Daichi: And now, time for Ib to face the consequences of her actions.

Verity: We don't own anything.

21222221212111221

"You know, I vaguely recall you telling us not to climb the mountain." Ib supposed she shouldn't have been surprised that Sora was waiting for them at the bottom- she seemed the responsible enough type. "And what did the two of you do?"

"We climbed the mountain…"

"Was there at least something cool up there?" Tai asked.

"Well, we've confirmed we're on an island… we also haven't ruled out the possibility of there being a portal back, so… I guess we're making a return trip?"

"After breakfast, though," Joe hastily added. "Gomamon Digivolved earlier, needs something to eat before going up again."

Sora did not seem impressed. "You mean you want to go back somewhere that needed Gomamon to Digivolve?"

"Okay, when you put it like that it sounds really bad…" Joe admitted. Ib sighed.

"I'd really rather not go back up there, but even if it's not the portal, I think that's where the Black Gears come from. So if we don't want to deal with them anymore… get rid of them at the source." She thought that was how it went, anyway.

"Does that work?" Tai asked.

"I don't have much reason to believe it doesn't. But, well, breakfast first. And the way we started climbing isn't open anymore due to a little issue… but we'll figure it out, I'm sure of it."

She was lying, of course. She had no clue if things would be okay or not. But it sounded good coming out of her mouth, and the others were taking it as reassurance, and that was all that mattered, in the end.

Something… they'd figure something out. Hopefully, before whatever dangers lurked in this world managed to kill any of them.

Ib wasn't keeping her hopes up.

2121212121212121

The second climb of the mountain, objectively, went much smoother than the first. Sure, a couple of Champion Digimon in the form of Leomon and Ogremon attacked, but they were blown off the cliff before anything bad happened.

Ib was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Things were never this simple, could never be this simple, it was almost as though they were being watched.

"Lalamon, tell me if you see anything strange," She instructed her partner. "Digimon that don't belong, Black Gears… anything."

"Got it!" The little flying plant agreed. "But… wouldn't it be better to send Tentomon or Biyomon?"

"They don't have the strength to Digivolve," She reminded her, "After what happened earlier. And even if they did, I don't have any say of what they do. They're not mine. They're not you." She'd lend out some amount of trust to all the partners, of course, but the only one she would ever entrust with her life would be her own.

"I guess so…" Lalamon seemed to be hesitant about the whole thing, but Ib didn't think that would be a problem. "Do you really trust me that much?"

"I don't see how I have any other choice." It was strange, how quickly she'd grown to rely on the odd little creature, but there was no way she was telling her that. Just in case her trust had, in fact, been misplaced.

She didn't think it was. But it was always better just to be safe.

"Right! I won't let you down!" Of course she wouldn't. Not when Ib didn't let her expectations get that high to begin with. Not that she'd say much- there were few faster ways to kill somebody's motivation.

Instead, she'd just hope for the best she could, which was maybe not as much as the others were hoping for, but she preferred to call it being realistic. She didn't believe there would be a truly happy ending.

But if the ones closest to her stayed alive through all of this… she'd call it good enough.

122121211212121212

Something wasn't right. Ib wouldn't be able to describe it to anyone else, even if they'd asked, not when they'd only just come upon it, but this place…

It was too perfect. Lawn cut to a precise length, a door without a lock, no sign of dust or abandonment at all. No signs of life, either.

To her, the painting was the last nail in the coffin. Even if the others didn't have the same reaction she did.

"It's really pretty," Patamon stated. "You call it an angel, right? What do angels do?"

"They protect people," Sora replied. "Kind of like you guys. They say everyone has a guardian angel watching over them… maybe you Digimon are ours."

"An angel, huh…?" The little orange creature seemed to come to a decision, and he nodded. "Okay, then! I'll be the best guardian angel in the whole world!"

Ib thought he might actually be able to do it, if he put his heart behind it. Patamon seemed so devoted to T.K., it was hard to imagine the two of them without each other. And with how strong Digimon could get, well…

At the very least, they weren't so fragile for their lives to depend on a single flower.

"Ib?" Izzy turned to her. "Are you okay?"

"I will be." Once they were out of this mansion, which was far too good for her to be true, and the painting that, well… This was the first time that she'd been close to one since the incident.

"This place must bring back bad memories for you," Joe stated. He always had been too observant for his own good.

"...Yeah. Just a little." And even without the painting, oils seeming to be mocking her from their frame for being so weak, something was off. But she had to admit that the painting was a major source of her misgivings.

"Bad memories? What kind of bad memories?" And Tai wasn't helping, with his utter lack of tact. Well, she supposed a bit of the truth wouldn't hurt.

"When I was nine, I got lost inside an art gallery. Things went wrong, and… people died. One of them… he was my best friend." Only friend, but given what had happened… he'd more than earned the title.

"O-oh. Sorry."

"It's okay. It- it was years ago. I'm fine now." Maybe, if she kept telling herself that, it would even become true.

She didn't think she was that lucky.

1221212121212112211212

That night, feelings of worry kept pricking at her. It was something about that painting, how the building itself wasn't right… Ib needed to find a way to keep this from being another disaster.

Eventually, she decided to just go downstairs and see for herself if her worries were founded or not. She chose not to wake up Lalamon, leaving her Digimon surrounded by soft blankets- she couldn't Digivolve, anyway, and if there was trouble, she wouldn't immediately confront it. She knew better than that.

From above, it looked just like a normal painting at first. She didn't want to actually go downstairs or anything, she'd hate to be at ground zero when the trap went off, but… just a few minutes. That was all she'd need. Just to prove herself wrong.

But then the painting rippled, and changed. An angel became a demon, and the demon stepped out of the portrait.

For once, the feeling of vindication didn't really make anything better. And the demon Digimon was between her and the exit.

...Not that she was prepared to leave just yet. This was where Joe and Lalamon were, and she'd rather not lose either of them. Making a decision, she slipped back into the bedroom to wake up her partner.

If Lalamon couldn't Digivolve, she didn't stand a chance. But Ib refused to give up without a fight.

2121122112122122121221

Ib watched the land pass by underneath her, clutching Lalamon tightly in her arms. It had been so simple, to make the decision to fight when the battle was still several minutes removed. But when it came down to it… she simply couldn't order the little plant-thing into battle. It would have felt too much like she was sending her to her death.

"Do you think the others will be okay?" Her Digimon asked. Of course they wouldn't. They could barely survive the island all together, they didn't stand a chance separate.

But she couldn't tell Lalamon that. It'd feel too much like she was giving up. On Joe, on sweet little T.K. and his Patamon… everyone. It would mean admitting the possibility that she'd just lost them forever.

So, instead, she simply said, "I don't know, Lalamon." It wasn't even a lie.

She just had to hope that her fears didn't become the truth.

12121222121211212

Daichi: ...I don't think there are enough therapists in the world for this.