Disclaimer: Digimon, its plots, characters and concepts are not mine. They're belonged to such people as Toei Animation, Bandai and Saban. All are being borrowed and will hopefully be brought back as they were. No profit is being made, so please don't sue. Any quotes from the Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux aren't mine either. The Ghost Roads idea was borrowed from the Buffy Trilogy, The Gatekeeper I think. It's not mine either. Any original characters and this fic are mine.
Ken was pretty pissed off as the vampire landed on top of him. Getting a full-grown vampire on you was never a nice thing. He hissed as he fell straight onto his back, wincing as pain blossomed through his bones. It'd just be typical if he fucked up his back. That was all he needed right now. At that moment he was far more concerned with trying to keep a blood-thirsty (or was it power-thirsty?) vampire away from his neck. The vampire's mouth was wide and saliva dripped from the fangs. Ken grunted as he jerked his head to the side to avoid it splashing on him. This was just brilliant... the vampire wasn't so graceful now, was he? Having his plans interrupted probably wasn't something he liked very much.
Ken gritted his teeth as he slammed his hands into the vampire's face. He knew it wouldn't hurt him -- hell, he was a vampire after all, simply punching him wasn't enough -- but it was intended to shock him enough that Ken could get him off of him... it was swiftly followed by a hard kick in the stomach that sent the vampire gasping. Glad to see you're not below feeling honest pain, Ken thought as he scrambled away and rose to his feet, keeping a careful eye on the spluttering vampire. In some strange way, this was actually quite amusing. The images he was currently receiving of the immortal were not flattering... the opposite actually.
Think, think! What could he do against this thing? He gave a quick glance over at Takeru and Daisuke and grimaced. Daisuke was still motionless and Takeru did not look like he would be able to keep calm for much longer. Then he saw something else. Something silver that was clutched in Daisuke's palm.
A cross.
Ken blinked. Well... he hadn't been expecting that. He frowned as he thought fast. If he had that himself, he could do enough damage to the vampire until he could come up with something better. Unfortunately his quick thinking was interrupted by the vampire rising again, and looking seriously angry. "Shit," Ken muttered, stepping back. What could he do? Then it hit him.
The vampire wanted power. Ken had power. The vampire wanted Ken's power, which he sure as hell wasn't going to get. It would be terribly ironic if he was defeated by Ken's own power. Quickly he ran through things in his head. Fire... vampires could be burned.
Now there was only the process of coming up with a fire spell. His memory had, naturally, drawn up a blank. It was just classic that he couldn't remember the words when he really needed them. Think! his mind yelled as he dodged another lunge from fang-face as he wondered how long he could keep this up. Think, think!
Damnit, he couldn't think!
The cross.
Ken tossed a desperaste glance back at Takeru, who looked like he had gone numb. "Takeru!" The blonde didn't seem to hear him. Ken gave an exasperated growl. "Takeru!!" Still no answer. "Damn it, Takeru, will you snap out of it!!"
That got through to him.
"What?" The Keeper of Hope looked up straight at Ken. His eyes slid to the vampire, who was getting ready for another lunge, and he blanched. "Argh!"
Ken looked ready to throttle him. "Will you get yourself together!" Takeru looked too frightened to, and it was then the genius realised how dangerous it was to have him here. Damn everything. Just damn it straight to hell. Could things get any worse? "The cross Takeru!"
Takeru looked at him blankly.
"The cross!" Ken fought not to roll his eyes and snap. "The cross in Daisuke's hand!!" God, was he thick?!
"Oh!" Takeru leaned down and took the cross from Daisule's still hand and looked at it. "What'll I do with it?"
Had he gone into shock or something? Ken could hardly believe his ears. With a hiss, he skidded out of the vampire's reach again and knew he couldn't keep this up. Finally, he lost his temper and started roaring at the blonde, not caring if he annoyed him or not. "EITHER USE IT OR GIVE IT TO ME!"
Takeru finally snapped out of whatever daze he had been in and stood up, his eyes looking more clearer than they had been when he had first found Daisuke. He took a few steps forward, aimed carefully and flung the cross at Ken, who caught it like an expert and with it braced carefully in his hand, turned to face the approaching vampire.
They met in a colliding heap and both fell backwards very ungracefully. Ken clenched his teeth painfully and flung the cross into the vampire's face as the scars began to smoke again. Oddly, the cross didn't burn him, but Ken didn't stop to think, determined only to keep the cross in the vampire's face for as long as he could and still remain alive. The vampire's hands clawed at Ken's face and blood ran down his face in scarlet rivulets, feeling very uncomfortable and disgusting. Despite being a cruel tyrant, Ken really didn't like blood much.
The immortal's screams roared painfully through his ears and Ken was sure he was going deaf. At last it seemed he was almost crazy with pain when Ken kicked him away. The vampire landed awkwardly on his side and remained there, clutching his face and still shrieking. Ken made sure he still had the cross while he limped over to where Takeru was. The blonde looked to be in shock.
"You... you... you..." he stuttered, looking pale and shocked. Ken found himself too tired and weary to talk to him and explain and simply went over to where Daisuke lay. The redhead looked alarmingly white and far too still. Unease churned in Ken's stomach as he stared down at him, the blood drying on his face and collar. He ignored it as he fell to his knees.
"He's not dead," Takeru told him, his tone shaky and quiet. Emotion pooled from his voice. "Not yet, anyway. He still has a pulse, but it's too weak. Unless we do something, he's going to die."
"Blood loss," Ken remarked absently. "The vampire drained him to the brink of death. Unless I'm really wrong, there's a chance Daisuke's outside of himself by now. I'm going to have to find him and bring him back." It wasn't something he was looking forward to doing, but there was no way he was losing Daisuke, not now.
"What about the blood?" Takeru asked, still not entirely convinced. "How can we cure that?" It wasn't that he didn't want Daisuke to be cured, but it seemed so hopeless...
"I'm a healer," Ken told him curtly. "Let me worry about that." And there was a lot for him to worry about. The chances of bringing Daisuke back were slim to never-possible. He handed the cross to Takeru. "If the vampire wants some more abuse hurled at him, you know what to do."
Takeru stared at the cross as if it had come alive. "What?! But--"
Ken wasn't listening to him, not really. "For once, don't argue." Takeru shut up. With a critical eye, Ken brushed his fingers across Daisuke's face, looking at every part extremely carefully. He hissed and grimaced as he found the bite on his neck, which was still inflammed and tender-looking. Takeru got the impression that the vampire was going to regret biting Daisuke a lot.
Ken continued to brush his fingers across his face before both of his hands rested on Daisuke's temples. There he took several deep breaths and calmed down, before taking a strand from his magic and shoving it into Daisue, taking himself along with it. For a moment there was simply nothing and he was just floating on air... then things began to spin and jumble and he was falling...
When he opened his eyes, he was surrounded by grey and mist.
Daisuke was aware he was gradually losing it and didn't really care at that point. His only thoughts were, I'm not going to get out of here. I'm going to be stuck here for God knows how long. He stared in front of him without really seeing anything and it was extremely slowly that he realised Osamu had stiffened and was looking at an approaching ghost with intense dislike. Curious despite himself, he turned and stared along with Osamu. And then could only stare as he got one of the biggest shocks so far. And he had seen a lot so far.
The ghost coming towards them looked exactly like him. Daisuke swallowed and took a step back, unable to stop himself from openly staring. What the heck was going on? He turned and glanced at Osamu. "Who's that?" He resisted the urge to add, 'And why the hell does he look like me?!'
Osamu looked at the approaching ghost again. Then he said one word: "Daiseus." Daisuke presumed it was his name. It sounded a bit like his own for that matter. He couldn't decide if that was a good or bad thing. The ghost was so like him, that if Daisuke had been a few years older, they could have been twins.
The ghost nodded in acknowledgement as he stopped before them. "Osamu." Then his eyes flickered to a wide-eyed Daisuke and he said, "Daisuke."
"Yeah?" Daisuke replied without thinking and then cringed at how that sounded.
But the second ghost didn't seem to mind. "They said you were here and they were correct." He seemed pleased. "And now I can help you."
Both Osamu and Daiske stared at him. "Help me?" Daisuke managed to choke out. "How... this doesn't involve making me truly dead, does it?" Just to make sure.
Daiseus shook his head. "No," he replied. "If everything goes to plan it will mean you will be completely alive again." Daisuke visibly brightened at that, for obvious reasons.
"What do I have to do?" the digidestined asked, still wary despite himself.
Daiseus held out his misty, grey hand. "Touch my hand."
Daisuke stared at him. "Uh... how do I do that exactly? You're dead."
The ghost made an impatient sound, which only made Daisuke even more confused. "Put your hand through mine!"
"Oh." Sheepishly, Daisuke reached out with his hand and then stopped. "What's this going to do exactly?" he asked, knowing he was going to be yelled at for this.
Daiseus looked like he would have throttled him if he'd been able to. "I will give you the power to return to your mind and your body!" he snapped. "Does that satisfy you?!"
Daisuke looked at him sheepishly. "Yeah, yeah it does. Sorry." Ignoring Daiseus' huff and Osamu's chuckle, he reached out again. This time his hand passed through Daiseus' misty one. Daisuke grimaced before he could stop himself. It wasn't uncomfortable exactly, but the sensation was odd. It felt cold and clammy and Daisuke had the wild urge to scratch his hand but didn't, knowing better.
And then the power was building and he squeezed his eyes shut as his stomach began to heave again. Could it do that, if he wasn't technically in his body? No time to ponder, for he had the falling sensation yet again. He felt everything disappear around him and he pitched forward, barely swallowing his scream as he went tumbling down into nothing,
The breeze that shouldn't have been there whipped around him as he fell and he had the feeling of his clothes and hair being blown around but how could it, if he wasn't in his body? This was so confusing! But then a new problem arose, as Daisuke found himself not stopping, instead just continuing to fall. Was this supposed to happen? "Is this supposed to happen?!" he yelled above the roaring breeze, fighting down his panic.
Daiseus didn't reply, not exactly. What Daisuke did hear was his muttered remark of, "I need more power!" Daisuke didn't like that, it meant things weren't going as they were supposed to be going. And those type of things always went wrong. Altogether, it didn't look good.
Then, despite all the wind and the pain and the general panic, he felt something else. Something that felt vaguely familiar brushed against him and Daisuke found himself shivering. It felt smooth and cool, like wind, but there was still an underlining feeling of hidden warmth. It resembled the personality of someone he knew very well... realisation hit him like a punch in the stomach. The moment he realised who it was, they were both tossed into a telepathic link.
~Ken!~
~Daisuke!~
Joy filled Daisuke as he realised there was someone there who was going to help him, or at least try. ~Ken, you're here!~ A pause and then... ~How did you get here anyway?~
Ken radiated dry amusement. ~I'll tell you later. Are you all right, or at least, are you still altogether?~
Daisuke figured this meant was his mind all in one piece and he replied, ~Yes, I'm altogether and I want out!~
Ken chuckled. ~Then out you shall have!~ He seemed overjoyed and while that was great and all, Daisuke couldn't help but feel a tiny bit embarrassed, but he hid it well. Then he remembered Daiseus, who was still trying to get him back together.
~Ken wait!~ he cried and he felt Ken's surprise at the emotion in his voice. Or rather, the panic. ~We can't go yet!~
~Why?~ Ken asked, and had his question answered, but not by Daisuke.
~Because of me,~ Daiseus said quietly, his mental voice low and solemn.
~Who are you?!~ Ken demanded and Daisuke fought the urge to roll his eyes at the suspicion in his mind voice.
~Ken, relax,~ he told him firmly, and heard Daiseus chuckle absently. ~This is Daiseus and he was helping me get back to my body before you came up. He can do it but he needs more power...~ He let his sentence trail off, hoping Ken could sense the pleading in his voice. He could.
~I suppose I could join my power with yours and we can get both Daisuke and myself back into our bodies,~ he sighed, sounding none too happy with the suggestion. Daisuke cheered as Daiseus rumbled agreement.
For a moment there was nothing, only the thrum of the different powers and then there was a whistling wind as there came a vaguely wrapping sound and then Daisuke could only squeeze his eyes shut as he went toppling downwards once more, but this time things felt more in control than before. Through the tears that were leaking from the force of the winds he was plummeting through, Daisuke thought he could see his own still body looming before him. It was coming closer and closer to him, growing bigger with every passing second until Daisuke knew he was going to hit it.
He squeezed his eyes shut, unable to bear watching the impact. There was a sharp jostling motion and then for a moment nothing...
...and then all Daisuke could feel was the pain of his body as feeling returned and his eyes snapped open.