14

14. Questions answered

Things can never be that simple…

It was a few weeks after the funeral, and the group was called to the digital world once more. And this time - when they got off the Trailmon near the room where the digital world's history was kept - they found the most pleasant surprise.

"Bokomon! Neemon!" Zoe rushed forward and hugged Neemon.

"I am so glad to see you once again, my friends!" Bokomon shook Tommy's hand.

After Zoe let go of the yellow digimon, he started jumping around with joy. They all laughed and even Kouichi giggled.

"It's been ages!" Said Takuya, smiling widely.

"Indeed! My, you've grown so much! Also, we heard about what happened not a long time ago. You really defeated on of the greatest enemies this world has ever faced!"

They team's faces suddenly darkened.

"It wasn't really us." Muttered Kouji. Bokomon's smile disappeared.

"And also we've heard of the high price you had to pay for this to happen."

"And you say I'm not tactical!" said Neemon after a short silence.

"Oh, shut up!" Bokomon pulled his friend's pants then let them go mid-air.

"OUCH!" shouted Neemon and jumped. The team laughed again.

"I had forgotten what's it like to have you around!" said JP finally.

"Say, why didn't you join us this time?" asked Tommy.

"We wanted to. But I was given a task from Lady Ophanimon. An important task." "What task?"

Bokomon tried to make himself look taller. He was apparently proud.

"To find out more about Lady Elfmon."

That answer made everyone's faces sharpen. Kouichi's fists closed.

"Lady Elfmon?" he muttered.

"What do you… mean?" asked Kouji, shooting a warning glance at his brother.

"It appears that there was more to her then meets the eye." Continued Bokomon.

"but in oreder to explain all this... we have to go backwards, to when the digital world was created."

A light surrounded them, and when it dissppeard, the team, with Bokomon and Neemon, were standing on a fliying round platform, in the room where all the hitory was kept.

Th eplatfor started moving down, through fractal code that circled around. Then it stopped.

Tommy gasped. In front of them, an image was formed.

"when our world was created, along with all the data came other creatures. We do not know where they came form, or why. One day they just appered. That bunch called themselves Mirits." Bokomon said slowly.

The image before them was showing a group of beautiful woman-like creatures. Their entire bodies were green, and they had scar-like formings in a darker shade of green all over their bodies. These creatures - Mirits - seemed like they were coming out of the plants.

Suddenly, JP realized something.

" they don't... have eyes!" he said, his with an amazed stare.

"mm, yes." The white digimon coughed and continued as the platform moved down: "the Mirits were peaceful and almost never attacked any digimon. There were just a few exceptions, but no one got hurt. However, soon it was discovered that the Mirits have a certain... ability. The power to earese memories. Which power, soon, went out of control. Any digimon that would get near would have all his memories wiped out."

Now the image before the group was of all kinds of digimon, mosty the ones that lived in forests, walking around with a blank expession. Some of them were running in horror. The Mirits seemed like they were trying to get as far as possible from any other creatures around them.

"this looks terrible" muttered Zoe.

Takuya nodded, his eye fixed on the one of the green woman-like things. It was the only one that didn't back off.

"it is!" squeked Neemon.

"indeed." Confirmed Bokomon. "since the Mirits didn't want to cause any harm anymore, they asked of the three Celestial digimon to close them in a seperate space, as far as possible from all other species. And so the Hall of Mirrors was created."

Now, after the platform moved even further down, an image of a room appeared. No, it looked more like a maze - and all the walls were made by mirrors. It was dark, and still, some kind of strange green-white light was coming out of the reflecting surface. And then the group saw them - spirits. They were green and looked exactly like the Mirits but were more… thin. Like ghosts. Kouichi could actually see though them.

"Mirits can also travel through mirrors, so this was the perfect decision." Bokomon kept going with the story. "Most of them were pleased with the arrangement. Those creatures do not need food or water to survive. All they need is a reflection to feed from. They could watch the digital world without harming it. But there was a small group… which didn't like all this. A small group of Mirits who wanted to be free. They blamed the Celestial digimon for everything that has happened so far. And then they discovered your world - the real world. And decided to try and go there. It was their chance for freedom. But they would all disappear on the way there - through the mirrors. But one of them… one of them succeeded."

Now it was showing a crowded street. There were more people than there were supposed to and the cars weren't moving. There was an ambulance, and not far behind it were two cars that seemed like they had crashed in all force. Two more ambulances came, and there could even be heard a little bit of noise. Kouji couldn't recognize the woman that got on one of the white cars with bright orange strips, but recognized the boy that was carried in another one of the ambulances. It was Peter Gami. He was a lot younger but it was him.

Seemed like the others finally realized what was that. Tommy gasped and Zoe covered her mouth. JP's eyes were even wider than before. Kouichi's berating became shallow, and Takuya greeted his teeth and tried not to look away. The image zoomed into a small pond not far form the nearest ambulance. Out of it came a thin as the air, small green spirit. It merely had a shape, but it was there. It quickly went into one of the ambulances and disappeared.

The platform where the kids were standing kept moving down.

"I think you can guess what happened. The spirit went inside a 3-year-old girl and became one with her. It is the spirit who helped her get back on her feet when she was older and it was that same spirit that gave her the guts to be independent and rough. It is the spirit who called her into the digital world."

"But… that… thing… it doesn't make sense. If it's Elfmon, then how…" started Zoe after a quiet silence.

"I forgot to mention that what emerged into Yoma was just a part of the digimon you now call Elfmon." cut her Bokomon. "The other part of her somehow entered the digital world and started gaining power and data. She soon became one of the most powerful digimon existing and swore that one day she'll free the Mirits and let them live in the real world. That was her goal."

"That explains some things about her… but you said the Mirits were peaceful. Then why did Elfmon want to…" started Kouji.

"Not at the beginning. She helped most of the forests to grow bigger and tried helping the digimon. But she wasn't welcomed. Elfmon was feared by all types and seizes of digimon. It soon became clear that nobody wanted her in this world. Elfmon became furious. This is when she changed… she started believing that the only way to be accepted was by force. She was the one who convinced Lucemon to try and take over this world."

"Oh!" that was the only thing that any of the kids could say. Neemon had fallen asleep and his head was resting on his tiny shoulder.

"Yoma grew without knowing any of this. Yes, she sometimes felt a strange presence inside of her, but always convinced herself it was nothing. And how could she know anything at all? The only different thing about her appearance was her eye color. Instead of green, her eyes were red.

"But even if she knew there was nothing she could do about it - the two were connected and if one of them died, the other one would meet the same fate. Now, to continue with our story… one day, she heard a clear voice in her head, which was calling her here. But even if she knew there was nothing she could do about it - the two were connected and if one of them died, the other one would meet the same fate. Now, to continue with our story…"

A new image appeared. This time it was of the red-headed girl. She was just getting off a Trailmon and looking around. Then her expression changed and she looked as if she just remembered something.

"I need to go to the Dark Area" she told Worm, who looking terrified by the very idea. The image changed and it now was showing Yoma in front of Cherubimon.

"Elfmon had to know how much power Lucemon gained, and so she sent her - so called - human partner to find out. After a while, however, your friend started getting off the tracks of the plan. She tried to convince Kouichi, back then as Duskmon, to come back to his true self." Continued Bokomon.

"I don't remember any of that." Greeted Kouichi behind teeth.

"Have you forgotten what I told you just a few minutes ago? About the Mirits' ability to erase memories?"

Silence answered his words. The platform stopped moving.

"From then on you know everything." Finally finished the while digimon. "Wake up!!" he shouted and poked Neemon.

"Aah!" the yellow digimon woke up with a gasp.

"So that's all, huh? It explains a lot now…" said Zoe and turned to Takuya with knitted brows.

"Yeah…"

"So now… should we blame Elfmon for all this? Maybe… maybe it wasn't entirely her fault. Maybe… maybe she's not the only one to blame…" started Tommy, but stopped when he saw Kouichi's expression.

"I won't forgive her. I don't care if she's gone. I don't care what made her do all this. I can never forgive her." Said the short-haired blue-eyed boy. Kouji just sighed.

"We'd better get going." Said JP after a short silence.

"Yeah…"

"Well, call us if there's any trouble, alright?" Takuya smiled at the two digimon.

"Of cou-…" a starnge sound cut Bokomon's words. it was cutting, splitting... almost unbeareble. they all covered their ears, but it was as if the noise was inside their thoughts. like a soundless scream. There was a crack formed in the mirror. A gap. And the Mirits were celebrating.

TO BE CONTINUED