Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon
On a separate note lately my son has been trying to make Digimon of his own out of legos and I have been tasked by him with making two new Digimon. I made one called Ho'okomon a jet dragon Digimon and Crytheosmon a fish blade Digimon. We have been having a lot of fun making them fight, but he got upset with me when I smashed one against the wall showing him he beat it and it 'dissolved' into digital (lego) bits. Let's just say I won't ever be doing that again. He's only four. Apparently I found out their were no Digimon that were bad. Only 'Daddy' was the bad guy.
Chapter Eight: The Point of Reference
Takeru found himself falling endlessly unable to open his eyes. He did not know where he could be. He could only describe what he could see as his lifeflashing before his eyes in rapid succession over and over again, unable to stop any of the scenes from moving, and thus repeating the cycle as if this sensation of falling would endlessly repeat if this kept going.
"Takeru..." he heard a familiar voice call out to him. "...Find your point of reference..." the voice said.
"Point of Reference?" he wondered aloud.
"The moment your destiny as the Crest of Hope and the Hopeful Knight first became born."
Takeru listened to the words, the term Hopeful Knight resonating with him as if he had heard this before, but he could not remember where.
The images fast forwarded again too quickly; Takeru despairing he could not get them to stop. "What happens" he asked, "If I can't find the point of reference?"
The voice immediately responded back harshly. "If you can't find it then you will have nowhere to begin. And if you have nowhere to begin you will have no end. You will stay like this until your body gives out."
Takeru felt a rush of air hit him though he could only see the rapid images crossing the periphery of his mind. "How can I stop these images?" he asked. "They are like blurs and I can't focus in on any of them."
"The moments of impact will guide you," she said. "Find the connection," she said her voice fading. "Once you find it I can speak to you again. There's not enough...strength..." she said, her voice fading away.
"Are you still there?!" Takeru called out desperately. "Hello? Hello?!"he shouted, nothing phasing the blurring images. He knew it was too late. He could not hear the voice anymore. Even with the images passing in front of him, he could not focus on each one, but, struggled vainly to identify anything in the images.
"Maybe I'm doing this all wrong," he said to himself. "The moments of impact are lodged deep within my heart. They aren't going to be something I see in any blurred image," he said still feeling powerless as if he was unable to open his eyes.
He found himself breathing out thinking deeply literally diving deep into his past. The last thing he remembered Hikari had been tearing up in front of him even while under the control of Homeostasis. He remembered saying some loving words and then could not remember from there.
Diving further he felt as if he could feel Hikari's lips on his, their bodies pressed together from the passionate night they had together, immediately preceding it the devastation he felt when he received the farewell letter from his mother denying him. Preceding this and moments with Hikari and the others he remembered nearly losing Patamon to infection that nearly floored him, but also could not help but remember as soon as Hikari realized it, she had supported him with her hands on his shoulders. As he kept going back, it felt like a dagger had stabbed into him even if there had not been one there.
He felt his heart ache going back hesitant to go back any further, but he knew he had to push on. Going back several layers he remembered his courtship with Hikari and when it really started when he met with her and said goodbye. With how close they were his friends it did not surprise him the courtship carried him all the way back to his childhood. In-between this he remembered a couple of times concerned for Hikari over losing her, fighting with his brother sometimes, and battling fierce-some digimon including Piedmon. That was when Angemon first became Magna Angemon and that ultimate level digimon defeated him mostly.
He knew it was not enough. He dove further, going back to when he lost Patamon against Devimon, the scars with him still today. But still he could not find it. He tried to remember as best as he could going back to when he first went to the digital world, met Tokomon and the first time at summer camp. Even there, being reunited with his brother after their parents separated did not bring him any closer.
He hesitated pushing down further, right when he had been impacted the most. He felt himself tense up as he felt himself relive that frightening night when him and his brother were separated and he cried his eyes out in his mom's arms consoling himself to sleep. Even before that, him and Yamato used to sneak out of the house when their parents fought to give them some room to relax since the atmosphere had been so tense at home. He remembered his brother's snickering face eating ice cream with him and then his face blurred out.
He thought he had passed the last of the moments of impact, but no, he thought for an instance he saw something, but immediately he dove into his memory of when he first saw a digimon at the house in Heighton View Terrace when he saw a digimon for the first time and remembered that amazing wonder of seeing what he now knew as Greymon fight against Parrotmon. The exhilaration and overall joy he felt at that time completely took over him and he still remembered back then as clear as his most recent memory; a moment of impact he shared with his brother and the others.
He found himself relaxing, but realizing anywhere else past that seemed useless. He could not remember much anymore before that and did not think anything when he was a little toddler would be of any significance.
"So now what am I supposed to do?" he wondered. "Go relive the pain and just keep moving up and down this chain of memories?"
He hesitated not wanting to go back up, but maybe there had been something he missed. A feeling. An inkling. Something stirred within him though he could not remember outright. He found himself instead of diving in, swimming upward passing through the wonder of seeing a digimon, but stopped a little after, a rush hitting him unlike any he had ever felt before.
"What is this?" he wondered searching deeply in his memories. He concentrated trying to find anything to help him remember. A smell. A taste. A feeling. An object. A voice. he breathed out as if he had finally found some kind of link to the memory.
He remembered an enchanting voice speaking to him, much like the one that had spoken to him earlier. "But what did that voice say? Was it really so enchanting?
He found himself opening his eyes as if he located it, his eyes shocked as he saw his mother screaming at the top of her lungs 'Get out my boy! Get out of my boy! Get out of my boy!" and felt something hard hit against the side of his head and shatter. He immediately closed the memory, his eyes tearing barely able to process what little he had seen.
"What was that?" he said to himself fearfully, the memory still blurry, but that shrill horrified voice seeping into his conscience. He felt like five needles had stabbed him in his back and someone had pinched his collar bone, robbing him of his breath. But he never felt that pain before. He imagined tracing his hand near the back of his neck where he found what felt like impressions. No, nail impressions. Had someone been holding him and also pinched his nerve at the same time?
He found himself shivering hearing his mother's words echo through him bringing him to a halt, his heart sinking into the pit of his stomach heavy with dread. He had to go back although he was afraid to find out what would happen if he did. He knew though if he didn't he would have no point of reference and stay forever like this. He steeled himself focusing back in on the memory, hearing the words chant in his head.
He found himself repeating them over and over as if it would somehow jog his memory. "Get out of my boy. Get out of my boy. Get out of my boy. Get out of my-"
Like a surging storm images came to life, raw emotions literally ripping apart any sense of peace he ever felt and dyeing the world in darkness, blood, and despair. In a nightmare it appeared slowly, shadows bringing the image to his mind, an eerie quietness bringing forth images of him in his room as a child a year before he had become a digidestined.
Takeru looked on as if having gone back in time and watched as he relived something he never had remembered before. The lights were off. He had just woken up from a scary dream he had regarding a scary clown sweat beads dripping from his neck. He stared around the room scared of the dark, but saw that the light of the computer monitor had been turned on. He had played games on it from time to time way past his bed time if he had junk food before and eventually would crash and go to sleep.
He stared at the monitor, the gaze of it more calming than before, and, to his surprise a voice echoed out of it.
"Hi. Don't be afraid," a female voice said.
Takeru put up his bed covers to his face up to his nose looking at the screen slightly fearful.
"Their is nothing to be afraid of," the voice said. "That scary clown can't get you."
Takeru lowered the sheets from around his face letting down his guard. "Hey, how did you know about that?" he asked curiously.
The voice responded back as if trying to sound friendly. "Because one day you will beat that clown. You will protect a very special girl and your guardian angel will in turn protect you both. That clown will be banished to a digital graveyard and you will be a hero."
"A hero?" he said, grinning ear to ear imagining himself to be one. "Wow, that sounds amazing!"
"It most certainly is," the voice replied.
Takeru found himself getting out of his bed in his PJs and stumbling over to the computer. "My name is Takeru. Takeru Ishida. What is your name?"
"I have a function. A name is not necessary."
"Really? You don't have a name? Then how can we be friends if I don't know what to call you?" he wondered inquisitively.
The voice seemed to hesitate. "You want to be my friend?"
"Of course!" Takeru said. "How could I not want to be friends with someone who just told me the future and helped me get over a bad dream!"
The voice again seemed to hesitate as if it had been thinking something. "How do you know I am telling the truth and not lying to you?"
"You just don't seem the type," Takeru responded. "I can't see you have eyes, but I do know when it feels like someone is trying to talk to me, but look away from me. And I don't feel like you're doing that. You're pretty nice lady!"
"Lady?" the voice said as if puzzled.
"Sorry," Takeru said with both hands clasped together as if asking for repentance."Would you prefer if I said girl or miss or-"
"-That is not necessary," the voice responded. "You may call me Homeostasis. You seem like an honest and forthright young boy. May I ask you a question?"
"Sure!" Takeru beamed. "Just don't ask me if I ate my broccoli for dinner last night," he grinned. "Actually," he said walking closer whispering to it, "I fed it to the neighbor's dog 'chompers'. Don't tell my mommy or daddy," he smirked.
The voice did not respond back to him immediately as if it had been thinking what to say.
"Takeru," the voice finally responded, "When you think of the future what word comes to mind?"
"Only one word?" he asked. "I can think of a lot of them."
"Think of one that resonates with you. It could be a feeling or an emotion. Let me know as soon as you think of it."
Just then Takeru heard from upstairs the sound of footsteps and yelling. He looked up at the ceiling and then back at the being. "Sorry about that," he said one arm over his head. "The first night I've had a friend over at my place and something this embarrassing happens. Please don't think badly of them," he laughed. "We're really a nice fami-"
"-Takeru," the voice interrupted more intensely. "The word?"
Takeru hesitated knowing he had gotten scolded, but he had gotten used to it. "I guess you could say it's hope."
"Hope?" Homeostasis inquired curiously.
"Yeah. I know things seem bad now, but my mommy and daddy are getting along a lot better than they used to. I just know things will work out somehow. After the fighting things will calm down. We'll all go to sleep and wake up knowing it's going to happen again, but it will go away little by little until one day it's gone and we will laugh over this and it will be a good memory when we all sit around the table as a family, both me and my brother and my mommy and daddy!"he exclaimed.
The being seemed to pause as if contemplating him, but like delayed processing speed it continued. "I see then Takeru. Then I will give you a power to complete a very important mission."
"Mission?" Takeru asked.
"Yes. Like I told you before it's to protect a very special little girl for the rest of your life even if you may not remember anyone telling you."
"Well how can that be?" he asked. "You sure say some silly things. If I am speaking to you now I'll remember later."
Takeru noticed the being lag some more as if processing his words.
"You will understand once I give you the power though it may make you feel strange. I will do my best to help you understand. Will you take this power and this responsibility?"
He looked at the being pondering it, but trusted it. "I trust you," he smiled. "Go ahead. I can do it!"
"Then open up your mind and body Takeru Ishida," The voice called out overtaking him.
Takeru watched in amazement as dissolving and reappearing digital lights lit up his room, flooding and flowing into him. He felt a strange sensation like he was full of energy, but couldn't move, his eyes lighting up enthralled by Homeostasis.
"Just what did you do?" he asked looking at his hands even though he could not move them.
"I have temporarily taken possession of your body," Homeostasis said, Takeru a little shocked Homeostasis spoke out of the same mouth as he did. As if sensing his apprehension, the voice quickly responded. "Do not be concerned. This process is merely labeling your body with the outstanding hope within your heart. I am making you into a hopeful knight so you can use your power when it's given to you."
"A knight? Wow!" Takeru exclaimed. "So I can be like a good guy and protect princess Hikari!"
He felt a jolt of adrenaline flow through him, a strange vibration overcoming him.
"How did you know that?!" Homeostasis inquired. "I never revealed this information to you!" she exclaimed.
Takeru laughed a little as if not himself. "Because I know she's you. She'll be like the light that came from the computer filling me up and making me feel all nice inside! She will also have a soft voice and be pretty like a princess!"
Takeru found himself stumbling unaware if it was him or Homeostasis thumping against the ground.
He winced knowing his parents were upstairs and might hear him. "Quiet," he shushed. "I don't want my parents coming down."
The influence radiated in him making him feel tingly, but exhilarated. "So Homeostasis, how will I become a Hopeful Knight?"
Homeostasis chuckled within him, a slight sound catching Takeru's attention as if something had opened, but he paid it no mind.
"When the time comes you will use your power and sacrifice yourself to save the special girl and so save the worlds."
"Huh?" Takeru wondered. "What does sacrifice mean Homeostasis?"
Homeostasis immediately responded. "It means to give your life."
"I still don't get it," he pondered. "Can you show me just a little?"
Homeostasis nodded his head. Takeru felt odd as she controlled him moving over to his desk. He watched his own hand pick up one of his pens.
"Oh hey, that's my favorite pen!" he exclaimed. "When I grow up I'm going to be a writer and write all kinds of stories!"
Homeostasis did not respond. She took the other hand of his and rolled up his sleeve all the way to his shoulder.
"What are you doing?"Takeru asked. "My mom hates it when I stretch my clothes like that. You'll ruin my clothes!" he exclaimed.
He grew slightly apprehensive as one of his hands lifted up the pen over his other arm, the sharp point sticking out.
"Oh are you going to draw on me?" he said growing more fearful. "What are you gonna-"
-With intense force Homeostasis stabbed the pen into his arm, Takeru wanting to scream out in pain, but a surge of adrenaline and shock overcame him because the nice lady had taken over him. It hurt so bad, but quickly the pain disappeared. He stared transfixed as the pen lay pierced into his skin lodged in his vein, blood seeping out.
Just then he thought he heard the sound of something drop and turned to see his mom standing in the bedroom a horrified look on her face, a cup of milk having shattered on the ground. He watched her walk forward crunching the glass walking over it with her slippers.
"Look mommy!" he exclaimed. "Do you see?! I'm going to be a hopeful knight! One day I'm going to sacrifice myself for a girl and for the world!" he exclaimed. He found himself laughing maniacally not quite sure of himself whether it was him or Homeostasis or the shock overcoming him.
He saw her stand over him, her jaw clenched as if she seemed really mad.
"Mommy what's wrong?" he asked smiling glad to see her. "Mommy?" he said again. "Mommy are you ok?" he said again still wondering about her. "Mommy, I-"
He felt her fingernails engrave in the back of his neck, her holding him so tight she pinched his collarbone.
He stared at her face completely bewildered at her expression, but then horrified as he felt Homeostasis's presence leave him filling him with terror.
"Get out of my boy! Get out of my boy! Get out of my boy! Get out of my boy!" she shrieked, Takeru helpless as he had no idea what exactly happened.
He kept looking in her eyes scared out of his mind as he felt something hard hit the side of his head, his mind fading into the darkness.
Takeru could not stop shaking, that memory plaguing him infecting all of his other memories piecing them together. Little by little gaps in his childhood began to make sense. A short while later his brother told him that he had hit his on the bed and had gone into a coma for a month though he did not remember it. Apparently, now that he could remember, he had been in intense psychiatric therapy and given techniques to help him forget what happened. Not only that, but apparently his mom had also hit her head trying to save him and she ended up being in the hospital for at least three months and had to undergo the same treatment. When she did return the hope that he felt for the future faded into despair. His home completely changed.
He felt his mom looking at him sometimes as if almost fearful to approach him. The fights his parents had increased with more ferocity instead of getting better. He found him and his brother escaping more often; the yelling and screaming becoming more than they could bear. Eventually the difficult separation came and he went with his mother and Yamato with his father.
The experienced felt incredibly painful. He raced forward into the future and realized that his mom abandoning him had not been entirely her fault. Even though she had forgotten the memory the imprint of the memory still plagued her even though she was not aware of it. But then it all started to come together even more.
He recalled moments when he would come home from school and see her crying mumbling out the words 'What mother could just abandon her child?' At the time he wondered if those had been about an article she had read that inspired her to work, that is, before he found out about her hidden love life and eventually leaving him alone for days on end.
Takeru imagined his family's smiling face, especially his mother, all of them sitting around the dinner table exactly like how Venom Myotismon had tricked him, but he had been deceived another way. He tensed up his hands, righteous anger filling him taking away the sadness and enveloped him tearing away all the memories all around him until only one thing remained in his vision. He stood straight away glaring at the only thing on his mind, the physical form manifesting within himself.
"So," the voice replied taking shape smirking confidently. "It seems you found the point of reference."
Takeru could not hold himself back. He knew that voice from his hidden memory and it haunted him ever since he learned about it even now. "It only could be you!" he lashed out screaming. "Homeostasis!"