Episode Sixteen: Me and My Shadow
Hailee
I opened my eye a crack and shifted my position slightly. The only sounds that could be heard were the crackling of the dying fire and the soft breathing of those who slept around it. Ever so slightly I eased myself up from the sand into a sitting position. I peered at them carefully. Sandy, Jason, Oliver, Jinjing all lay down, curled up with their Digimon, safe and sound. Nearby, Adam and Komodomon slept sitting upright against a tree.
It felt like I had been lying there forever. I had spent my time, waiting patiently, trying to shut out all the stories, which had slowly dwindled down until they had finally all drifted off.
I took my time observing each one of them. I had to be sure before I set out. Jinjing rolled over to face me and I froze. Her eyes were still tightly closed and she settled into a still position once more. I breathed a sigh of relief and let my eyes wander over to Oliver.
With a start, I realized Rorimon wasn't sleeping in his partner's arms like the other Digimon. Where was that little bug? I furrowed my eyebrow as I observed every inch of the sight before me. Finally, I remembered something Oliver had said about him having peculiar sleeping habits. Or was he nocturnal? Whatever the case, it was stupid of him to leave Oliver like that. He was going to need someone looking after him with me gone.
Finally satisfied that I wouldn't be observed, I got to my feet. I slung my backpack over my shoulder and began walking away from the campsite, quiet as a cat. The further I walked, the bigger the urge grew to look back at them one last time. But I couldn't afford any distractions right now. Besides, we…didn't need each other any longer. Sure, my team had gone pretty far from when we first started. But things were different now. They had found a new leader in Jinjing and I had decided to finally do what I felt was right. If saving Roomon and getting the Digivice were ever going to be a possibility, it needed to be done quickly and quietly, by someone with experience. It needed to be done by me. Alone.
I suppressed the urge with all of my might and marched ahead. The night air chilled my arms, but that was good, it kept me alert. I sighed deeply and looked up at the night sky through the trees above me. A bright half moon and a spattering of stars lit my way. I felt the corners of my mouth curve into a small smile for the first time in a while.
Despite the circumstances, it was honestly a little thrilling to be on my own. No one to answer to, no one to lead, no one to disappoint. I was free to decide what to do. The only thing that was really missing was Roomon. I glanced down at my feet and frowned. She was the only one who never doubted me. The only one that followed me wherever I went.
A patch of trees a couple of feet behind me rustled and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I was being followed. Unable to decide what else to do, I bolted. I thrust my hands out in front of me as I ran to prevent the shorter tree branches from whacking me in the face. Damn, I was making a lot of noise.
"Hailee, wait!" a muffled voice called.
"Oh no," I murmured. I stopped and turned slowly around. A terrified Oliver, holding an equally scared looking Rorimon, stepped out of the shadows.
"I-I knew it," he said, his wide eyes reflecting the moonlight. "I knew you were going to leave."
"Oliver! Why the hell did you follow me? And how? You were like a log when I left," I huffed, crossing my arms.
"But, I wasn't," Rorimon sighed, looking a little tired. "Oliver confided in me that he was worried about you leaving, so I decided to keep watch."
I groaned in frustration and Oliver shrugged. "We were going to take turns, but I got too tired."
"Well, congratulations. You caught me, but you aren't gonna get me to go back. I'm done being leader, Oliver."
To my surprise, Oliver only blinked and nodded slowly. Though he still looked worried, he managed to smile at me. "Okay, if you're not going to be a part of the team anymore, neither are we, right Rorimon?"
"Not that this really helps our chance for survival, like, at all, but yes." Rorimon nodded.
"We're coming with you to rescue Roomon!"
"What?" I breathed in disbelief. "There is no way you're coming with me! That's totally-"
"Listen, Hail. You've never let me down before. You...you really know what you're doing and I don't want to try and do this without you."
"Oliver," I sighed, trying to ignore the desperation in his eyes.
"And, if you're not the leader anymore, you can't tell me what to do! So, that's that, we're coming!"
I gave him my hardest stare, but he just smiled back. This kid really wasn't going to give up, was he? I eyed Rorimon. It would be useful to have a Digimon at my disposal...even if he was bloody exhausted. And it wasn't like Oliver was gonna try to get in the way or make this his mission... I rolled my eyes.
"Okay, fine. But let's one thing straight. I may not be your leader anymore, but I'm still your cousin, and you are gonna do exactly what I say, yeah?"
"You mean it, Hail?"
"Now, come on, we've got a lot of ground to cover," I said, turning and continuing on.
"All right!" Oliver cried, bounding up to walk beside me.
Surprisingly, I found that the excitement of being on my own wasn't dampered too much by Oliver walking there beside me. Maybe it was the fact that he was kind of walking in Roomon's footsteps for now.
"Okay, so here's the plan," I said, catching Oliver's eye seriously. "We'll continue on through this bloody forest until we're about even with the fortress, then we'll cross through the desert until we make it to the gate. If it's like it was, the gate should still be open."
"Sounds good!" Oliver replied cheerily and I was once again taken aback at how easy his companionship was. Sure beat traveling with that glasses wearing twit.
Any other time he'd probably be crawling on the ground, begging to rest or complaining that he was thirsty. Now he eagerly matched my pace and kept his eyes on the horizon. I had to admit, I was a little proud of how he had toughened up, even since this morning. He must have been really scared of me leaving. Despite my curiosity, I figured it was better not to ask him about it. Neither of us needed that kind of distraction right now.
The next hour went by surprisingly quickly. We both marched ahead with a newfound energy, resting seldomly to take a sip of water. Despite the occasional random question, Oliver remained pretty silent beside me, which was unusual, but nice.
Soon enough, the giant silhouette of the fortress could be seen, past the trees, just waiting for us.
"It's a lot bigger than I thought it would be," Oliver shivered, craning his neck. The fortress was undeniably more evil-looking at night. The moon cast an eerie glow on it's dark walls.
"We're almost there," Rorimon said. "Do you think I should Digivolve and carry you two the rest of the way? That way we could be ready if anything attacks."
"No, probably best to save your energy," I replied as the Devidramon's face popped into my head. I glanced around, wondering if he was watching us. "We want to be as stealthy as possible, anyway."
"Fine by me," Rorimon answered. "Nothing like going straight down into the jaws of death unprepared…"
"Hey, don't say stuff like that," Oliver chuckled nervously. "Hailee knows what she's doing."
"Oh, I should probably tell you, right inside the gate is a patch of quicksand."
"Yeah, that sounds like something you should probably mention…" Rorimon sighed.
"Wait, was that why you were so dirty yesterday?" Oliver asked.
"Yeah, I fell in it," I admitted.
"Well how do we avoid that?"
"I could fly us over…" Rorimon offered again. He clearly felt safer in his Champion form, but hopefully this mission wouldn't require him to do anything.
"No, I think we should be able to jump over it. How else would a Komodomon do it?"
"Sounds reasonable to me."
The closer we got, the slower our pace became. The darkness of the fortress seemed to be beckoning us. My vision began to swirl as I stared at the straight blackness. I broke out into a cold sweat as we neared the area where the Devidramon had taken Roomon. This place was a mark of my past failure. This was the only place where I could prove who I was. I had the feeling it and all of its inhabitants had accepted that challenge and weren't going to hesitate to throw everything they had at me.
I closed my eyes as I continued ahead. The only bad thing about doing this alone was that no one was going to be there to see me prove them wrong. Jinjing...Dad...not even, Calvin. But those people didn't matter now. This was about me. I flashed opened my eyes and quickened my pace. I wasn't failing this time.
"The gate is still open," I said, more to myself than to Oliver. "Follow me."
I walked right up to it and peered ahead into the sand. How much of it was quicksand? I couldn't get caught again. I bit my lip. There had to be some way to tell. I looked down and tried to measure the sand with my eyes. I had fallen in right...there. How far did it stretch?
I gazed around the glorified sandbox of a fortress. The moon was directly above it, causing a dark shadow to be cast along the edges of the wall. That couldn't be it, could it? I wracked my brain, trying to think of what it had looked like yesterday.
"Hail?"
"Shh!" I held a hand up to him.
It was worth a shot. The shadow in front of me was only a couple of feet wide. I could easily jump over it. I backed up a couple of steps, charged, and leapt clean over the shadow, landing in the lighter sand beyond.
"I'm in," I said with a grin, taking just a second to celebrate my small success. "Oliver, jump over the shadow!"
"Okay," he replied, backing up just as I did. He made the jump easily but his legs seemed to lock up when he landed causing him to rock back on his heels and flail his arms. I grabbed at his shirt and pulled him towards me so he wouldn't fall backwards. Instead, he fell right on top of me.
"Whew, thanks, Hailee, I guess I got nervous there," he sighed as we scrambled to our feet.
I turned and stared at the dark hole that rested just feet away from us. This was it. Without another word I propelled myself towards it. When I got right up to it, I put my hands on my knees and peered inside. A rough ramp slanted down into the darkness. At least it wasn't just a drop.
"It sure is dark in there, do you want me to get my torch?" Oliver offered.
"Can Komodomon see in the dark, Rorimon?" I asked.
"Not to my knowledge," he answered.
"Well then there's got to be some kind of light source down there," I said confidently, and set a foot on the ramp. Though it was covered in sand, I felt a firm layer of rock underneath. I continued walking until I was almost swallowed up by the darkness. I pressed my hand up against the rocky wall and beckoned at Oliver who still lingered in the entrance. "Come on."
"All right," he said, taking a slow step down.
The passage ahead of me was in complete darkness but I pressed on, taking slow yet firm steps. The ramp got steeper as we went but I kept us going at a steady pace. "I think we're almost-"
Without warning, the ramp ended and my foot landed awkwardly at the bottom of the passage. Just as my foot touched it, a buzzing sound filled the room and one by one, dim green lights flashed on in the high rock ceiling. In the newly illuminating glow I could see we were in a large square room with three dark passages branching out from it. The floor was carved with several large ruts, which were a couple inches deep, that led down each hallway.
"Wow," Oliver breathed as he reached the floor. "I mean it's creepy, but it's definitely not what I was expecting."
"They're very...advanced," Rorimon agreed, sounding unsettled.
"We have to figure out which passage leads to Arigettamon," I said, looking down each one.
"Do you think he's here?" Oliver asked.
"It doesn't matter. Roomon should be in the dungeon...Komodomon said that's just ahead of Arigettamon's corridors. And I'm sure you can guess where he keeps the Digivice," I told him solemnly.
I bent down and took a closer look at the floor ruts, which all met in the center of the room, creating a strange pattern. Three different kinds of lines all swirled together, eventually branching out and going into a different rut, which in turn went down a different tunnel.
"There's a straight line, a wavy line, and a jagged line," I said, tracing one of them with my finger.
"That one looks like how I used to draw the ocean," Oliver observed, pointing to the wavy line.
"Hm." I thought for a second. "Well, Arigettamon doesn't like water...but, could it really be that simple?"
"And that one...well, it looks like lightning," Oliver shrugged and pointed to the jagged line.
"Lightning? The lightning room…" I followed the lightning line with my eyes. It lead into the passageway straight ahead of us. That had to be it. "He does have a thing for electricity," I said, remembering Komodomon's words.
"So, this one?" Oliver pointed down the passageway and I nodded.
"Stay right behind me, okay? Komodomon said that there are traps down here or something."
"Traps?" Rorimon asked, but I only shrugged and faced the passage.
I planted my feet firmly in the rut and began walking right on top of the lighting line. As we walked, the buzzing sound started up again and lights down the passage began turning on, one by one. The ceiling was much lower in here, but it was still big enough for a large Digimon to fit. I took a deep breath and gagged. A stale and horribly familiar scent hung in the air. All I could think of was that Komodomon with his gaping mouth and razor sharp teeth. His hot breath in my face. I held my vest up to my face as I continued on, not about to let the stupid smell get the better of me.
I glanced back at Oliver, who had been dead silent ever since entering the tunnel. He stared straight ahead, his eyes glazed. I wanted to say something encouraging, but the words just got caught in my throat and I remained silent. Nothing could really be said at this point. He had chosen to follow me down here. Of course, I wasn't going to let anything happen to him, but in order to do that, I had to completely focus on the task ahead of me…
I sighed and kept my eyes on the green lights. Though the passage itself was eerily still, I could feel a strange energy in the air. Kind of like how it felt outside during a thunderstorm, like there was an unseen pressure building all around us. It set me on edge, somehow, and I felt my heart rate rise with every step I took.
If the strange feeling didn't tell me anything else, it told me that we most definitely were not alone in this fortress. Arigettamon was here. He was waiting for us, maybe even watching us...and he craved…
I felt for my Digivice in my vest pocket and gripped it with my sweaty hand.
"No traps so far," Rorimon said quietly.
"Er, yeah," I answered, letting go of my Digivice. "Maybe Komodomon…" I trailed off as I looked down the passage. Way down the hall, there was just darkness. The lights had stopped for some reason. I picked up my pace a little.
"There's something up ahead," I breathed.
"Hailee, wait!" Oliver called as I started running. I ignored him and raced until I made it to the end of the passage. The hallway beyond was pitch black. I carefully stuck my foot into the darkness. It made contact with a slanted slippery floor and I retracted it.
"What is it? A slide?" I asked.
"I really don't like the sound of that," Rorimon said from behind me.
"It's the only way," I said with a shrug. I carefully sat myself down at the entrance of the passage and scooted inside. Once I was on the surface, which seemed to be some kind of super smooth metal, I couldn't really control myself. I shot down the pitch black slide, gaining speed as I went. After a few twists and turns I finally felt myself slowing down. My feet swung over the edge of the slide into the dark open space.
I took a breath and hopped down, hoping that I wasn't jumping to my death. Thankfully, I only fell a short distance, and upon hitting the floor the unsettling buzzing sound erupted around me, louder than it had been before. Several large green bulbs came on, and flooded the circular room with light. I turned around and stood there with my mouth slightly agape.
The wall to my right was covered with dry paper with some cryptic text scrawled over it. Under the wall lay an assortment of crappy electronic items. An old monitor, some frayed wiring, a landline phone. I walked over to it and kicked at the wire with my foot. This was definitely stuff they had stolen. Did this mean that this was Arigettamon's corridor? I spun around again. No, there were supposed to be more rooms. This couldn't be it. Had we gone the wrong way?
"Hailee?" Came a nervous sounding Oliver.
"Hang on, this might not be the right room. Just stay up there!" I called.
I walked the length of the room. On the other wall there was a long metal table that looked to be some kind of work station. It had a whole bunch of gadgets and tools laying on it. Didn't look too useful. Just as I was turning away a piece of paper hanging over the desk caught my eye. I tore it off and examined it closer. Right in the middle of it was a larger-than-life drawing of a Digivice. Adam's Digivice? Around it were several sketches of some kind of weird looking machine. At the top of the page were the words "Kom 1's design."
"Kom 1?" I muttered, folding the paper and stuffing it into my pocket.
"Is it the right room?" Oliver called.
Before I could answer, I spotted it. If I hadn't known about it, I wouldn't even have noticed it. But there it was, plain as day. A small hole in the far wall, just across from the slide.
"Yes!" I replied rushing over to the hole and peering inside. Seconds later, Oliver and Komodomon were at the bottom of the slide, looking a bit dazed.
"Whew, that was actually fun!" Oliver laughed, hopping down. "Er, What is this place?"
"I dunno, some kind of weird workshop," I answered.
"That wall is covered in Digi-Code," Rorimon said, pointing at the wall with his little hand.
"No time to read now," I said, slowly placing my arm into the hole, just as Komodomon had done. Suddenly, my reaching fingers grasped a cold metal handle. I tried pulling it but it was stuck tight.
"Oh, right, er, Kom...1!" I called out, unable to remember the number that Komodomon had used for himself. Nothing happened. I tried the handle again and found that it had loosened up. With all my strength I began pulling it towards me. As I did so, the stone wall, which apparently had secret hinges in it, began creaking open to reveal yet another dark passageway. When it was just big enough for the three of us to get through I released the lever and the door stayed open, just as it had done with the gate. I took my arm out of the hole and turned to see Oliver and Rorimon over by the wall of Digi-Code.
"Come on! I got the door open," I said, waving to them impatiently.
"Hailee, this is really interesting!" Rorimon piped up as Oliver began carrying him over. "I think this room is like a prep station of sorts. The Komodomon came in here to get ready for the robberies. All that writing talks about what they're supposed to steal and how to get it. Whoever wrote it had to have a tremendous knowledge of the human world!"
"Yeah, that's nice," I told him, setting foot in the passage and activating the green lights.
"She's not even listening to me, is she?" Rorimon sighed. "That's typical."
"Shh! Do you feel that?" I asked.
The electrified feeling I had felt on the upper floor had multiplied and left me feeling short of breath. The air felt heavy with it.
"Er, I dunno, it feels weird," Oliver answered quietly.
I felt the floor begin to slowly decline the further we went. We still weren't at the bottom yet. The ceiling gradually got lower and the width of the tunnel got smaller, as if the walls were closing in on us. Surprisingly, the disturbing feeling in the air and the growing anxiety I felt welling up inside me only made me go faster. Whatever was waiting for me at the end of this tunnel, I knew that everything was going to end tonight.
The tunnel began to curve to the left and I broke into a run. I strained my eyes in the dim light to see what was up ahead. The tunnel seemed to take a sharp turn and lead into another room, which was already flooded with green light.
"We're almost there!" I breathed, hardly noticing my aching lungs. Everything was just out of my grasp now. I raced around the corner and stopped short to take in the room ahead of me. It was a cavernous space that had nothing in it except a wide open doorway on the other side of the room. That had to lead to the dungeon. I stopped myself from calling out Roomon's name and forced myself to focus on the task ahead. The only other distinctive feature about the room was the floor. It was covered in a complicated array of metal tiles, each one a different color or texture.
"Do you think it's a trap?" Rorimon asked as he and Oliver caught up. I thought for a moment. Despite what Komodomon had told me earlier, we really hadn't encountered any traps since entering the fortress. Maybe they were turned off, or maybe Komodomon had been lying about them. Whatever the case, we were running out of time. Whatever danger this room could possibly possess, I was just going to have to risk it. I turned away from the doorway to face Oliver. His face was full of fear. He knew just as much as I did that we were nearing the end.
"Listen, I have a feeling it's going to get dangerous from here on out. I'm going to do this last part on my own, okay? You don't have to do anything. Just wait here with Rorimon. When I come out with Roomon and the Digivice, he can Digivolve and we'll get out of this bloody hole." My confident tone seemed to reassure him and he nodded.
"I know you can do it," he said with a small sigh of relief. In return, his ever-present confidence in me gave me just the boost I needed. I took off my backpack and let it drop to the floor.
"I will," I smiled at him and turned back to the door.
"Wait, wait. Oliver, we can't just wait here! Yeah it's scary, but it's our responsibility as Digidestined!" Rorimon protested.
"Hailee can handle it, Rorimon," Oliver said quietly. "I...I'm just a kid."
"Something's not right about this," Rorimon said in a hushed tone.
I tried to ignore their banter as I faced the room. That horrible heavy feeling was stronger here than it had been before. I took a breath and stepped onto the first tile. Nothing happened and I managed to relax my shoulders.
"I'm coming Roomon," I muttered, beginning to walk across the floor with more confidence. The familiar buzzing sound began humming all around me. I stopped and clapped my hands over my ears as it got louder. The lights were already on in here...why was it doing that? I tried to ignore it and continue on, but without warning a tremendous bolt of light lashed out of thin air. I couldn't run. I couldn't scream. All I could do was watch as it ripped itself right through me with white hot ferocity. My body moved uncontrollably as it seared me to my very core. Then the light was gone and I was laying on my back. Wide eyes staring up at the ceiling, but not seeing anything. Just was where it ended. I felt a sharp stab in my chest and let my eyelids drop.
Dull numbness and darkness turned into shooting pain and bright overwhelming light in seconds. My chest. It felt like somebody was jumping up and down on top of me. My watery eyes gradually came into focus and I found I was suddenly looking up into a pair of deep red eyes. Where had I seen those before?
Suddenly, it was all flashing back into my mind. I was back in the lighting store and the Komodomon was trying to kill me again. This realization was enough to break me out of my daze, and I jolted, now fully awake. The pressure on my chest stopped and the Komodomon stared at me and gave me an ugly smile. With all my strength I reached up with my numb arm and whacked him as hard as I could over the face. I cried out in pain and held my hand up to my face to see that it was shaking uncontrollably. He made an indignant sound and got off of me.
"She's alive," I heard a gruff but extremely muffled voice say.
Suddenly, the light from above was blocked and I was looking straight up into Oliver's upside down face.
"H-Hailee?" He whimpered. A drop of water landed on my cheek and I realized it was a tear. He was crying. "Oh my gosh! You really are alive!" He cried, now sobbing. He thrust himself upon me and hugged me. When I groaned, he released me.
"Wh-what happened?" I asked in a slurred voice, doing my best to get the words out.
"You-you got electricuted!" Oliver wailed. "We thought you died. If this guy hadn't come along, I dunno know what-"
"Help me get up…"
Oliver put his hands under my arms and lifted me up into a sitting position. Near the doorway stood Rorimon and the Komodomon. Looking at him now I saw that he wasn't the Komodomon I had killed...his left eye had a deep scar that ran down his face, distinguishing him from other Komodomon.
"Feeling any better?" he asked, rubbing his cheek.
"Why...did you.." I muttered suddenly feeling dizzy and sick.
"Save you?" he asked, walking over slowly. "I built this room, but to be honest, I don't really like to see it kill things."
I stared up at him, not knowing what to say. "You built this?"
"Yeah. The name is Kom 1. I'm Arigettamon's right hand man." As he said the words he gave us a sad smile. "Listen. He wants you here. There's still time for you to leave. If you can get up to the main floor, take the left passage, it leads out-"
Before he could finish, a horde of Komodomon came around the corner and planted themselves in the doorway.
"I have to go," Kom 1 told us darkly. He raced over to the crowd, leapt over them and took off down the passage. Some of the Komodomon looked after him, but most had their eyes fixed on us.
"Hailee! What do we do?" Oliver exclaimed fearfully. I tried to give him instructions but just trying to stay sitting up was taking all the strength I had.
"Come on, Oliver!" Rorimon cried. This seemed to bring Oliver back into reality. He fumbled around in his pocket and pulled out his Digivice. At just the sight of it, the Komodomon began charging towards us. Thankfully, Rorimon digivolved into Bakimon just in time. He whipped his tail around and managed to keep most of them at bay. One of them ducked and charged at Oliver and I on all fours.
"Give them to me!" he growled. He leapt at me and jammed his claw inside my vest pocket.
"No!" I groaned as he lifted out his prize and laughed.
"Leave my cousin alone!" A fist came flying out from behind me and crashed recklessly into the Komodomon's snout, sending him sprawling. My Digivice clattered to the floor and Oliver stooped to pick it up. He put it in his pocket and turned to me, clutching his bruised fist with his other hand. I saw something in his eyes that I had never seen before. Bravery? Urgency? Whatever it was he looked...grown up.
"You punched a Digimon…" I spluttered.
"I did...I saved you. Hailee? I think we need to go," he said, his eyes widening with realization. "You-You're hurt! And we're not prepared!"
"What? No!" I protested.
"You haven't been thinking clearly...we do need the team, Hail. I'm gonna get you out of here." He came over and scooped me off of the ground with ease.
"Let me go! I need...I need to do this!" I screamed, trying to push him away from me, but it was clear I wasn't doing much damage.
"No. Your life is more important," he argued in a clear voice. "Bakimon! We need to get Hailee out of here!"
Bakimon instantly stopped fighting and flew over. As soon as Oliver placed me on top of Bakimon his crest tag was consumed with light. All three of us gasped.
"I-I got my crest!" He said with disbelief. "It's the crest of Responsibility…"
In an instant the Digimon underneath me was consumed with the same light. When it faded he was left looking darker and much longer. A pair of arms had replaced his front claws. Oliver gaped up at him but then set his face and jumped on in front of me.
"Let's go!"
The newly evolved Bakimon took off down the tunnel at an amazing speed, leaving all of the Komodomon far behind us. I turned my head to look back down the tunnel. All I saw was a pair of large black claws that reached out to me. The Devidramon.
In an instant I was snatched up in his hands and was being carried in the opposite direction.
