shredding Vamdemon. That would be worth every ounce of pain and then some.
Vamdemon lashed scarlet bolts of energy everywhere he could get to, hitting more than he missed, but being hit as well. Not every strike that hit him hurt him; those were reserved for those who had holy power.
He dropped out of the way of one strike from the demon prince, only to find himself facing the golden-haired angel, staff at the ready.
"Will you not surrender and give up your captives? All of them, including Yamato?" Angemon asked, gaze bent toward him. Vamdemon threw back his head and laughed.
"Are you truly that foolish? Give up what's mine? What I created out of something nearly a corpse and the tool of my revenge?" He smirked. "Not to mention a very useful blood producer."
"Surrender them, release them from your bondage, and this battle ends," Angemon promised. "You'll find no peace otherwise."
Vamdemon's answer was a swarm of his enslaved bats, which Angemon dodged with a flick of his bright wings. The vampire sneered; angels were so stupid. He prepared another strike, only for a peppering of pain to strike his shoulders and back. Whirling, he saw the cupid princess and the dryad princess there, along with the gigantic bird they'd brought along.
"What madness is this?" A cupid's power wasn't holy, nor was a dryad's, but he could still feel a speckle or two of pain. A minor annoyance.
"We call it a distraction," the dryad said. "Maybe you've heard of them?"
"Wait, what?" Vamdemon barely had time to utter the words before a beam of powerful, blinding holy energy slammed into him from the side. Angemon stood there, staff in hand, and what might've been a sorrowful look on what could be seen of his features.
But Vamdemon wasn't one to give up so easily, especially not when he knew there was another angel on the field somewhere. He hadn't forgotten that little cat, concealing herself where she thought he wouldn't find her.
Breathing hard – though he had no need for breath – he rose up, one hand pressed to where Angemon's attack struck. "You think that anything you do will matter? I always rise again. It is my nature! It is what I was born to do!"
"Then we'll take you down again and again!" There she was, the blue-eyed cat that gleamed bright with the power of angels, held in the arms of the human princess. If it weren't for the protection the cat gave, Vamdemon would have her in his clutches to, and feed until only a dried up husk remained. "There is a place in the world for predators, but you abuse your power! That is something that we won't allow!"
"I didn't ask your permission." Vamdemon cast his gaze around, searching for his companion on the battlefield. He didn't like not having Yamato near to take what blows he could.
"Looking for him?" The demon prince smiled a smile that would've made Vamdemon proud if that had been his offspring. But now he gestured and Vamdemon saw his servant, pinned to the ground in a shadow cast by a rock, two sharp blades keeping him there. "He's not going anywhere."
"And for that matter, neither are you!"
This time it was the construct and he moved too quickly even for Vamdemon to follow, slamming into the vampire lord with every ounce of strength that flowed through his body. Vamdemon grabbed onto him by sheer instinct alone, fingers tightening as he did, holding the creature up in front of him.
"If your allies think they can strike me down while I hold you, then I wish them luck!" Vamdemon snarled. He could smell blood coming from a dozen minor injuries on so many of his opponents, but what came strongest was from a cut right here on the construct. He licked his lips; what would feeding from this creature be like?
"Do it!" The shout came loud and clear. "Do it now!"
Holy energy flowed across the battlefield and Vamdemon looked up to see the cat glowing in a cocoon of pure blinding energy. His eyes slammed shut, though he kept hold of his hostage, and he tried his best to get away from the light.
"Sorry, you're not going anywhere! Said that once already, I think." The construct brought his legs up and slammed them against Vamdemon, wrapping his arms around the vampire and pushing them both back. "I think you need to meet this person anyway."
Where the cat had been, there now stood the angel's true form, a golden-haired beauty with a bow of pure holy power, a glimmering arrow drawn and held, pointing at him.
Vamdemon saw no reason to play fair. He pulled the construct up in front of where his heart would be if he had one. "Go ahead. Can you take us both out?"
"I'm pretty sure that's impossible," the construct chirped. The demon prince hovered not that far away, hints of worry in his expression that thrilled Vamdemon's twisted soul. If he could get the angel to destroy both of them, it would be worth it just to know she'd harmed a relative innocent.
"Of course it is. Not even an angel could hit me with you in front of me, fool."
The creature grinned suddenly. Vamdemon could feel it even if he couldn't see it. "That's not what I was saying. Ken!"
"Now!" The words came within a heartbeat of one another. Out of the ground, reaching up with claws of green, vines and roots wove, some of them sliding around the construct, some around Vamdemon, pulling them apart, depositing the creature next to the demon prince.
The vines and roots that wrapped around Vamdemon held him in place no matter how hard he struggled. He caught a glimpse of the dryad princess and her companions, the cupid and the giant bird, lending her strength, along with another that looked much like a cross between a woman and a rose.
"Now, everyone! All together!" The female angel called out. "I'll need everything you've got to take care of him!"
And they gave it; Vamdemon could not believe his eyes, but they gave it! Energy in multiple forms came from everyone who stood against him, increasing the strength of that holy arrow until he could scarcely see for the force of it.
He didn't know when she fired it. But he knew when it hit, piercing him to the core. He screamed, unable to stop himself, hands reaching for the arrow and falling through where it pierced him. He couldn't touch it, couldn't touch anything, couldn't move at all.
Yamato! He shrieked for his slave, for the creature he'd crafted to serve his needs, but the bond that tied them together broke in the same moment the arrow struck and he could do nothing to stop it. If he'd needed to breathe he would've hauled in jagged gouts of air. He tried anyway, but it did no good. He could feel nothing but the agonizing pain of holy power unraveling him from the inside out.
He could see now the angel's eyes as she stared him down with the unpitying gaze her kind always had for him.
"I… will… return..."
He could not even be certain that they heard his vow, but in that moment, he lost his grip on everything. As he faded, the last sight that met his awareness was that of three people emerging from his castle: two of them very familiar to him.
With that, he dissolved entirely, slipping away to where the pain meant nothing, and did not, in fact, exist at all.
From the moment he'd awakened to Vamdemon's command, Yamato found himself aware of invisible bonds that kept him ensnared to his master's will. He'd grown used to them, almost to the point he didn't notice them anymore. It was easier to ignore them and just do as he was told, and much less painful than when he tried to disobey.
Now those bonds shattered. Yamato slumped downward, trembling all over, hardly able to grasp what had happened. Slowly he looked up. He remained where he was, pinned by the demon prince's swords, but he knew without a doubt if he were released, he wouldn't fight against them. Whatever they decided his fate was for what he'd done, he would accept it.
I hope they let me say good-bye to Taichi first this time. And let me talk to Takeru. The things he'd been denied in his first death he ached for now that his second loomed closer.
He could hear them coming closer and he steeled himself. Whatever his fate, he'd earned it. So be it.
To Be Continued
Note: Thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Please let me know what you thought of it if at all possible.