"Are you sure that you can't stay?"
Kaya finished pressing her bag into the backseat of the car that she and Chisane had driven to reach Odaiba in the first place. It was a tight fit, but she and Chisane had managed to make it work before, so it was going to work out again. Kaya hit the door shut with her hip once everything was settled before letting out a sigh and turning to face Atsuo. "Yeah... I'm sure," she replied.
Atsuo let out a heavy sigh before shaking his head. "I guess that it makes sense... I mean, Chisane isn't doing all that well right now, and staying here in Odaiba is only going to make things worse for her," he murmured. "If you wind up deciding to come back at any point, all you have to do is reach out. I would be more than happy to open my home to you again. It's the least that I can do given all that we've done for one another over the course of the past fifteen years."
"Thanks, Atsuo," Kaya smiled to herself. Everything about her was tense and stressed. A few days had passed since Chisane collapsed, and the sun was high in the sky that Sunday afternoon. Kaya had only stuck around for as long as she had with hopes that Chisane would start feeling at least a little bit better, but nothing had improved. Chisane's general sickness was only getting worse, and so, Kaya had no choice but to force all of her things into the back of the car. Chisane was in the passenger seat, her head falling sideways in her slumber. Chisane hadn't slept through the night in ages, and when she actually managed to catch some rest the night before, Kaya couldn't bring herself to wake her up. Kaya was just glad that she had learned how to become at least decently strong physically so that she could lift her business partner into the car.
"I know that everything is going to be fine," Atsuo told her, his grin bright as could be. "You know what Chisane's like. She's a fighter, and if anybody is going to get through this, it's going to be her. I guess that she just needs a little bit of time away from Odaiba to recuperate. When you guys are next in town, you should come back to see us. We could all go back to the Digital World to see our partners again."
"I suppose so," Kaya murmured under her breath. "Just promise me that you and the rest of the group will at least try to stay out of trouble while we're gone. I'm not going to be happy if I hear any news of you or the rest of the team getting into danger because of the Dark Ocean. That place has caused everyone more than enough grief to last a lifetime if you ask me."
"I understand that completely," Atsuo assured her with a shake of her head. "I'll do what I can to keep everybody from causing problems. Well... You know, to a degree. You know how I cause trouble around here." He laughed a moment later and then shrugged to himself. "You go on and head back to Tottori. Chisane's going to be fine. I'm sure of it. If you ever happen to need anything, you can call me. I can't guarantee that I'll be able to come by right off the bat, but... I'll do what I can."
Kaya looked down at Chisane's sleeping face through the car window for a long time. Chisane didn't deserve to look so pale and sickly, and just the sight of Chisane so ill made Kaya want to punch something with every ounce of force that she had in her body. Atsuo's words did at least a little something to calm her nerves though, and she let out a small sigh as she glanced up to him a moment later. "Thanks, Atsuo," she told him quietly. She couldn't think of anything else to say, but she figured that she didn't have to talk in the first place. There were some bonds that not even time would be able to destroy completely.
Atsuo was quiet for another few moments, just allowing the heaviness of the moment to sink in, before he let out a sigh. "Well, off you go! Tottori is waiting for you, and I'm not going to be the one who keeps you here," he announced. "Tell me that you're alright when you get there, got it? I don't want to spend the rest of the day worrying about you. After all, that's going to mess with my rockstar complexion, and I don't want to wish that horror upon my fans."
Kaya snorted before she started to laugh to herself. "You're downright ridiculous, you know that?" she asked. Even so, she would have been lying if she said that there was no relief in her heart towards Atsuo and his positive nature. It was nice to have someone who had faith that everything was going to be alright. She had spent the previous few days amidst the arms of panic, and hearing that Atsuo was so determined and confident was a lot more helpful than she expected at first. She could pretend that she didn't enjoy it all that she wanted, but she and Atsuo both knew the truth of the matter.
"It's part of my charm," Atsuo told her with a loose shrug and a laugh of his own. For a few brief moments, his smile was so bright that it almost seemed as if he was a child all over again. He was no longer being held back by the limitations of the world that had appeared over his head since the Digital World and its interwoven issues had arrived in his life. He was ten years old again, the youngest of the Chosen Children but full of more life than the other five of them combined. He didn't know the definition of grief, and only joy mattered to his youthful mind.
Kaya was staring for a long moment, and she was so caught up in watching him that she didn't even notice the way that Atsuo's hands came down on her shoulders to guide her towards the driver's seat of the car. "Off you go, Kaya! I'll see you another time!" he proclaimed.
Kaya chuckled and shook her head as she reached for the door. "Until next time, Atsuo," she murmured. He waved with that radiant grin of his as she stepped into the car and shut the door behind her. Even when she was no longer watching him, Kaya was sure that he was waving as she started off on her journey towards Tottori.
Kaya glanced over at Chisane when she got the chance to, and she found that her companion's face had fallen into contentment after her previous issues with strife. It would be a while before Chisane and Kaya arrived in Tottori-the closest they could be without struggling due to Odaiba's magnetic pull-but Kaya felt as if there was already a small difference in Chisane's demeanor. It wasn't much, but she was going to take it.
One step at a time, Kaya thought to herself as she flicked on the turn signal. She glanced over her shoulder before changing lanes with seamless and endlessly practiced ease. One day at a time, and somehow, we're going to make sure that everything turns out alright.
Days bled out into weeks, and the recovery of Odaiba continued on just as before. Slowly but certainly, the city started to rebuild itself back into what it was once upon a time. The combat of the endless assault on Odaiba had regressed into little more than a distant memory, but it remained present even so. Everyone remembered what had happened, but it was much easier to ignore what had been seen. Soon enough, Odaiba would be back to normal, and it would be safe to move on as if nothing had happened in the first place.
The middle of June had arrived, and Koushiro's quest over the span of the past few weeks had found few leads. The barrier was still falling apart, but the deterioration hadn't hit spike levels ever since the day of the assault on Odaiba. The process had grown slower and more ominously terrifying. Koushiro had been trying with everything that he had to figure out a way to tear open the barrier to the Dark Ocean, but that was much easier said than done.
Ken had been his assistant throughout this. Ken's dark D-3 had found the power to open the barrier to the Dark Ocean previously, but it seemed to have lost such an ability since then. Koushiro suspected that it had to do with the Dark Seed falling dormant inside of Ken's body. Without any negativity fueling the Seed, the D-3 was functioning as it normally would have with or without the powers of shadow. The Dark Ocean was little more than a distant dream at that point, and the lack of progress was starting to get beyond frustrating.
Tentomon was curled up on Koushiro's bed, his head tucked against his robotic arms. He had fallen asleep at some point about an hour and a half ago. When Koushiro let out a hefty sigh and leaned backwards in his chair, the seat creaked beneath him. That was enough to stir Tentomon from his slumber, and the bug Digimon lifted his head and adjusted his vision to the darkness of the nighttime. "Koushiro...?" Tentomon asked, his voice soft as he tried to acclimate himself in full to what was happening.
Koushiro nearly jumped out of his seat from surprise at hearing Tentomon's voice. "You're awake," he remarked. It was obvious, but it still surprised him. It felt like it had been a while since Tentomon fell asleep. At the same time, it seemed as if no time had passed at all. That was the strange paradox that Koushiro had found over the span of the past few weeks; time was both much too long and all too short for him to truly understand what was happening in the world around him. It was dizzying, and he had been in this strange suspension of speed and slow so much lately that he barely even knew what the regular passage of time was supposed to feel like.
"You should be asleep," Tentomon pointed out. He pointed with one metallic arm in the direction of Koushiro's alarm clock where it was sitting on top of his desk. Koushiro followed Tentomon's gesture and gasped when he realized what time it was. 1:05 AM. When had it gotten to be that late? His mother had come in a while ago to wish him goodnight, but that once again felt like it was a few minutes ago and a decade ago at the same time. Why did it feel like nothing quite made sense anymore?
Koushiro nodded and reached for the button that would power down his computer. Tentomon certainly had a point. Koushiro didn't realize how tired he was until after the room lost its light, returning the space to complete shadow. His eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness immediately, and he blinked wildly to try and reconcile his vision with what he knew to be reality around him. He let out a sigh and got out of his seat before pushing the chair against the desk gently and walking over to his bed.
"You have school tomorrow," Tentomon pointed out as he moved towards the edge of the bed to make room for Koushiro. "I hope that you don't fall asleep in class because of how late you've been staying up."
Koushiro opened his mouth to try and say that he wasn't staying up that late, but another glance at his alarm clock was able to prove him otherwise. Maybe he had been pushing himself a bit too hard as of late. It seemed like every waking minute as of late had been dedicated solely to opening up the barrier to the Dark Ocean so that he and the rest of the Chosen Children could pass through the gate and deal with whatever was causing so many issues for them. There were so many questions up in the air, and everything felt all too close and too far away at the same time. Every single night had ended with a dead end, and he despised it.
In a way, Koushiro almost felt helpless. He had always been the type to struggle with emotional connection, and even as he grew better at reaching out to others, he knew that there was still something dreadfully incompetent in comparison to what he knew others would capable of. That was how he felt, anyways. He could see that everything was changing for the worst around him, but there was little he could do to change it, and he hated that more than he could ever hope to describe.
The rest of the group was struggling. He could see that much plain as day. Koushiro was able to see the way that some of them had closed themselves off from the world during their group meetings. It seemed like every new weekly gathering pointed more evidence in the direction of something being dreadfully wrong in all of their minds. They knew how awful this situation was, and there was nothing that they could do to escape it no matter how hard they tried.
Koushiro struggled to help others from an emotional perspective, so he chose to show how he cared by helping through his own methods of work. However, he hadn't even been able to figure out how to open the gate to the Dark Ocean, so he clearly wasn't standing up to his expectations on that front. This was what he had to do. He and Hiraku had been working overtime to try and figure it out, but neither one of them had been able to find anything that would point them in the right direction. It was obnoxious at best and agitating at worst. Why couldn't something work out well for them? It felt like the Chosen Children were being dragged along behind on a string as the Digital World and every other realm went on a dizzying cycle of something sickening.
"We're going to figure things out," Tentomon told him. He seemed to have noticed that Koushiro was growing frustrated with his lack of answers, and as per Digimon partner position, he did what he could to help.
Koushiro nodded to himself. He was glad to hear that much even though his doubts remained persistent despite his attempts at escape. "Thank you, Tentomon," he murmured. At least some things never changed. When the future looked grim, he could at least take some solace in the fact that his present bond with Tentomon was as strong as ever.
One day at a time.
Maki shot up in her bed, letting out a strangled gasp as she tried to banish the lingering sensation of water in her throat. She coughed even though she knew that nothing was there. Her hands came back clean of liquid as she knew that they would, but that did little to reassure her. It seemed like nothing would be able to fully help her these days.
She had thought that she was over this. Maki had been so damn sure that she was finally able to consider her consistent nightmares about the Digital World as part of the past. Instead, the mere mention of the Dark Ocean returning had been enough to send her slipping back into bad habits that she yearned to drown beneath shifting waves as soon as she was able.
Maki's hand came up to press at her temple as she looked in the direction of the clock. 3:30 AM. That was a better record than she had been seeing over the past few nights. The past month had been a damn mess for her, if she was being honest. There was nothing that would keep her free of the nighttime terrors. Normally, when she was having an awful streak of sleepless nights, Maki would be able to stay the night at Daigo's apartment under the pretenses of work and business, and that usually helped her at least a little bit. Present times proved themselves to be much more difficult though, and Maki hated how much she was struggling. There wasn't a thing that she could do about it as far as she could tell, and that was easily the worst part. Everything about the situation was just frustrating, and it felt like she couldn't get away from the past no matter how fast she tried to run.
Maki settled back into her blankets as soon as she had checked the time. She wished with everything she had that sleeping medicine didn't give her awful dreams. If not for that, she would be able to stay asleep for longer than six hours at a time. However, she knew that taking any sort of medication was only going to make her dreams worse, and that was hardly something she could afford given that her dreams being awful was the problem in the first place.
She let out a hefty sigh, her gaze drifting up to the ceiling. The dreams were all rather similar, but that didn't make them any less distressing. In fact, they were all absolutely dreadful, and that was the nice way of putting it. Every night presented her with the same grotesque imagery that she had faced fifteen years prior, and she detested it.
Maki could still feel the waves lapping against her lower legs as she stood at the center of the world of shadow. Her grief had been too much for her, and as she nursed the hollow remnants of a Digimon she loved so dearly, the ocean attempted to claim her. The monster from the mists had claimed that it wanted her light. At the time, she hadn't know what it meant. Years later, she knew that the beast did not seek her light but rather her Light, referring directly to her Crest and the power that it possessed. She didn't know the details beyond that, but it wasn't as if she wanted to hear anyways.
Bakumon had been the one to save her. He had created a glow powerful enough to fend off the darkness, and from there, a hole opened for Maki and the rest of the group to retreat through. After that, the Dark Ocean was relegated to little more than a terrifying nightmare. Nobody wanted to talk about it if such a thing could be avoided, and Maki was more than happy to leave it all in the past. She wanted to clamp her hands over her ears each time that somebody even dared to mention the sea in her presence. Of course, such bouts of immaturity would do little to help her in present times, but the urge remained powerful and burning regardless.
Maki forced her eyes shut, and her palms came up to rest on her eyelids. She didn't realize that she was pressing down so hard until after stars blossomed in the back of her vision, at which point she forced her hands backwards. They came to rest on the bed on either side of her, and Maki heaved another loud sigh that seemed to echo in the darkness. Even so, the noise wasn't enough to keep her ears from convincing her that the ocean was whispering from some unseen corner, that the monster of the ocean was going to come after her Light again if she wasn't careful enough.
Maki gave another glance to the clock. 3:33 AM. In other words, she still had two and a half hours left before she was able to get ready for work. She looked forward to going down to the damaged data bureau just because it would mean that she wasn't actively thinking about the Dark Ocean. All distractions were good distractions in Maki's opinion.
This is going to be a long night, Maki thought bitterly to herself. With that, she started counting the seconds until the obnoxious enigma known as nighttime finally came to a close and brought her mercy and salvation.
Even when it seemed as if the world was going to fall apart because of the Digimon attacks, the power of school persevered, it seemed. Taichi and the rest of the group had grown used to going to class as if nothing had happened to damage their routine in the first place. The fearful whispers among the other students had started to die down. At first, everyone had feared what would happen if an attack took place while they were at school rather than at home. Times of peace had lulled everyone into feeling secure, and Taichi personally was glad that he didn't have to hear everyone droning on about such a subject when he had more than enough to worry about as it was.
Taichi's primary concern was the reverse of the safety that everyone else was feeling as a result of the lack of activity. After all, he knew that the longer that nothing happened, the more time that their enemies would have to prepare for their next attack. Everything was getting closer to the terrifying peak that Yamato had described while they were in the Digital World following the large invasion of the city. There was only so much time that they were going to have before everything would come crumbling down.
Taichi had come to take his darkest of frustrations out on his soccer ball during practices outside of class. It was nice to be able to release all of his anguish through one swift motion that sent the sphere rocketing through the sky before hitting the net. He had always enjoyed the sport, but there was even more beauty to it than ever before as of late as far as Taichi was concerned. Keeping his soccer bag slung over one shoulder became a natural routine for him, and he was almost comforted by the presence of the ball even when he wasn't free to play in full.
Taichi didn't even abandon his soccer bag as he sat down at the lunch table. He, Yamato, Sora, Mimi, and Meiko sat together whenever they had the chance to do so. Yamato was busy with his band some days while other lunch sessions had Sora being dragged off to speak with her tennis teammates, but when the chance was there, they were together. Taichi certainly took comfort in being with them, and he was sure that the others felt the same way.
None of them spoke at first, instead simply choosing to focus on eating. Taichi snuck a glance in Meiko's direction, a small frown on his face. They would have all been lying if they said that they hadn't noticed the shift in her personality as of late. She had been doing what she could to make it seem as if everything was fine, but unfortunately for Meiko, she was a poor actress, and nothing could fully change the fact that they had already caught onto the fact that she was struggling.
Taichi had overheard Mimi mentioning it in passing to Sora a while ago. Apparently, Mimi had been trying to visit Meiko a few times over the past few weeks, but she hadn't been able to push hard enough to actually get Meiko to crack. Meicoomon seemed to be the only one who Meiko was confiding in anymore, and that was by default an awful sign. Meiko was isolating herself from the rest of the group, and if she kept it up, then she was going to wind up hurting herself. There was only so much that she could do to keep up the ruse.
A shadow appeared behind Taichi, and he perked up before turning around to see that none other than Daigo was standing behind him, a loose but fragile smile across his lip. "Can I sit here?" Daigo asked, gesturing to the last of the six chairs at the table. Taichi and the rest of the group nodded along easily, and Daigo gave them a curt nod of his own before sitting down, brushing some of his black hair away from his face.
"Do you have any news for us?" Sora questioned carefully with a gentle smile on her face. Everything about her was somewhat tense, but it wasn't as if Taichi could fault her for such a thing. After all, the entire group had been tense and stressed as of late. Koushiro had offered updates during every meeting between the group's members to say that he had not yet figured out how to get into the Dark Ocean. It was the same as every other status update or progress report, but it left all of them antsy and on edge. Yamato's words rung in all of their ears: they only had so long before their enemies started their next assault.
Daigo shrugged. "Well, I can say that Chisane and Kaya are doing better now that they're out of the city," he replied simply. Taichi nodded quietly. He had heard a while ago that Kaya had taken Chisane out of the city after the latter fell sick. Chisane's issues put even Hikari's past frail constitution to shame, and Taichi wondered if that was just the fate of those who were heavily connected with Homeostasis. He hoped that wasn't the case, but at the very least, he was relieved to hear that the change that had taken place was for the better.
"That's good," Mimi murmured with a light hum as she focused on taking another bite of her salad. She was quiet for a beat before she continued, and Taichi wondered if she had been musing on if she was meant to ask her next question or not. "How is the search going for a path to the Dark Ocean?"
There it was. That was the same inquiry that all of them had been thinking of in the past few weeks. Of course, the answer was always the same regardless of if it was coming from Koushiro, Ken, or Hiraku: nothing yet. The Dark Ocean remained important but just out of reach no matter what they tried. It was bound to arrive in their grasp sooner or later whether they wanted that to happen or not.
Sure enough, Daigo's response was the same as it always had been. "No major progress yet," he replied. "Hiraku has been doing as much searching as he can while not attracting attention to himself. We're still focusing on covering for the fact that we're at all affiliated with you and the rest of the Digital World. After all, that would hardly be the ideal thing for others to find out about us." He punctuated the thought with a gentle chuckle, and Taichi couldn't help but think about how unfitting it was that Daigo was smiling and laughing about something that was so clearly dreadful.
"I'm sure that we'll be able to get there soon enough," Sora said, though it was clear as could be that she was trying to convince herself just as much as everyone else. She chuckled to herself before focusing on eating once again, allowing silence to come in around the rest of the group again.
Yamato's face was overcome with concern when he glanced over in Daigo's direction. "So... The reason behind Chisane's recent weakness regarding the gate is because of her Crest of Hope, right?" he questioned. His words were uncertain and soft.
Taichi understood his intentions for asking immediately. If Chisane was struggling as a result of having the Crest of Hope, then it was possible that such an impact would also come to hurt Takeru as well. Yamato had toned back slightly over the years on being an overly protective older brother figure, but he was still incredibly defensive when it came to matters that could potentially hurt Takeru. Old habits died hard, it seemed. Not much had been explained to him regarding Chisane's sickness, so it was only natural that he would want to bring it up. After all, this was the perfect chance for him to ask about it.
Daigo paused for a moment to consider his words before he continued. "That's what we think is the case, but it's hard to say for sure. Chisane was like this even before we went to the Digital World for the first time, so I guess that it was just a matter of that specific quality being exacerbated as a result of her Crest. After all, I'm sure that you have all heard a tale or two in the past about how the Crests of Hope and Light are important to the Digital World," he explained. "They fuel each other and offer driving power to the world as a whole, so they're pretty vital in order to keep everything running smoothly among the different universes out there."
When he noticed that Yamato was still worried, Daigo continued. "Back when we first went to the Digital World, the Crests weren't exactly fully manifested. Having humans in the Digital World at all was a pretty new thing in those days, so the Digital World did what it could to adapt. That was how the original versions of the Crests came into existence, and from there, everything was drawn out and given a concrete set of abilities thanks to Homeostasis and the Agents of Order," he went on. "I guess that you could say the power of our Crests is a bit... Unpredictable by comparison. We had nothing physical to use as conduits back then. It was just raw power that sort of unleashed itself in any way that it saw fit."
"Back when we were first in the Digital World, we had our Crests connected to the Tags so that they could be used and controlled," Yamato commented. "After the physical Tags were destroyed, the Crests wound up manifesting themselves in different ways. These days, our Digivices themselves can use the full power of the Crests without needing any other physical items. I suppose that what you're referring to would be something that could happen if there was never anything to stabilize the Crests in the first place to keep them from losing their initial sense of control and restraint."
"Something like that," Daigo agreed with a small nod. "It connected Chisane to the Digital World in a way that could be considered unhealthy. It's also probably linked both her and Maki to Homeostasis to some degree given that they have the Crests of Hope and Light respectively. I remember there being a huge explosion of light and energy as a result of a Crest's power back in the day too. In other words, the short version is that I doubt that something like this would impact others who just so happened to have the Crests of Hope or Light. The matter of instability is most significant with our Crests, and while they've leveled out to calm down over the years, the initial issue that was there to begin with still has at least some sway over current events. I hope that makes sense."
Yamato's eyes went wide as soon as Daigo made the comment about how it was unlikely these symptoms would spread to other wielders of the Crest of Hope. He had seemingly thought that he was being subtle about his intentions, but just like with Meiko, there was only so much that he could hide before he was ultimately found out for what he was trying to do. Taichi snickered to himself, but it was hardly in a way that could be considered degrading. Instead, it was something almost relatable; both he and Yamato had that protective older brother instinct whether they chose to admit it or not.
Taichi would have been lying if he said that he wasn't struggling as a result of his older brother instincts as of late too. All of the talk about the Dark Ocean had stirred the deep fear of three years past inside of him, something that he had been sure he was well past. Hikari had seemed confident that she would never be dragged involuntarily to the Dark Ocean because she was going to stop bottling her emotions and keeping them inside. However, it was no longer a matter of her being taken according to or against her will. This was what the Chosen Children had to do, and there was little choice that they had in the matter. The Dark Ocean was waiting for them one way or another, and they had to face it regardless of what they were hoping for internally.
If Taichi was being honest, he would have preferred to never hear or breathe another word of that damned place ever again. It was terrifying at best, and while he knew that Hikari could handle herself, that protective instinct deep down was impossible for him to outrun once he started thinking about the Dark Ocean. There were a thousand things that could go wrong at minimum, and if they spent too much time in the other world, bad things were bound to start happening. Their knowledge of the Dark Ocean remained rather limited even so many years later because nobody wanted to stick around long enough to find out what other shadowy secrets were lurking in the corners that they yearned to ignore.
Taichi didn't even realize that he had been staring off into space until after Daigo's voice reached his ears. The man had pulled out a powdery doughnut from a small paper bag, something that had come to be tradition with him. His sweet tooth was unparalleled, and it seemed as if he always had something sweet hidden within the confines of his classroom. "The Crest of Hope honestly seems like a safety system to the Crest of Light if you ask me," he continued to say.
Taichi was about to ask what Daigo meant when the older man swallowed back his bite of the doughnut and continued to speak. There was a thin line of powdered sugar above the top of his lip. "I mean, the Crest of Light was the original Crest out of your generation, and the Crest of Hope followed suit immediately followed. They're important to keep the Digital World safe as a whole. The Crest of Light has always been a bit more prone to corruption than the rest of the Crests though... That's what seemed to be the case with my team at the very least. As such, the Crest of Hope steps up to act as a safety system in case something goes wrong and backup is required," Daigo went on to say.
"That... Actually makes sense," Taichi muttered to himself. He had heard the story of the Dark Ocean after the fact from Hikari and Takeru during those rare bouts of vulnerability where they were willing to recount what had been one of the strangest yet most terrifying days of their lives. Hikari had called out for Takeru's help, and he had been able to come through the gate and find her when no other person could. If the Crest of Hope was intended as a natural safety system to the Crest of Light, then that would explain why nobody else had been able to figure out how to reach Hikari while she was in the Dark Ocean for the first time.
"If you want details about this, I would suggest asking Hiraku about it," Daigo said. "He and Maki have always been the ones who have known more about this than I have. Hiraku is amazing when it comes to conducting research because of how curious he is about the world, and Maki... Well, she just sort of has her ways when it comes to gathering information. Everything comes together sooner or later for her thanks to her sheer force of will."
"I think that you've explained it perfectly well," Sora assured him with a small nod. "And what you've said certainly does make sense. I guess that it's just another little intricacy of the Digital World that we've discovered thanks to you and the other original Chosen Children."
Daigo shrugged as he got to his feet. "Don't mention it," he told them. "Well, I've got to be off since class is starting soon. If anything happens where Hiraku figures out what's going on, I'll be sure to pass on the message. Try to stay out of trouble until then." He offered a lazy wave with the hand that wasn't holding his doughnut, and as he retreated, he took another bite out of the delicacy before rounding the corner.
Taichi glanced up to the clock and realized that, sure enough, Daigo was right. It seemed that they had gotten distracted talking for longer than he thought. He turned his attention down to his lunch and started to eat. The rest of the table's occupants did much the same thing, and silence came down over them.
Taichi found himself looking up in the direction of Meiko and Mimi though. They had both been startlingly quiet during the recent conversation. Meiko hadn't said a word since they sat down at the table at all. It was clear that there was something wrong, but Meiko wasn't doing anything to try and reach out to the rest of the team. Taichi did his best to hold back a dismayed sigh before he returned his attention to his food.
How are we supposed to help you if you won't let us in?
The path back to his apartment was a familiar one to Daisuke. School had ended for the day, and he was on his way back home alongside Takeru, Hikari, and Ken. It was a nice, peaceful time for Daisuke, allowing him and the rest of the group to decompress after school to talk to one another about how the day had gone. It seemed even more crucial than ever given what had happened over the course of the past month involving the Digimon attack.
Each day also offered the chance for Daisuke to add one more tally to his favorite little chart. It was positioned off to the side of the calendar that he had only started recently hanging in his room. In the margins of the calendar's schematic of the month, Daisuke added one little mark to show that another day had passed where there were no Digimon attacks. He did it at the end of every day's walk home from school after he had bid goodbye to his companions and watched them walk off in their separate directions.
"It's been a while since we've had any Digimon attacks around here, huh?" Takeru asked nonchalantly, showing that he had been on the same train of thought as Daisuke. When he earned a nod in return from the bearer of Loyalty, Takeru laughed to himself. "It seems like everything is almost back to normal when you look at it that way."
"But we all know that's not the case," Ken muttered to himself, his eyes locked with the concrete below. He was at the back of the group, and everything about him just seemed to be off, notably different from the image of Ken that Daisuke had come to understand.
Ken was normally on the quiet side, yes, but he was rarely ever this secluded when it came to his interactions with others. He was fine with entertaining himself and remaining quiet in most busier conversations, but something about this situation felt different. The skin beneath his eyes was dark, a sign that he hadn't been sleeping well, and everything about his posture showed that he was barely keeping himself together. It seemed that all of his energy for the day had already been burned away and released into the wind by the time that school hours drew to a close, leaving him as a hollow and struggling shell of his regular self.
"Ken, are you feeling alright?" Daisuke asked. He stopped walking to turn around and face Ken directly, and the rest of the group followed suit. Hikari and Takeru stood on Daisuke's left, their eyes locked solely on Ken in a show of pure concern.
It took a moment for Ken to look up at them, and when he did, Daisuke noticed just how exhausted the other boy truly was. It appeared as if Ken had spent the past few days at least riding the edge of a knife. The only word that Daisuke could think of to describe him in this state was 'paranoid', something that he had not known Ken to be in a very long time. "I... I'm fine," Ken said even though he knew just as well as anyone that nobody was going to be buying it.
"Ken..." Daisuke started, his eyes going into something wary and almost reprimanding. Daisuke was hardly the sort to behave in this subtle way around anyone, close friend or otherwise, but he didn't want to do anything that could frighten his companion. After all, if there was anyone who was intimately aware of how sensitive Ken was, it was Daisuke. He didn't mind being aware of his friend's silent fragility at all, but he also didn't want to push too hard and upset Ken as a result.
"I... I haven't been sleeping well lately. That's all," Ken explained, though it was clear as could be that the issue did not expire there. If that was all that it was, then he wouldn't have seemed so pale and ghastly. In a way, he almost looked more ghost than human. Ken was pale enough as it was when he was healthy and feeling upbeat, and this only made his apparent problems with health even more than usual.
"Have you been having nightmares?" Hikari questioned, her voice cautious as she took a small step towards Ken. When the other boy didn't respond, she continued regardless. "It's because of the Dark Ocean coming back, isn't it?"
"We're going to make sure that everything is fine. I promise," Takeru assured him, ever the peak of the Chosen Children and their optimism. "No matter what happens, we're going to find a way to pull through this together. The Dark Ocean might not be the best world out there, but we're going to defeat the monsters waiting for us on the other side and come back safe and sound. You can count on it."
Ken's tense posture immediately relaxed, and he smiled gently in Takeru's direction. "Thank you," Ken said softly. There was something in his eyes that read a lot like overwhelming relief, and it seemed as if Ken finally felt safe with expressing weakness despite his recent struggles.
"How long have you been having trouble with this?" Daisuke questioned as the group started walking again. He and the rest of the group fell back into pace with Ken to make sure that their companion didn't slip behind as a result of his recent struggles.
Ken hesitated for a long moment, and it was clear as could be that he was dreading having to answer such a question. "About two weeks now," he finally admitted. "I don't know what it is that's causing me to have so many nightmares. I've known for a while now that we had to go back to the Dark Ocean, but... This just started up out of nowhere."
"Maybe we could arrange a time for us all to hang out away from school soon," Daisuke suggested. "We could bring Miyako and Iori in on it too. I get the feeling that you could use a break from your normal routine to lighten up and have some fun. Times are rough right now, but we're going to figure things out. We've survived in the past, and we're going to find a way to press through again."
Ken looked over at Daisuke for a long moment before he smiled gently. "Thank you, Daisuke," he said softly, his words barely audible above the gentle whisper of wind that was passing through the city streets.
"You're welcome," Daisuke replied seamlessly with his trademark grin. His reward for the kind words was a light laugh from Ken's direction, and he received a smile from Takeru and Hikari as well. Daisuke considered that a victory and shifted his attention forwards.
After that, none of them said much of anything before they went their separate ways. Still, Daisuke knew that everything was going to be fine. Even in the face of endless struggles, the group was going to find a way to power through. That was what they did as Chosen Children, and he would never stop taking pride in that.
Taichi had not yet arrived home when Hikari walked into the Yagami apartment. Agumon was asleep on the couch after having indulged in a larger lunch than usual out of the kitchen cabinets. Tailmon, on the other hand, was perched simply and perfectly on the kitchen counter. As soon as she heard the small tap of the door shutting behind Hikari, she jumped to the ground and began to move in the direction of her partner. As soon as she had arrived at Hikari's side, Tailmon wove her body in between Hikari's legs, purring softly and soothingly.
"I see that someone's happy to see me," Hikari smiled as she reached down and scooped Tailmon up into her arms. She stroked the top of her partner's head gently, relishing in the subsequent purrs that followed. She walked over to the couch, ready to sit down, only to notice that Agumon was still asleep. Choosing to not bother him, Hikari instead turned in the direction of her room, nudging the door open with her shoulder before settling down on her bed and letting Tailmon rest on her lap.
"It's boring around here without you," Tailmon said simply in response, her tail flicking gently behind her. "Agumon fell asleep about an hour ago. There's hardly anything to do when he isn't awake to talk to me." She curled up closer to Hikari's body once again, a breathless sigh leaving her lips.
"I'm glad that I can do something to help you ease your boredom then," Hikari chuckled to herself. She closed her eyes and leaned her head backwards so that it was resting gently against the wall. "This is nice, you know. It seems like we don't have much time to relax anymore with all that's been happening lately."
"Part of me keeps expecting to hear about an attack elsewhere in town that I'll have to rush off and take care of," Tailmon confessed, her eyes falling shut. "I suppose that the attacks have us all in a tense mindset more often than not."
"We have to be ready in case something bad happens," Hikari agreed softly. She knew without needing to ask that Tailmon was specifically referring to the incident at the middle school that required so many of the partners to be on their guard to deal with the impending attack. Quite some time had passed since then, but the lingering aftermath remained prevalent in all of their minds for better or worse.
"At least there haven't been any large invasions since the one that took place a month ago," Tailmon murmured with a light shake of her head as she tried to get more comfortable. "It seems as if the Emissaries of Chaos truly do need some time to prepare for the next major attack of theirs. I don't know when they'll be launching their next assault, but I suppose that's exactly why we have to get into the Dark Ocean as soon as possible."
"Yeah," Hikari muttered to herself. She preferred to not think about the Dark Ocean when she got the chance. The less that she had to acknowledge the other world, the better. The anticipation was starting to make her feel sick. Every single time that she remembered what was bound to come next, Hikari felt as if the world was going to crumble with her at the center of it. She knew that there was no other option if the different realms were going to be saved, but her dread was growing to be her worst enemy.
In a way, the anticipation was even worse than the knowledge that the fight was bound to come soon. She knew that it was coming, but there was nothing that she could do to make it happen any sooner. All she could do was wait until the time was right. It was as if she was working herself up like on a rollercoaster; she knew that the large drop was coming, and despite her burning urge to get it over with and enjoy the rest of the ride, there was no way to distort the hands of time to make such a thing possible.
Tailmon nuzzled her body even closer against Hikari's lower torso, her silent way of providing comfort in the face of disturbing situations. Tailmon was fully aware of the fact that Hikari's sleeping problems had returned. Granted, her problems with staying asleep were nowhere near as severe as they had been when the Dark Ocean first reached out its hands for her, but the problems were still significant enough that Hikari found herself waking up at least two times a night. Most of the time, she was granted with the blissful mercy of not remembering her dream after the fact. Those were the best times, Hikari had to admit. Remembering the Dark Ocean when she woke up usually left the taste of salty water on the tip of her tongue, and she almost could have sworn that her throat felt as if it was going to close up a few times. The traces of the sea remained as present and obnoxious as they had been three years prior, it seemed.
"Ken has been having trouble sleeping too," Hikari murmured. She was glad that her sleeping problems weren't as bad as they had been in the past, usually just reducing her hours of sleep down to six at the worst. Ken, on the other hand, barely seemed to be able to keep himself held together with how tired he was. Hikari was already looking forward to the upcoming get-together with the rest of her team since she needed the break just as much as everyone else, but at the same time, she doubted that it would be able to fix Ken's problems with staying down at night. Nothing was going to resolve the problem aside from going to the Dark Ocean and defeating the one responsible for the distortions from there.
"I'm not surprised," Tailmon admitted, opening her eyes and perking her head up so that she was looking at Hikari. "I hope that he's ready and feeling up to it when we have to go into the Dark Ocean. I doubt that this is going to be easy for him. We've seen what the Dark Ocean is capable of doing to him if he isn't ready."
Hikari nodded. She was fully aware of the way that the Dark Ocean hurt Ken in ways that almost seemed unbelievable to outside eyes. The sea simply needed to exist in the same environment as Ken in order for him to start clawing at his temples to try and banish the sensations of darkness that were brought towards him as a result. It upset Hikari to see because she knew that he didn't deserve this. Nobody deserved such horrors, but seeing Ken, so kind, sensitive, and patient, overwhelmed by the power of his own shadows was terrifying to her. Perhaps some voice in the back of her head was so concerned because she knew that in another world, it could have been her struggling in that very same way.
Tailmon seemed to notice that Hikari was lost in her thoughts, and she jumped off her partner's lap and onto the bed. "You look tired," she said simply. The unspoken conclusion to the statement was that Hikari should try and take a nap to make up for the sleep that she was no longer getting in the hours of the night. Tailmon curled up in her regular space below Hikari's pillow to indicate that she was going to find a way to make Hikari rest one way or another.
Luckily for Tailmon, Hikari had little desire to protest. Instead, Hikari just pulled her book bag off her shoulders and set it down at the foot of her bed. She was still wearing her green uniform that she used each day at school. The only thing that she bothered to undo about her appearance involved pulling her barrettes free of her hair to ensure that she didn't accidentally hurt herself during her nap. Afterwards, she pressed her cheek to the pillow, not even bothering to settle down beneath the covers. Less than two minutes later, she was asleep. Blissfully, she did not dream of the ocean this time as she slumbered.
Everything was dark, and Ken was alone.
He knew that he couldn't be there. It wasn't possible for him to be in the Dark Ocean. The gate hadn't yet been opened, and even if the gate did open in the future, he wouldn't be alone then as he was in this moment. The seas crashed onto the shore, loud and tumultuous in their desperation to reach out and take him under their firm grasp. He watched the water shift, wishing that the salty taste of the sea would leave his tongue behind. He hadn't even submerged himself beneath the waves, and yet, the taste remained. In a way, it felt like a dark premonition of what could have been if he was left in such a dismal situation, and he detested it.
Ken took a hesitant step forward, and the sand shifted beneath his toes. He wasn't wearing any shoes. In fact, he was dressed entirely in his nightclothes, and the thin fabric was hardly fitting for dealing with the bitter cold of the Dark Ocean. He knew that it wasn't real, but that wasn't enough to make the vision fade away and retreat into the recesses of his mind.
Something hissed behind him, and Ken whirled around as quickly as he could manage. However, much like every other time, he did not see anything that would indicate that he was accompanied by a mysterious figure. As usual, he was just a breath of a moment too late, leaving Ken to wonder if perhaps he was imagining this.
He had been hearing things for the past few weeks. As soon as his sleeping issues started, the world around him seemed to change in its own way, almost as if there was something whispering for him to come closer. In a way, the voice that was hissing for his attention felt familiar, like he had heard it once before. It was numbed by the misshapen eraser of his memory, but he knew that he had heard the voice in the past. He just wished that he knew where it had come from.
Ken opened his mouth to speak, and much to his surprise, he found that he could actually say something. Previously, he had been unable to stomach the power to release the syllables, leaving him feeling trapped inside of his own body. He was going to take advantage of the blessing that he had been given.
"Hello?" Ken questioned, his voice resounding and disappearing along the darkened skies. He received no response, though he wasn't sure what he was expecting. Of course the new arrival wasn't going to answer him. After all, that would involve giving away the truth of their location, and that was as good as forbidden given the circumstances.
"Ken..."
Something whispered Ken's name from behind him, and he turned around to see a familiar outline of a young boy that he had once known many years prior. Ken's eyes went wide, and he felt trapped in place as if nothing would be able to save him from his terror. Every part of his body was screaming in ways both positive and negative, leaving his mind as a dulled rush of something terrifying that he had no way of understanding.
Osamu Ichijouji was little more than a darkened silhouette, his outline filled with shadows that stirred with every movement he made, like slime being distorted by a toothpick. He took heavy, lumbering steps towards Ken, and a large weapon materialized between his fingers. Ken was unable to move, his eyes just wide in surprise as he tried to process the fact that he was seeing his brother in the first place. This was new even among his nighttime visions, and the fact that Osamu was inclined to violence was only more disturbing.
Osamu lifted his arms over his head, and the weapon revealed itself to be a scythe. He swung downwards, and Ken's vision went black.
Ken had to use all of his energy to keep from screaming in pure terror as soon as he came back to the land of consciousness. His fingers were clenched tightly around his blanket, and Wormmon sat nearby. As soon as Ken was rattled from his slumber, the small green Digimon startled awake and glanced up to his partner. "Ken? Are you alright?" Wormmon asked, his voice edged with anxiety and agitation.
For a minute, Ken feared that he was unable to move. It took too much strength to nod carefully, but deep down, he didn't think that he was alright at all. The voice that he had come to hear so often did not belong to Osamu, and yet, the vision that appeared in his nightmares looked so much like his brother that it was terrifying. He felt like he was going to be sick.
Ken pressed his face back down against the pillow, and he immediately felt better once he was no longer upright. He feared that he was going to throw up if he pushed himself too far, so he decided to stay in bed for as long as possible. His chest was tight, and he didn't think that he would be able to explain his nightmare even if he wanted to. There were some things that were just out of the realm of possibility, and he didn't want to cross the line and accidentally hurt himself along the way.
Wormmon seemed to understand that Ken needed time and space, so he moved in closer against his partner's body. Ken was distantly aware of the clock that told him the time was roughly four in the morning. He wasn't sure when he had fallen asleep, but it didn't matter. He needed to focus on the fact that Wormmon was there. He wasn't in the Dark Ocean, and he wasn't alone. Everything was going to be fine. He just had to remind himself of the reality that he was living in before he started to drown once again.
Ken barely even noticed as tears started to stream emotionlessly down his face. He felt like the world was ending around him, and he was left to struggle and scream for help beneath the pieces that tried to crush him every other second. He just wanted it all to stop. He wanted that damn ocean to evaporate, and he wanted light to shine on the shadows that had presented to him the reminder of his brother.
In the back of his mind, that familiar whisper returned, and all he could do was sob softly into the darkness of the night.
And so we start act three! Woohoo!
This act has been given the name of "In Darkest Waters" by yours truly throughout the development process, and the reason should be pretty obvious. This arc revolves around the Dark Ocean and everything that is involved with it. I hope that you're all ready for angst, because this is where the sad stuff really starts to come out and attack everybody in spades. This chapter was just the tip of the iceberg.
The time jump in this chapter to roughly a month later is important. It was mentioned throughout the chapter that it's June now rather than May, and that's key for the sake of this arc's plot. I promise you that there's something this is building up to. I'm going to make you guess what that is until the time is right though, so good luck with that.
This chapter was overall just sort of about covering little character moments, and I'm happy with how it turned out. I love writing the character moments since they really do help to drive the rest of the story forwards. I love character development a lot, and since that's part of the Digimon tradition, you can imagine what's going to be coming next... You know, that and a lot of tears.
I'm going to cut things off here before I accidentally hint at something that gives away the plot of this arc. I will say that there was some foreshadowing that will lead you to what's next, but I'm not going to say anything beyond that. Next week, we'll get deeper into act three in preparation for the battle in the Dark Ocean. Until then, I hope you all enjoyed! Feedback is always appreciated. Have a nice day, everyone!
-Digital