Chapter 3: Terminal Velocity
To say Zoe Orimoto was a spoiled only child would do the girl a disservice. While yes she had everything she could ever want, she liked to believe she earned and fought for those things. Instead of asking for help from her parents she'd set these little goals and challenges for herself to prove herself capable, that she was more than just her family's wealth.
It had been her childhood Nanny's idea. Miss Reiko had given Zoe the encouragement she needed where her parents couldn't. Her mother and father were often not around and when they were they didn't make much of an effort to spend time with their little girl. It honestly felt like her achievements meant little to them. It was disheartening but she'd persist.
She pushed herself hard to excel at school and in any clubs or sports she partook in. Even if her parents couldn't be concerned, she was going to give it her all, for herself and no one else.
Zoe huffed as she thought about her life and all of its tribulations and disappointments. She still felt empty sometimes despite every attempt to fill that void. Well, it wouldn't matter soon as she would be flying to Italy for the school break and seeing her beloved grandparents. As their only granddaughter, they adored her, spoiling her rotten with cooking lessons and strolls through their country vineyard.
'Soon,' She thought. Just one more day and she would be halfway across the world. Away from Japan and the insanity that was Tokyo in favor of a quiet Italian village. She only had to drag herself out of bed first.
Her bags sat packed by the door, ready to go. Zoe sat up and stretched, pushing the blankets off her. She shivered at the cool morning air, almost pulling the blankets back around her.
A knock at the door, "Miss? Are you awake?"
"Yes Miss Reiko! I'm up."
"Up means dressed Miss, your mother is waiting for you." Miss Reiko retorted with an air of sass, something she would only do when it was just her and Zoe.
"It does not, but I will be!"
Zoe got out of bed and went to her closet, finding the clothes she had picked out the night before. She quickly dressed herself and added a warm sweater to her look. She gave herself a once over in a floor length mirror before marching herself into the bathroom to finish getting ready.
She brushed her hair and applied a light layer of makeup to appease her mother. She then brushed her teeth and headed back into her room.
Her suitcases had been moved, likely by Miss Reiko while she got ready in the bathroom. Zoe poked her head out the door to see her favorite maid carrying the oversized bag like it weighed nothing. She bit back an amused laugh and turned back around.
She would be gone for most of the school break, and she needed to make sure she had everything. She did a final sweep tossing a few loose items into her purse before grabbing one last thing off her dresser.
Zoe picked up a small, thin knife kept in a decorative wooden sheath; the blade was exceptionally sharp and elegantly crafted with a pearlescent handle that glimmered in the light making the decorative lavender inlay really pop. Her nonna said she found it at the marketplace and immediately thought of her and mailed it as an early birthday gift for her precious piccola. She smiled as she cradled the precious item in her hands thinking fondly of her nonna's love.
Miss Reiko knocked again, "Miss?"
"Sorry. I'm coming down now!" Zoe put the knife in her purse as headed downstairs into the dining room.
A lavish breakfast awaited her as she sat down to eat. Fresh fruits, poached eggs and pastries sat beside steam rice, grilled salmon and miso soup. Coffee, tea and juice carafes sat on a cart waiting to be enjoyed.
Zoe requested some juice and took one of the pastries and some fruit. She quickly added a little bit of everything to her plate. Her mother sat on the other end of the table, phone in one hand and fork in another, picking lightly at a plate of steamed rice and fresh cantaloupe. Zoe snorted with how picky of an eater her mother could be.
She looked up, "Zoe dear, should you really be eating all that?"
"It's fine Mama, it's a long flight and the food on the plane isn't very good."
Vivianna nodded, agreeing with the sentiment and didn't push the issue any further. Zoe sighed in relief, She hated how much concern her mother had for how much she ate. Zoe had no desire to be stick-thin like her mother, therefore did not want to eat next to nothing.
Zoe watched from her seat as Miss Reiko and Mr. Hiroto oversaw the rest of breakfast while the rest of the staff scrambled around to get her and her mother's luggage in the car for their departure. She caught Miss Reiko giving her a fond look and wiggling her fingers "goodbye" to her when Mrs. Orimoto wasn't looking. Zoe smiled at this and waved back, which just so happened to have caught her mother's eye.
"Don't dawdle dear and finish your breakfast; we need to be ready to go within the hour." Vivianna chided her daughter.
"Yes, Mama. Sorry Mama." Zoe returned her attention to her breakfast though she didn't have it in her to finish it. Her stomach was too busy wrestling with the anxiety and excitement for the long flight to Italy to visit her nonna.
On the one hand, she got to go visit her beloved nonna. On the other hand, she hated flying. Everything about airports and airplanes made her stomach tie up in knots and do backflips. She dreaded every second of the experience until she was safely on solid ground again.
Zoe picked at her breakfast a bit more, trying to swallow a few more bites before being herded into the family car.
The ride to the airport seemed pretty uneventful, just the usual heavy traffic typical of the busy streets of a metropolitan city in Japan. Zoe didn't mind it too much, content to listen to her music on her phone. A curious glance to her mother showed her busy texting away on her phone. What did catch her attention, however, were the gray storm clouds swirling up ahead as they drew closer to the airport.
Mr. Hiroto also noticed the state of the weather and checked the weather report on the phone attached to the dash.
"Mr. Hiroto? Is everything okay?" Zoe asked, sitting up and leaning over the passenger seat to get a better look at the weather report. Her mother acted quickly to pull her back down into her seat but the girl remained inquisitive as to the peculiar nature of the weather.
Vivianna frowned at her daughter but turned her attention to the butler. "What is she talking about? Mr. Hiroto, what's going on?"
"Just a bit of weather, Mrs. Orimoto." Mr. Hiroto answered as he tried fiddling with the phone.
Reception on the device seemed laggy. He tried refreshing the page to get the app to work but to no avail. The loading wheel just spun endlessly much to the butler's frustration. Mr. Hiroto decided to give up on getting his phone to play nicely. He supposed it didn't matter anyway considering they were almost to their destination. "We'll be arriving shortly, ma'am."
"Thank goodness." Vivianna sighed.
Zoe still felt suspicious of the weather. In hindsight, they were still at the very tail end of the snow season so the clouds weren't unexpected in some sense. However, something just didn't feel right.
She studied the clouds hanging over the airport when she saw something. It was brief but a strange silhouette stood atop the control tower. Zoe tried getting a better look from her window but the tower was too far away and the shadow too vague to make out.
'Maybe it's just a bird on the antenna or something…'
Strange as it was, Zoe didn't linger too long on the strange shape, as the car pulled up at the drop off zone.
Mr. Hiroto quickly got out of the car and worked on getting the luggage while Zoe and her mother hurried under the awning to get out from the weather which, much to her mother's dismay, started to sprinkle snow down on them.
"Great, just great." Vivianna muttered to herself as she glared balefully at the fresh powder coming down on their heads. As if it wasn't bad enough that it started snowing but the winds decided to kick up and send the snow into a flurry. In her anger she had slipped into Italian and started cursing, something about how unreliable Japanese weather forecasts were.
Zoe opted to help Mr. Hiroto grab their luggage and bring it inside the airport before the storm could get any worse. "You should come inside too, Mr. Hiroto. I don't think it's safe to drive out in this storm."
"I suppose that is probably for the best."
"I'll call Papa and the house to let them know we're okay."
"Thank you, little Miss."
The airport lobbies proved to be just as chaotic as the storm raging outside. Everyone outside made a mad dash inside to take shelter from the turbulent winds and heavy snow and were now clamoring for some sort of explanation or aid from the airport staff. The harder the winds kicked up the worse the mood was inside as several people fell into panic.
"Jeez… everyone's going crazy…" Zoe observed before looking down to her phone and attempted to call someone. "Wait…" She had no signal. "Momma, do you have any signal?"
"No, I'm not getting anything. Damn it, it was working a moment ago!"
"I can't seem to get any signal either, ma'am."
The sound of static echoed through the airport as all the speakers came to life, cutting through the chatter and silencing all before a message started to play.
"ATTENTION PLEASE. ATTENTION PLEASE. Due to unforeseen weather conditions, all flights in and out of Tokyo have been canceled until further notice-"
"What the hell?!"
"You gotta be kidding me!"
"This is bullshit!"
"- furthermore, due to the severity of the storm, everyone is encouraged to remain indoors until conditions have improved."
That didn't bode well. Zoe turned to her mother but the look on her face told her that she was just as lost as everyone else. They would just have to listen to airport staff and wait out the storm. What else could they do?
Zoe heard loud pelting against the glass outside and gasped when she saw hail coming down now. "This is insane…" she approached the window and watched the hail batter the ground outside. This wasn't natural. No way. A storm this bad doesn't just come out of nowhere but if that were the case then just what was causing it? How did no one foresee it coming?
Something caught her attention. It fell from the sky and landed before her almost soundlessly against the noise of the hail.
The snow and the wind obscured the shape of it but as it drew closer, it grew larger and Zoe could finally make out some of its features. "Are those… antlers?"
Suddenly a great bellow cut through the raging winds and hail. Glass cracked and metal creaked as the sound shook the building with incredible force. Zoe clamped her hand over her ears.
The bellow brought the entire lobby to a tense stillness, all eyes to the cracked glass threatening to give way to the wind and hail outside. Some saw the silhouette looming in the storm and attempted to back away, putting as much distance between themselves and the fragile barrier crackling between them.
"Little Miss… Zoe, back away from the window… slowly." Mr. Hiroto tried calling out to his young charge while slowly stepping towards her, his eyes trained on the strange figure standing before them.
Zoe wanted to heed her butler's call but froze when she felt the creature's stare linger on her. It stared at her, eyes glowing faintly red through the thick churning snow.
"Saint Roar!"
Another loud bellow shook through the terminal and cold air rushed into the airport as windows shattered letting the creature, a great white moose with azure antlers, step inside. Wind whipped snow around the beast as it looked around calmly, gauging the humans cowering before it.
It stamped one of its massive blue hooves, causing the floor to crack beneath its feet.
Zoe took a step back. The beast snorted, plumes of warm air turning into a misty cloud as it exhaled. She instinctively reached for the knife her grandmother had gifted her to protect herself with. As her hand slipped into her bag, a cell phone rang, piercing the tense silence.
Moosemon bellowed angrily, rearing back and slamming his hooves into the terminal floor. People scattered screaming in terror as the beast threw its head back, the massive antlers wiping out the ceiling lights.
Electricity crackled and failed, plunging the terminal into utter darkness. Zoe gripped her bag tighter, still blindly searching for the knife. She felt her fingertips brush against the small grip and she took it into her hand.
As she pulled it free, the pearlescent handle glowed with a brilliant light. The carving engraved on the handle turned violet in color, lighting up as well. Wind rushed around her, creating a howling vortex shielding her from the snow and ice from the great white moose.
Zoe straightened up. She stared down at the vibrant glow of her knife with wonder and then to the winds around her as they glimmered in the light. A figure then formed within the swirling winds, butterfly wings unfurled from its back. It stood before her and held out its hand to her with a friendly smile. Zoe nodded and reached out, making contact. Light burst around her body as she felt power surging into her body.
Translucent wings sprang from her back as a soft lilac armor folded around her. A silver visor came to rest across her face. She felt light, fierce and empowered. A hurricane force gale swirled inside her very veins, begging for freedom.
She threw her hands out, reflexively dispersing the winds around her and blasting away the snow and debris in front of her from the rogue Digimon's attack. The force of her attack even pushed Moosemon back out through the broken window, an action it took exception to and stamped on the ground challengingly.
"Okay, I can work with this!" Zoe grinned at the display of her power and met Moosemon's angry stare head on, feeling the storm within flow to her hands to be let loose once again. "Bring it on."
"Hanging Twister!" The beast bellowed, throwing its head forward. A massive gust of wind rushed Zoe as she braced herself.
"Hurricane Wave!" She countered with her own wind, sending a cascade of lavender spirals of wind towards Moosemon.
Her attack cut through the twister and hit the Digimon square in the chest, its blue mane buffering some of the damage but still staggering the beast. It let out a heavy groan and retreated into the raging blizzard it had conjured, seeking cover amongst the haze and ice.
Zoe took off instinctively, her feet leaving the ground effortlessly and pursued the large moose monster. She needed to press her advantage against Moosemon and keep the battle away from the terminal where she wouldn't have to worry too much about people getting hurt in the crossfire.
"Damn it's cold!" she yelped as the freezing air hit her exposed skin. She'd have to make this quick if she wanted to keep the hypothermia from setting in.
Moosemon emerged from the torrent of snow and ice, red eyes gleaming maliciously. It threw its head back again. "Saint Roar!" an unearthly wail tore from the creature,
Zoe quickly clamped her hand over her ears, finding them already protected. Pretty convenient if she did say so herself. "Now you're gonna get it, you oversized hunk of venison!"
She shot through the snow and hail and brought her feet forward with a flurry of wild kicks at the Digimon's face.
Moosemon made attempts to retaliate but the endless barrage left it incapable of attack with its antlers or with its bellows. It tried to back away from the fairy but any ground it gave in its retreat she'd take and follow with even harsher strikes. She was like a swarm of angry hornets, vindictive and endlessly persistent.
The fairy smirked, instinct telling her she was ready for the final blow. "Tempest Twist!" Her stamping kicks switched to wide swing kicks. Each flourish followed with an ever growing bust of wind that pounded against her target with each impact. She could feel it; each kick hit harder and sharper with each consecutive strike of her heel.
In desperation, the moose digimon gathered what energy it had in its antlers and attempted to counterattack between Zoe's highly telegraphed attacks.
"Gotcha" Zoe swung her leg upward with all the momentum she gathered and struck Moosemon's antler, snapping it clean off and sending it flying into the wind. She then dropped her leg, bringing her heel down on Moosemon's head with one last axe kick.
She struck like a sledgehammer. Any lingering strength the beast held bew away leaving Moosemon to fall in a broken heap on the ground before dissipating with the snowy haze it conjured.
Zoe touched back down on the ground and watched as the sun peeked through the fading clouds and sighed in relief when she basked in the warmth that came with the light. "That's so much better." She smiled and looked herself over, marveling at her translucent wings. She never imagined that flying could feel so liberating.
She could get used to this.
The news droned in the background as Zoe watched, half interested. With her trip to Italy delayed indefinitely, she hoped that maybe the local news broadcast would detail some of the upcoming spring festivals she usually missed.
"Breaking news- tonight's opening J League match ends in chaos as monsters descended upon the stadium-"
Zoe looked up, eyes fixed on the screen seeing a monstrously large bird land on the open field. Electricity crackled as it screeched, fixating on something just out of frame.
Suddenly a burst of fire connected with the giant bird like a missile. The beast screeched again, causing the camera's lense to fracture. Even so it recorded as the beast summoned up a whirlwind of lightning and rain.
There's a bright flash and the video ends. Not before another figure appeared in the frame. Zoe quickly grabbed the remote and backed up the telecast. She paused the video right before the lightning knocked out the camera.
A human-like figure could be made out, a flash of red and gold adorning it. Zoe's heart skipped a beat.
"No way… There's someone else like me?" She studied the figure carefully, but it only remained on the screen for a brief moment. Frowning, Zoe unpaused the broadcast and returned it to the live report.
The newscaster had up a picture of a political candidate running for the House of Representatives. "Following this attack, representative candidate Nakagawa had this to say."
"These monster attacks are occurring at an alarming rate. We need to put an end to these beasts before the public is hurt and our city lays in ruin. I vow to oversee a team to research these anomalous events and figure out a way to counter the monsters..."
Zoe wasn't listening by this point. The mystery warrior captured her attention. Out there somewhere in the city, was someone else with abilities like hers.
Here we go with Zoe's chapter, introducing her family dynamic and a little bit of foreshadowing of things yet to come. Don't really have much else to say. I hope you guys enjoy the read and are looking forward to our next installment.