I don't own digimon.
Session 72
Plan of action
It was about an hour since Polly had dragged her partners to the EMT's armored vehicle.
While they were still waiting, the members of Delta took the time to do a bit of housekeeping.
For Elena, that meant sharpening her kris followed by looking over a dress catalog that Lily had for some reason.
"No, not that one." she remarked and flipped the page, staring over the illustrations. "While they all look nice, I can't really see myself in any of these."
It felt odd to the gale corsair to be doing something like this. She had grown kind of used to her single outfit, with the idea of said clothes getting washed and or wearing a similar set out of the question.
"Do you want to look at it, Alice?" Elena inquired and turned her attention to her girlfriend, who was currently cleaning her pistols.
"Not really." Alice remarked and turned to face Elena. "I'm guessing you're having trouble deciding?"
The gale corsair nodded, only for the lucky gambler to sigh.
"I'm not really sure which one would look good on me." Elena answered as she got a confused glance from Alice. "I'm kind of used to just wearing my sundress all the time."
An awkward silence fell over the two, neither quite willing enough to break through at the moment. While both sort of understood the point of what Alice had in mind, they were at totally different levels of understanding. To Elena, this was a cementing of their bond, that nothing could possibly bring it down.
But to Alice, there was more to this act. It was a rebellion, a sign that her parents could neither predict nor control. To put it simply, she wanted a sense of power over them. But at the same time, she saw it in a similar light to Elena.
"Just take your time, okay?" Alice finally answered and watched Elena's face brighten up a tiny bit. "This isn't something you can really rush."
"Thanks." Elena whispered and returned her attention to the magazine, only to watch Polly walk up. "Do you want to look at it, Polly?"
The monk magi didn't answer, choosing instead to just nod and watched Elena hand it over.
"Thank you." Polly whispered and headed off, making her way towards the back. There, Fatemon and Chacha laid in silent slumber. "Please wake up soon."
Polly sat herself and began to leaf through the magazine, occasionally making a glance up towards her digimon. Her mind was currently focused on what the timekeeper had said to them.
"I'll let you live for now." the monk magi muttered as she continued her routine. While normally, she would let that sort of chatter get to her, there was something different this time. Maybe it was the result of some that gas still being in her body, or just a recollection of memories thought long forgotten.
Her eyelids grew heavy as slumber took her in. Her mind wandered to the 'before', attempting to piece it together in her mind. But all she ever got was a black and white montage of rapidly moving photos, coming in at a speed that most creatures could barely comprehend let alone observe turn into a pile of blank puzzle pieces. Even if one could possibly slow this all down and actually take it all in, they probably just find a bunch of blank polaroids that suddenly turned into a pile of almost translucent blank puzzle pieces. Though,
Yet, Polly tried to make some sense of it. Almost all the pieces had been laid out for her, ready to put it back together once more.
"That goes here and this piece goes there." the monk magi thought in her dream, connecting the two 'puzzle pieces' together. But just as it seemed progress had been made, the pieces uncoupled and headed in opposing directions. So, she tried it with two different pieces, hoping that this time it would work. All to get the same result. Yet, she kept trying, attempting all sorts of various combinations. But try as she might, nothing seemed to fit together.
"Wond-"
Before Polly could finish her thought, she felt something 'collide' with her head, forcing eyes back open.
She stared upwards, finding Aegiochusmon standing over her.
"Good, you're awake." the harem mage whispered and watched his fiance slowly get up. "Elena wanted everyone to gather at the front."
Polly gave him a slight nod and the two made their way towards the cockpit of the vehicle, passing through the area without a peep from either of them. Instead, they focused on what had been left 'behind', mostly to clear their heads for the moment. Or would have, if somebody had actually left something for them to examine. The grinding wheels were all turned off and all the gun cleaning supplies had put in their proper spots. They had even swept up any potential scrap that could be tripped on by either the monk magi or the harem mage.
"Good, we're all here." Elena announced and watched as the duo sat themselves down. "Our meeting can now begin."
They then turned their attention to the gale corsair, who currently had a piece of paper in her hands.
Members of the order
The Timekeeper
Chacha
Aegiochusmon/Fatemon
It was a start, even if there were more than three members of the order.
"It's a start." Aegiochusmon whispered and held his hand out, watching Elena hand over the pen and paper.
4. Devi
5. The Gostelows (x2)
6. Julie Enoshima
Polly stared towards the paper and took a deep breath. While she didn't recognize the fourth name, the fifth and six were as clear as day. Sooner or later, they would have to go after them. If was the sort of thing that seemed unreal, especially after that coaster ride. But for the moment, she said nothing as the pen and paper were handed over to Joey.
7. My Dad
8. That cloud thing?
"He never really gave me an actual name to go off of." the shadow scientist explained and handed the paper back to Elena. Strangely, she gave the 'gift' over to Alice.
8. Despair
9. The Tanaka's (x2)
10. That cactus thing
11. ?
The group turned their attention to Aaron, who was currently copying down the list just in case.
"Hmm…" the mending detective remarked as he gave the list one more look. "I'm not really sure what you even want me to say."
Yet, he still made his contribution.
4. Devi
5. The Gostelows (Adrian and Lauren)
6. Julie Enoshima
7. My Dad (Unknown Male)
8. Despair
9. The Tanaka's (Verena and Gabe)
10. That cactus thing
11. Cora Desaet
Strangely, everyone expected Jestery to pop in and do something. Yet, the jester didn't take advantage of the opportunity, choosing instead to just let things play out.
"So who should we go after first?" Officer EMT inquired and pulled a map out. It was probably inaccurate, not that would really matter in the grand scheme of things. There's already enough of a mess in this dimension alone. "They did something stupid, didn't they?"
The author did not answer, but the troll mecha sighed anyway. For now, he would have to leave that potential problem on the backburner and return their attention to the map, which was currently showing the island of Forum. In retrospect, I probably could have come up with a slightly better name. Not that it really matters right now, since it rarely gets mentioned to begin with…
As the author continued to babble on, Alice made a mark on the map. It was a x, located in the forest area just north of their first camp.
"This is the closest place that we know that has an Order member." the gambler whispered and took a deep breath. "If nothing else, we can use it as a chance to find out the location of any other Order members."
Everyone nodded in agreement as Elena held her hand out.
"If we're all in agreement, put your hand out and say 'Aye'." the gale corsair explained. "Aye."
"Aye." Adarnamon added and placed her left wing beside her master's hand. Lily did the same, choosing to go to the right of Elena's hand.
"Aye." Alice whispered and held her hand out, grabbing hold of the gale corsair's.
'Aye!' Suiko shouted and joined the group.
"Aye." Gobblemon remarked and extended a wing towards the circle as Yokozamon did the same with a hoof.
"Aye, I guess." Joey whispered and held his hand out, watching his digimon do the same.
"Aye?" Polly added and held her hand out, only to turn her attention to Fatemon. Strangely, the harem mage just whispered his response and held his hand out. Chacha did the same, leaving Aaron and his partner the odd ones out.
"Aye." the three remarked as the last hands entered the circle. For a few brief moments, silence engulfed the armored vehicle.
For once in what seemed like forever, they weren't running around in the hope that something interesting would happen. No, they had a plan. While it was more of a goal, it was a start.
"Now that we've decided on that, let's go!" Elena announced and watched Officer EMT crack a smile.
"You heard the lady." the troll mecha pilot added as he made his way over to the cockpit. "It's going to be a short ride, so it is best to get some sleep and anything other preparations done in the meantime."
A minute or two later, they quickly made their way out of the dark blades compound and back into the endless wilds of the digital world...
Notes:
Not going to lie, this is kind of a mess. Yet, I kind of like how it turned out.
Since I have another internship starting up next week at the time of this chapter, it will probably be some time in august that the next chapter will come out.
.
Next Time: Let us return to Despair High once more.