Standard Disclaimer: This work is a non-profit derivative work. I claim no ownership to Digimon or its characters.
Preemptive Author's note: this chapter does not take place in strict chronological order.
Illumination
The Second Day
The alarm clock rang a little bit after dawn. It looked like a tiny Clockmon, but Kouichi barely noticed as he switched it off with a clap and pulled himself out of the Digimon-sized bed. He rubbed his eyes before peering out the window at a bright, sunny morning. It took him about that long to remember he was still in this other Digital World.
Had it really only been a single day since he'd arrived in this world? It felt unbelievable, but it had barely been 24 hours since he'd climbed down from the black Trailmon into that gray world and first seen Hikari.
After running around all day and fighting and traveling between worlds and only getting maybe 5 hours of sleep he felt... actually not that bad? He didn't feel tired at all. But on the other hand he felt like he should be tired. Probably the confusion came from going back and forth between being a Digimon and not being a Digimon. When Kouichi was Lowemon he didn't get tired easily, especially at night. Probably it was normal for a Digimon like him to get on with so little sleep. It was like that piano, Kouichi was used to being a Digimon and fighting as a Digimon, but LIVING as a Digimon? That was another story. That was new.
Kouichi shook himself out of that thought. Looping back around the edge of the room he put on his jacket and hat, and grabbed his cell phone from the bedside table. Then he considered some more.
So, what was the plan for today? Yesterday he got lucky when he'd run into Hikari and learned a little bit more about her and her friends, but just as quickly his luck had run out. If he was going to be any help to her he'd need some kind of real plan. Kouichi sat back on the bed and rubbed his temples. Nothing was coming to him. Actually, no, it was the exact opposite of that. It wasn't that nothing came to him, nothing meant he had no ideas but actually he had tons of them! He had all sorts of ideas! Dozens upon dozens of ideas! The problem was he had no idea. He was completely clueless about what was actually going on in this world, both of them.
Kouichi's thoughts slid back to the reporter in the park. That man had said a lot of unbelievable things. "Odaiba blockade incident", "monster capital of Japan", "just like last Christmas". And he had chuckled once or twice as he talked, like a dozen Digimon crossing into the Real World was just a passing fancy. A curiosity. Once again, Kouichi's instincts said no way, that wasn't possible. Back home Kouichi and Kouji and all the rest had spent the year since their adventure in the Digital World protecting their world from exactly that. Digimon back home were weird rumors, urban legends, stuff you saw in gossip rags or weird websites online. And they stayed that way because of the hard work and struggles of the Legendary Warriors.
So what was up with Hikari and her comrades? Were they new? But Takeru and his group seemed like they knew what they were doing. So had something gone so badly wrong that the existence of Digimon had gotten out? Or maybe instead something had gone right and Digimon didn't need to be secret anymore? And what about their Digimon "partners"? Were they actually hybrids too? Was that why they could stay in the human world? Had Hikari and her friends somehow separated their human and Digimon selves?
All those questions and more rattled around and around in Kouichi's head, but he shook himself for a second time. Then he glanced at the clock. He was out of time to worry, it was time to go back to living as a Digimon. He had a meeting with Leomon and his "File Irregulars".
"Spirit Evolution! Lowemon!"
He had freaked out Hikari, Takeru hated him, but maybe he could do a little bit of good here in the Digital World and for the time being that seemed like a good enough plan.
A world away, Hikari woke up and had breakfast with her family just like normal. Her father fled out the door not long after she sat down, but that was normal. Her mother rolled her eyes and took his dishes to the sink, just like normal. While their mother was away her brother gave a reassuring smile and said that if they were really in trouble that her team could call him and the rest if they ever needed backup. Hikari smiled and thanked him and said she was fine and everything would be okay.
She could feel Tailmon's eyes on her as she told that lie.
Across town, all of the rest of her friends were also getting ready for the day.
Daisuke got up out of his messy bed and had a messy breakfast while yelling messily at his sister when she called him messy. Then the two of them talked about birthday presents, both given and received, and between barbs and scorn the Motomiya siblings debated the best possible form Daisuke's planned present could take.
Miyako got into a series of extremely heated discussions over finances and salary and certain promises made the previous day. After much fighting and negotiation and after calling in several favors owed, Miyako agreed to a truce with Momoe in which Miyako downgraded her demands to time and a quarter in return for a choice gift card from a particular boutique that her elder sister had been hanging onto.
Ken and Iori had nowhere near as exciting breakfasts. Ken had a quiet meal with his parents where he informed them of what had happened the previous day across the water in Odaiba. Iori had an even quieter meal punctuated by his grandfather laughed at a cartoon in the newspaper. Takeru had a similarly quiet breakfast, his mother had gone in to work early that morning so it was just him and Patamon.
Takeru was also the first to bring up the subject of duty, via group email. He sent an early message to Koushirou asking for a progress report and got a reply to all saying it would take about 12 more hours for the scan to finish. Takeru wrote back to fret about what might be happening behind everyone's back and ask if there is any way to do it faster. Koushirou said no. Miyako chimed in with a message (in between shouting matches with her sister) saying he should calm down and find something to do to take his mind off his worries. Hikari took her advice and suggested meeting up for a study group, like they had intended to do yesterday before the Digimon had appeared. It was a safe suggestion, and everyone agreed to meet around noon to try finish their respective summer homework assignments.
Leomon was waiting for Lowemon a little ways outside the City of Beginnings on the great rolling plains of the Gear Savanna. After exchanging greetings Leomon took the lead out south through the windswept expanse of grass. A brisk 10 minutes walk finished at a ring of trees on a little hill that suddenly popped into existence seemingly from out of nowhere ("poor draw distance," Leomon explained, nonchalantly).
Crossing into the circle, Leomon nodded to a handful of other Digimon and he turned back to Lowemon.
"Allow me to introduce you to some of File Island's volunteer peacekeepers, the File Irregulars. And to you lot, this is Lowemon. As I said before I'm recommending him as a short-term member. After what I saw last night I can vouch for his character."
"Good morning to you then, Lowemon, I am Andromon," the cyborg Digimon said with a nod. His voice was even, but his organic mouth was set into a ponderous frown.
"Well, if you say he's all good I'll buy it, Mr. Leomon. I'm Ogremon the younger, but you can just call me Ogremon," the green Digimon gave a toothy smile and pounded his chest. "If you're joinin' up that means I'm not the newbie here anymore! But hey, if you need any help you can count on your big brother Ogremon!"
"Glad to have you!" said a Garurumon cheerfully, his voice echoing. Lowemon automatically noted that this Digimon was the only beast-type in the group. Like so much about this world he was starting to wonder if that actually mattered here.
"Lowemon… Where have I heard that name…" a Meramon was the last Digimon in the group. He was tapping his fiery chin thoughtfully, but then his black eyes suddenly flashed with recollection. "Wait, hang on, you're Lowemon? You're the guy who sent Flare Lizamon packing?"
"I am. Digitamamon is giving me a place to stay, and the two of them were causing trouble. I wanted... I want to be able to pay back my debts," Lowemon said.
Meramon waved it off, "you don't have to give me any excuses for smacking either of those two idiots around. Take it from a long time resident of around here, though, you made one big mistake."
"I did? What?"
"You tossed one Flare Lizamon out on his ass, but you didn't crack the other over the head. I heard him gloating about how he was smart enough to get out of there last night. He's going to be a real pain in the ass for a couple of days."
Lowemon blinked, then he shrugged, "I guess if I see him I'll beat him up for you, then."
Meramon laughed, "I think I like you already!"
The new branch of the Tokyo Public Library in Odaiba was an odd mix. On the outside it was a pretty, European-style impressive stone building that was only now, a year after its construction, showing the bleaching and pitting that came from the saltwater air. Meanwhile, the inside had kept better with bright white plaster walls and gleaming faux marble floors and spotlessly clean carpets, but none of those were able to hide the unmistakably musty scent of age from the vast stacks of well-read books.
The Chosen Children filed in around noon as planned, met in one of the library's quiet reading rooms, and compared notes on their notes and their respective summer homework statuses. After careful consideration it was decided that the six of them would split into two groups. Daisuke, who perpetually needed help with math, would stay in one of the study rooms on the ground floor to work with Ken and Miyako (And the Digimon, who were easier to keep from attracting attention in a private room) while Hikari and Takeru would go upstairs to the periodicals section with Iori, both to work together on a long assignment and to help the younger boy double check some newspapers for homework of his own.
Daisuke complained about this arrangement, albeit quietly. It WAS a library after all.
"It's only for a little while, and you do have trouble with this, Daisuke," Ken said supportively from the chair beside him.
"Yeah, and if your grades keep sucking they'll kick you off the soccer team, right?" Miyako said from Daisuke's other side, much less supportively.
Daisuke's pencil slammed to a halt. "For your information my grades aren't that bad, EXCEPT when I have to do long division," Daisuke said, testily.
"That's why I said to memorize the steps for it, already," Miyako said.
"It's not that easy!"
"Then practice them with someone!"
"Who? Jun? She's always busy chasing some guy. Plus, she'll laugh at me if I try!"
"Maybe you can ask Chibimon?" Ken cut in quietly, gesturing the other two to keep their voices down.
"No way, Chibimon's great but he can't do any math stuff like that," Daisuke said, arms now crossed.
"What's up, Daisuke? I can't do what?" The little blue Digimon asked curiously as he popped out from under the round table and climbed up on Daisuke's lap.
"See, I'll show you. Hey Chibimon, what's 4500 divided by 125?"
"36," the Digimon said immediately. "Why?"
"No real reason…" Daisuke said, staring very hard at his workbook to try and ignore Miyako's eruption of laughter.
"You really shouldn't laugh at him…" Ken said.
"Yeah, I know you're right," Miyako said, but she said it much too cheerfully and only after a deep breath to choke down her giggles. "I'm sorry. And I know you Daisuke, you have been working hard. But next year you're going to be in middle school and as your senior it's my job to be worried about you."
"It's middle school, not rocket science," Daisuke said, his tan cheeks still flushed. "And anyways, if you want to worry about someone worry about Takeru. What was up with him yesterday? Didn't he seem kind of crazy?"
Miyako was halfway to making a crack about changing the subject, but instead she stopped and frowned. "Maybe a little… But he gets like that sometimes you know. Remember with Black War Greymon? Takeru was really intense when we were trying to stop him last year."
"I'm actually a little bit concerned about Yagami myself," Ken said. "During the meeting yesterday she seemed scared for some reason."
"Hikari? Well, she gets like that around dark Digimon… but, actually, come to think of it she was really quiet yesterday. Usually she always agrees with Takeru, I guess she was a little bit freaked out," Daisuke said, pushing up his goggles rub his forehead.
"Hmm..." Miyako folded her arms and closed her eyes. After a moment she made a frustrated noise. "Hikari always bottles things up so it's hard to figure out what she's thinking. If there is something bugging her she'll probably just denied if we ask. We'll probably just have to wait for her to say something on her own."
"I just hope she says something before something bad happens," Daisuke said.
An important fact that had apparently slipped Leomon's mind was that the morning meeting of the File Island Irregulars was also a morning training session. The exercise on the menu for that pretty Midsummer day on File Island was an endurance building course, specifically a run across the outer bounds of the Gear Savanna. Andromon mentioned (loudly, over the sound of his whirring servos) a few minutes into the training session that their final destination was going to be Dragon Eye Lake near the edge of the Unwavering Forest, about 20 km from their starting point, give or take.
Lowemon didn't mind the sudden exertion. It was a gorgeous morning under a warm sun and a half marathon run in the Digital World was so much better than a morning of fretting and uncertainty in the Real World. Right now it was much better to be a Digimon.
He was even happy with what sort of Digimon he was for maybe the second time since he'd come to this world. The morning was warm, not hot, but 20 minutes under the sun with no shade anywhere around made even a Digimon sweat. Except for Lowemon, who was his own shade.
"Not bad! We're two thirds of the way there!" Leomon called from the front, his voice barely strained from the running. In fact, if the beastman Digimon hadn't been sweating profusely there would be no way to tell he was exercising at all given his powerful and ceaseless strides.
"How are you two newbies holding up back there?" Meramon yelled from off to one side. The flame Digimon had obviously no problem with the heat, in fact the sun had agreed with him so much he'd had to split off from the group to avoid singeing them. A little before the halfway point his flaming body had stoked itself so high it had started tossing off little fireballs in odd directions. (According to Andromon it had taken 5% longer for this to happen compared to their previous run, a new record.)
"I'm *huff* just *huff* fine!" Ogremon (who was not fine) yelled back from beside Lowemon.
"Are you sure? Should we slow down?" Garurumon sounded worried from his spot on the other side of the group, opposite Meramon.
"I've *huff* still got this! *huff* *huff*. I'm Ogremon the strong! I can push through! I don't need anyone's help! I can do it on my own! *huffhuffhuff*"
Lowemon said nothing from next to the gasping ogre. Instead, his shadow twitched, turning from its customary place opposite the sun overhead and spinning around to behind him. It lengthened, twisted itself around, and cast itself across Ogremon's back falling like a cape over his shoulders and drowning out the sun. Immediately, the green Digimon relaxed.
"6 km to go!"
Going through newspapers with Iori and Takeru felt awkward to Hikari. Iori always acted much too mature to be doing the sort of busywork summer assignments that were handed out in elementary school, but here the three of them were digging through old weather reports to fill out the missing days in his activity diary.
In theory asking the student to record the things they did every day was meant to keep them engaged with their schoolwork for the whole of the summer break and furthermore asking the child to record the weather every day was meant to keep them honest so they would have to work on their diary every single day. In practice, most students missed a day or two (or more) and so came to the library or somewhere else to try and find the weather report in the paper for the days they missed. Hikari had never needed to, but Takeru admitted he'd had to play catch-up the year they first went to the Digital World and she knew that her brother had done the same thing for a number of years running. Judging by the number of other elementary school students in the periodicals wing scrambling through old newspapers they all seemed to be in good company.
Hikari was actually surprised Iori had missed any days at all, but she didn't press the issue with the dour face the boy was making.
At the same time she and Takeru were also working on a totally different assignment with surprising amount of overlap. The keyword on their worksheets was "media literacy" and their task was to pore through recent newspapers and answer a bunch of seemingly unimportant questions about things like how many articles talked about this thing or that thing or how often this other thing appeared at all.
Hikari was absolutely certain this kind of approach wasn't good at teaching anything to anyone, yet, at the same time, she couldn't really bring herself to dislike this particular bit of busywork. If nothing else was taking her mind off of her worries to focus on something else entirely.
"Maybe it's supposed to be like if we do it enough times we'll just remember? Like with flashcards?" Takeru said when Hikari complained.
"Maybe, but my brother was always awful at doing flashcards. He had to say it all out loud or he wouldn't remember it," Hikari said. "What kinds of things do you do to study, Takeru?"
"I'm not sure. I've never had much of a problem with school stuff," Takeru said with a shrug. "I can just read the part of the book once or twice and do fine on the test."
"Well, but, what I mean is that it doesn't feel like it's very helpful to write down how many times the newspaper brings up the Rainbow Bridge dedication ceremony," Hikari said."I'm not sure if I'm learning anything from doing this like I should be.."
"You've thought a lot about this, Hikari, didn't you?"
"If you had to learn about what goes in the news, what would you do, Takeru?"
Takeru gave a smile. "I'd ask my mom, or my dad if he wasn't busy."
"Oh, you mean because they're reporters," Hikari said after a beat.
"Right, but, for someone else I'm not sure. Like I said schoolwork isn't hard for me, I can just get it right the first time and be confident I have it."
"That's impressive Takeru, I can't do that. I have to study every day to keep my grades up."
"And if we are supposed to learn something from the bridge maybe it's how many times they bring it up? The paper started mentioning it two months before it happened, and if you look at the dates we marked down there was an article on it every week until it actually happened. It was like that for the new Ferris wheel, and the new ferry as well. I bet all of the questions are like that, that for regular city event like that there an article on it once a week until it happens. Meanwhile, for unexpected stuff it goes on for about two weeks after it happens usually, at least that's how it was after the big storm in April: there were articles about it every day for two weeks. Same thing with the Digimon stuff last Christmas, every day for two weeks then it goes quiet."
"Really? You noticed all that out just by answering the worksheet questions?" Hikari was astonished.
"Yeah, sure. It's easy for me to get stuff right. Here, if you need an example look at this thing in the newspaper, it's the anniversary ceremony of the new government building opening, that's a regular boring thing so they probably did it once a week starting two months before. If this was a question on the worksheet I wouldn't even need to look that one up."
"I'm not so sure I could do that…" Hikari said.
"You can trust me on this one Hikari," Takeru said with a smile. "Like I said, I can get stuff like this right easily."
"Maybe, but I would still want to double check, er if that's all right with you."
"You want to go and look at the newspapers to see when they talk about the ceremony? Well sure it's all right with me, why wouldn't it be?" Takeru said, his face brimming with easy confidence.
And so, Hikari stood up and walked back toward the stacks. When she got to the door she turned and looked back at Takeru who flashed another smile.
He was right though, Hikari reflected walking across the hall through to the other reading room, about him being right. Takeru was usually right. Whenever she was unsure she could always turn to Takeru to have the right answer. They all could, whether it was schoolwork or life stuff or Digimon stuff, Takeru was always on top of it. He always knew what to say and what to do, his idea was always the best one, and his confident voice was almost always the deciding vote.
That was what set off Daisuke, Daisuke was always ready to go charging in, Digimon blazing, but Takeru always had a better plan and everyone sided with Takeru. Even Daisuke did, even if it was only because he had to, though the goggle wearing boy had gotten better about going along with the rest of them more gracefully. Daisuke liked to call himself their leader pointing to his goggles, but really it was Takeru who was actually in charge and he was actually in charge because he was always right. Some of it was experience, some of it was his positive outlook and balanced perspective, but at the end of the day everyone followed Takeru.
Daisuke probably wouldn't have noticed a pattern in the newspaper articles Takeru had, not because Daisuke was dumb or anything but because Daisuke was someone who wanted to see for himself. Daisuke couldn't leave well enough alone and he was always charging ahead. If Daisuke was here he would probably be right next to Hikari and not just because he would want to try and prove Takeru wrong, he would do it because it was doing it and Daisuke always liked to do things. And maybe that did make Daisuke their leader in some respects, Daisuke was always running out ahead. Daisuke rushed forward and everyone followed him, even if it was usually Takeru who pointed out which direction they should go.
And that was probably fine, her brother and Yamato were always at odds and would always argue about what they should do, but Taichi had always told her how important Yamato was and how much he relied on the blonde haired boy to make sure he was going in the right direction. If Daisuke was taking after Taichi, then maybe Takeru was taking the place of his brother? But that didn't feel quite right. Taichi and Yamato were actually really similar, forthright and courageous and direct and even impulsive, but Takeru was so much more even-tempered than Daisuke or either of the older boys. On the other hand, one thing all of them had in common was their confidence. And Hikari envied that.
Crossing by the racks of newspapers and magazines, Hikari felt like a bad friend somehow. Takeru was probably right, and she knew he was probably right, and he knew that she knew he was probably right but she was still going to fetch another stack of newspapers, and why? It wasn't that she didn't trust him, because she did, Hikari trusted Takeru with her life, literally, when they fought side-by-side, so why didn't she trust him to get something right on a silly assignment? But still, something nagged at her.
There was something in the back of her mind gnawing away at her, a feeling that, what? It was a sense of something, some strange apprehension she couldn't put into words, a curdling feeling that was falling through her like ink through water. It was that something was, that Takeru was, that there was just…
Hikari froze, fear shot right up her spine, her vision blurred from clenching pain behind her eyes, dread grabbed her heart and squeezed. And then, in a confused jumble of emotions it all fell away and suddenly she felt oddly... Oddly reassured. Like clouds covering the burning sun.
Hikari looked around nervously, she was standing at the open space halfway between two tall shelves full of papers. To her right was an empty table. To her left, against the wall between the two shelves was a reading desk covered in newspapers, and sitting at it was a boy with dark hair. For a moment, Hikari had the odd thought that the midafternoon shadows cast by the bookshelf seemed eager to fall on him. Then she recognized him and said his name.
The boy started, bolting up out of his seat to turn and face her.
"Hikari?" Kouichi asked.
*CLACK* *BAM* *SCHWING*
"Howzabout this one!?"
*CLACK* *CLACK*
"Not bad! But not good enough! Here I come!"
*SLAM*
"UWAAAAAH!"
It was around 11 in the morning at Dragon's Eye Lake and the File Irregulars had now gotten into the second phase of training. After a rest period and some breakfast the assembled Digimon had started pairing up to spar. Apparently a couple of matches had been decided in advance for that day and as the spur of the moment newcomer Lowemon merely watched from the side.
And speaking of Leomon, the first fight of the day had been between Leomon and Ogremon, and judging by the cheers from the other Digimon, Lowemon guessed this wasn't the first time they'd fought each other. So too seemed to be the conclusion of the bout, which came when Leomon threw a vicious uppercut out of the blue that sent Ogremon soaring through the air. The Oni Digimon landed with a crash, a moment later his bone club landed with a splash somewhere in the middle of the lake.
"Oh not again!" Ogremon moaned.
"Bad luck," said Leomon, shaking his head as he helped Ogremon back to his feet.
"Who's going to get it this time?" Meramon asked. "Besides me I mean, obviously. Do we need to call in Mori Shellmon?"
"I can get it, it's my turn" Garurumon said.
"Take care not to provoke him this time, Garurumon" Andromon called.
"I'll try, I didn't mean to set him off the last time after all."
"Who exactly is 'he'?" Lowemon asked after the wolf Digimon dove into lake.
"Seadramon," Leomon said. "He's a Digimon who lives in this lake, normally he's placid and rarely comes out of the water, but he's also territorial and quick to anger. If you keep your distance you're probably fine, but he also has a history with Garurumon. They fought once, a long time ago when Garurumon first evolved. If you want to know more you should ask him, Garurumon always says it was an important moment in his life, so he should be the one to tell that story. Alright, while we're waiting, Meramon, are you ready to go?"
He was, leading to the second match: Meramon versus Andromon. That it was lopsided was the point, Leomon said quietly to Lowemon after Andromon shrugged off Meramon's Burning Fist. Meramon had arranged to fight the much stronger Digimon as a means of pushing himself and his training, and Lowemon had to admit that the blazing Digimon seemed satisfied a couple minutes later when he was left sprawled out on the grass, having failed to scratch Andromon's chasis no matter how hard he tried.
Another a minute later Garurumon emerged from the lake, Ogremon's bone club in his jaws. And, as a dog is want to do, Garurumon shook himself throwing water in every direction.
"Whoa! Hey! Watch it! Digimon down over here!" Meramon shouted.
"Sorry…" Garurumon said delivering the bony bludgeon.
"Oh come on, you were asking for it," Ogremon said.
"I was asking for a passionate battle to burn brighter! Not to get doused!"
"And on that subject, it's open challenge time. Does anyone want to go next? If nobody else does, I would say I would be interested in seeing how you fight, Lowemon, I'm having difficulty getting a good reading on you," Andromon said, maintaining his usual even tone.
"I'm not sure," Lowemon said. All eyes were suddenly, uncomfortably, on him. "I would be willing, but I have no real experience fighting along with any of you, yet. I would hate for someone to get hurt by accident."
"Nah, that's no big deal, if Leomon says you're good you'll be fine," Ogremon said, misunderstanding his words.
"In that case, let me be your partner, I'm quite confident in my skills" Leomon said, understanding his words.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure. In fact, now that I think of it, this might be a good opportunity for me as well," Leomon said, a gleam appearing in his eyes. "One of our reserve members, Centarumon, is an archaeologist who travels across the world searching for mysterious artifacts. While exploring a set of ruins recently he recovered part of a manual for an ancient style of swordsmanship. It's incomplete, but according to the writing it's… well, I think a chance to spar with you would be a golden opportunity. What do you say, Lowemon? To the first hit, weapons only, no special attcks?"
"Well, I don't really like fighting, but if you want to then I accept. Especially under those terms."
And so the two Digimon squared off. Lowemon conjured his spear, then with the flick of his hand he spun it so the spear's sharp tines would face away from his opponent. 10 meters away Leomon stood with knees bent ready to leap forward, his right hand rested on the handle of his sword.
Off to the side Andromon looked from one face to the other.
"If both of you are ready to begin then on the count of three you will begin. One… Two… Three-"
Leomon drew his sword in one quick motion. In three more swift moves he switched it to a reversed grip, then he shot forward.
For a moment, Lowemon just stared. That movement was, it couldn't be... how?
Leomon swung, Lowemon ducked back.
Right
Leomon pushed forward in and threw another swing from the right. Lowemon dodged backwards again.
Left
Leomon swung again from the left. Lowemon parried, knocking the blade away from him.
Up and from the left
Leomon recovered in an instant and switched to a forward grip, swinging diagonally at Lowemon's left side. Lowemon pulled to the side and thrust at his opponent's broad chest, but in the blink of an eye the other lion Digimon spun his sword to catch the thrust with the flat of the blade, taking the impact to launch himself back out of reach.
Dodge and above
Leomon bounded forward into range. Lowemon obligingly thrust the shaft of his spear into the feint, and right on cue Leomon leapt up for a jumping slash from above. Without missing a beat, Lowemon ducked low and pulled his spear up, catching its blunt handle into Leomon's chest as he was coming down.
"The match is over!" Andromon said. "Lowemon is the victor!"
Lowemon dismissed his weapon and stood up, then he bowed properly. "Thank you for the match."
For a moment, the other assembled Digimon stood in stunned silence. Ogremon's jaw had fallen open, even moreso than normal, yet he was the first recover.
"Alright! Amazing!" The ogre jumped up and cheered. "I knew he could do it! It was all thanks to my excellent mentoring as his senior!" He said jerking his thumb towards himself. "Ow!"
That last shout came because Meramon clocked Ogremon on the back of his head. "Moron, you really didn't see what happened?"
"Eh? What?"
"Yeah, that was strange…" Garurumon said.
"Strange how?"
"Well fought, Lowemon," Leomon said, sheathing his sword he stepped forward to hold out his hand. "But it wasn't much of a fight on my part, was it? You knew every move I was going to make."
"He did?" Ogremon chirped.
"Obviously," Meramon said, shaking his head.
"You're right, I did," Lowemon said, accepting the handshake. "The way you fought, that style of swordplay, it's identical to the style practiced by my twin brother."
"Your twin brother? Hmm... Centarumon didn't think there were any Digimon who practiced that style anymore, but I suppose if the data was able to be salvaged it's possible it would still be in use. But, the tablet called it the 'Fang of Sirius' named after the Celestial Wolf. I had thought it was a light-aligned sword school and that was why I was eager to try it, but if your brother uses it then Centarumon must not have translated it properly."
He was eager to try it in a safe environment against a Dark Digimon Lowemon thought. But what Lowemon said was: "no, your friend was correct. My brother, Wolfmon, is a Light-species Digimon. We hatched from the same egg, but we evolved… Differently. As you can see."
"I see," Leomon said. And to his credit there was no hostility or indignance or disbelief in his voice, merely an honest curiosity. "And is he around here? If he's as strong as you and has a good heart like yours I'd be eager to have him become a member of the Irregulars as well."
"No he's far away right now. And for strength, I think he's far stronger than I am, but he tells me that he thinks I'm stronger than he is," Lowemon said. It was a struggle keeping his voice straight, it was only the second day of their separation and it already felt like an eternity.
"Don't sell yourself short there big guy," Meramon said cheerily. The other Digimon had moved in to be closer to the fighters. "Even if you knew how he was going to swing his sword, it still takes a lot of skill to beat old Leomon, he's a veteran from the bad old days! Ogremon here couldn't do it."
"Hey!"
"Twins is it?" Andromon stroked his metal chin with one of his long arms. "Two Digimon hatching from the same egg is rare but not impossible. And I've heard of they they can evolve very differently, but usually that happens if they are separated from each other."
"That's right, we only met for the first time about a year ago. He didn't even know I existed until we came face-to-face, but we became close after that."
This wasn't the first time Lowemon had needed to tell this story, and like every other time he'd told someone how he met his brother he'd kept it vague. He never lied about his family, but he always carefully omitted a number of things. The broad details were all there, of course. To anyone who would ask he would always share the minimum that they were twins who had been separated shortly after birth and had only met each other last year. Sometimes Kouichi mentioned he had an accident that day, sometimes he mentioned what he and Kouji had believed about their family (his brother would probably never quite forgive their father for that), sometimes he mentioned his grandmother's dying words that awful awful day or that Kouichi had been shadowing his twin the day they'd met. Sometimes he would even go as far as to vaguely say something like "they didn't get along at first", but he didn't, he wouldn't, ever expand on that one, not even to his mother. And he felt guilty about that, but on the other hand there were only a handful of people who could understand the whole story and who would believe what Kouichi said if he told the whole truth, and, well, they had all been there with him.
So, here and now, Lowemon left it there.
"Geez, and after meeting you had to split up with him? That's rough," Ogremon said clapping a sympathetic hand on Lowemon's back. "My big bro lives around here, I feel like I ought to go thank him for putting up with me. We aren't blood like you, but still."
"Thank you, it hasn't been that long but I already miss him so much..."
"Well, sorry to end it on that note, but we're done for the day. Thanks everyone for coming, and thank you as well, Lowemon. We may not be the same as family, but as long as you're on File Island you have friends in all of us," Leomon said with a smile.
"Absolutely," Andromon said, he was also finally smiling.
"Here, here," Meramon said, clapping. "If there's anything we can do while you're on your own out here just shout."
And so, right before noon, the group of Digimon split up. Leomon and Ogremon returned to the city, Andromon headed off towards a gray structure on the other side of the island, and Meramon went north back towards the same mountain Lowemon had departed from the previous day. Garurumon didn't leave, instead he yawned and sprawled out on the grass in front of the lake. Lowemon also didn't have anything to do, there was no reason to go the Real World and would be hours before he would have to play piano at the diner. Given that, the Warrior of Darkness in his black armor lay down beside the great big wolf to enjoy a sunny day. A little instinctual voice reminded him that sleeping out in the open under the bright sun overhead meant that he would be at a disadvantage if a fight broke out, but Lowemon shushed it to appreciate the end of a shining morning.
"You know, when you talked about your brother you sounded a little like Yamato," Garurumon said after a little while.
"Who's that? It doesn't sound like a Digimon name," Lowemon said sleepily.
"He isn't, Yamato is a Chosen Child, a human. He's my partner."
Lowemon, on the edge of nodding off, shot upright. It was the exact same word, in English and everything. Suddenly there was something to do, something happening. Suddenly this mission wasn't impossible anymore. "Your partner? You had one?" Lowemon asked with barely disguised eagerness..
"Yep! And Yamato is still my partner, when you become partners with a human you stay partners. That doesn't change. Even if they're not around you don't just suddenly stop being partners or anything."
"I've heard about Digimon having partners before," Lowemon said, because it was completely true. "But what does it actually mean?"
"Hmm..." The wolf Digimon tightened his muzzle. "It's tough to put into words, but I guess the way to say it is we're connected, I'm there for him and Yamato is there for me. I support him and he makes me stronger so I can fight for him and protect him because he can't fight Digimon."
And there it was from the text message he had received two days ago: "The warriors there share your mission to safeguard the Real and Digital Worlds, but their method of fighting is unlike you and your comrades."
Even hearing this and reading that Lowemon still had to ask, "Your human partner can't fight at all?"
"Nope, not at all. Humans are interesting, they're really smart and know lots of things, but they're fragile compared to us Digimon so it's the job of a partner to protect their human and fight for them."
"So you're partners because he needs a way to fight?"
"It's not about the fighting! I mean, yeah I guess I am here so he can fight… But that's not the point. It's, we're partners, that means we're a team. We're even; we're in it together. Even if I'm fighting for him to help him out for what he was chosen for, even if that's what I'm here for and it's some kind of duty I'm fine with it because I know Yamato is also there to help me. Yamato, he's my friend and that'll never change. If Yamato's in trouble I'll always be there to help, but if I'm in trouble I know Yamato will always be right there for me. Being partners means that, it means I always want to be there for him because it means he always want to be there for me. Does that make any sense? It's hard to say it right."
The metal beast roared, howling with rage it flailed a massive arm shaped like an excavator's claw at the shining figure below. Glancing at the houses to his left and right, he gritted his teeth, turned his sword, and steadied himself for the brutal blow. But instead of a massive claw, what came crashing down was a streak of black that smashed into the side of the mechanical dragon and sent it tumbling over. The white Digimon below gaped in surprise and recognition at the black Digimon above as their eyes met. He began to say something, but both their heads turned as the reeling creature pulled itself to its feet.
The two Warriors returned to the fray, from below a piercing ray of light and a storm of missiles slammed the dragon, from above a burning red cross tore into its side. Then, to finish, light and dark united their two strongest blows into one deadly stroke, tearing the body of the rogue Digimon into ribbons.
Not long after, two brothers shared a drink from a vending machine.
"I thought you had a practice exam today?" Said one of them, the one who wore a bandanna and a sharp expression.
The other shrugged, and smiled, his face was the same but he had much softer eyes. "I've never had much of a problem with school stuff or studying. I just get it right the first time, remember? And besides, I can always go to another practice exam, this was more important. We're in this together, right? So I want to be there for you when you need me, Kouji."
"I think you said it perfectly," Lowemon said.
"Really?" Garurumon blushed a little. "Well thanks, it's not something that's easy to put in words."
"I know," Lowemon said softly. More loudly, he said "Leomon told me this lake was important to you, he said it was where you evolved the first time."
"That's right, it was the first night Yamato and his friends spent in the Digital World. It feels like it was ages ago, but I still remember it all super clearly, we all slept in an old cable car on that island out in the middle of the lake and all the kids took turns keeping watch. I remember Yamato told me to go sleep next to his his little brother to keep him warm," Garurumon said wistfully.
Lowemon blinked. "How could you fit in the cable car?"
"Huh? Oh! Right! That was before I evolved, I was still Gabumon then. I was Gabumon most of the time on our adventure, most of us were in our child forms. It took a lot of practice and training on my own to be able to stay evolved like this, like how Tailmon can, she's another partner Digimon. And if Yamato was around I could evolve more and become even stronger! When I'm with him I can evolve all the way up to being an Ultimate."
"That's… Impressive," Lowemon said. For a moment Lowemon had been mentally comparing Garurumon and the other "partner" Digimon with the Angemon the Warriors had met with the other four children, but they haven't been able to make that Angemon evolve. Actually, making Digimon evolve? Was that what the boy (Takeru?) had been doing when he pulled out his digivice? Maybe Lowemon had gotten off easily…
"But what I was saying to start with is that what happened with you and Wolfmon sounds a little like my partner and his younger brother. They aren't twins, but their parents got divorced when they were younger and they barely saw each other for years. It was a big deal when they came to the Digital World together, it was the first time they could be around each other in years. That night, the reason I evolved was because Yamato put himself in danger to protect Takeru."
"Takeru?" Please don't be...
"Yeah, that's Yamato's brother's name. He's also a Chosen Child, by the way. His partner is a Patamon. I think their names are supposed to mean something when you put them–"
But Lowemon wasn't paying attention anymore. There's no way that name was a coincidence, just like the day before he wasn't that lucky. Takeru, the blonde haired boy Hikari had talked about, the one with the Angemon, the Digimon who evolves from Patamon. The one full of hate. It felt like he'd finally figured something out about this world, about what he was doing, about why Tailmon was there, about the other children and their Digimon, but his silver lining had a cloud on it.
"When did you meet your partner?" Lowemon asked suddenly, cutting off Garurumon. Out of the blue a new idea had suddenly forced itself into his mind.
"About four years ago, during the summer, why?"
"And did you ever go to the human world?" The blonde haired man had mentioned 'the Odaiba blockade incident' so casually...
"I've been there a few times with Yamato, why?"
"It's, I guess I'm just curious, that's all," Lowemon lied.
"Well, okay then, did you want to hear about it?"
"No, I was just curious. I think, I remembered something I have to do…"
"Sure! No problem. And like Leomon said, if you need anything I'll be glad to help out."
Lowemon thanked Garurumon, excused himself, devolved, dived back to the human world, got to a map, navigated his way to Odaiba's library, found the periodical archives, and started pulling out as many old newspapers from the summer of 1999 as he could.
It wasn't anything Garurumon had said specifically that had made Kouichi come here, but the wolf Digimon was the last straw. Garurumon had merely been the latest in a long line of confusing, frustrating, and even dangerous encounters. The partner Digimon had been a huge help in explaining how the Warriors in this world did things, but as a visitor he still wasn't completely sure what they did and he was tired of getting into trouble and tired of being left in the dark (Kouichi ignored the irony of that thought).
And so here he was in the library looking at old newspapers and his logic was thus: The reporter yesterday had talked about Digimon as though they were a somewhat regular appearance, meaning they had been appearing for some time. When and why? The 'why' might have been explained by something Garurumon had said, he had called his partner a "Chosen Child". That name, that word, "chosen" implied something had to choose them and for a reason. Lucemon had also used that phrase once, he once called the Warriors "Chosen Children", and they had been chosen by Ophanimon and Spirits to save the Digital World, their Digital World. It was possible that if this Digital World seen a crisis it couldn't resolve on its own then some force in it had also called out and chosen human children to save it. If that was the case and there had been a conflict like the fight against Cherubimon and Lucemon and it had spilled out into the Real World like the man had implied, well then it stood to reason that kind of world shaking conflict would be in the newspaper. And the when? Garurumon had provided a starting point, summer, four years ago in 1999.
And sure enough he found it. And when it rained it poured, he had found a lot of it.
Kouichi hadn't expected to see the whole story, he hadn't expected a great big exposé on everything Digimon and how they worked and evolved and had partners and all the rest of it, but he also hadn't expected the wild stories going into the first week of August, 1999. Bizarre weather patterns across the world. Network disruptions. People hallucinating monsters. People NOT hallucinating monsters, people SEEING monsters fighting in the streets or in Tokyo Bay. Conspiracy theories about the terrorist bombing of an apartment block. A rash of anemia patients across the city. Tokyo Tower half melting. Fog suddenly covering Odaiba separating it from the rest the world ("the Odaiba blockade incident"). Odaiba suddenly reappearing with a chunk of its waterfront leveled and witnesses saying it had been caused by monsters fighting each other. Ghost creatures suddenly spilling out across the world. The sky tearing open revealing another world!
The boy was deep into an article speculating on the events that destroyed the TV Tokyo building when-
"Kouichi?"
The boy jolted to his feet and spun towards the voice. He recognized it, and said her name.
Hikari stood there with a moderate smile and a politely puzzled look in her eyes.
Kouichi, meanwhile looked like a deer in the headlights. To Hikari's eyes he looked right on the edge of panic, like he wanted to just dissolve into the shadows…
Looking at his face, all of Tailmon's words came back to her. "He's a liar." "There's definitely something that feels weird about him." "You should be careful around him." But once again, her Digimon's words just didn't feel right. When that sudden, inexplicable dread had left her it had been replaced with more than just relief, more than just that strange sensation of safety. Instead it became something more like satisfaction or vindication, a sense that finally one of her innermost desires had come true. A desire so deep she couldn't even put it into words. Some strange, sad tangle deep in her heart, some kind of mournful, resigned fear felt like it came undone just by looking at Kouichi.
"You know, he reminds me a little bit of you, Hikari"
After a couple of frantic, silent moments Kouichi's eyes resolved themselves into, what? Apology? Resignation? Concern? It was hard, somehow, to actually read the light in his eyes, hard in a way Hikari couldn't quite explain.
"I'm sorry for yesterday, for what I said," Kouichi said, going so far as to bow. "I didn't mean to scare you when I said that, sometimes I get weird ideas and if you don't want to hang around me... I understand."
"What? No, you're fine. What you said, it was, I think maybe you were right. And I'm sorry too, I didn't mean to lay something so heavy on you." Hikari took a cautious step forward, like the other boy was a cat that might suddenly bolt. "You have a lot of newspapers, are you doing your homework here too, Kouichi?" She smiled, "it's alright, my big brother was always like that."
"Your big brother? I mean, no, I've already done my summer homework, this is something else," Kouichi said. After a moment he seemed to make up his mind about something because he stepped to one side and gestured at the desk. "I was just curious after I met you. I guess I wanted to know more about what was going on. I'm not sure if it's any good but I wasn't sure where else to start."
Hikari looked down at pile of papers. There were pictures of monsters, scoop about monsters, first-hand accounts of people who saw monsters, experts weighing in on monsters, mass delusion? Monsters are real? Monsters are real! Monsters. Monsters? MONSTERS!
"You wanted to know more about Digimon?" Hikari said.
"That's right," Kouichi said. "My mother always said if I didn't know something I should go and find out about it. I'm not sure if all of this is any good, but I also wasn't sure where else to start."
"Why didn't you ask your..." she paused. "You don't have a Digimon partner of your own?"
"No, not at all. Before I met you and Tailmon I didn't even know people could have Digimon partners," Kouichi's whole face reflected nothing but honest curiosity, at the same time Hikari felt a weird flickering something poking out from behind his words.
Hikari felt, no actually she didn't know how she felt. It had been there yesterday, but meeting again it was even stronger. Being around him, hearing his words, it made her feel jumpy, alert, aware in some new way. The problem was she couldn't figure out what or why. She felt weird. She was all squirmy and jittery just from being here. If she could reach out and– "Why?"
It was just one word, but it struck true. It hit him hard, harder than she thought it could. And Hikari was surprised, surprised that it hit at all. It was such an innocuous question, but in a moment his face clouded over and there it was again, that strangely familiar look she'd seen in his eyes the previous day. "Because... because I had to know for sure. I don't want to make more mistakes, about something that matters."
"Something that matters? But you said you didn't have a partner, what do you mean? Does one of friends have a Digimon partner?" Tailmon's words were still ringing in Hikari's ears. He smells like a Digimon
"I had heard about Digimon before, from the stuff that happened, of course," Kouichi still seemed nervous, his eyes kept flicking to the right, but as he spoke his blue eyes came back to hers with that same quiet strength behind them. "But after I met you and Tailmon yesterday, I realized I didn't know anything about Digimon after all. The way you talked about her, it made it seem like she was important to you. And I mean it when I say I don't want to make mistakes about something like that. I think I told you I only met my brother for the first time last year, but when we met I... made a mistake and I nearly lost him because I didn't really know anything about him. After that happened, after we met up again, I promised myself I would never let that happen again."
Hikari smiled. "Thank you. I wish more people were like you Kouichi. Maybe if they were, our worlds could come together in peace and harmony." She let the words hang there. Hearing him talk made Hikari all the more certain Tailmon had gotten worked up over nothing, there was just no way that Kouichi, that anyone who said those things, could be her enemy. And yet, her partner's words were still pecking away at her. Even if she could excuse everything else...
"This might be a strange question, but yesterday Tailmon said that –"
"Oh, there you are, Hikari," came a smooth voice from behind her. Hikari turned too fast to see Kouichi blanch and take a reflexive step back.
"Takeru!" Hikari said, as loudly as the library permitted.
"Iori finished up and you were gone for a while so I came to find you. Is everything okay? And who's this?" Takeru asked, looking over Hikari's shoulder at the other boy who had taken a step to the side, putting Hikari between himself and the blonde.
"This is Kouichi," Hikari said pleasantly. "I met him in the park yesterday while I was waiting for all of you before, well all that happened. We talked for a while, he's very kind. He's someone who wants to get along well with Digimon. And Kouichi, this is Takeru. I told you about him yesterday."
"Um, hello," Kouichi said awkwardly.
"Hmm..." Takeru scrutinized the blue haired boy, from his face to his old jacket to his slacks to his worn sneakers. "Having met somewhere before?"
"I… Don't think so," Kouichi said.
"You just seem kind of familiar," Takeru said, stroking his chin. Then he shrugged it off with a smile. "Ah well, like I was saying, everyone's done with their homework so let's head back, Hikari."
"Okay!" Hikari turned and gave a nod Kouichi. "I hope I can see you again sometime."
And that was that and they were off.
15 minutes later the Chosen Children had split into three parties. The first party was comprised of Daisuke and Ken who had wandered away to do something unspecified. Well, it was supposed to be unspecified. Given Daisuke was a completely miserable liar it had taken no effort for Hikari and the rest to figure out it had something to do with her upcoming birthday. At the very least he had managed to avoid giving away the details of what was going on, just that it was going on.
The second party consisted of Takeru and Miyako who were both heading home to the apartment building they both lived in.
"Oh ho…" Miyako scoffed with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "And what was this mystery boy like?"
"I'm not sure. Hikari said he was kind and liked Digimon, and it seems like she told him about us, but he didn't really say anything. He just seemed really nervous."
"I suppose it makes sense," Miyako said with a shrug. "I guess me and Hikari really do have a lot in common."
"What makes sense? And what do you have in common?"
"Taste in men. Kind, nervous, smart, likes Digimon, even the features all check out. He sounds just like MY kind of guy, and what that means is that you better hurry up and make a move already, Casanova, or Hikari's going to find an official boyfriend," Miyako nudged Takeru in the side. "Time's a wasting."
"No way," Takeru protested. "And besides, we're not like that."
"Oh yeah? With all the longing looks and all the times you rush to her rescue? Well you could've fooled me loverboy." Miyako said with a smirk.
"Well, just call me a master of disguise then," Takeru said with his own smirk.
A moment later, the two of them burst out laughing.
"So is Yamato going to be here in time for Hikari's party?" Miyako managed after she had stopped giggling.
"Yeah, he should be home from the band tour by the end of the week," Takeru said, still smiling.
"Perfect! And you won't have to keep running errands for your dad anymore."
The next few minutes spun in a cheerful small talk between the two friends until they reached the apartment complex. Miyako, who could talk about any number of things in just that small length of time never noticed Takeru's smile didn't quite reach all the way to his eyes.
Elsewhere, Hikari and Iori were also walking to an apartment complex. Hikari to go home, Iori to return a book he had borrowed from Koushirou. During the walk Hikari had related to the younger boy some of what had happened while he had been on his own of library, more specifically why she had split from Takeru. To her mild surprise the serious boy had agreed with her about leaving Takeru to see if his prediction had been right.
"Even if all of the questions were like that, it would still be the right thing to do to look up the answer. My grandfather says it's important to double check your work if you don't know the answer, and even more important if you think you do. He says that if you're overconfident you'll become too complacent and if that happens you will never find out if you're wrong until it's too late. And if it takes too long, he says, you'll have to unlearn what you think you know, and doing that is harder to do that than to correct yourself and get it right in the first place."
"Do you think that Takeru was wrong?"
"I think anyone can be wrong. I've been wrong before, and so have you, and so has Takeru."
It was an awkward note to end a conversation on, but that note was where the conversation ended when the elevator opened and Iori stepped out on his own. He gave a small wave to Hikari as the elevator door closed and the elevator continued upwards towards the Yagami family apartment.
"He's right, you know," Tailmon said softly from her place at the front of Hikari's bag. "Anyone can be wrong about something, or they can be right about something."
"Do you mean about Kouichi?"
"About anything. I trust you Hikari. I'll go along with what you say."
"But what if I'm wrong?"
"But what if you're right?"
Three important things happened to Lowemon that night, but like many important things he didn't realize exactly how important they were at the moment they happened.
The first was an idle question from Digitamamon, the lunch special was tomorrow, was he doing anything and if not could he play a set? Word had already spread that the mystery border was a master of the piano and that was luring in customers from across the city. Lowemon politely argued against such a title, but also said he would be more than willing to play assuming nothing came up.
The second important thing came in the form of a petite green and tan Digimon.
"Oi, you're Lowemon, right? Gots a letter for ya!" chirped a Terriermon wearing a mailboy's hat and a tiny messenger bag. The petite beast Digimon had strode up to Lowemon at the end of his set at the piano, when dinner was winding down and cheerfully held up an envelope.
"Thank you," Lowemon said automatically, flipping the letter over. His name was listed on the back, but there was no indication of the sender or a return address, just the English letters 'NSo' stamped in purple ink on the envelope.
"No problem guvnah, and can I say that was some right nice playing there? Cuz it was. Cheers mate!" said the Terriermon. As it walked away it waved both a paw and one of its long ears.
Lowemon nodded and flipped open the envelope to reveal a letter written in Digimoji of the utmost formality with thick, but mechanically precise strokes.
Warrior Lowemon,
I want to start by thanking you. I am certain now that if you hadn't been there to rescue me I would not be alive. I owe you a debt I fear I will never be able to repay, and for more than just my life. Yesterday was a revelation to me for I saw for the first time that even under the sun a dark Digimon could stand with their head held high.
I still don't know what to make of you. I thought at first you are a victim of bad fortune, a dark Digimon who'd evolved too recently to understand how the city would treat you. But when I fell between worlds and met you again I saw that you wielded the power of darkness with a skill and mastery I have never seen in ways I could not have imagined. I know not of who you say you were, I have never heard of the warriors you spoke of or the spirits you say called upon you. I would not have believed you and your words about your mission if I had not seen what you could do with my own eyes, but I did and now do believe, I must believe.
You are an inspiration to me now, Lowemon, and I believe you will be an inspiration to all of us who dwell in Overdell. I have always believed it to be our fate crawl in the darkness. I have always believed we were cast out, cursed to be the enemy of the holy powers of light, but I have seen now you walk a different path. For too long my heart had been resigned to sorrow and fear that there was no righteous path for me to walk, but now I know this to be untrue.
If it would suit an august Digimon like you, I would be grateful if you should come and aid me to begin following your path. And if there is anything I could ever do to aid you in your sacred duty I will gladly join your cause.
Devidramon
Lowemon carefully returned the paper to its envelope and put it away. Then he closed his eyes and thought for a long time.
That was the first time he did so that night. The other time was later, at the third important thing deeper into the night and further into darkness.
Once again, he landed on the rooftop of wooden house and looked out over the black ocean, charcoal waves over chalk sand. This world felt endlessly sad. Hollow. Desperate. Dangerous.
He closed his eyes. Yesterday, this world had felt spent. Exhausted on a level and in a way that was different from the usual exhaustion the lapping waves radiated. Now, though, the gray world felt taut. Languishing though it was, now there was a sense of, if not potential, then anticipation. There was so little substance left here, and yet it had condensed itself down like a spring ready to fire. Or a trap ready to shut.
Something was going to happen, and he would have to be there to stop it.
He watched and waited for a while longer in the dark world. Nothing moved. Perhaps the creatures didn't know he was here, but more likely likely the formless ones were distracted pouring all of their energy into whatever this next attack was and couldn't waste their time or focus to pay attention to him. On the other hand, even if they knew he was here there really wasn't much they could do without a real shape. There was the shadow of something almost real way down in the depths, but other than that…
Was there something else out here with him? Once or twice he felt like he sensed a shadow out of place, but as soon as he picked up on it the shade was gone.
As he flew back upwards towards the other Digital World he couldn't help but wonder, who would want to stay here in the fading dark? Not even the shadows from the depths of this ocean seemed content to stay in that unborn husk of world.
Koushirou's email arrived around dinnertime. After an exhausting analysis of all available data from the Gate Sensor had determined Ground Zero for yesterday's runaway Digimon to be surprisingly familiar for location: File Island.
Immediately, Takeru took charge, and in no time at all it was decided that the Chosen Children were going on a mission to the Digital World tomorrow at high noon.
That means everyone should have an early lunch before we go, Takeru wrote, before signing off.
And so ends Kouichi's second full day in the world of Adventure, Day Two out of a planned total of Seven. Unsurprisingly, Day Three is going to be a big one. Of course, that's not to say that I don't think that Day Two is unimportant, as can be readily determined I've been dumping as much narrative and thematic content as I possibly can into it, but on the other hand this chapter was still mostly set up and for those who are still waiting (wincing awkwardly at you TobiGB) I am sorry about that. On the other hand I will state that the pieces are finally all in place. Now the dominoes fall…
I probably should've split this one in half as well for the sake of more consistent updates, but you live and learn. I was hell-bent on getting this out as a single chapter, and in hindsight it probably would've been better to released in parts. Again though, I am definitely not making that mistake again, the next chapter will almost certainly be in several parts, so I hope to see you there!
And once again, thank you very much for everyone who reviewed the story, TobiGB, Zeldawolf, Blackdrake, rulehenge, and my (probably) recurring guest. It has been something special to actually be able to say that there are people out there who care enough about the story to leave a comment on it. And, given that I sometimes struggle to do that myself, I want to shout out not just my reviewers but everyone else who has kindly chosen to favorites/follow this long, rarely updated fanfic. You mean more to this one person than you can ever know.
Next - Through the Forest of the Night