Only One Demand
By: ~Kay~
A golden setting sun washed the terrain in a warm yellow light, making the sharp cliffs and mountains appear to have been carved out of amber crystal. It illuminated the view of a world that could have been perfect, if you happened to overlook all the signs of destruction.
The land was scarred, parts of the forest completely obliterated and smoking, with black spires piercing the sky.
'But its over.'
Perched on the edge of a ledge, his legs hanging over the side, was a boy that could be no older than eleven. His spiky hair was pure white, and his slanted eyes were a deep violet color, glazed a warm gold as he gazed at the setting sun.
A white cape was draped over his shoulders, split down the middle. The rest of his clothing was a mix of white and black, making him easily visible from above against the reddish stone.
The boy sighed, and rested his head heavily on his hands. Strapped around each wrist was a Digivice, the one on his right jet black, the other white.
'It's over.'
"Then why to I still feel guilty?" the boy muttered to himself. "Arachnemon's gone, and the rest of the Digidestined are going to knock the remaining Control Spires down. The Dark Crystal was destroyed. But I don't feel like I belong."
With a frustrated sigh, he stood up and leaned against the stone wall. He didn't fit in, and he couldn't do a thing about it. His friends, the ones he'd unintentionally betrayed by listening to Arachnemon, knew he was changed, and wouldn't returned to the person he'd been before . Ever.
'If I went back in time, I probably wouldn't even recognize myself. I've changed to much. And its my own fault, not Arachnemon's.'
Even though the others kept insisting it was her fault. But now she was gone, and he still felt like he had when she'd been alive. And as impossible as it sounded, he missed her. She'd been the closest thing he'd had to a Digimon partner, and she'd believed in him. Or had seemed to.
But she hadn't cared about him, only what he was. And that wasn't human. That was all he'd been to her, a creation and tool. Her one mistake though, was that her little 'tool' had a soul.
'But that wasn't enough to save me from the fate she'd planned for me.'
The fate of becoming the most feared and hated being in the Digital World.
The Digimon Emperor.
The boy frowned, and clutched the pendant the hung around his neck, a polished milky white stone disk, carved deeply with the Crest of Kindness. It glowed with a faint pink light in response.
The Taslim of Kindness. What a joke. It would have fit the person he'd been when he first came to this world, but not him. Not the person who'd done so much evil that even his own friends cringed every time he got mad, as if he would strike them.
Even though he'd sworn he'd never hurt any of them again. He'd done that to much when he'd been the Emperor, and some of them were hurt in more ways than physically.
And he'd probably hurt Jun the worst.
Ah, yes. Jun Motimiya, the cheerful, hyper girl who'd always have something to say to lighten everyone up. The one nicknamed 'Goggle Girl' for those ridiculous round white goggles she wore on her head. Of all of them, she had probably changed the most. And it was his fault. He'd hurt her. Taken advantage of her weaknesses, the ones she'd only confided in him.
He'd twisted his best friend…..and now he'd give anything to go back and fix that.
But Jun wasn't the only one he'd twisted.
There was also Niall. Niall Takenouchi, the sullen, moody boy who'd complain about everything. He'd twisted Niall as well, using those to his own advantage. He'd then found out just how little he knew about that boy.
He'd of never connected the sullen boy with a dark outlook on anything with the boy who'd fought his Digimon and Jun to run to him when he'd been hurt. Even though he'd been the enemy. Even though he could have been killed.
He hadn't known Niall. Now he did.
Heck, he hadn't known any of them.
Then there was Midori Inoue. The ten year old girl who knew more about computers than Niall, Jun, and him combined. That matched with a temper and stubbornness that wouldn't be rivaled by a room full of politicians.
She'd changed. Stubbornness had given way to strength of will, temper to (mostly) controlled anger. She'd grown up; too fast.
And last of all, poor little Jim Kido. The sweet, innocent little boy who hated seeing anyone hurt, even the enemy. Jim's innocence was gone now, at least in his opinion. The first battle Jim had actually been in, his Digimon had been hurt, and then…..
That memory made even him cringe. It had been before he had become the Emperor. To put it in the simplest terms, Jim had almost single-handedly destroyed an entire army of Dark Digimon, and had almost attacked his own Digimon when she tried to calm him down. He'd collapsed into a sobbing wreck, and withdrawn into himself for almost two days.
As the Emperor, he'd seen Jim's conscience as a petty weakness. Now he wished he'd been like that at least once in his life.
Fate wasn't kind. To be blunt, she was downright sadistic when it came to people's lives.
And soon she'd have more toys to play with. Gennai had been clear on the fact that there would be more Digidestined.
And there would be another Child of Kindness.
"Hey, NEO!"
The boy blinked, and looked up to the familiar voice, shielding his eyes against the sun. As he'd expected, a giant four-winged phoenix was hovering over the rock pinnacle, a person perched on its neck looking down at him.
The rider nimbly leapt down from the bird, and landed in a catlike fashion beside him.
"You okay, Neo?" the red haired girl inquired, seating herself on the ledge, watching him with inquisitive brown eyes. The phoenix hovering above made a move to land, even though the ledge was obviously too small for it. Before it reached it though, it glowed yellow and shrunk into a smaller bird with similar coloring and only two wings.
"Niall wanted to look for you sooner, but Midori convinced him you needed the time. So," she cocked her head to the side, eyeing him carefully "Are you okay?"
"Do I look ill or injured?" he replied tonelessly, turning away. The girl scowled, and the bird rolled his eyes.
"You know what I meant." She snapped irritably. Neo turned back to her, a haunted look far back in his violet eyes.
"Do I look okay?" he inquired wearily, shoulders sagging. The girl sighed, and her expression changed to sympathetic.
"I'm sorry Jun, I didn't mean to snap at you…" he muttered, covering his eyes with one hand, trying to block out the mounting headache he was earning. Jun's eyes filled with concern, and she reached out to put a comforting hand on his arm.
As soon as her hand touched him, he flinched and pulled back, clearly alarmed.
"Are you that afraid of us?!" Jun blurted out "Are you that afraid of me now?!"
Pain flooded his amethyst eyes, pain that could have been unbearable to anyone else.
"….I hurt you, Jun. I hurt you more than anyone….I don't want it to happen again."
"You won't! You've changed now, you're back with us!"
Neo looked away, unable to meet her gaze any longer. Jun walked up to him, and this time he didn't pull away when she put her hand on his shoulder.
"Yes I will. That's what I was created for." He whispered, then frowned and looked up. "But I can fight that. Until then…."
"We'll be there. Never forget that. You can't always be alone."
"Says who?" Neo challenged.
"Says me."
"Fine then." He managed a weak smile. "Go back and tell them I'm coming."
Jun's face lit up with a smile. The bird glowed again, and became the phoenix once more. He hovered by the ledge, waiting for Jun to climb on. Before doing that, however, Jun shot Neo a warning look.
"Be down there in fifteen minutes, or I've got myself a new dartboard. Got it?"
"Crystal clear." He assured her, and in a flurry of scarlet and gold wings, she was gone, winging back to Gennai's home.
Neo shifted his gaze to glare defiantly at the setting sun.
"You hear me fate? This is the last time I ask something from you. One last request. Wait, no. One last demand."
Neo's voice cracked at he spoke the thing he wanted more than anything.
"Who-whoever's the next Kindness…..don't do anything to him that you've done to him. Don't you dare do anything to him."
The Taslim around his neck flashed, and a globe of pale pink light appeared before him. It showed two boys, the six year old reading a story to the three year old who was almost asleep. Both of them had vivid blue eyes, and blue tinged hair. The younger glowed, visible and comprehensible only to Neo, with the light of Kindness.
So. That was the next Kindness.
The globe of light faded away, leaving him staring at the darkening sky. Neo sighed, and stepped right up to the ledge. The ground was very, very far away, forest and already dark.
'I hope he's not like me.'
Then he jumped.
Moments later, a black and white clad figure was visible gliding through the air effortlessly, following the path the phoenix had gone.
'I hope he's not like me.'
A/N: Okay, how many of you actually thought poor Neo was committing suicide? That was the intent, but he wasn't. So, here's another Original Digidestined story. Yeesh…I write to many of these….
And yes, Niall Takenouchi is related to Sora Takenouchi. And yes, I am talking about the Jun Motimiya whom most people despise. No, I don't hate her. And Jim Kido is Joe's older brother, and Midori Inoue is Yolei's older sister.
And those two kids near the end were Sam and Ken Ichijouji. I hope you weren't to dense to catch that.