To the few people that reviewed this…hey, I know the rest
of you will stumble onto it eventually… I'm sorry the last chapter was
confusing *cough, Sandry, cough*. This one may be a little more explanatory.
Hey, it was just the beginning, what do you expect?
I must have cried myself to sleep. All I could remember of the day before was the fear that had clutched my heart as I ran, ran for my life. My eyes opened slowly, sore from the constant flow of hot tears that had streamed down my cheeks, now stiff and marred with saline trails from those long-dried droplets of water. My body jerked involuntarily as I slipped back into consciousness, not remembering where I was or what had happened. Then it all hit me like a bag of wet cement. My mouth went cotton-dry as I recalled the howls of pain, the high laugh of that mysterious woman, Matt's plea for me to run. Matt. Tears sprang at the corners of my eyes again as I remembered the last thing he had sent to me mind-to-mind.
Don't cry, my Lia, we still love you. We are connected by love. We are connected. We are…
There were grass stains, streaks of dirt, and tear marks ground into the wine-colored cotton shirt I had worn the day before, small rips and brambles fastening into my well-worn jeans, my shoelaces untied and tangled around fallen branches. Pine pitch and needles, little leaves, and dirt mixed with shredded moss had found its way into my snarled hair. I must have been quite a sight. Had my guardian, Wizardmon, had seen me, he would have laughed.
Well, what have we here? Some forest sprite strayed too far from her faerie ring?
But there was no one. I was alone. Cold, and hungry, and aching both inside and out, it would only be a matter of time before I fell prey to some vicious creature.
As if on cue, the leaves began to rustle in the bushes surrounding me. A twig broke with a definitive snap. The fallen foliage, the corpses of the past spring and summer, swished as someone stepped hastily over their broken bodies. My body seized up in panic. I was rooted to the spot where I still lay. My hands groped for some kind of weapon, a stout branch or anything that could send a sharp blow to my potential assailant. I found nothing but earth, which I tore at in fear and anticipation until my fingernails turned black. There was a soft sniffling sound, as if the creature following me could sense me by scent. My lips were trembling as the tears in my eyes started oozing down my cheeks again, burning the raw skin.
"Lia?" the question was plaintive, almost fearful.
"W-who…who's there?" I whimpered back, my hands clasped close to my chest.
A small white face peeked out from behind a scrubby shrub, its dark eyes wondering and brimming with fear. A coal black nose sniffed the air, before the creature emerged fully, a small rabbit with white and pale green ears almost twice the length of its small body.
"Terriermon! How did you…where did you…why did you…?"
"Willis jumped in front of my way and got hit harder than I did, so while that spooky lady was making fun of all of them I took off and went looking for you. You left a pretty easy trail to follow," he explained.
"You mean that woman could find me?!" I gasped.
"No, I mean easy for a rabbit like me. That lady couldn't find you if she had Joe's bifocals…or Yolei's for that matter."
"That's a relief. What…what happened to the others? What happened to…" my words were snagged in my throat, caught as I forced back another wave of tears. "What happened to Matt?"
"Well, I'm not quite sure what happened to the kids, I was already gone by the time the crazy lady got to them. But as for the other digimon guardians…they're stones."
"Like statues?"
"No, like rocks. They're all just kind of lying on the hill where we left them. But like I said, I don't know what happened to the kids."
"Maybe I can help a little more," said a gentle voice behind me. For the second time today, I nearly jumped out of my skin. Bolting to my feet and turning quickly, I came face-to-face with an unusual man in his late twenties, early thirties. He at once reminded me of a young Obi Wan Kenobi, the great Jedi master of Star Wars. I knew better than to think that, for this man was the greatest mentor and teacher to all Chosen Children, and in a very roundabout way, almost a surrogate father to Izzy.
"Young lady, you're a mess," he chided, frowning at my disheveled appearance.
"I'm sorry, Gennai, I…"
"No matter, there's no time for explanations. Your friends are in terrible danger and you are the only one who can break the curse they are under."
"I don't understand. What happened, and who was that woman?"
Gennai sighed loudly, seating himself on a nearby stump cushioned with a thick coat of fuzzy emerald green moss. He rested his hands in his lap, staring at me with dark eyes. Terriermon stood beside me, an inquisitive expression on his little white face, a huge ear flopping over an eye every now and then.
"My dear, that woman is in a way, like myself. She is not quite a digimon, yet she is not entirely human either. But she, unlike me, has power. Terrible, dark power that she uses to inflict curses upon those who cross her."
"But why us?" Terriermon interrupted.
"Frankly, I don't know, and she probably doesn't either, but she doesn't give a damn and now she's placed a terrible curse upon the other children. I do believe she can take on different forms, and is known simply as Belladonna. She has given the Digidestined new forms, ones that will eat at their human conscious until they slip further and further into their new bodies and remember nothing of being young men and women. They will know only the ache of hunger, the fear of being hunted, the fear of death. Cold will seep into their veins, and they will most likely acquire tastes for blood and flesh. And they will not recognize you."
Gennai's words struck a fatal blow to my heart. What if Matt, my own lover and truest friend, whose lips have met mine a thousand times or more…what if he struck me down and killed me, not knowing it was I until my blood ran down his throat and my bones were picked clean? I blanched, my eyes widening to twice their normal size.
"Now, now, don't look so afraid. Your friends can return to their human forms at the Vernal and Autumnal Equinoxes, from sunset to sunrise. Now, as for your task…I wish you had some other choice, but the way to break the spell was not chosen by me. Firstly, from the moment I take my leave until every last Chosen Child and Guardian is back to their true forms, you cannot utter a single word, nor can you draw pictures or write things, or sing to convey your ideas. Gesturing and speaking mind-to-mind is all right, but you cannot mention a thing of your quest, not even to the others, or all is lost. That part, the not speaking about the quest, goes for you as well, Guardian of Miracles."
"If Lia spoke to me mind-to-mind, and I translated, is that cheating?" Terriermon inquired.
"I'm not quite sure," Gennai admitted, "but don't go trying it just in case."
"But that's not it, is it?" I pointed out, playing with the
silver crescent necklace hanging at my throat. Please don't make me weave
thorns into shirts for all of them, I silently pleaded.
"No. You must journey far from here, to the Wellspring of Flames. There you must fill this bottle," he paused and handed me a small red vial on a string, which I slipped over my head to rest around my neck. "And then you must travel to the Forest of Ice and fill this," he handed me another container, like a canteen, which I slung over my shoulders. "And finally, you must gather the petals from the Roses of Darkness and Light. All of these must be combined with three drops of your own blood in a pot under a full moon, and must be left to simmer all night. But if you should cry into the cauldron, the potion will not work. This potion you can place in that," he pointed to the canteen, "and it must be sloshed onto each of the fourteen children. Only then will they return to their human forms. When the children are revived, so will be their guardians."
I nodded, repeating the lengthy instructions in my head. Then I remembered something very crucial, and made a point to ask of it. "Gennai, all of this will take months. What of my parents…what of all our parents?"
The wise teacher smiled clandestinely. "I made perfect copies of all of you and placed them in your homes. They are exact down to the last strand of hair or pimple, and to every personality quirk. They will be posing as you until you can return home, and your families will never know the difference. Is that everything you need to ask of me?"
Are you
scared, Lia?
A little, Terri, but I know that all of this will be
worth it in the end.
I shook my head reluctantly, and Terriermon the same. Gennai stood, shaking his robes off a little.
"Then I can offer you nothing more than this satchel. In it you will find rations enough for a few days' worth of meals, candles, matches, a knife, a cloak, a bar of soap, and a small map of the surrounding area. Good luck, my Daughter of Faith. Remember that light and darkness go hand in hand, and don't forget that you are never alone. We are connected." And with that, Gennai disappeared, leaving Terriermon and myself
We have a long walk ahead of us. Are you ready to start now? Terriermon inquired.
I nodded, and tossing my dark hair to the wind, stepped onto the path that would take me back to the arms of my loved ones.
~*~
I should've
learned from "Love Has No Boundaries" that journey stories get boring after a
while, but thankfully, I know exactly where I'm going with this one.
(Especially considering I ripped some of it off from that book.) What did you
think? I need to know these things, you guys, otherwise I won't know how I can
improve! ~Lia