Chapter 26: Discovery
13wolfsbane: I think I've decided, if this were to be an anime (in my head at least) I'd like Valerie Arem that did MORGANNA in the (dot)Hack/SIGN series to be Destructmon's voice. She sounds like she would be her voice, since she's evil and deceives others to do her dirty work.
Destructmon: I don't deceive, 13... I threaten them.
13wolfsbane: How do you threaten them? Blackmail?
Destructmon: Well, that... and with their lives.
13wolfsbane: ... I think I'll start the chapter now.
Destructmon: I want more screen time, do it or else.
13wolfsbane: ACTION!
Destructmon: Jerk.
Yin: Now you know how the rest of us feel.
~x~
It had taken a while to calm Yin down, the trauma Mercurymon placed on her was too much for her to bare. Even though it was still dark out, with the light of the three moons guiding them, the gang decided it was about time to head out. It was to be sure that the four corrupted warriors weren't planning another foray once again with them. Takuya, Zoe and J.P had spirit (and beast spirit) evolved to fly across the ocean to the next island. Takuya turned into BurningGreymon again, with Koichi, Koji and Yin hanging onto him. Zoe became Kazemon and carried Tommy, and J.P into Beetlemon, carrying the other two passengers, Bokomon and Neemon. It was a flight of sweet silence and only the air rustling by their when Beetlemon had a short comment. "Why the heck didn't we think of this on the beach episode, guys?"
"Think of what?" Kazemon said, curious.
"Why didn't we think of flying over to the island in our season instead of bothering to waste time making a barely capable boat? I mean, c'mon! This is so much easier and a hell lot faster!"
"J.P, you're forgetting that Zoe was the only one with her D-Tector at the time, we lost ours thanks to the Toucanmon tricking us when they were lovestruck fanboys to Ranamon." Koji made a slight remark to his digimon bug-formed friend.
"Yeah, I know, but still-"
"Do you want to drag yourself even deeper into this conversation, J.P?" Koji replied sharply at his friend before returning to care for their comrade. Yin had been knocked out for a few minutes now since they left, and hasn't woken up since. Even when she slept, she still wore that frightened mask over her face tightly. Whatever she might have been dreaming of in her subconscious mind... Koji shook his head, he didn't want to think about it. He wasn't able to help her before, he doubted he'd be able to help her with nightmares like this one.
Maybe it's about her father again... or something else?
A few more minutes had went by in small talk and the rushing of wind sounding in their ears and blowing right through them. The gang were finally close enough to the destinate island and landed, after unloading passengers safely and the rest de-spirit evolving. "Alright guys," Takuya began after taking a quick look in the dark, squinting brown eyes to try and pierce through the thick blanket of dark. "We'll make camp right here for the night, in the morning we can head out to Seraphimon's castle."
"Let's just hope Yin's okay by then." Zoe added in with concern. "I'm really worried about her."
"We all are, Zee, but there's nothing we can do about it now." Koichi decided to join in, more used to the dark than anyone else. Well, he and Yin both. "All there is we can do is gradually wait for her to regain consciousness. I'm sure by then she'll be the same Yin we all know." (Way to stay optimistic, Koichi!) "Well, someone's gotta be, right?" (True!)
~x~
"Hey Koji, can we talk to you alone?" Takuya told the raven haired boy, a serious look masking his usual bubbly-hyperness. The same went for J.P. Something was up, he had a feeling.
Making a quick reassurance that Yin was doing alright, he simply only nodded, picking himself up from the ground and following the two boys away from the team. How far? Just far enough that wasn't within hearing range for this type of conversation... whatever that was.
"Okay, Koji, I think it's time for you to start talking." Takuya immediately said, still wearing that serious mask over his once always cheerful face.
What the- "Takuya? J.P? What are you guys-"
Then J.P interrupted Koji from finishing that sentence, a hard stare piercing through him. "Earlier, when Mercurymon did whatever the hell he did to Yin, Ranamon said something about you two."
"And don't pretend you don't remember, 'cause we already heard what she said to you." Takuya added.
Koji gave it some thought. Even through the gushing sound of Ranamon's attack pouring out on them all, they had managed to hear her words to him.
"You love li'l miss Eclipse, don'cha? That's why you're protective over her, aren't'cha?"
"Koji, I've been- no, we've all been curious about your behavior lately, and not just your behavior about particularly anything. It's this whole thing about Yin, your opinions changed on her ever since she's joined and became our friend.
"You guys don't bicker as much as before, you're always seem to be disappear whenever she was gone, there are so many things that I could go on about if you'd like me to. But mainly, Koji, you just act different whenever she's around you." Takuya said.
And that was when J.P added in something that caught Koji totally off guard, breaking his nonchalant appearance as concern and shock washed over him. "We know you love her." That definitely broke the large ice that came between them.
There wasn't any point in denying that fact now, after all it was true. His own heart betrayed him in that matter, just by pounding against his chest like crazy. Traitor... Koji wondered just how these two figured it out, besides Ranamon giving it away (but he hardly expected them to hear all of that). Wait a tick! If these two goof-balls were able to hear Ranamon and find out about this, then what about...? Aw crap, don't tell me! "Do the others know?" He turned his face away from theirs, resisting the urge to look them straight in the eyes.
"Nah, we figured you'd only told Koichi, so the others don't know." J.P shrugged.
"So you two only thought it through because of what Ranamon said?" Koji questioned, looking out at the sky now. He got an answer he totally didn't expect to hear from their mouths at the same time in perfect unison. "No, we saw you kiss her." Koji turned a darker shade of maroon as he casted his attention back to the two brunettes, seeing an expression of triumph plastered on their faces with wide conspicuous grins.
"Whe-"
"When you walked out of the beach house and we had Bokomon and Neemon doing a tie breaker with Takuya and Zoe," J.P said, pointing at the goggle headed boy. "Seriously, even a tough guy like me deserves a break now and then."
Koji inhaled roughly, slightly slapping his hand against his forehead only once. So much for secrecy, huh? Maybe I shouldn't underestimate these two that much anymore, have to give them credit for figuring things out, though.
"Hey look, we understand that you weren't planning on telling any of us-"
"Mainly Yin for that matter." J.P added in so know-it-all way.
Takuya gave him a side glance glare before continuing. "Right, so if you want us to keep it a secret until you actually tell her, then we'll keep it a secret."
Koji had just remained silent as his goggle wearing friend finished, still not for certain if they were speaking the truth or not of all of this. How could he know for sure that they wouldn't tell a soul? He'd probably have to trust his gut with this, just to only hope he was right to trust them, and make him wrong for doubting friends.
~x~
Yin stirred in her sleep, crackling noises here and there with the warmth and scent of burning wood. Was a firing going? Yin lifted her heavy eyelids open, the brightness of the fire's orange glow making them want to close back up. She blinked a few times, to get adjusted to her surroundings and well aware of the current situation. Darn it, her head slightly hurt, as if something large had knocked her out by slugging her countlessly with a stone fist.
Must have been something that old English talking mirror-face-freak did-
-Mercurymon, and the other three warriors, where were they? Gasp! Yin jerked herself too fast, her brow throbbing harsher like a strong hand fisting at her brain until it popped. Ow! She really hated how her head felt right now, like it did earlier. Something light had slipped off her shoulders to her forearms and lap. She looked closely at the blue fabric with the yellow stripes on both sides.
"I'm glad to see you're awake, sleepy head." Yin glances around, finding only Zoe and Bokomon and Neemon around the campfire. The beach house wasn't found in sight anywhere she scanned with her eyes, neither were those high squeaking voice Toucanmon brothers. "Where...?"
Zoe read her mind and immediately knew what she was about to speak. "While you were sleeping, we all decided to leave the island we were previously on and flew over to this one. Takuya, Koji, and J.P went off to talk somewhere and Tommy and Koichi went to get more fire wood to burn, but I'm sure the boys won't take long to come back."
Yin remained silent, clutching Koji's jacket in her hands and staring straight at her lap. Her hearing caught Bokomon and Neemon arguing about something random, possibly something Neemon had started again with his random comments and all.
"Hey, can I ask you something, Yin?" Zoe said in her sweet-toned voice.
Yin keeps her stare away from Zoe. "What is it?"
Zoe had taken a brief moment to conjure something up, her index finger to her lips as if in deep thinking, and then she thought of it and went ahead and asked her bluntly. "What does Koji mean to you?"
That hit the cue for Yin to finally look at her fully, seeing a hint of a pink blush coming across her face as well as her own heating up. She did her best to conceal it before Zoe took notice of it. "Wha-what d-do you mean?" Yin stammered.
"What I mean is, um... do you have feelings for him?"
Yeah, that'd done it. Her heart ponded wildly, and she could no longer hide the blush as it forced its way to her cheeks. Yin quickly hid her face behind her fallen long hair, her nervousness kept revealing too much. "What are you talking about? I don't like him like that! He's just a comrade to me, nothing more than a fellow teammate! Nothing more than that! Why would you think of such a thing!" She said her words too quickly, but Zoe had heard enough for her to sigh inwardly. "You do like him, don't you?"
Yin saw her flashing a sincere smile at her, and all of a sudden both Bokomon and Neemon went quiet to listen in their conversation with such interests, making Yin feel very uncomfortable at the moment with only two girls talking to each other. Was this some sort of bonding thing Zoe thought of right now? Either if it was or wasn't, she was managing to understand the emotions she was feeling. Does she have something in common with me? Yin thought and proceeded speaking, long trailing black hair still hiding her facial expressions. "I don't know... I just don't know, Zoe. I.. I think I may in fact be in love with him, but I'm not exactly sure of myself.
"These emotions in my heart, my chest tightening, I'm feel different whenever I'm near or just think of him, I don't understand what I'm feeling. It's all stuff I've never felt before, things that are so new to me.
"And I'm scared. I'm scared that if I am in love with him, I just might one day lose him." Yin clutched his jacket tighter to her chest, feeling the rhythmic beats of her pulsation against her chest.
"Lose, as in, losing him to another or by something like death?" Bokomon decided for himself to enter in the private girl-to-girl conversation. Both Yin and Zoe felt quite embarrassed with two male (if they had a specific gender at all) digimon listening to them talk. Yin briefly looked at the small white, pink waistband-wearing digimon, with her voice reverting to a soft whispering-restraining such strong affinity if she had any buried within her once locked heart. "I don't know..."
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you are in love with him, with Koji." Zoe said, having Yin's reaction as she had expected her to do. A look shot at her, a crimson blush with no words, and then there was confusion. There was an expression on Zoe's face, one that Yin was very familiar with by now, but never thought that she would see on the face of someone else, someone who looked as if they never knew an expression.
Zoe looked to be an outgoing person, optimistic, very cheerful and helping, she would never seem the type that would carry such grief, an emotion of sadness and affection. Regret, and heart wrenching. A smile slightly quivered on her lips, her emeralds shining with passionate sorrow, love, envy and jealousy. "Yin," she began with her eyes glancing at the fire as if in an unbreakable trance. "It hurts to be in love, doesn't it? Your heart aching for the very person you want? Feeling love for the very first time? And wanting to do anything for that person, even to give up your very own life just to protect him?
"You see, a part of me wants to tell him so much of how I feel towards him, ever since we went back home, yet another part wanted me to wait, til the time was right. Till I know he feels the same towards me. And I've been waiting to tell him my feelings for a while now, but I'll wait little while longer. It's not that time to tell him yet, of how I actually loved him since.
"So Yin," Zoe gazes back at the stunned Yin, continuing on smiling, as if she said nothing wrong or was completely unaware of what she spoke to her of. "If you plan on confessing to Koji any time soon, you should do it before I do."
Lost of words, Yin felt her mouth dry out, and dared not to utter a word. Her mind tracked on the new discovery she had made. Zoe Orimoto, this girl with long trailing blond hair and green eyes like jewels, held strong affections for Koji Minamoto. The same guy Yin held similar feelings for. Thinking back, Yin didn't think that it wasn't impossible for her to love him. Heck, she's been friends with him longer than herself, Yin had just hated his guts for the last three years. To think of herself being with him... it would never work out, Zoe would have more of a chance than she ever would. But of course she would be oblivious to his unsure feelings for Yin...
Koji... His arms wrapped around her in an embrace, the feel of his lips on hers, the way he made her heart jump so much; it was so, so much different from when they were kids. He'd probably almost teased her every day, and had arguments about the most childish things, they were very much their own rival. And it was still that way three years later, in the Digital World with him and his friends. At the very beginning it was the same, until things started to take their turn and they were suddenly changing. The experience changed them, and the time being with each other changed even more. From hate to love, and possibly soon to be love to pain and pain to hate once more.
Who was she kidding? Yin still didn't believe she loves him, even if the signs were crystal clear as the night sky hovering above them. No... no she didn't want this. She didn't want to fall in love with him. She never asked for this, so why was this happening to her. Yin just wanted to escape from her problems by coming here, she just wanted an escape from...
"Yin, just what is the matter with you! Why are you like this!"
"Yin?"
Blinking, Yin hadn't realized how long she hadn't spoken a word. She could the worry expression washing over her face with the glow of the fire dancing off it. "Huh? Oh, sorry."
"I hope I didn't upset you, I didn't mean to sound so harsh, Yin, I'm sorry. I just got carried away is all, I'm so sorry." She really sounded apologetic.
"It's alright Zee," Yin accept her apology by nodding, sweeping her black hair away from her face and behind her ear. Her now grasping the ring dangling off the fragile chain around her neck. "I guess I understand what you're feeling."
Zoe smiled, a more gleeful one instead of depressing, and giggled aloud, causing a questioning Yin to stare at her. "I believe that was the first time you've ever called me Zee."
"Really? I could have sworn I've called you that before."
"I'm pretty sure you haven't, but either way, I'm glad you did."
"Why?"
"It's sort of proof that we're friends, y'know?"
Yin blushed at this. Well, it was kind of obvious that they were friends now, but she still wasn't used to it, being her first friends and all. And like hell was she going to admit that out loud! But it really was comforting, being able to have friends to trust and rely on.
"Honestly, I don't think I will ever understand the nature of human females."
"I don't think I can understand Bokomon."
"Oh shut up, Neemon!"
Yeah, besides the whole thing about friends, this was something Yin still had to get used to.
~x~
Destructmon gazed out at her own reflection in the tall slim mirror. Her long, sharp, painted fingernail tracing her marking on the left side of her face and the glanced at the rest on her arms and legs. The markings of a celestial digimon, proof of having greater power than anyone else. Each celestial had their own unique markings on their bodies, with each a different level of power and strength.
But why is it that only two celestials created out of two different darknesses have fewer markings than the rest of us? Destructmon pondered, yet it mattered not of what she thought. She could care even less of those two infuriating digimon than she did of her own lackeys. Speaking of which... "Akumamon!" She called forth, and the small mixed creature appeared quickly with no hesitation. Through the mirror she saw him bowing down to her, with its head lowered as in honor of her presence.
"You called, milady?" Akumamon said in a dark hissing sound.
"Have Mercurymon and the other corrupted warriors complete my request properly?" She didn't bother to turn and face him, just seeing through the mirror that he was there was sufficient enough for her.
"Indeed, milady, they have, but may I ask why bother to do such a thing to the Eclipse Warrior?" Akumamon shuddered suddenly as he felt the cold daggering gaze given by Destructmon. A gaze that could kill if she was willing to commit the deed, and willing she would have.
She laughs, only for a brief moment and became solemn. "My dear servant, all will be revealed in due time. I just decided to let the girl live a little while longer."
"But why?"
"She is needed in my future plans to reviving Lord Lucemon, just as Seraphimon, Ophanimon, and Cherubimon are well needed. Little Yin Ikumi has a very special role in my plan, and she is very unaware of my schemes.
"But as I said, all will be revealed in due time." She looks back at herself, sighing inward and out as she dismissed her most loyal minion.
Destructmon waited until she was completely alone, remaining in front of the tall mirror. Extending her arm forward, long enough for her palm to touch the cool surface of the reflecting object, a light quickly shone brightly and her reflection vanishes. Now she sees two warriors before her, with the symbols representing Light and Eclipse on them. Lobomon and Moonmon: Enemies they once were and should have remained so, lovers as they should never have been. Oh how much Destructmon had despised that beast, with the guise of a human type digimon and used her appearance to capture the heart of her enemy.
A heart I had tried so hard to capture myself if it had not been for her meddling.
Destructmon remembers so much during the war: She remembers pain, cries of death and defeat and victory, the wondrous sounds of attacks and blades clashing into each other, absorbing Fractal Code in the process. But in that same war, that very thing that clashed beast and human type against one another as enemies, was where and how they met. For each battle, for each time their blades crossed one another, they grew to love each other out of hate and malice. If it was I that battled against Moonmon, I have immediately killed her off with my own hands, and then he would be...
There was no point in changing the past, that was something of the impossible. Destructmon wished so much that she could rewrite history, and the Warrior of Light would have been hers, for her to claim as love. But instead, no matter what she did to stop that from occurring, to stop him from falling for that beast, even when she did try to see to her pathetic demise, he was always there for her. Lobomon was always there to protect her, to comfort her, to ease her pain and sorrows.
I tried and I tried and I tried. Deceiving, manipulating, corrupting; Destructmon did all she could to prevent what she hated, what she longed for. I've put friend against friend, comrade against comrade, I did everything I could do to kill her! And yet, nothing! Nothing brought forth any victory of that!
There was a smashing sound, Destructmon returned to reality and found her own hand balled into a fist with tiny mirror shards laid on top and at her feet. That was the seventh mirror she'd broken. She didn't care much, she'll just have a Hollowmon come in and clean everything up for her. Right now she had to put her mind on other important businesses that needed her tending to, and she couldn't allow herself to be distracted with past emotions. It really doesn't matter either way, because sooner or later, the Warrior of Eclipse will die. And I'll make sure of it!
~x~
13wolfsbane: I'll end it right there for now, guys.
Zoe: What the heck was that?
13wolfsbane: Don't like it, don't read it, no screen time.
Yin: I'm kind of scared what might happen next chapter. 13, you're not planning anything, are you?
13wolfsbane: ...
Yin: 13?
13wolfsbane: ... *Runs away*
Yin: O_O
Koji: That can't be good.
Takuya: Please leave a review for 13 to read. And also put down for us to have more screen time, or I'm-
Koji: Enough with the lawyer crap already!
Takuya: Just leave a review.
Koichi, J.P, and Tommy: Bye everyone!