Wolf: New chapter finally up! Please review and comment.
Fey POV
Koji, Marcus, and I ran down the streets. DATS was my only hope of getting out of town in enough time.
"So you're just going to make them send you to the middle of nowhere?" Koji said.
I nodded. "That area of the Digital World is secluded, which means there won't even be any Digimon in the area. Once twenty minutes have passed since they send me, Kari or someone from the D3 group will come over and find me."
"I don't think we're going to go through with that," Marcus, surprisingly, countered. "We just made a deal so that you won't be out of our sight. How do you expect to convince Commander Sampson to-"
"If I have to I'll hand over the Digivice temporarily, but I can't just sit here and let Stellamon take control in the middle of the city! There's no way there wouldn't be casualties, or even eyewitnesses at the least." There were no complaints there. Even if their digimon were growing stronger and faster than they originally did, they still had trouble containing Stellamon the last time she was around. Besides, I didn't want to risk anyone getting hurt because of me again.
"Ok, were almost-" A fresh wave of pain forced me to stop. "I must have misjudged how soon she'd get here." Koji looked concerned.
"Will you make it in time?"
I chuckled. "Yeah, as long as there aren't any distractions." Instantly I regretted adding that last part. As if on que, a crack formed between Earth and Digiquartz opened and a large group of Numemon came flooding out. All three of us just stood there in dumbfound silence before I finally said what we were all thinking. "You've got to be kidding me."
Crysty POV
"Wah! TK, what do we do!?"
"What are you asking me for!?" TK answered between coughs.
"Oh, I don't know how much more of this I can take!" Patamon said just before being pushed back.
"OK, that's it! Everybody out!" TK finally relented. The three of us barreled over to the door and exploded out of it, followed by a growing pool of water. TK quickly closed the door as the three of us slumped to the ground.
"Is this kind of thing normal for this world?"
"No. That surprised me," Patamon answered. Just as he answered, the elevator opened and four individuals walked out. I recognized them from yesterday.
TK raised his hand. "Hey. How was your morning?"
"What happened to you three?" the bird digimon, Hawkmon, asked. I guess we must have been a strange sight: a boy and girl, along with a flying guinea pig, dripping wet in the walkway.
"Well, I'm not entirely sure," TK said.
"All I did was flush the toilet, and water started coming in from everywhere." The four looked at us strangely.
"I don't know how to explain the timing, but all the pipes in the house seemed to burst or something," TK explained.
"Water was coming out of everything: the sinks, toilet, shower, maybe even the drains," Patamon finished.
"I'm halfway glad my mom had to go in early today, but what are we going to do about this?"
"I think the only thing you can do is call a plumber, and possibly your insurance company," Yolie answered.
"I guess you're right, but Mom isn't going to like this."
"I'd be worried about the people underneath you, too. I don't think they'll appreciate waking up to water dripping from their ceiling if you can't get that under control soon," Cody added.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'll see if a neighbor will let me use their phone."
"Hm? Hey, TK, the sound stopped." We all looked at Patamon, who was staring at the door.
"Sound?" I asked. Patamon nodded.
"Yeah. I think the water stopped." I reached for the handle.
"Wait!" Armadillomon tried, but I opened the door. I cautiously entered and looked around.
"He's right. That's weird. Why would they stop?"
"I don't know, but let's get this place cleaned up before anyone finds out what happened." I nodded and everyone worked together to get all the water cleaned up. Patamon really helped drying the cloths with his boom bubble move. Armadillomon got a lot of the lower areas, like under the table and the lip under the counter. Hawkmon found some spots on the celling and he stood on my shoulders to help clean them up. The others got mops and towels and we got the place cleaned up fairly quickly. After about an hour, there was only one thing that was still fairly wet.
"Think any of your cloths will fit me, TK?" I looked at myself, shirt coldly clinging to me.
"No offence, but I think we can find you some better cloths," Yolie answered.
"Where?"
"Well, we were going to show you around, some of that was going to include some stores. We planned on getting you some things you need, like extra cloths and a backpack," Cody explained. "Guess we'll have to start with the cloths shopping."
"Wow! People actually have this many cloths. No wonder they want to sell some of them. But why did they get so many of the same shirts in the first place?"
Cody explained the idea of stores as Yolie pulled me along, handing me cloths to try on. But I couldn't help but notice TK looking a little uneasy off to the side. I tried to put it out of my mind as I went to try on the first pile. Finally, after about the fourth or fifth outfit I turned to TK.
"OK, what's wrong?" TK looked genuinely confused for a moment before answering.
"What do you mean?"
"We've been here for almost forty five minutes and you've spent most of this time with a look on your face that says 'I have more important things to be worrying about.'" I let out a sigh. "This doesn't have anything to do with my nightmare last night, does it?" TK looked away, confirming my suspicions.
"Nightmare? What are you talking about?" Yolie asked.
"More like a night terror, at least for me. I've just learned to deal with it since… Since I usually had to worry about Dragomon possibly finding us if I get too loud. Priorities, you know."
"How long have these been going on?" Cody asked.
"I don't know… Maybe about a month?" There were uncomfortable looks between the others. "What?"
"What happens in the dream? You said last night something about people in it."
"Y-yes… I wish I could answer that, but I don't really remember much about them once I wake up. The only things that really stand out are that it's usually a group of people I'm with. They vary from three different groups. And that in almost every instance… some of them… die."
"Do you recognize any of them? Sometimes someone can get visions of things, you know," Armadillomon said.
I shook my head. "No, none of them are anyone I've seen before. All I know is that some of them are becoming clearer. And I can't seem to save anyone in them." TK looked really upset.
"Why didn't you tell us about them before?" His voice sounded more concerned than upset.
"What good would it have done? Besides, I thought maybe it was just from being scared for so long."
RING! I jumped as Yolie reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone.
"Hello? Wait, what? Slow down a little… OK… Are you serious? OK, I'll bring TK and Cody with me. Just try to find her before… Yeah." She hung up. "Guys, we got a problem. F… Finish up, Crysty. You need to head back to TK's place." As she said this, she headed to the front of the store to pay for the cloths I'd chosen at this point.
"What's going on?"
"Someone named Stellamon is about to show up and she's not that good. She'd probably kill you without a second thought."
"Then won't you need all the help you can get? I can help. I'll get Lucemon and-"
"No, It's too risky, even with his help," TK interjected. Something about his tone made me wonder, but he turned away before I could ask. "Let's go. Crysty, go home. We'll be back soon." He and the others all ran off as I reached out to try and stop them.
Kari POV
"There they are," Tai said.
"TK, over here!" I waved him and the others over.
"What happened?"
"Fey was on her way to DATS and there was an issue. Koji convinced her to try and make it on her own. Unfortunately, Fey called me and said she doesn't think she has enough time. Where's Crysty?"
"We sent her back home. I know you don't like keeping her in the dark but-"
"No," Kari interrupted, "I think it's better this way. I would hate it if Crysty got hurt by Fey while she was Stellamon. Hopefully this won't happen again for a while."
"Yeah, tell me about it. Any idea where she is?" Yolie asked.
"Yeah, that way," Kari pointed. "But Thomas insisted TK and I hang here. He thought there might be a chance Fey could have gotten this far, so he wants us to look around and keep an eye out here."
"All right, let's go." Cody huridly turned and dashed after Tai, who was leading the way.
"I hope they'll be alright. This is Stellamon we're dealing with."
"Come on; let's look around, before she gets the drop on us," Gatomon said. I nodded and we started looking around the area.
Three minutes was all it took to find her. I heard a sound coming from a nearby alley and ran over to find Stellamon had penned TK to the wall and Patamon knocked unconscious.
"TK!" Stellamon's smile broke.
"If you wouldn't mind leaving, I'd really appreciate it. I'd kinda like to have my fun without annoying cries to stop."
"Then don't start. Kari, let-" Before she could finish, a can of black coffee came flying out and smacked Stellamon in the head. All eyes turned to the source.
"Lea-leave him alone!" Crysty was shaking so much, it was easy to see from the other end of the alley.
"What are you-" TK started, but Stellamon suddenly flung him to the side and shot over to grab Crysty.
"So DATS is hiring short runts into its ranks now? Don't recognize you from the last time I was here. Where's your partner, kid? Or are you just some annoying brat who thought they'd save a cute boy in trouble?"
TK shot up and ran over to the two. "Don't you dare hurt Crysty!" Stellamon let out a short laugh and flicked her free wrist, producing a wind attack strong enough to throw TK back all the way to me.
"Gatomon, get ready to digivolve!" She nodded.
"Crysty? Cute name for you. Your mommy and daddy are going to have to hate putting it on your tombstone."
"Not a problem," Crysty said through her clenched teeth. "Never had any."
"Oh, then you named you, if you don't mind me asking? A sibling, perhaps?"
"No; I picked it." Stellamon didn't respond. Her smile faded and her eyes started darting around every inch of Crysty's face. "What?" I was about a second from making Gatomon digivolve when Stellamon finally spoke up.
"Your name couldn't be… Crystyl Woods, right?"
Crysty's face paled to almost white. "How do you know that? I haven't-" Stellamon shot back so fast I couldn't even register she moved until a full two seconds after she'd done it. Crysty flopped onto the ground and it took her a moment to recover from the sudden change as well. "Wait! If you know my name, does that mean you know-" Stellamon didn't wait for the rest of the question. She shot over and snatched me off the ground so fast I dropped my Digivice and we were suddenly off flying in a random direction.
"What are you doing?" Stellamon didn't respond; she just kept scanning the ground. After about two minutes, I realized she must have been looking for someone because she was flying erratically. Finally, on the third minute, she suddenly dropped me, literally, onto the roof of a building before disappearing again. "Huh?" Suddenly she returned, carrying the Warrior of Darkness with her.
"What are you two thinking!?" Stellamon shouted. Both of us were taken back by the reaction, so neither of us responded. "You let that kid join DATS? Do you want me to lose control?"
"What are you talking about?" I finally managed to say. "For one, Crysty isn't even a member of DATS officially yet anyway. And what would that have to do with you losing control?"
"Are you saying you don't control Fey?"
"That isn't the issue. Get that girl as far away from Digimon and anything else dangerous as you can. Don't even let her see an unloaded gun if you have to. Just get her away from danger."
"Explain why and we might be able to do something." Stellamon hesitated. Her cocky personality seemed absent as she contemplated Koichi's offer.
"Fine. That kid is more dangerous than me, for one thing."
"That's not true. Crysty wouldn't hurt a mosquito unless it was trying to hurt someone," I countered.
"You really don't know the kid. She did grow up in the Dark Ocean, remember? She's capable of a lot more than you think. But more importantly, it isn't her herself that makes her dangerous. If that kid got hurt, I can't guarantee I could control the darkness inside of Fey."
"Wait, control Fey's darkness?" Koichi interrupted. "Are you trying to say you're supposed to be good?"
"Of course not. If it makes it easier to understand, you can think of me as being another personality within Fey. I'm the side of her that took all of her suffering and heartache over the years and let me turn into this. Because of this and her opinion of what darkness is, that is what makes me the way I am."
"So, you share Fey's point's of view?" I said.
"Not quite. It just means that her views sway how I act. Say if her opinion of darkness shifted to that of being beneficial, my personality would likely change drastically. But given her past, that wouldn't happen, and surely not quickly. That being said, that kid, Crysty, is really important to her. If something happened to her, Fey would lose it. Even if she kept herself together as Fey, the next time I supposedly took over, I'd have no control and she would be like a deranged animal destroying anything in its path.
"Don't get me wrong, it's not like I care about anyone who would be caught in the crossfire; but I do care about my own existence. If Fey lost it, I don't know if I'd survive. Also, that would mean Kari and Gatomon would be at risk, too. They would get hurt and probably die. So that's why you have to get her away from all this."
"Why does Fey care that much about Crysty?"
"It's because they are sisters," Koichi answered.
"Huh?!"
"It shouldn't be my place to tell anyone, but I didn't think she'd be such a risk. If this is the case, why shouldn't we tell the others?"
"Wait, no one knows the two are related?"
"They don't even know they are on the same world, though I'd bet you just messed that up." Koichi and I spun around to see Ileata walking up.
"So you're around again, too?"
"Obviously. Listen, it wouldn't do any good for anyone to know the whole picture right now, except for you two. Most of the other digidestined are still having issues with Fey in general, and things with Crysty aren't exactly rock solid either. She's a kid from a dark world. If they find out she's lied to them about anything, it might cause the others to find her a liability and they'll try to send her back. Not to mention the added negative emotions would bring about another visit from our friend sooner than need be. That's why we can't tell anyone about this right now. It's not safe for anyone."
"My time's almost up," Stellamon said. "For once, I'm glad I didn't get to do any damage. Might have squashed her without realizing what I'd done. Just remember, don't let anything happen to that kid, or everyone will regret it." Koichi nodded.
"Of course," Ileata responded. "I don't particularly like the idea of kids getting hurt to begin with anyway. Especially when I feel like she's almost my sister, too." Stellamon actually seemed to give off a genuine smile… for her at least. Then she collapsed.
"I'd better call TK. He's probably worried sick about me."
"I'll take the kid back to DATS. Don't worry, we will leave out all the things involving her."
"How are you going to keep it a secret?" I asked.
"I don't know. I'll think of something." With that, Ileata changed form and headed off to take Fey to DATS.
"So they're related. How did you know?"
"It's kind of obvious when you've been around her long enough. She is sensitive to sibling issues. She avoids most talk about her past personal life." I suddenly slapped my face.
"Plus they are both from the Dark Ocean. It should have been more obvious to me."
Koichi eyes widened. "You know?"
"She didn't say it specifically, but both Koji and I figured it out back when we were in Dragomon's castle. Is there another sister?" Koichi looked confused. "The report you gave to the commander. It mentioned you guys with Fey. TK thought it was a past version of her, but-"
"Honestly, I don't know if she is or not. All I know is she's still over there and she looks almost just like Fey, except with black hair instead of brown."
"Maybe we'll find out more later. Right now," I pointed, "the others are here. We probably shouldn't be talking about this around them." Koichi agreed.
"There is just one thing I want to know. Are you really on Fey's side?"
"Yeah. If there's anything I can do to make up for the way we've treated her up till now, I'll try. Even if it means staying quiet."