Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon.
On a separate note submitting stories online has really helped me see things from a reader's perspective. Just the other day a buddy of mine on amino told me that he did not know when this whole thing started. Going through my story I discovered I had not told anyone much to my own disbelief, so I will re-edit chapter one and give some clarification on this. This story takes place three years three years after the events of Tri. The whole time between then and now the digidestined have been cleaning up the mess Ordinemon had made in the digital world with digital information. See that chapter for more details.
I can't believe I missed telling you viewers that information. Talk about missing the forest for the trees. But strangely enough that image only makes me think of the dark ocean when Hikari, Miyako, and Ken were spirited away there in season two. Reminiscent of the Lost Woods anyone? Don't become a skull kid.
Chapter Nine: Internal Odyssey
Takeru watched Homeostasis manifest appearing with Hikari's bodily form hovering above him as if she dominated everything about him. He could not believe he had forgotten about her all these years and seemed even more angrier than normal.
"It's all because of what you did!" he yelled barely able to contain himself. "You're he reason my parent's relationship became worse and me and my brother separated! It's all because of you! You traumatized my mother and because of you she abandoned me! You deceived me Homeostasis!" he cried out panting heavily, not used to displaying so much anger.
Homeostasis folded her arms unapprovingly. "I did not deceive you child of hope," she replied. "I answered your questions as you had requested. Unfortunately for you the result of your childish unintelligent inquiries resulted in those events happening," she stated plainly. "Although it is true I knew this would happen you still made the choice to be the hopeful knight even after all of this. You chose hope beyond your reach. You checked in all the boxes for being my candidate for this responsibility."
"But why did it have to come to this?" he breathed out agonizing over everything he lost. "I lost so much! My family. My life. It could have been so much better," he grimaced. "And now look at what you've done to Hikari and me. How could you do something like this to us?"
He let down his guard for an instant and Homeostasis reached out and touched his cheek with her hand. Takeru closed his eyes feeling her caress his cheek which reminded him a lot more of Hikari. He missed her terribly wondering if he would ever see her again.
"Sometimes the light has to be tainted by darkness in order to build up a resistance to it," she said warmly. "Takeru, you know that if you did not go through the suffering that you did you would not have been able to become the man you are today. You would not be equipped to personify hope. And if you could not personify it then you would not have been able to bear the digital record which is the source of all good things digitally to come."
Takeru closed his eyes feeling her smooth hand touch his cheek which reminded him a lot more of Hikari. He missed her terribly wondering if he would ever see her again.
"Tell me," he said staring into her eyes much similar to Hikari's. the coldness in them seeming to wane, "Am I really speaking to Homeostasis? Or am I speaking to Hikari," he said reaching out to her and grabbing her forearm. "Because I don't know if she is ok. But I have to believe after what you said to me she is all right."
Homeostasis retreated her hand and shook her head almost apologetically. "Takeru, what you see before you right now is an amalgam. A collection of data of Hikari and Homeostasis. You could say I am both of them, but also not them at the same time. You may call me 'Amalgami, or you could say Ami or Ami-chan?" she said as if figuring it out. "Yes! Ami-chan! I like that one the best!"
Takeru stared at her wondering about her. He never knew Hikari to be this way and Homeostasis was not really approachable and cold. "What does that mean then...Ami...chan?" he asked still trying to grasp the truth. "How is that possible? How is it-"
At that moment he remembered what she had said before about light being tainted by darkness and building up resistance. He stared at her mystified, but also enlightened.
"How can that be?" he said barely able to get the words out.
Amalgami placed her hand over her heart as if feeling it beat within her. "I had not expected this either," she confessed. "I had believed the longer Homeostasis possessed Hikari the more she would be able to command her body and eventually her soul would fade away. This was bound to happen. It was something that should not have been able to be changed. She is not a strong person nor has she the willpower to resist me very long. Ever since the contract came into effect she has been her vessel. A vessel cannot resist their master, but somehow she did."
Takeru thought about what she said, but even he could not figure it out. Maybe there was a connection to him being there and what had happened before he became like this.
"Is that why I am still alive?" he asked. "I thought I was supposed to have died as the hopeful knight. I would gladly have sacrificed myself for her and everyone," he said. "What happened?"
She smirked at him holding both hands up as if that escaped her grasp.
"They say in moments of desperation a human is at their strongest. It is their will to survive that sometimes triumphs even destiny or fate. Supposing this also is a factor for digivolution what would happen if that same power could be used against Homeostasis?"
Takeru scratched his cheek thinking about it. "I really don't know," he said. "Even with us being in danger that does not always mean the digimon will digivolve."
"Precisely," she answered. "After this change that's happened to her Homeostasis noticed a difference in myself. Homeostasis had been able to use her so successfully not only because of giving her life again by giving her own light, but also because her personality always based her identity on the feelings of others instead of herself. Even from a very young age Hikari had always been sensitive to her mom, her brother, her friends, and you, and her will because of this was very weak and easy to isolate because it did not put up hardly any resistance, but you changed the game entirely ever since you came here. So now Homeostasis can only do it with her consent."
"What did I do?" he asked curiously.
"You caused Hikari to change which caused Homeostasis to change. At the moment when her plan had nearly come to fruition for these long years her will shifted. She had nearly brought the digital record out of you which would have destroyed you, but the moment of destiny was overcome by a strong will to protect. Hikari shifted from basing her identity on others to basing her identity on herself and thus broke out of isolation. Although it was only for an instant she completely changed everything."
Takeru listened fascinated, but entranced by Amalgami's words.
"Hikari took a huge risk saving your life just as she had done before when Taichi had almost taken it. She bonded herself to you. But what she did just recently had a magnitude of impact even greater than that. By overcoming Homeostasis she has threatened her own life by leaving herself vulnerable in her current state."
"No," Takeru said apologetically. "She put herself in danger again to protect me didn't she?" He groaned out placing his hand over his brow sighing in despair.
"You're right," she agreed nodding her head. "However, it's not all bad," she smirked. "She gave you back the hope you had given to the world; not that the hope would destroy you, but that it would enable you to save the world with your life intact," she smiled wider. "The question is Takeru if she has given you the power to summon the digital record can you do it?"
Takeru frowned, irritated at the very thought it was not possible. "It's not about if I can or I can't," he said boldly standing up to her as if they were on the same playing field. "I will," he said. "I will save Hikari and the world!"
Amalgami clapped as if she was cheering him on. "Now that's the Takeru she fell in love with!" she exclaimed, Takeru looking away a little embarrassed but confident in himself.
"So if I find the power to summon the digital record does that mean I will find the power to restore Hikari?"
She grinned back at him. "That's right! Currently Takeru because of what she did you are 'broken' let's just say. You're mind and your heart are disconnected right now and you are in a comatose state. Though you found the point of reference that only enabled you to get to speak to me like this as a basis of connection. If you want to find Hikari's heart, it's buried in the key to unlock the power. By doing so Hikari proved how smart and resourceful she is."
"Oh I know she is," he smirked. "She's always ahead of me when it comes to the feelings of others."
"It's not only that," she replied. "Normally tapping into a power you have never used before would be impossible unless it had been forced out of you, which is what Homeostasis had originally planned on doing, but Hikari dashed those plans...more times than I can count," she said as if slightly annoyed, but understanding. "By taking her own heart and soul and placing it in that power, the fact that your lives are permanently linked has given you the ability to find it, and, if it's within your own power Takeru to awaken you both out of your state and summon it."
Takeru nodded his head looking at his hand knowing he had to find this power. "One final question. Once I find the digital record what's going to happen to all of you?"
"Hmmmm," she said her arms crossed thinking about it. "Well, to tell you the truth, I have no idea. Hikari will be Hikari, but Homeostasis may not be Homeostasis anymore. Because of her possessing a human body for so long and having this happen, Homeostasis will have developed let's say more of a personality subject to human emotion, but she will still be a digital goddess no matter how often she denies saying she just wants to keep things in balance."
Takeru looked at her mystified and found himself smiling. "If she turns out to be anything like you maybe others will finally get along with her. I kind of like you better this way."
She turned towards him and put her hand back on his cheek again and surprisingly found her lips touch his briefly and let go.
Takeru looked at her, his eyes stunned.
"You know," she said. "It's going to be interesting. Hikari would let me get away with that because technically I am kind of her right now," she smiled. "It's going to be interesting to find out how the back up plan goes if we all survive this battle."
Takeru looked at her puzzled. "Back up plan?"
"Don't you remember?" she giggled. "Homeostasis is using her plan to make new crests with more powerful digimon with yours and the other's offspring! Because of your union with Hikari this must mean you already have created the next generation with her!"
Takeru felt his face blush red, but buried his eyes in his hat, entertained to think about what that future would like. "That's not exactly how it works," he said. "There's no guarantee of that even if we did that. Plus, there's a process for this like getting permission from parents and marriage..." he said as if talking to himself. "...Though," he said happily thinking about it, "I wonder what that child would look like?"
Amalgami nodded her head approvingly. "Well Homeostasis is not all knowing about the human world. It's refreshing to learn more about something she does not know about. It would have been really bad if you died, Hikari had lived and their was no child. It would have ruined all the hope for mankind's future!"
Takeru nodded his head really enjoying talking with her. "Well," he said glad they had talked, "maybe one day we will meet again," he said. "I'm going to find the broken part of me and find her and the digital record," he said watching her vanish from his view. She dissolved smiling as he concentrated on his memories wondering where Hikari could be.
"Good luck!" she cheered. "With the blessings of Amalgami err Homeostasis! Err All of us!" she giggled vanishing.
Takeru shook his head closing his eyes taken aback in a good way about this new being. He still did not know what to make of that one.
In a blinding light his environment changed as he thought back to his memories in detail. He tried to concentrate on him being broken or maybe even just missing something, but somehow or another he could not jump from memory to memory as if he had been stuck in an autopilot mode of just breezing through memories like before. Nothing had changed.
He sighed, feeling as if he had taken two steps back instead of forward. "I already found the point of reference. Why am I seeing this again?" he said frustrated.
"I'll tell you why," he heard Amalgami's voice echoing around him. "You've been reset and are stuck on an autopilot mode. By finding the point of reference you are on point to discover the power to use the digital record. However, since you are now no longer 'aimless' your own heart is trying to protect itself.'"
Takeru pondered about Amalgami, not quite understanding. "That doesn't seem possible," he reflected. "This is my heart isn't it? Why can't I search through it and my deepest memories now? It's my heart and mind!" he exclaimed. "Why is it doing this?"
Amalgami's voice seemed to permeate throughout the whole area. "Well, we can't have this happen. You'll be stuck here forever at this rate," she mused. "Takeru, we're going to have to look at this differently and configure your heart in order to find Hikari."
"Configure?"he wondered. "What are you talking about?"
"Well, it's like this," her voice seemed to say a little playfully. "We're going to smash all these memories together and see what happens. By doing so we're going to open a doorway so to speak so you can enter them, but unfortunately for you that's all we can do."
Takeru thought about it, watching the memories keep flipping, knowing he did not have much of a choice. "Isn't that dangerous?" he asked.
"Probably," she replied. "But we don't really have any other choice."
Takeru clenched his teeth together knowing despite the risk he had to move forward. "All right Ami-chan ahead then," he said, his arms cross watching his memories intensely.
Her voice seemed to cackle a little maliciously. "Ok Takeru. Don't blink!"
With that he watched as all of the memories seemed to speed up flipping by him until one of them went so fast it collided against another and all of the memories crashed into each other, the impact surrounding Takeru in a brilliant light.
With that he was enveloped by it, his vision growing hazy, Amalgami's voice lingering in the background.
"Now you know how Hikari feels...being a stranger in her own body."