And here we are at the next chapter!
I've been looking forward to writing this one since we thought of it.
You'll see why soon enough, but for now, sit back and enjoy.
Journey of Redemption - Part 5
"Finally out of the desert." Emerald sighed, stopping the bike a bit to grab a drink of water.
"At least it didn't take us too long to leave it." Norn said in relief.
"If I'm right, we SHOULD be close to Frosted Forest right now." Morphomon mused.
Emerald blinked, before giving her partner a look "Frosted like ice or like cake icing?"
"Yes," Morphomon shrugged helplessly.
Emerald gave her a dry look at that, before turning back ahead with a sigh "Smartass." she shook her head before revving the engine again to start moving onto the forest. What they found…
"...okay...so you weren't being a smartass…" Emerald says a bit lamely, as the forest was indeed frosted. BOTH kinds of frosted somehow. "If someone is making these places, they were having TOO much fun with this one."
"Well...at least it's a nice change from the desert, right?" Norn sweat dropped.
"Fair enough," Emerald sighed.
"At least it tastes good." Morphomon said as she scooped up some frosting and ate it with her hands.
"Yeah, just don't eat the yellow frosting." Emerald said with a joking smirk, while Morphomon gagged at the thought, getting the joke.
The trio continued onward, so far nothing seeming too odd or strange.
"Think we'll have a peaceful time for once?" Morphomon mused.
"Hopefully yes, but I wouldn't hold my breath," Emerald sighed.
"You gonna be okay?" Norn sweat dropped at that one.
"More or less," Emerald sighed.
"You missing Remnant?" Morphomon asked her.
Emerald paused at that "I… I am yeah. There's someone I…" she paused, a thought hitting her.
Would… would Cinder accept her friends if she returned to her? Or would she…?
She shook her head, shoving that thought away "Nevermind."
After all, Cinder was like a mother to her, so she'd be happy she had friends… right?
So why… why did that feel like a lie, even as she kept repeating it to herself mentally like a mantra?
The two of them blinked, but decided not to press the issue. Emerald had her own secrets that were hers to keep if she wanted.
The ride continued for several minutes before they noticed the path started to slope, to which Emerald slowed down, since the last thing they wanted was careening down a hill and being unable to stop in time. Doing so though, they could see something in the distance. "Is that...some kind of castle?" Norn blinked.
"Gee, a castle in the woods, that's not cliche at all," Emerald rolled her eyes. That was literally every old monster horror movie ever.
"Yeah, I've never seen movies and even I know about how basic that is." Morphomon giggled.
"Still...should we check it out, or just ignore it?" Norn asked.
"...normally I'd say we should ignore it and I think we should, but with our track record, we might want to see if anything is going on," Emerald groaned, remembering how they seemed to have a knack for finding serious problems wherever they went.
"Probably worth just checking yeah," Morphomon sweat dropped.
"The price of being the good guys." Norn giggled.
Emerald paused at that, blinking a few times.
That… that REALLY sounded weird to say about her considering what she'd been trying to help her mother figure do… was her life messed up?
…she REALLY needed to sit down and think about it sometime.
At any rate, they soon took a turn that had them riding towards the castle. As they did though, they noticed something else. "Hey...is it just me or is the sky getting darker...like way faster than normal?" Morphomon spoke up.
At that Emerald and Norn both glanced upward. "Oh wow...yeah, that is not normal," Norn blinked.
"Define 'normal' around here. No offense, Morphomon," Emerald said dryly.
"None taken," Morphomon chuckled, knowing exactly what she meant. "But Norn is right, we don't usually get a suddenly sped up day cycle around anywhere here."
"So, points to there being something fishy going on. Got it," Emerald shrugged.
The castle soon came into view, and as they got closer. "...this is a horror movie set," they all deadpanned, even Norn who somehow knew that despite her missing memories. Guess it was THAT cliche.
"Ok, place your bets people, we're either gonna find a vampire, a werewolf, or a patchwork monster with a mad scientist screaming 'It's alive!' at some point." Emerald said with a sigh.
"My money's on vampire," Morphomon snorted as they soon found a place to park the bike. Close enough to the castle that they could easily get between the castle to the bike, but far enough that it would be less likely to be found if anyone looked out of or came out of the castle.
"Everyone ready?" Emerald asked, the two nodding, before they soon walked towards and entered the castle.
The first thing that hit them when they entered was a feeling of...isolation. There was a coldness to the castle, that wasn't just the frost outside. "Let's not hang around here longer than we have to," Morphomon gulped, earning nods of agreement from them as they continued inward. As they walked, they noticed some sections of the castle had openings which let the cold and snow in from time to time, adding an additional bite to the chill of the castle.
"If someone is living here, they're really not taking good care of this place," Emerald frowned...even if inwardly she had to admit with some irony that somehow the coldness of this castle still paled to the feel she got when she was in Salem's castle.
"You'll have to excuse me." came a voice from further down the hall "I'm not normally one for guests."
Coming into view from the darkness of the hall was a humanoid Digimon, one that looked like a woman with pale skin, short hair beneath a tattered red witch's hat, a red capelet over her shoulders while a black dress hugged her body, the dress having stitches all over it, a gold ornament around the breast area. Black gloves covered her arms all the way up to her biceps, though her hands were much larger than normal, with a golden blade on the back of each hand, tattered, leathery wings coming out of her back.
"Ha! Vampire! Pay up!" Morphomon said triumphantly.
The Digimon rose an eyebrow "You mistake me for a Myotismon. My name is DeviWitchmon."
Digimon Analyzer: DeviWitchmon
DeviWitchmon. Virus Type. A Perfect Level Devil Digimon. A dark witch said to hail from Witchelny, one who dabbled in dark sorcery to bind demons and devils under her contract. She is said to be able to tap into the powers of the Dark Area, and likes to torment humans, mostly women, but has a preference for targeting men… talk about an equal opportunity sadist. Special attacks are Nightmare Gale, summoning the foul winds of the Dark Area to attack the opponent, and Aquary Darkness, summoning the waters of the Dark Area to drown her opponent in darkness.
"Oh, so a witch. Guess none of us got it then," Norn mused...even if only Morphomon actually voiced her choice back then. Personally she was gonna pick Frankenstein.
DeviWitchmon coughed, drawing attention back to her. "At any rate, seeing as you are all here, I might as well invite you to lunch. It's just about time and we've made more than needed to be honest," she added the last bit a bit sheepishly.
"Well, I guess it is about noon." Emerald said after a moment of thought, sharing a look with the others "Sure, and sorry for just barging in like we did. The castle just looked so out of place with the rest of the forest."
"Of course. I set up here to stay out of the way mostly. Not many Digimon live in these parts, outside of me and my ward." DeviWitchmon said, guiding them to a dining room.
"Where is your ward?" Norn asked, looking around.
DeviWitchmon scanned the room, frowning slightly "Hmm… seems to be running late." she said, before snapping her fingers, a small bat appeared in front of her before she pointed off, and it flew off through one of the doors.
A short while later, the sound of wings was heard again, and the small bat came back, showing a surprising amount of strength as it was pulling someone along.
It was a Digimon that looked VERY much like a young human teenager, with tan skin and bluish green hair, yellow eyes visible through the eye holes of the skull he wore over the top of his head, red spikes adorning the top of the skull. He was wearing a black tank top over his torso with a seperate white collar around his neck, matching white pants on his legs, while an arrow shaped strap hanged off the collar like a long scarf, his hands covered with white gloves, while his boots were black with white caps on the toe area, red claws attached to them. Strapped to his back were a pair of large wheel-like weapons with four blades each, one in navy blue and one in army green.
"Glad you could join us, Igneetmon," DeviWitchmon chuckled lightly.
Digimon Analyzer: Igneetmon
Igneetmon. Virus Type. A Child Level Reptile Man Digimon. A Digimon who, while always ready for heavy combat with his weapons, the Galapagos, prefers to spend his days relaxing. Although he prefers to avoid conflict, should he become suitably enraged, he will attack his opponent relentlessly. Special attack is Galapagos Field, spinning his weapons quickly to generate a wave that slices up his opponent.
"I-I'm sorry mistress, I was just-" Igneetmon started to say, before DeviWitchmon held up her hand.
"It matters not. We have guests at the moment, they'll join us for lunch. Go fetch the food in the kitchen." she told him.
"Of course mistress." he said, before hurrying into the kitchen to do just that.
"So, he's your ward?" Emerald asked while DeviWitchmon guided them to sit near her own place at the table.
"Yes," DeviWitchmon nodded. "I found and rescued him years ago. It seems his home was attacked by feral Digimon and he was the only survivor. He's been under my care ever since."
"I see.. It's sad he's the only survivor." Norn frowned.
"Truly, it was." DeviWitchmon nodded "But he's been happy here since I took him in."
Shortly after that, Igneetmon came back into the dining room, pushing a cart that was filled with various types of food, placing them all on the table in front of everyone, before just standing off to the side.
"Aren't you… going to sit and eat too?" Morphomon asked him before they could begin.
Igneetmon jumped in surprise "I-I'm not-" he started to say, before DeviWitchmon held up her hand, silencing him.
"Igneetmon was simply being far too polite." she said with a smile "Come, sit and eat."
Surprise flashed onto his face, something Emerald noticed, before he schooled his features "I- Thank you, mistress." he said, before sitting at the table and waiting for DeviWitchmon to start eating herself before doing the same.
Emerald narrowed her eyes in thought a bit, glancing between the two and considering the situation.
There was… something about this that felt rather familiar to her.
She just couldn't figure out what it was.
Still, it would look bad if she just sat there, so quickly filing that away for later, she started to eat as the others did, though she discreetly glanced at DeviWitchmon and Igneetmon every now and then. She had a feeling she'd want to see if she could catch anything.
The meal went by...mostly normally. There was nothing wrong with the food as far as she could tell, but when she glanced at Igneetmon, she noticed how...slowly...he was eating, as if this wasn't something he did all that often. Or at the very least infrequently.
Either way, there wasn't much else she could notice, and before long the meal was finished. "That was great," Morphomon smiled. "Thank you for the food."
"It's no trouble at all," DeviWitchmon smiled. "In fact, if you'd like you're all welcome to stay the night even," she said, looking outside a window...revealing it had inexplicably started snowing a bit heavily.
"Um… right… I think we'll take you up on that." Emerald said after a moment, even if she looked unsure a bit.
Something just wasn't sitting right with her at the moment.
She'll have to get to the bottom of this.
"Now then, since we're all done eating… Igneetmon." DeviWitchmon spoke.
"Yes, mistress!" Igneetmon said, standing up sharply at attention.
"Guide our guests to their room for the night. I have other matters to attend to." she said, before standing up herself and walking out of the room.
"At once!" Igneetmon said, before he soon ushered them out of the dining room.
"So...she's your...guardian?" Emerald asked after a few moments of walking.
"Yes. Mistress DeviWitchmon saved my life years ago. I owe my life to her." he said simply.
"So...guess she must really care about you?" Emerald asked after that.
"She...gives me a roof over my head and I am able to live peacefully," Igneetmon said after a moment.
Emerald frowned at that, sharing a look with the others.
Again with that strange feeling.
"So… she's like a mom to you?" Norn asked him.
Igneetmon stopped for a moment "I- I mean- N-No! Mistress is Mistress! A mother… she wouldn't want me to call her that."
Emerald paused at that, once again that strange sense of familiarity striking her.
Even so all three of them realized how uncomfortable they were making him, so they didn't press the issue. Eventually he led them to a hall lined with doors, opening three doors to reveal a well furnished room in each. "This is the guest hall. Feel free to use any room you wish," he said.
"Thank you. We'll do that," Morphomon nodded as they went into a room though not before telling him they'd pick their individual rooms later. With that done, he nodded and walked away, giving the trio some privacy.
"Okay...so we're all agreed there's SOMETHING fishy here, right?" Emerald frowned.
"Well...not as obvious but there were a few odd things...though the worst is probably Igneetmon," Morphomon frowned. "I...didn't like how he was talking earlier. Something isn't right."
"Yeah…" Emerald frowned "There's just… something really weird about this whole thing." she said, a hand on her forehead "I think I need to investigate this."
"Don't you mean we?" Norn asked her.
"No, not this time. I'm better at sneaking around when I'm solo. Besides, you two need to stay here. If either of them come back around, you need to tell them that I'm in the bathroom or something, otherwise they might get suspicious." Emerald said with a frown.
Morphomon frowned at that "I don't really like this plan."
Emerald smiled at her "Hey, don't worry. I promise, I'll be careful. I can use my semblance if they're about to spot me. Since it's just two of them, I probably won't get too bad of a headache."
"Ok… but you better not break that promise." Morphomon relented after a moment.
"Be careful Em." Norn added on.
Emerald blinked a bit at the nickname, before smiling at her "Don't worry, I will be."
With that said, she left the room and started making her way through the castle. As she made her way through the castle, the first thing that hit her was once again how...alone...she felt inside this place. It was cold, and outside of the living areas, there were literally sections that had fallen in, letting the elements into the castle. There was another thing that stuck out to her too. "Where is everyone else?" she wondered. A castle this big she'd have thought there would be others here other than just DeviWitchmon and Igneetmon...heck, even in Salem's Castle they had 'servants' in the form of some of those Seer Grimm...the thought of which made her smirk a bit since well...a pair of Grimm holding a broom and dust pan was something you had to see to believe.
Either way she remained focused and continued onward, continuing to explore, and ready to use her Semblance if needed...something that she continued to NOT need to do, which honestly...made her worry more. As she continued to explore, she couldn't help but think of the little things she saw when DeviWitchmon interacted with Igneetmon. The more she thought about it, the more she had a nagging feeling that made her think of Cinder somehow.
Eventually she noticed a room that had some light in it, and snuck towards it. Peeking around the corner, she saw DeviWitchmon and Igneetmon, with Igneetmon in the middle of cleaning some stuff...though DeviWitchmon seemed less than impressed. "I've told you already, you're supposed to clean them in a specific way, and then return them to their proper positions," she said.
"F-forgive me, mistress," Igneetmon gulped. "I just thought-"
"That right there," DeviWitchmon said, cutting him off. "You 'thought'. I've told you already, don't think, obey. That is all you need to do," she said curtly.
"Y-yes, mistress…" Igneetmon shrank.
As soon as DeviWitchmon had said those words, Emerald stopped, her eyes going wide, as it finally clicked into place for her.
'Don't think. Obey.'
The same words Cinder had said to her so many times before.
And now she finally understood why Igneetmon's situation felt so familiar to her.
He was just like her.
He lost his home, those he saw as his family, before he was taken in by someone.
But… now… the more she kept mentally comparing herself to him, the more she started to tremble as a realisation hit her like a slap in the face.
Had Cinder just been… using her? All this time?
She continued thinking on it… and it just kept making more and more sense.
Everytime Cinder would show care or concern, it was either before or after giving her an order to carry out a duty for her. When she failed in doing a task correctly, Cinder would berate her, curtly, but sharply nonetheless, and each time Emerald tried to get a word in, Cinder would say those same words.
Don't think. Obey.
And as she realised this… she also realised that DeviWitchmon was just like Cinder.
She was… USING Igneetmon. Treating him like just a servant. Probably using his sense of gratitude against him… just like Cinder did with her.
She had to steady herself against a wall at this point, realising she almost fell after this one fact just slapped her in the face.
Cinder… didn't care about her. Not as a human being at least.
She was just a tool to her… just like Igneetmon was just a tool to DeviWitchmon.
The realization caused a flurry of emotions in her, so much so she was glad there weren't any Grimm in this world. She'd probably have attracted some right now if there were. Trying to calm herself, she quickly started moving away, aiming to get away from there a bit. Right now she was in no mental condition to make any important decisions. Once she was away, she ducked into an empty room…and let herself sink to the ground.
"God… just… fuck." she said, her head in her hands "What have I been DOING with my life? I've been following a woman that just… doesn't care about me. I could probably die right here and now and she wouldn't even bat an eye before trying to look for my replacement. Hell, she's probably even looking for one already." she said, starting to actually sob quietly.
"My, what an interesting ability," Watts mused.
"A very useful ability," Cinder said, her system now finally able to let her speak normally. The reason for their observations? The scene of carnage that was an entire gang lying dead on the ground...yet for some reason it seemed as if they'd fought each other for some reason.
Said reason revealed to be several nearly invisible strings that soon cut, having been connected to several of the thugs, and quickly faded away, the source of which being a teenage girl in a tattered dress. She had long blonde hair with completely dead black eyes, and quite clearly nothing to her name except for the tattered black dress she wore.
"All clean kills too. Not a single wasted movement in the killing blows." Mercury observed as he looked over one of the corpses with an appraising eye "She's good."
Watts snorted, but he had a smirk "Well, if the trained assassin says so, then she must certainly be."
Cinder smirked behind her helmet "I think we may have found someone to fill in Emerald's empty shoes." she said, stepping towards the girl, who turned towards her and raised her hand, Cinder feeling her aura latch onto the girl, but she simply shrugged it off, causing the girl to recoil, her eyes showing the barest amount of surprise.
Cinder looked down at the girl as she stood in front of her "That was rather impressive. Tell me… what's your name?"
The girl looked at her for a long moment, before she finally spoke "Marie."
Cinder smirked "Marie… how would you like to live without ever having to fear anyone ever again?"
"I never mattered to her. Just my power. The first time I met her… all she cared about was my Semblance." she said, sniffing "All she saw was someone who could trick people and figured I'd be useful to her maiden stealing plans… god I was so stupid!"
She let herself sob a bit longer, because really...she needed this. She actually HAD thought of Cinder as her mother, so realizing that all this time it was not only one sided, but emotionally abusive and manipulative...it wasn't something she could just pretend she was okay with. However, as she did, she didn't notice the necklace Norn had given her glow a little, and she felt an odd feeling go through her. Her sadness was still there, but her mind started to shift towards Morphomon and Norn, and the brief but memorable times she'd spent with them ever since she ended up in this world. She still felt the pain from her worldview being shattered...but the memory that she wasn't alone helped ease it.
She rubbed the tears out of her eyes, pushing herself to stand up "I don't really know what I'm gonna do now… but I can't go back to Cinder… not anymore." she admitted with a sigh, before looking at the door "And I can't let Igneetmon make the same mistakes I did."
With that in mind, she went back to the room she'd last seen Igneetmon, and to her fortune, it seemed DeviWitchmon had left, but Igneetmon was still there. Taking a quick moment to make sure there were no signs that DeviWitchmon would be coming back, she quickly entered the room. "Igneetmon, can we talk?" she asked, causing Igneetmon to jump in surprise, fortunately he wasn't handling anything, so nothing fell.
"Oh, M-Ms. Emerald. How can I help you?" Igneetmon asked, standing at attention.
Emerald sighed "Look, I know you're gonna think I'm butting in, but… I know EXACTLY how you're feeling right now, working for DeviWitchmon."
"How do you mean?" Igneetmon asked in confusion.
"Until just a few minutes ago, I didn't realise I was… LITERALLY part of an abusive relationship… kind of. I was living on the street a few years ago when somebody took me in, gave me a roof over my head, food to fill my belly, and made me feel welcome." Emerald explained.
"I… don't see how that's abusive." Igneetmon said with a frown "Mistress treats me the same way."
"Exactly." Emerald said, pointing at him "She treats you the same way I was treated… like a tool to help her. I only realised it after viewing it from the outside. DeviWitchmon… she's the EXACT same as Cinder was with me. Manipulating, making you feel welcome, and then having you do everything for her to the point you think you're just paying her back for how she helped you."
"W-what?" Igneetmon said, frowning "No! Mistress isn't like that!"
"That's the thing." Emerald sighed "I thought the same about Cinder. She always made me feel proud, so I thought, what I was doing, it had to be right." she said, holding her hands up "But… I was wrong. Because for a long part of my life, all I knew was lying and stealing, so when somebody held a hand out to me, I grabbed and didn't let go, I didn't even notice the rotten person it was attached to. She made me think that she was always right, and that I shouldn't question her. That everything others said about her was false. That any doubts I had were just because I wasn't used to it yet, that it would pass." she said with a sigh, looking down, frowning sadly "I've got… more blood on my hands than a kid my age should, all because of her. And the deaths I HAVE caused… the only pride I have in them is I made them quick and painless.. I didn't want to draw them out… not like what happened to my father."
Igneetmon was quiet now, staring at her with wide eyes and a hanging mouth, unable to say anything, before Emerald looked up at him, placing her hands on his shoulders.
"That's why… I don't want you to realise this too late like I did. You NEED to leave this place right now, and just NEVER look back." she told him seriously.
Igneetmon...didn't respond, but from the look on his face he was clearly very much unsure what to do. Perhaps deep down he'd realized what she was talking about, and yet he still didn't know what was the best for him to do.
"Look, if you want more of an opinion, talk with Morphomon and Norn. They don't know I'm telling you this so they'll probably have their own opinions," Emerald said.
Igneetmon slowly nodded, clearly still conflicted, but open to the idea of extra opinions. Wordlessly he finished his task, and soon left the room, leaving Emerald to watch him go with a frown before leaving as well. She'd rather not risk DeviWitchmon coming back if she stayed too long.
Looking around slowly, she continued her search through the castle, trying to find DeviWitchmon herself, hopefully to get further proof of her actions.
She could tell she'd gotten through to Igneetmon for the most part, but she still intended to get some proof to help her words. She continued to explore the castle, so far nothing, but at the very least she had a clue, namely look for rooms that had signs of being lived in. As such she slowly scoured the sections that were more or less maintained, and before long, she found her way to what she was pretty sure where DeviWitchmon's personal quarters, with how well maintained it was… and the fact that DeviWitchmon herself was standing in front of a computer of some kind.
She was fiddling with the controls for a bit, before the screen came on, and from the looks of it someone was on, but they were shadowed, so she couldn't see the face. "I trust my package was delivered without issue?" the person said, their voice heavily digitized. Whoever they were, they were cautious.
"Of course, that Dark Tower has already been set up, and my minions will be returning with the data soon enough," DeviWitchmon chuckled.
Emerald rose an eyebrow at that. A Dark Tower? She didn't know what that was, but she could at least tell it wasn't likely to be anything good.
"Excellent. Though manipulating the Crystal Towers and turning them into Dark Towers is all well and good, I'm trusting you to begin our foothold on Folder. Even if things fall through in Server thanks to the Chosen Children, we'll still have a fallback plan," the figure nodded.
"Of course, milord," DeviWitchmon bowed. "I shall do everything in my power to ensure the Digital World gets the ruler it deserves," she smirked.
"See to it that you do," the figure nodded as the feed was ended.
"Of course...I'll be sure to help set the foundation for what will eventually be mine," DeviWitchmon smirked now that the call was over.
Emerald narrowed her eyes at that a bit, before she saw DeviWitchmon tap a few more keys, showing a map of Folder that zoomed in on a location a bit further away from the forest, revealing a tower of some kind before a communications line was opened "How goes the work with the tower boys?"
"Going good boss, we got the people here under our boot, and the rings are working just great too. As soon as we slap them on they stop resisting us!" a gruff voice replied.
"Good, keep that up then. Soon all of Folder will be ours." she said with a smirk, before cutting the line.
Emerald frowned. If she wasn't sure before she was now. DeviWitchmon was up to no good, something the others had to know about. Hopefully they could come up with a way to stop her. However, as she did, she never noticed the small bat hanging off the ceiling, which noticed her and let out a screech. The moment it did, DeviWitchmon released several more...which went straight for Emerald.
"Ah, Ms. Sustrai," DeviWitchmon said in a faux pleasant tone. "Didn't your...I believe you humans call it 'mother', teach you that it's not polite to eavesdrop? Especially on a host that has been as gracious as I've been?"
Emerald frowned, grabbing Thief's Respite from her back "Never had a good example of a mother, so can't say she did."
DeviWitchmon hummed "A pity. It might have saved your life."
"Bring it!" Emerald growled, opening fire.
DeviWitchmon didn't do anything as the bullets flew towards her, but right as they were getting close...her eyes suddenly widened and a pulse flew through the air, causing the bullets to stop...and promptly dissolve in mid-air. "Clearly you have no idea who you're dealing with," she chuckled. "I am a master of the dark arts of which you can't possibly imagine! Nightmare Gale!" she called out as a black wind was launched forward, forcing Emerald to brace herself. When the winds hit, she felt a biting pain go through her, while her Aura glowed brightly, working overtime to protect her from the worst of the attack, which launched her back, right through a nearby wall.
Groaning, Emerald quickly got up. That was...a LOT stronger than any other Digimon she'd ever seen so far. Acting quickly, she used her Semblance to make it seem like she'd gotten back up and ran in one direction, to which she herself ran in the opposite direction, leaving DeviWitchmon to launch another attack aimed at the illusion...which vanished, revealing to her that Emerald had managed to evade her. "You can run, but you can't hide," DeviWitchmon smirked as she released more bats to search for Emerald.
Emerald had taken a moment's safety in one of the rooms, quickly getting under one of the beds. This wouldn't last long she knew, but she needed time to think. What did those classes on Digimon say again? Wasn't there something about levels to the creatures' growth? Up till now the Digimon she'd encountered were strong, but more or less on the same level as a fully trained Hunter. Those were...Adult she recalled. If that was the case, that would mean that DeviWitchmon was on a higher level. Perfect...which happened to be the level now that she thought about it. Suffice to say it was clear that if she tried fighting DeviWitchmon by herself...she was toast.
With that in mind, she quickly moved to try to find Morphomon and Norn.
They had to get out of here, they weren't in any position to fight against her, hopefully Igneetmon would listen to reason and at least come with them.
She quickly made her way through the halls, using her Semblance liberally to make sure any bats didn't see her. She had to hurry or she might end up burning out her Aura before she reached the others.
However, due to the events, she was forced to go a different path than the one she took, and as a result, she ended up having to use her Semblance more than she intended. Before long, she felt the familiar feeling of her Aura starting to hit its limit…
"Almost there…" she growled trying to hurry, but…
"Nightmare Gale!" DeviWitchmon called out, sending an attack straight towards Emerald, forcing her to try and use Thief's Respite to hopefully whittle away at the attack with rapidfire shots...but the shots did nothing as the attack hit, sending her flying through another wall, and landing on the ground, her Aura breaking while she gasped at seeing Thief's Respite sparking from the severe damage they'd taken, and the blades had even broken off, the weapons having landed a bit away from her.
Trying to reach for the weapon, it turned out to be in vain as DeviWitchmon suddenly landed on them by slamming her feet, shattering them to little pieces, Emerald's eyes going wide.
"You REALLY should have known better than to try and challenge me little girl." DeviWitchmon said with a smirk "Perhaps if you'd just stayed quiet and remained in your room, you'd have been able to leave in the morning."
In response, Emerald glared at her "You think I'm stupid? It's not night at all, I bet it's still early afternoon right now and you're just using your powers to make it look like night. You just planned on using us like you are Igneetmon."
"Oh, so you were actually paying attention. Shame really, an intelligent girl like you could have been useful. Oh well, I suppose someone TOO intelligent would have been harder to control anyway," DeviWitchmon chuckled, before gathering energy again. "No matter, there are plenty of other potential tools out there anyway."
"Galapagos Field!"
"What?!" DeviWitchmon said in shock, turning her head just in time for a strong and sharp burst of wind to slam into her and send her flying into a wall.
Emerald blinked in surprise, before turning her head to see a seething Igneetmon holding his weapons that were in the middle of spinning, while Norn and Morphomon ran towards her "Em!"
"Are you ok?!" Norn asked when they got next to her, helping her up.
"For the most part." Emerald said, giving them a smile, before frowning "Look, we HAVE to get out of here. She's too strong for us to fight."
"Great idea, only one problem," Morphomon frowned, right as the wall exploded, revealing DeviWitchmon, having taken barely if any damage, but boy did she look pissed. "I don't think she's gonna let us run," she finished.
"You would be correct there," DeviWitchmon glared. "I have no intention of allowing any of you to leave here alive! Still, I thought you would have known better Igneetmon." she said with a snarl as she looked at her now former ward.
"I DO know better." Igneetmon growled "Emerald was right. You only see me as a tool. Well no more!" he declared "I'm no longer working for you!"
"Then you can die a free mon." she snarled before firing a Nightmare Gale at him, sending him flying back and hitting the wall with a groan.
"Igneetmon!" the three of them gasped, to which Norn ran towards where he'd impacted the wall and found him unconscious, but still alive. "He's okay for now!" she quickly reported.
"Guess we don't have a choice then. Let's go, Morphomon!" Emerald frowned. She'd rather run, but the reality was they didn't have that option. So all they could do was fight.
"Ready anytime!" Morphomon said, right as Emerald's Digivice shined, to which she soon Evolved into Hudiemon, standing at the ready.
"If you think a mere Adult can defeat me, you're clearly out of your depth!" DeviWitchmon laughed.
"Say that after we fight!" Hudiemon growled. "Infinity Dream!"
The scales flew towards DeviWitchmon but… "Nightmare Gale!" The scales were completely obliterated by the attack. "Anything else?" DeviWitchmon asked, sounding bored.
"Then how about this! Flying Kick!" Hudiemon called out, launching herself at DeviWitchmon...to which she casually stopped the kick...with her finger.
"N-no way!" Emerald gasped. She knew that the power difference was there, but for it to be this much...it was unreal.
"My turn now," DeviWitchmon chuckled. "Nightmare Gale!" she declared, blasting Hudiemon point blank with the attack, causing her to cry out in pain as she was sent spiralling out of control as the winds carried her and slammed her into the roof before letting her fall to the ground.
"Hudiemon!" Emerald gasped in worry, running towards her partner. "Are you alright?!"
"I wouldn't say 'alright', but I can still fight," Hudiemon groaned.
"That's a shame. I'll have to do something about that," DeviWitchmon said, sending another Nightmare Gale, to which Hudiemon quickly shielded Emerald, but even then both of them were sent flying, hitting a wall and falling to the ground, a few drops of blood falling as due to her Aura breaking, Emerald wasn't protected from the damage.
Hudiemon groaned as she got up, but glaring quickly tried to fight again, however…
"And I think I'm bored of you now. Aquary Darkness!" DeviWitchmon said with a yawn, sending a torrent of black liquid which hit Hudiemon dead on, drawing out more shouts of pain and to Emerald's horror, she saw what looked like steam...and not heat either. When the torrent ended, Hudiemon fell to the ground, her entire body glitching, and it looked like parts of her were breaking down too.
"Hudiemon!" Emerald said in horror as she ran to her partner, propping her up.
"Em… get out of here…" Hudiemon said, wincing as her body glitched harder.
"No… no, not without you!" Emerald said, starting to cry.
"You have to…" Hudiemon told her.
"No! I won't leave you!" Emerald said, holding her partner tightly "I don't want to lose my first friend ever… not when I finally want to make my own choices in life! I want to be a good person, but I can't do it without you!" she shouted, tears falling from her eyes, right as one landed on the necklace that Norn had given her. The moment it did, the necklace began to shine brightly, a light that caused DeviWitchmon to recoil.
"That's…!" she gasped. "No! All the Chosen Children are in Server! How can you have a Crest?!"
"Crest?" Emerald blinked, right before the light shone on Hudiemon and right before her eyes, the damage was repaired and Hudiemon soon stood up, feeling stronger than ever.
A feeling of understanding came over her before she turned to Emerald and smiled. "Let's take her down together, Em."
Emerald blinked, before she nodded with determination. "Right! We're going to keep moving forward together!"
(Play 'Brave Heart')
Emerald's D-Core vibrated before turning pure white with dark green buttons. A powerful beam of light shot out of it, entering the Tag from the back and coming out from the front, taking with it the Crest which flew into the air, spinning as it flew above the clouds and soon settled into a stable rotation as it gathered energy before a burst occurred and a beam of energy was sent downward, entering into Hudiemon as she spun around. "Hudiemon, Super Evolution!" she called out. Her wings glowed brightly before dispersing into a swarm of butterflies that flew around her, obscuring her from view as her body started to glow, the butterflies forming a sort of cocoon before a new form emerged.
She was clad in a form fitting regal white dress with blue scale shaped stitchings on it, the sleeves covering her arms completely while a new pair of blue wings came out of her back, the scales having a slight rainbow sheen to them, the collar of her dress covering the back of her head, with her blue hair now in a short bob cut, her face hidden behind a blue mask in the shape of butterfly wings, her eyes hidden behind it, but her mouth perfectly visible. "Papillonmon!"
Digimon Analyzer: Papillonmon
Papillonmon. Free Type. A Perfect Level Fairy Digimon. A Fairy Digimon with borderline holy powers after receiving a strong blessing from an Angel Digimon, she is able to easily fight back against Devil and Demon Men Digimon. Outside of battle, she is known to act like a kind ruler, treating those below her like her subjects that she adores. Special attacks are Kaleidoscope Reflector, releasing large see through scales from her sleeves that she uses to concentrate light through and fire it at the enemy, or use them to counter an attack and send it right back, and Avalon Dust, spreading her blessed scales around and letting them drop on the enemy, paralyzing them completely, and greatly weakening them if they are of a dark origin.
"You...evolved?" Emerald blinked, before looking at her Digivice that was still in its shifted color as well as the glowing necklace. "Is this...because of this thing?"
"I think so," Papillonmon nodded. "But I think that's a question for another time."
"Right, we've got her to deal with," Emerald nodded. Questions could wait till after DeviWitchmon was taken care of.
"Do you really think just Evolving would change things?!" DeviWitchmon snarled. "I am still the one who will rule over this Continent! Nightmare Gale!"
"Not this time!" Papillonmon declared, her wings flaring out before her scales were released, the dark winds meeting them...and dissipating.
"What?!" DeviWitchmon gasped, before glaring, trying again and again, but each time her attacks made contact with the scales, the attacks vanished.
Seeing an opening, Papillonmon surged forward, her scales still spreading and landed a kick onto DeviWitchmon, sending her skidding back. DeviWitchmon growled and prepared to counter, but the moment the scales touched her, she felt her energy weaken greatly. "What?!"
"Avalon Dust," Papillonmon said simply. "I may not be a Holy Digimon proper, but I have the ability to dispel dark energies...like your magic for example."
"Don't think...this is enough to stop me!" DeviWitchmon roared, trying to send forth bats at her, but most of them disappeared before they reached Papillonmon, while Papillonmon herself easily fended off the bats.
"Even if you deserve worse, I won't make this longer than needed," Papillonmon frowned, as she started releasing the scales hidden in her sleeves.
"Don't you dare...look down on me!" DeviWitchmon roared, and in a moment of pure rage, forced all her power into one attack. "Aquary Darkness!" she shouted, firing everything she had. However, right as it was about to reach Papillonmon, the attack seemed to disperse and gather around Papillonmon.
"So this is how it will be? A fitting end I suppose," Papillonmon sighed as light began gathering as well. "Kaleidoscope...Reflector!" she declared, the energies firing back at DeviWitchmon, amplified with Papillonmon's own power, DeviWitchmon unable to do anything as she was hit with the full force.
"This can't be happening!" she shouted as she was deleted, and when the attack ended, there was nothing left save bits of data.
(Song End)
With DeviWitchmon gone, Papillonmon let out a sigh, before he body glowed and shrank down, until she became a tiny white Digimon with four short limbs and a head with big green eyes and a set of small antennae, a small stinger behind her, with a pair of tiny blue wings.
"What the… Morphomon?" Emerald said in confusion as she approached who she assumed was her partner.
"Kind of? I haven't been in this form in a long time. This is my Baby form, Puroromon, though I look a bit different from other Puroromon." Puroromon explained with a giggle as she flew towards Emerald.
"How do you mean?" Emerald asked, accepting that this was her partner's lower form.
"Normally a Puroromon is yellow with clear wings." Puroromon said with a shrug "I have a different color. It's weird, but it happens.
"Why did you go all the way down to your Baby form though?" Norn wondered while Igneetmon slowly woke up.
Puroromon hummed in thought "Well… my guess is that evolving to Perfect for the first time ever was a bit draining on me. I'll probably get the hang of it eventually if we practice."
"Makes sense, like training a muscle." Emerald said, before her eyes fell on the shattered remains of her weapon, making her sigh sadly "Damn it… lost dad's weapon."
"Hey, it's alright, I'm sure we could rebuild it." Puroromon assured her.
"I doubt it." Emerald frowned, even as she picked up several of the shards.
"You should keep them." Igneetmon said with a grunt as he pushed himself up, holding himself steady against the wall even as Norn stood next to him to be safe "You might be able to find a blacksmith who'd at least be able to work the shards into a new one."
Emerald thought about it for a moment, before nodding, putting the shards away, smiling a bit "I guess that's better than losing them for good." she said, before turning to the group "Alright, before I started fighting DeviWitchmon, she was talking with someone, and they mentioned something about a Dark Tower. I don't know what's up with that other than it sounds like it's something they'll use to take over Folder."
"Then we should investigate it as soon as we can." Norn said seriously.
"Yeah." Emerald said with a nod, before she looked to Igneetmon "Think you could help us Igneetmon? She said she sent some of her minions to handle the tower."
He hummed in thought at that "I… may have an idea of what you're talking about. A week ago she sent her underlings off north with a weird data packet. That might be the tower you're talking about."
"Great. At least we know where to look." Puroromon said in relief, so, we're good to go?"
"I think we are yeah." Emerald said with a smile "And on the way… I can finally tell you my story." she said, earning a smile from her friends before they left the castle, ready to continue their journey.
Tada!
Yeahp, Emerald has hit the Perfect level!
And Papillonmon is our own creation.
It actually took us a while to decide on what she'd look like, but we eventually figured it out.
Also, in regards to DeviWitchmon, she doesn't belong to me, she belongs to megabluex on deviantart, while the art of her was made by RZGmon200. I'm really thankful to have been given permission to use her, because she was just too perfect for the role in this chapter.
Now, in regards to Emerald herself, we really hope her change of heart felt more organic than how canon handled it, because that's actually one of the critiques we had with Volume 8, how rushed her change was, so we hope that this one felt more natural to you all.
Other than that, yeah, Cinder already found a replacement for Emerald in Marie, a character we created just for this situation.
Anyway, now that that's everything, hope you enjoyed, because...
The Adventure Evolves.