A/N: This chapter is dedicated to UltimateBlack for being the 200th reviewer of this story. :D
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
Digimon Trinity
Chapter: 29/ The Weaving of Webs
Rumiko's heels clacked hard on the pavement as she hurried home, an excited look on her face, barely able to contain the excitement that bubbled from within her breast.
Maybe today's the day, Rumiko thought. The day where I can get her to open up to me…
She remembered her long talk with Sora after Rika inexplicably rushed out of the house for another one of her 'games' with her friends – all the venting that she did about Rika's behavior, her own inability to connect with the girl and her envy over the relationship Sora seemed to have with her without even trying.
Today would be different surely. She went with her to her school for Parents Day. Although brief, she got to see her baby-girl go about her day. Certainly Rika would want to fill her in on the details that she missed when work called her away. She would understand, since her work was important – just as her card game was important – and then…from there… They could both share the details that they both missed from the other. A great opportunity for mother and daughter bonding!
Rumiko picked up her pace just a little bit more, eager to get home as quickly as possible.
###
Rika stared into the koi pond, watching the reflection of the moon upon its surface as it trailed through the night sky. Behind her, situated on the roof, sat Renamon, watching her with shining blue eyes. The vulpine digimon had been silent ever since the battle, as had Rika, opting for spending time with her grandmother, dodging questions about her day and her mood.
However, that time was over, leaving them with the proverbial elephant in the room that neither of them could ignore any longer.
"Are you trying to make me look bad?" Rika asked finally, her tone bitter. Renamon looked at her, feeling shame flush her body.
"Why would I want to do that?" she asked. "I only want to make you happy."
This was true. Their relationship may have begun as more of a business arrangement, but she over time she cared about how her actions reflected on Rika. Their battles were increasingly becoming more like setbacks. Even when they won and loaded opponents, she didn't feel any stronger than before, something that left her wondering.
"I don't get it," Rika spat, allowing some more of her anger and disgust to flow through. "What's your problem?"
Renamon winced at the accusation, as it seemed to confirm all of her worst fears. That she was the one at fault. She wasn't good enough.
Was IceDevimon right? Am I not strong enough?
"I'm just…waiting, that's all," Renamon replied carefully. She didn't know what else to say. Waiting seemed to be the only thing she could do. She couldn't force herself to digivolve. She didn't know why, but she lacked the inner-force of will to do that to herself.
Perhaps I am a coward, she thought. If only I did, my fellow Nightmare Soldiers wouldn't be so few in number now…
"Your friends told me that you wanted to digivolve," Rika grated, her fingers locking into tight fists. "They chose me to help you with that. Is this how it's going to be? Just you sitting around waiting to digivolve whenever you feel like it?"
As the words ran off her tongue, a sneaking suspicion – a seed that had been planted a long time ago – began to sprout. Am I just being used? Is she even interested in digivolving at all?
Renamon closed her eyes, feeling the pain of the girl's words course through her like venom in her veins. "I'm…sorry to disappoint you," she replied. "But…Rika…"
"Rika!" came the interrupting voice of Rumiko as she arrived through the main gate. Turning in surprise, Renamon somersaulted down toward the house and vanished into the shadows. "I'm home! Where are you? I had the most amazing day!"
The red-haired girl heaved a heavy sigh, annoyed that her thoughts and time now had to be set aside for someone else. Especially someone who didn't see fit to set their time aside for her when promised.
"I'm out here, Mom!" she called back, grudgingly starting toward the direction of the gate.
###
The time spent listening to her mother go on about her workday passed by unbearably slow, and when she finally turned the topic over to her, Rika welcomed the topic change with a sigh of relief.
"My day was fine," she had replied before excusing herself to go to bed, declaring herself tired. Not that she felt exhausted in reality, but there wasn't anything else left to do with her time. The day was done, and though her mother was home, she didn't feel like spending time with her.
Especially not after what she did at school. Pulling on her pajamas, Rika turned off the lights and settled herself within her blankets. Just as she expected, sleep refused to call to her, leaving her thoughts to turn to the day's events.
Renamon; fighting the Allomon and struggling with the beast.
Renamon; needing to be rescued by the two wannabe Tamers.
Renamon; holding back. Just…waiting to digivolve. With Terriermon's ability to digivolve to Champion, Rika felt one step behind her two 'rivals' – for lack of a better description. She hated that. She may not be competing with them, but she hated feeling like she was losing all the same. Terriermon's Tamer was proof that she was failing somewhere while he succeeded.
"I've got to find a way to make her digivolve," she muttered to herself. "If I don't…then I'll never be able to go to the digital world."
And I have to. I can't let her hold me back.
Forcing her eyes closed, she attempted to dose. Her mind however continued to remain awake, drifting from thought to thought. Reopening them, she turned on her side, her violet-eyes, shrouded by darkness, finding their way to an award, glinting in the light of the moon, signaling her victory in the last Digimon Card tournament.
"That was quite an overwhelming victory Miss Nonaka, what did you do to prepare?"
The memory of the announcer congratulating her made her scowl. Prepare? She hadn't needed to prepare at all. She never did. The players there were all wannabes – kids who couldn't tell a modify card apart from a digimon. Every one of them had it in their head that if they played the game they would become Digidestined or Tamers – that last term had floated around since the end of the War and they latched onto it like a life preserver. Every one of them seemed almost desperate to want to be 'Chosen'…to have a partner digimon. It was infuriating.
Rika hated it because she wanted it desperately too. Becoming a Tamer or a Digidestined was the only way to go to the digital world – or so it was said. She wanted to escape this drudgery of this one and, at the very least, to find her missing father.
Not that she cared about him given that she only barely remembered him from when she was a little kid, but…she couldn't help but wonder sometimes. No one else seemed to be concerned and that…did bother her a little.
Closing her eyes once more, her mind found a track to settle on…
###
The tournament was over and she stood victorious with the crowd before her. Hardly anyone amongst them seemed to be in a celebratory mood, at least not as they had been mere minutes ago, but that was to be expected. Not many people enjoyed losing, she among them.
In retrospect however, her response to the announcer's question of what she did to prepare, "I didn't do anything. It was easy." likely didn't sit well with a lot of the players who fought tooth and nail to get to the finals and have their dreams of victory snatched away so readily.
She didn't leave the tournament with any new friends, but she didn't go there to make any so this was no big loss.
The awards now done with, Rika found herself making her way down the street, her expression dark. A black mood had stolen upon her recently, steadily growing worse as time wore on. Her shirt, grey in color with a skull and bones design emblazoned on it, spoke of this thunderous cloud hanging over her. Her grandmother once mentioned to her that she often wore her moods in her clothes, even when her face pretended otherwise. She hadn't thought much of it then, and didn't now.
She felt the cool metal of her award in her hand, and she thought of her mother's disinterested look upon seeing it. A slight grimace deformed her mouth.
I don't want to go home, she thought, and for a wonder she changed her course. In the year that would follow this would become a habit, but at the time she normally went straight home after school or following any of her events. Lacking many of the interests that her peers held, she didn't see much point in going to malls or staying at a game store for longer than necessary. Her interest in technology was minimal at best as well. The card game; books; music; the odd movie; and quite often just…thinking. She thought often on her way home, and found those moments brought her some measure of peace of mind.
Her mother wouldn't care if she came home later than usual. Her grandmother had no qualms about it either. She would be away from her mother's overwhelming shadow. She'd be…free.
Her footsteps traced down the streets and through neighborhoods. Without her even realizing it, she found herself in a residential area similar to where she lived, and what was more…she recognized the place.
Looking around curiously, she continued on, wondering what it was about this neighborhood that felt so familiar.
"Marcus!"
Rika looked up to see a six-year old boy with a mess of reddish-brown hair running recklessly across the street toward a tall woman with amber-colored eyes and light-brown hair. She held a two-year old girl in one hand, looking curiously around her. Rika stopped to stare, her lips parting slightly, but not at the sight of these three. Not at first, but rather at the house that stood behind them.
I know this place… That's…my dad's home. The one he went to live in after he separated from Mom…
"Marcus, did you fight again?" the woman berated, glowering at the youth before her, who rubbed the back of his head with that odd kind of amusement where one knows that they've been caught.
"The kid deserved it," the boy – Marcus – replied, wiping at a scuff mark on his cheekbone. Rika could see features in his face that were so strikingly familiar now. His hair, the look in his eyes were all eerily reminiscent of her father. "He was talking about how Dad ditched us! I know he didn't! He'll be back from the digital world someday!"
"That doesn't mean you should be out there fighting," the woman – no doubt his mother – admonished. "You're setting a bad example for Kristy. Now go on and get inside. You're going to get cleaned up before you sit at the table. Come on…"
Rika's breath hitched in her throat while she watched the family disappear inside the house that belonged to her father. The woman, as if sensing her gaze, turned just long enough to tilt her head at Rika curiously.
Rika's lips trembled, their eyes meeting, and before she knew it, she spoke.
"E-Excuse me. Does…a man named Spencer live here?" she asked. Her heart pounded so hard within her chest it made it hard for her to think.
The woman blinked. "I… Yes," she replied. Furrowing her brow, she scrutinized Rika. "Can I help you?"
"I…" Rika shook her head, swallowing the panic emanating from her heart. "No. I'm…fine. I…just wanted to know, that's all."
With that said, Rika turned and, with all the strength she could muster to prevent from running, began to head back home.
###
"You're home late, Rika," Seiko observed as the girl stepped into the house and headed for her room. "Did you have fun?"
"Yeah," she replied numbly. "I just…" She struggled for a response, tightening her grip on her award before finally saying, "I'm going to bed. I'm feeling a little tired right now. Can you call me when dinner's ready?"
"Sure," Seiko nodded, tilting her head at the girl's retreating back in worry.
Rika entered her room without a further word and drew to a halt. Lifting up her awards – ribbon and metal cup – she looked at them as though she were seeing them for the first time. She felt the urge to just throw them – hurl them at the wall and vent all her rage out in one sitting.
I can't though… she thought. Not with grandma here. She'd hear it and probably freak… I…don't want to explain that…
So both awards, along with her cards and card scanner, fell onto the table in a haphazard fashion; the two symbols of her success becoming meaningless to her. Placing her hands behind her head she lay herself down to join them by her table.
"Ugh, I am so bored," she said aloud. This wasn't true, but she said it more for the benefit of any prying ears that might be nearby. She didn't want questions. She just wanted to be left alone with her thoughts.
Dad… Those kids… That woman… The thoughts swam around in her head over and over, again and again. They're his new family. And he's missing again… Just like before…
"He was talking about how Dad ditched us! I know he didn't! He'll be back from the digital world someday!"
The digital world…
The doors to her room closed suddenly, sparks of electricity dancing along them. The lights winking out caught her attention and she sat up, suddenly alarmed by the unexpected crash of thunder.
"Whoa! What's happening?"
As if in response, the screen on her card scanner began to glow, and three windows of light sprang into existence around her, causing her to cry out, startled. Dark figures filled them, but she recognized the shapes from the game. Digimon.
"There she is!"
"The Digimon Queen!"
"She is the child!"
"Yes, you are the one!"
"Make me stronger!"
"Make me digivolve!"
What's going on? They were all speaking, their voices blending into a kind of screaming moan, demanding that she give them strength. Shivering in fear, Rika crawled backwards until she bumped up against the wall behind her. I'm trapped!
"Tame me…" moaned one.
"I want to be stronger…" howled another.
Claws began to push into the room, reaching toward her. Rika looked back and forth between the screens, each digimon's form swelling forth to obscure the light that revealed them. She had just enough time to spot an Apocalymon in their number before he too vanished into the darkness.
"Only you can do it," said the Apocalymon's voice on the left screen. "Give us power and you shall have your heart's desire… To go into the digital world and leave this wretched world behind. To be reunited with him…"
The digimon encroached closer, but Apocalymon's words brought her fear to a focus. The digital world! her mind gasped, seizing upon the name. This digimon was offering her a way there? And in exchange all she had to do…was…tame them.
But… I can't. Not…this many…
A part of her questioned if she should even do this at all. These digimon… And the Apocalymon… Fear hammered away in her chest. They were pushing into her home, demanding her to help them for their own reasons. Shadows shrouded them, shrouded her room leaving her feeling cornered…suffocated beneath the weight of their power.
Just data… she thought to herself. They're just data… Zeroes and ones…
That made her decision easier.
"I can't tame all of you!" she shouted, and at that the swarm of digimon took pause. "I just want one strong digimon!"
"Just one…?"
At that, a new light began to glow in the pile of her cards, causing the crowd of digimon to pause and retreat, leaving an open path between them, whereupon a new figure appeared, and at her presence the others vanished completely. Thin, voluptuous, with massive fists, long ears, a tail and eyes like knife edges. Rika knew the shape of this shrouded digimon well.
"Are you Renamon?" she asked as the figure drew ever closer.
"You wanted someone powerful didn't you?" the figure asked before the windows of light winked out of existence, leaving Rika in her darkened room, illuminated by a bright, blue glow from her card pile. Rika gasped, realizing that she was shaking…shaking badly.
"I must be dreaming…" she said to herself in a strained voice, struggling to get herself under control. This lie – for it was nothing but a lie – did little to comfort her, but she was moving now, approaching her table where her cards lay; where the source of the blue glow was.
A blue card.
"Huh?" Turning the card over, she saw what appeared to be a crude dinosaur picture emerging from a yellow English letter D. "This is different," she whispered. She felt calmer now. Being focused on this particular puzzle made it easier to ease back. Tension still wound itself throughout her body, but it was easier to ignore in favor of the problem in front of her.
Turning toward her card reader, she picked it up and held the strange blue card to its scanning slot.
"All right, let's see what we've got."
She slashed the card through the scanner and its screen began to read a bunch of numbers that made no sense to her. Not that it mattered for a glow quickly surrounded the scanner and caused it to morph, taking on an arc-shape and growing bulkier in appearance. Gone was its simple metal grey color, replaced by a white one. A blue ring surrounded its screen and beneath it was a single button. A blue strap completed the change, leaving Rika in awe at what she held.
"I am dreaming…" she whispered before a new light burst forth from the screen. She felt as though the light reached into her, suffusing her soul with its energies.
Maybe this means I get a wish. Well there's only one thing I really want, she thought, holding the digivice to her chest. I wish Renamon was mine and that I knew how to make her digivolve. I wish I was a real digimon tamer.
The light died down, and the darkness vanished, leaving Rika in the room with her new digivice and… Looking up, she gasped in surprise to see the Renamon from before, floating in front of her, a fine mist dissipating from around her body.
"I've been searching for a strong tamer," the Renamon said, her feet touching down, "and you are the one."
The vulpine digimon approached her as the girl found herself shaking again, though this time in awe and amazement that her wish had been fulfilled.
"It's no accident that we're a team," she continued. "Share your strength with me and we will be unstoppable."
###
The night was calm as Renamon walked along the rooftops. Through the link that she shared with her human partner, she felt the young girl finally drift off to sleep, fit, but troubled though it was. She sensed the memories from their first meeting flitting around in her unconscious state and once more shame flushed her body.
Things had been so different then. We thought we knew all that needed to be done at the time. Now however…
Renamon let the thought trail off. Things weren't working the way they should have been. Renamon didn't know why, but the problem was there as clear as day.
As much as she hated to do so, she thought back to the human boy with the Terriermon, whose digimon had digivolved to Champion despite being their inferior.
She had heard rumors of the Digidestined and how they digivolved their partners. If true, was that bond the same between Tamers and the tamed digimon as well?
No answers greeted her. Only the silence of the night.
Be patient, Rika, she thought quietly. I will digivolve, but how soon might depend on you.
7
