I don't own digimon.

Session 51

Remember

Polly took a deep breath.

As nice as it was to be 'free' and able to walk on two legs, the monk magi didn't like the fact that she was 'supposed to' stay in the small room that was being passed off as stadium booth.

"Do I have to stay in this box?" she shouted and walked over to a nearby table, ready to fling it into the nice metal walls.

Yes Polly, you have to stay in the box. While I understand your frustration, it's something you'll have to deal with for the mom-

Before the author's sentence could be finished, the table was now gone and a large table-shaped hole had been created in the wall.

"That works." Polly thought and carefully made her way through it, finding herself in a hallway of marble. From floor to ceiling, every bit of the area was covered in that white stuff. "Okay then."

After making sure to push the rubble and splintered wood to the side, Polly took a left and headed off. It didn't matter to her where the hallway led. As long as it didn't stop with a dead end. After all, that was what her 'current' situation in a nutshell. One never-ending dead end that refused to let her and Chacha go. All because they were 'too precious' in the mind of her parents. As if that would even prevent them from seeing the two girls as 'property'. Which was on the low end of the truly disgraceful stuff The Order was more than happy to do.

"If that's the case, what's the high end then?" Polly inquired, only for the author to suddenly go silent. In retrospect, she probably should've expected this outcome to occur. She was about to return to her journey in the hall when something caught her eye. A couple feet away from her stood a translucent figure, dressed in a burgundy waistcoat with a maroon blouse underneath and a red plaid skirt. Finishing off her look, were the black knee-high socks on her legs and a pair of brown penny loafers on her feet. The rest of her appearance wasn't anything special, just a long brown ponytail that could nearly touch her feet and a pair of chocolate brown eyes with a look of indifference.

"Hello?" Polly whispered as the person looked back in silence. "Who are you?"

"I am you." the figure answered and floated over to the monk magi. "Have you seriously forgotten who you even were before this?"
Polly stared back with a confused glance, unsure of how to answer this question. She would have said Polly Gostelow back then, just some regular girl that was a little headstrong and into mixed martial arts. Now though, she had no clue. A couple times Aegiochusmon had thrown around the name 'Akira'. She was also certain Aaron had said that name at least once, but the monk magi couldn't remember when or where. There was also Chacha's passing recollection of her, which was along the lines of her being completely useless before and supposedly one of the worst choices Aegiochusmon could have made when choosing a partner.

"I don't know." she finally whispered and attempted to focus her gaze on the figure. Try as she might, it always seemed to shift a little bit to the left or a little bit to the right.

"Of course you don't." the figure whispered and turned around to face her. "You allowed the bright lights and wild sounds of the party to wash it all away."

The figure slowly approached Polly and pointed a finger towards her. As she did, the flesh gave away and left behind a brittle finger bone.

"I have no idea what you're talking about…" Polly whispered and the girl laughed. With that, the rest of her left hand gave away. In its place, was was what appeared appeared to be a mix of red slime and mana. "No, that's impossible..."

The figure then cracked a smile and patted its right hand on the monk magi's head.

"And yet it isn't."

Polly took another step back and stumbled to the ground. When she did, the other girl bent over as her smile twisted into a cocky grin.

Mermaid's Droplet!

Polly attempted to grab hold of the girl, only for both of her hands to catch just air and fell flat on her face.

"How did you manage to dodge that?!" she accused as her opponent just stood there, seeming quite smug of the monk magi's current situation.

"Such a stubborn me." the figure whispered as the rest of her left arm gave way and red slime took the place of it. "Does the past mean nothing to you?!"

Polly stared off into empty space. There was no right answer to this question, was there? She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Maybe if she looked back, some form of an answer would come to her.

She was sixteen now, the past few years having been a blur of bad decision after bad decision. If she didn't make a change now, things would swirl even more out of her control. Yet here the monk laid within a now deserted daiquiri bar. Even the bartender was long gone at this point. How he managed to not notice her was a mystery that probably wouldn't be solved.

"How did I get here?" Polly thought as the world spinned around. "What happened?'

She cautiously pulled herself up, only to fall back onto the ground. The monk was obviously hung-over and would definitely need to find something to cleanse this vile demon within her. But what, exactly?
Polly took a deep breath and crawled over to the bar. With each inch she moved, the monk made sure to steady herself. After all, one doesn't want to crawl through their own vomit.

"Just a few more inches." she thought and grabbed hold of the bar counter, making sure to steady herself on it. The counter was what one expected to find in this sort of place. Just a slab of wood that had been covered in epoxy. Add in the gray walls with nothing on them and the hardwood floor, it all equaled out into a boring room. Not that Polly was in quite the capacity to properly take in the scenery at all. Those things were for later. Especially for sober people.

"Whatever, author." she whispered and strafed along the counter until she reached the sink. There, the monk flailed her arms until they managed to grab hold of the sink knobs and push one on. Cold water immediately filled the basin and she casually took big gulps from it, a well-meant attempt to purge herself of the demon that supposedly possessed her. Polly spent ten minutes doing that, hoping to god she would be cured. Alas, that would not be the case. After a few minutes of doing that, the monk grip gave way and she blacked out as her head hit the floor. When consciousness was finally regained, Polly found herself still laying on the floor. Only this time, a girl about her age was standing over her. She was dressed quite simply, just a pink dress with a pair of black boots. A pair of hazy cyan eyes stared towards the monk as Polly focused on the girl's matching hair.

"Uh… hi?" Polly whispered and slowly sat up. While her hangover had lessened, she was still in no state to get up and move around. "I'm Polly. Who are you?"

"Lydia." the girl inquired as she watched Polly.

With that, a friendship between the two girls was born. Yet, something felt off about it. Up to the faucet, the events in her mind were what she remembered. But then, this weird feeling of nothingness came over her after. It was as if her mind betrayed her, showing what someone else wanted her to see instead of the truth of the matter.

"So is that your final answer?" her audience accused as we return to the hallway. "What a shame. I was kind of hoping you hadn't sold your soul to these demons…"

Polly didn't answer, instead focusing on something further down the hall. Just barely, she could make out a familiar face of a harem mage. Of course, he was having daiquiris. At a bar.

"Aegiochusmon!" Polly shouted as she ran down the hall, not letting her partner out of her sight. This could be her only chance to break free from the prison that awaited her on the other side. The monk magi would just have to take a chance, hoping to god that it would work. But just as she was about to reach the bar, an airship crashed through the hall and blocked her path.

"What a shame." the figure remarked and floated over to Polly. "And to think, you were so close to your goal!"
Polly didn't even look towards the person speaking to her, instead deciding to just kneel on the ground. The figure was right. At the same time though, they were wrong.

If she gave up now, everything she had fought for would become nothing but dust...

.

Aegiochusmon sighed.

By some arcane miracle, he had managed to survive. And yet, there was something hollow about it. In his mind, it was just another situation he had walked away from. There was no substance or meaning. Just a sense of loneliness.

"Soon, Polly." the harem mage thought and finished his daiquiri off. Once that was out of the way, he walked over to a far-off wall and gave it a slight tap. "I'll save you."

He then faded away and was teleported off to parts unknown.

Notes:

Polly's hangover cure actually makes sense. Even then, it still probably would take some time for it to clear up.

.

Next Time: A little sightseeing in the dream world...