I don't own digimon.

Session 16

Monsters

Screaming.

It was the one sound that Aegiochusmon hated the most. He covered his ears and took a deep breath. It all came rushing back to him in one large torrent, forcing his eyes back open. Gone was the confusing mess known as the Digital World, getting replaced by the once cyan skies of Mahora Academy.

"I'm back," the harem mage thought, taking a deep breath afterwards. After doing that, he pulled a gold pocketwatch out and gave it a quick glance. While it appeared to be an exact copy to Elena's, the phrase 'Aftoí oi desmoí filías tha mas synkratísoun' had been engraved on the inside of the lid. "Good. There's still time."

Two girls were running full speed towards a large marble building. The first girl was dressed in the 'typical' mahora uniform, which consisted of a red vest over a white t-shirt and a very short plaid skirt. Finishing off the look, was a pair of brown loafers that contrasted with her lime forest green hair and matching eyes.

The second girl was dressed in a dark green sundress with brown sandals. Unlike the first, her hair was colored some dark green color with a variety of dirt and plants hanging within it. Hanging on her side, was a long green vine with a sharp pointy rock at the end. Strangely, they were being given chase by a horde of shambling husks.

He made his way over to the girls, only to find himself right back at his starting position.

Aegiochusmon mumbled a few swears in Greek under his breath and watched the girls enter the building. He took a step forward, not getting teleported back this time. The harem mage took each step carefully, making sure not to go somewhere that would cause a random teleport back. Eventually, he reached the building and let out a sigh.

It was the library, Mahora's greatest source of knowledge and just plain weirdness. For example. if one were somehow able to make it through all the traps and potential illusions, they would find a dragon and possibly some ponies. And that was just one of many outcomes that could occur in this place. Aegiochusmon only gave a slight chuckle as he approached the door inside. Ironically, it was always the same fate. There would be a battle, followed by them getting trapped in there. Within those four walls, he had been tasked with protecting the students. And yet, he could only watch as the girls teared each other up until just two remained. The first, was Usagi Renja. Loosely translated, her named meant 'rabbit ranger'. More importantly, she had been the first 'complaints girl', whatever that meant.

Only mere hours before, she had 'appeared' in his classroom and just decided to whack one of his students a few dozen times on the head. She was then punished by someone (possibly the author) to be a part of this 'story'. He was quite sure how exactly this was a punishment, but hadn't really given that much thought when it happened. To some extent, he had wished he had.

The other student, Akira Okochi was a bit of a mystery to him. Unlike Usagi, she preferred to stick to the sidelines and mostly watch as her friends tear one another apart for their flesh and blood. Rarely did she ever fight, which always seemed odd to him. Her pactio, "Siren Valida", allowed her instantaneous travel via any source of water. This was possible, because magic. Even if it wasn't, it's always the easiest way to explain any sort of mysterious and/or supernatural tech one has to explain to their friends, family and/or any other interested party. Moving on from the formalities of magic, this allowed Akira to travel ridiculous distances without much effort. Not that the 'harem girl' really seemed into any of this, she was more of a swimmer than anything else. Not that it really mattered now. They would still be trapped there, with an unknown foe watching and possibly laughing at their stupidity.

Aegiochusmon only rolled his eyes. The inside of the library was same as always. Dusty yet mysterious, curious yet cautious. A place of both arcane knowledge and danger. He made his way past the cluttered shelves, using the same technique from outside. This time though, he now had to deal with all the trapped books and the other various booby traps designed to keep morons away from here. Not those things did any good in the face of what had happened.

An oversized half-moon axe swung towards him. Aegiochusmon stepped out of the way, slamming the swaying trap with a burst of Terra Archens. A beam of gravity-defying lava shot out, melting the metal pole holding the contraption together. He checked his pocket watch once again. While not really that certain, the harem mage calculated he was about five seconds slower than he was in his previous form. Not that he could change back, having chosen his fate so long ago. As Akira and Usagi fought, it quickly became apparent the difference of skill between the two girls. Akira was nowhere near Usagi's level and yet, she was still willing to take the interloper head on. In retrospect, he should've stopped them there when he had the chance.

It was here that their fates changed. As the two continued to fight, the room began to shake. While that was happening, weird black flashes began to interrupt the battle. And finally, a loud explosion rippled through the room, taking all three of them out. In a way that was where it all "ended" for the three. The fate of the two girls had been a bit of a mixed bag for him. He had known quite a bit where exactly to find Akira. Though, in what state she would be in was a mystery that he would have to solve himself. Usagi on the other hand, was still an unknown. After what had happened, he had heard nothing about her. Maybe that was for the better.

Aegiochusmon smiled. He was finally through all the traps, reaching the room where this whole mess had begun in. Strangely, Polly was waiting at the entrance. The monk looked the same as she normally did, but appeared to be tired and ready to be done with this.

"Ready, slut?" he inquired and his companion sighed. Even though the two had been together for at least two days, she had already grown tired of the aegiochusmon's insults. And as much as she wanted to punch in the face, it would probably result in one of them getting trapped in a wall. Nonetheless, the two headed forth, only find themselves to be the only ones in the room. "What is the meaning of this?!"

A few seconds later, a ball of light shot out from both the human and her digimon. The orb on the left reformed into a man, while the left one turned into a teenage girl. The man was dressed in a gray jumpsuit with matching sweat pants, complimented by his gray hair and matching eyes.

The girl on the other hand, was dressed in a mahora uniform that appeared to be an exact copy to the ones worn by the two students at the start of this chapter. Strangely, they could just make out her general appearance, only to watch it change right before their eyes. For some reason, this person cracked a cocky sort of smile and chuckled at them.

Aegiochusmon then grabbed hold of his partner, whispering the magical phrase as he kissed her. Right after doing just that, dark energy seemed to cocoon the monk and forced her partner to back away.

Polly dark infusion digivolve too... Sireniosmon!

Scanning...

Sireniosmon

Infusion, Despair

Special Moves: Watery Grave Blast, Seaside Tail Slap

.

Aegiochusmon: I fucked up, didn't I?

Polly: Grrrr...

Aegiochusmon: I'm sorry, Polly.

Scan Complete.

In place of Polly, a large slime in the shape of a large sea seprent had taken her place. The head of the monster hovered a least a couple of feet above Aegiochusmon, with the rest of it's gooey serpent body coiled around her partner. Aegiochusmon took a deep breath and stepped out of the coils, only to receive snickering from the two spirits. He took a deep breath...

And then the screams came back to taunt him once more. He cowered to the ground, holding his head within his hands. It was all coming clear now. In a way, it had been him that had started this whole mess. He had chosen to let Usagi's sudden appearance slide, which started the whole domino chain leading up to this. And that wasn't counting all the stuff before it. But, that was a story for a much later point.

He stood up and gazed towards his partner, taking a another deep breath. Usually, she had a look of indifference, but now it was one of both anger and sadness. Yet, he didn't blame her.

Aegiochusmon ran over to Polly. The slime leviathan stared back at the harem mage, curious of what would be his next move. Her partner only sighed, wrapping his arms around the corrupted creature.

"I'm sorry about this, I really am. That might not mean much to you, but it's all I can give at the moment. Sometimes that's all it takes." he whispered, not at all noticing the tears falling down.

The energy from before seemed to dissipate from Polly, forcing the monk back into the human form. But for a second or two, Aegiochusmon thought he could see what appeared to be her infusion form in place of it. But, he chalked it up to just being tired.

"Thanks." the monk answered and gave her digimon partner a big hug in return. Loud rumbling erupted from within the room, causing the room to 'shatter' into a million pieces and take the spirits along with it. What remained appeared to be an unlit ballroom, it's walls decorated with a large mural. It wasn't anything special, just a group of characters taking on some other group. The group on the right were an interesting bunch, containing a group of hooded figures, some people nobody except the author likes, an airship and a bunch of other people the duo didn't recognize. They stared at it for a few minutes, but eventually moved on. Had they really wanted too, they could've taken a photo for their teammates. But they suspected whatever message was

They weren't that far from camp, just a couple of miles. Even then, that meant traversing thick jungle and the possibilities of It was there, the two caught up on old times. When they were finished hacking/punching at the forest, they made their way back to camp.

"What the fuck?"

The camp was an absolute mess. Their tents had been overturned and their bags had their contents thrown all about the area. A post now stood where the fire once burned, with some random person's corpse nailed to it. Laying around him, were the once again comatose bodies of their friends and digimon. One of them was possibly missing, but they didn't know which. They quickly made their way over to the bodies, finding one more surprise for them.

Let this be the only consequence of this mess and just let sleeping dogs lie. -Alice

Notes:

Out of all the chapters in DAO, this is a lot of people's favorites. As such, great care was taken to make sure that the feel of the original was still there, while making continuity improvements and a couple minor changes. As such I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

The translated engraving on the pocketwatch is 'These bonds of friendship will hold us together'.

.

Next Time: I see uncertainty. Lots and lots of uncertainty.