Beware the Eastern Sun
Chapter 21
"Standing at the edge of the canyon, looking into the abyss,
I can only take comfort in the fact that somewhere down
there, there is a bottom. "
-Into the Abyss: Search for the Self, by Agumon
Kari's eyes opened
revealing a blurred image that resolved into Tai. She dimly remembered falling
into his arms with Gatomon behind her, but now it was daylight. He must have
taken her to wherever he was staying. How much time had passed? No matter. She was
safe.
She smiled weakly.
"Tai. I'm so glad to see you."
"Thank god
you're all right. You looked horrible," Tai responded, his voice seeming
somewhat airy to her.
She sat up and the
fuzz began to clear from her head. More sounds resolved. She could hear the
rushing water, the swaying trees, and the sounds of shuffling feet. Her sense
of smell immediately picked up fried fish and the mesquite sharpness of pine
burning. After blinking and squinting, her vision cleared and she saw the full
scene before her.
Izzy and Sora were
still eating a late breakfast while Joe was up and about, packing things and
preparing to move out. Tai was sitting right next to her, and had been formerly
holding her head in his lap. The dense trees around provided some shade from the
already increasing heat of the day. The mountains in the east still stood their
ground. Off to the side, Gatomon lay unmoving.
"Gatomon?"
she asked, rising.
"She's all
right," Tai responded, holding her back. "She's just resting. You
must be hungry."
Tai handed her a
tin with a small fried fish. Kari smiled. She had not eaten in two days, ever
since she fled the battle scene. Eagerly, she attacked the fish with a fork,
almost ignoring the bones that were still there. Tai got up and stretched, and
paced slowly as she ate. When she finished, he took the dish from her and sat
next to her on a log.
"It was him
again wasn't it?" Tai looked off into the woods.
Kari did not answer
immediately. "Yes."
"Care to
explain?"
"I was with
Mimi," she began. "Leomon was there too." Tai finally looked her
in the face. "We were going to tell you that there was some sort of trap,
but then we were waylaid by Matt. At first, it was just Leomon and Mimi
fighting him, but then he took me hostage. Mimi and Leomon rescued me and told me
to run, so I did. As I left, I saw him take Mimi. I'm not sure what happened to
Leomon, but when I went back later, no one was there. Since then, I've been
wandering down the river looking for you."
Tai pursed his lips
in thought. Mimi? Leomon? A trap? They would obviously have to tread cautiously
in the near future. "Well Kari, do you think you can move?"
She nodded.
"Good. We're
heading out soon. Let me know if you need anything or if you have any
problems."
Mimi sat on the throne once again,
watching Matt listen to disputes. He actually was rather fair as far as the
decisions and sentences were concerned. There was actually a goodness in him
that no one could see, probably because of the cold, harshness he exudes in his
impersonal style. He held himself above others and clearly looked down upon
them. Almost as if he claimed rule by divine right. But she knew she could
bring out the good in him.
While she was entertaining these
thoughts, the doors slammed open. A group of guards came in dragging a figure
behind them in chains. Matt stood up and waved his hand. The digimon whose case
he was just listening to scrambled away to the shadows. Slowly, Matt descended
the steps as the figure was brought before him. Mimi gripped the armrest of the
throne more tightly.
"Your majesty," one of the
guards announced. "We have found the traitor." The guards threw down
the figure of Leomon before his feet. He was battered with many dark stains on
his fur. As Matt approached the figure like a tiger, slowly circling once
around, the digimon stared forward defiantly. "So, you didn't quite get
away did you?"
Leomon did not respond. Matt
continued, "And where is the little one, Kari?" As he asked this he
leaned forward staring Leomon in the eyes. Leomon spit in his face. Matt nodded
to the guards, who pulled on the chains. Leomon's head whipped back but his
body remained in place, strangling him. "It's good that you should join
us. Things were getting quite dull."
He signaled to the guards who began
leading him away. "I will see you later. And I will have the name of all
of your cohorts."
Mimi sat all the while, in tense
stiffness. She could not imagine what he would do to him. She closed her eyes,
hearing the strange voices and moans that she had heard during that brief time
she was in the prisons. Somehow, she recalled them. Cries of pure agony,
torture, and madness.
Matt returned to the throne and sat
heavily, reaching by his side for a cup of wine. He drank this, poured another
glass, and drank that too. Staring forward in silence, he suddenly threw the
glass across the hall, making Mimi jump at the spontaneity of the action. Mimi
winced at the shattering sound the glass made, which echoed in the empty hall.
As Mimi breathed a
sigh, she felt a pull and gasped as her lips came into contact with skin. Matt
kissed her long and hard, and when he finally pulled away, she gasped for
breath. When Mimi looked at the throne again, Matt was gone. She just caught
his shadow leaving through a rear entrance to the hall.
Agumon stared across the river as they
took a break. He felt sick inside; his mind was in shambles. What was it all
about? Deep inside, there was a fear that had manifested itself while he was
not paying attention. Why? He knew he should not be feeling these irrational
fears. Idly, he sat and listened to the water. Slowly, he began to drift off.
I am the warrior.
Agumon's cocked his head to the side
and listened closely to the water. He could hear a sound, the coming and the
going. Looking upstream, he saw the water come from a bend; looking downstream,
he saw the water disappear around a bend. Come and go. A cycle. Where had it
been? Where was it going? He breathed deeply and closed his eyes.
There can be no fear.
To the flowing of the water, he felt a
coolness within. He chased that voice that was on the dimness of his consciousness,
delving deeper and deeper within himself. The coolness spread throughout his
body and sent a tingling sensation to his extremities. Around him, the world
disappeared and became a black void. There was nothing, and then there was him.
I am the warrior.
He listened closely this time, and let
his energy flow. Instead of forcing the chase, he loosened his mind and let it
come to him. A pinpoint of light appeared and swallowed him. He found himself
staring at Greymon, Metalgreymon, and Wargreymon. It was him. And him. And him.
I am the protector. Greymon
slashed at the air and roared. A nimbus of light surrounded him as he made
ferocious attacks at the air, guarding some imaginary spot.
I am the warrior. Metalgreymon
launched attack after attack with grace and finesse, sending out a destructive
energy that would surely annihilate any opponent.
I am the chosen. Wargreymon
knelt in silence as a bright spot of light, like a will-o-the-wisp, swirled
around him.
Where am I? Agumon thought. He
began to breathe more raggedly, looking back and forth. There he saw himself,
but he himself was not. The figures remained still before him. The voice echoed
again. There can be no fear. Embrace yourself.
The figures disappeared as he saw
himself as Wargreymon in battle. It was with Metalgarurumon. They slashed and
exchanged blows, but remained at a stalemate. He tried to turn away, but there
was no stopping it. He saw himself defeated in a horribly gruesome way. He
screamed. There can be no fear. He tried to escape, but there was
nowhere to run. In the moment of death, there can be no fear. He
screamed. No fear.
Then he felt a cool touch from behind
him. He tried to turn, but the feeling still came from behind. A small ball of
light came and swirled around him, stopping finally in front of him. There
can be no fear, the voice called out to him.
How? Agumon responded. What
if I fail?
You will not. You cannot.
But...but how can you be certain? What
if I let Tai down? What if I let the others down?
There can be no fear.
Stop it! I...I...
Where there is fear, there is doom.
I'm so afraid! Oh...I...I'm just...so
afraid.
---
Breathe. Inhale. Exhale. Breathe. The light
is gone. Breathe. Calm. Calm. Think. There can be no fear. Do not fear. Think.
Where there is fear, there is hesitation. Where there is hesitation, there is
doom. You must not hesitate to act. There can be no fear. To fear is to fear
thyself. To fear thyself is to forsake your essence. I am the protector. I am
the warrior. I am the chosen. No. There can be no fear. I understand. In the
moment of death, in the moment of truth, there can be no fear.
A bright flash, and he felt himself
drifting once more.
"Agumon. Agumon," the wispy
voice gained volume and became distinct. It was Tai. "Agumon! Wake up. Agumon!"
Agumon opened his eyes. He had fallen
asleep by the river. The sound of the rushing water was loud in his ears.
Sitting up, he scratched his head. "Agumon, we're heading out. We've been
trying to wake you for the past few minutes!"
Agumon got up onto his feet and looked
around. Everyone was staring at him in silence, as if expecting him to say
something. He smiled nervously and shrugged.
Tai slapped his hand to his face.
"Mimi, do you love me?"
Mimi stared at Matt. The question took
her by surprise. They sat in the garden on that stone bench, staring off into
the pond. "I...yes, of course I do."
"You don't mean it," Matt
said.
What do I say?, Mimi thought.
"Of course I do."
Matt pressed further, "You think
I'm a monster. You think, 'how can this evil brute ask me that I love him. He
commits atrocities and thinks that I would love him?'"
"No, no! I really do."
"Then prove it."
Mimi thought hard about this one. Here
was the critical moment. Here she could win her way back into his heart, and
maybe even guide him back to the right path. But how could she prove it? She
swallowed. There was only one way she knew. "When you rule the land, I
will be your queen."
Matt regarded her with a look of
genuine surprise. Slowly, he smiled. He grasped her. "Then you really do
love me? And you believe in me?" Before she could answer, he continued.
"I knew it! I knew you loved me. This is wonderful! Oh Mimi, I could...no.
I will. I will kiss you." He pulled her in and kissed her on the lips.
"Matt, there's something I have
to tell you." This ends now, Mimi thought with resolution. Matt
gave her his full attention. "Matt, you know, the way you..."
Just then a bang
sounded at the door and it opened. Matt stood with a fire in his eyes and
confronted the intruder. He gave quite a physical beating to the poor creature
until he finally extracted the urgent message-they were near. Matt cried out in
elation. Looking back at her, he exited the room.
So close! I was
so close!
"So, my friend. It is you and I
once again."
Matt waved the guards outside the
room. T.K. stood silent watch in the corner. Leomon sat in a metal chair bolted
to the ground. He was bound by steel cable at the neck, arms, and legs. A
single bright light hung from the ceiling, focused so that all of the light
shone down in a small circle surrounding the digimon. Matt approached a tray on
which a number of curious-looking tools sat. He picked up a syringe and filled
it from a small vial. He squirted out some of the liquid to make sure that it
was working properly.
"Ah, yes. I almost forgot."
He turned towards Leomon and folded his arms in amusement. "Do you wish to
divulge the information willingly?" Leomon merely glared at him. "As
I thought. I suppose it's better this way-I get my information and the
pleasure of extracting it forcefully."
He approached Leomon slowly, intending
to draw out each tense moment. When he finally reached him, he toyed with the
syringe a little. There was a nervous knock at the door. "Ack! What is
it?" he asked roughly.
A muffled voice answered. "The
eclipse will come in an hour sir."
Matt looked regretfully at Leomon,
then looked at T.K. with a smile. "Here you go, my dear brother." He
handed him the syringe. "You will get the honor of the interrogation. This
is your first, but I'm sure you'll do fine." He leaned in close with a
whisper. "Just let it flow naturally." With that, he left the room.
They were alone, save the two guards outside the door.
"Guards!" T.K. said crisply.
They entered and saluted. T.K. approached, but dropped the syringe. One of the
guards knelt to pick it up. Then T.K. moved. With a swift punch, he knocked the
standing guard square in the face. Completing the motion, he doubled up his
hands and brought them down with crushing force upon the back of the knelt
guard. For good measure, he gave the guards each a swift kick in the gut.
He moved quickly to Leomon and freed
him. Leomon slumped forward and rubbed his wrists to restore the circulation.
"We must move quickly. He'll start the incantation soon."
The two glanced out the hallway to
make sure the coast was clear. Then, furtively, they swiftly made their way
into the catacombs.