The Dark Bandit
Part Eleven
Iori awoke shortly after the rising of the sun and went about his
errands. Although, as he had stated earlier, he was officially an advisor to
the King, many of the young man's duties included running simple errands back
and forth between different people. His work often required that he be up
early, and though he had no specific errands to do at that moment, he awakened
out of habit despite the interruption in the previous night's slumber.
After a quick breakfast in the kitchen, the boy went to see what
he was needed for. Armadimon, always by his side, followed behind him in case
there might be things for him to carry. Wisely, they had kept silent to the
servants and anyone else they might meet about the digivice they had received
the night before. Although he had secretly believed the King was wrong about
his decision to imprison his own son as well as what Koushiro believed he had
planned for the digimon, it was clear that with a digivice he was not merely a
supporter but an ally.
And so it was with some nervousness that he went about the castle.
The servants were sleeping late because most of the people they would need to
attend to were in the dungeon, and so it was still rather quiet. The King and
Queen were usually not awake this early, and so the only people about were
those who enjoyed the morning, such as himself.
Therefore, the boy was quite startled to hear a whispering noise
come from behind a pile of barrels. He had been walking past them on his way
out of the kitchen, and suddenly stopped when he heard a voice.
"Pssst,"
the voice called. "Hey!"
Iori paused in his travels and turned around. "Who's there?" he
questioned quietly. Armadimon looked at him questioningly. "I thought I heard
something," he explained.
"Do you have a digivice?" the voice hissed from wherever it
was coming from.
"I heard that," Armadimon gasped.
Cautiously, Iori looked around. There was no one in the courtyard.
"Who wants to know?"
There was a rustling sound in the pile of barrels and boxes. A
female face appeared from behind one of the barrels. "I do," the girl replied.
She was dressed in a pink dress that had once been very beautiful, but was now
somewhat torn, dirtied, and tattered.
"Who are you?" Iori questioned.
"Mimi Tachikawa," the girl explained. She held up a little blue
box. "Do you have one of these?"
Iori nodded. "I do," he replied with a frown. He glanced around to
be certain no one was watching. No one was.
"Who else?"
"I'm not sure," he confessed. He hadn't really thought about who else
possessed one. "Koushiro and Jyou," he recalled.
"Take me to them," the girl ordered. He nodded and turned to walk
out, the girl and her digimon following.
There was no need to hide Mimi and Palmon, as there was no one to
hide them from. The castle was still asleep. Iori led her to the
half-underground lab where he assumed Koushiro would still be hard at work.
He tapped loudly on the outside door. "Koushiro, sir," he called.
"There's a visitor to see you."
There were a few noises from within the chamber, and after a few
moments, the door opened to reveal the slightly disheveled wizard. "Visitor?"
he repeated blankly, still rubbing sleep from his eyes. He noted the girl.
"Mimi!" he gasped.
Mimi smiled, blushing slightly. "Sorry I'm late, Koushiro," she
greeted. "Palmon and I got held up a bit."
"She has a digivice, too," Iori explained. Mimi held up the object
as proof of what he'd said. The red-headed wizard responded by glancing around
the hall and then quickly ushering them inside.
"Where did you get yours?"
"I found it in a box in the forest," Mimi explained with a slight
shrug and a smile. "There were a whole bunch of others in there, but they all
flew out after I took mine."
Koushiro brushed a few books and papers from a bench. "Sorry about
the mess," he apologized half-heartedly. "Up late, researching. All that. Tell
me about what happened." He gestured to the now-clear bench and then perched
upon his stool, eager to listen.
"There's not much to tell," Palmon spoke up then. "We were on our
way to the party and decided to walk the last mile."
"Don't worry about the party," Tentomon buzzed, appearing from
behind some books. "It was postponed four days ago."
Mimi seemed somewhat unsurprised. "I figured something was going
on around here. Fill me in?"
Koushiro and Tentomon quickly told Mimi and Palmon all about what
had happened over the last few days – the mysterious bandit trying to save
Miyako's life, the other mysterious guy trying to kill her and turning out to
be Leomon, their theory about the King and evolution. Iori went to find Jyou so
he could hear. By the time the little wizard had finished, they had returned.
***
Miyako peered watchfully through the small peephole in the cell
door. It was early morning, she knew that much, but she was not sure how early
it actually was. "There's three of them," she reported to her cellmate, who
frowned in response.
"Tell me more," he prompted. His voice held a no-nonsense tone,
and Miyako didn't blame him. The situation was most definitely serious, and
they couldn't afford to make mistakes.
"I can't see much," she reminded him. "The three I can see are
right outside the door. There's another door that I guess leads back into the
castle. One guard is pretty large and kind of fat. He's got a short beard and
beady little eyes. He looks scared.
"There's a skinnier guy next to him, and he looks angry, but
tough. On the other side there's another guy. He's as big as the first fat guy,
but he looks tired instead of scared."
Ken frowned. "Too many," he mumbled. "Unless they all fall
asleep we don't have a chance."
"I don't think that'll happen," Miyako noted. She turned away from
the window and sat on the floor, leaning against the door. She watched her
cellmate think, deep in thought.
Though she had met Ken only a week ago, Miyako already felt as though
she had been let into his psyche more than most others. Upon first meeting,
he'd looked like he was a bit of a snob, but upon hearing more about his story
from Jun, she'd learned that was not the case.
He was actually pretty sensitive, Miyako had decided. She could
see that much from how he interacted with Daisuke – the small interactions
she'd been privileged to observe. Most of his more intense emotions were
displayed when he was taking the form of the Dark Bandit.
"Ken?"
"Hmm?" He was still deep in thought, staring silently at the wall.
"What happened to your brother?" There was silence. Miyako
wondered if she had gone to far. "I'm sorry. You don't have to tell me if you
don't want to."
"He was killed," he replied shortly.
"Yes, I knew that much," she answered in a quiet voice. It dawned
on her then that she wasn't quite certain of what she did want to know.
"The kingdom was at war with a neighboring land," Ken explained,
still not facing her. "My brother was asked to fight. He had been training with
some of the King's best soldiers." Miyako noted his fists clench slightly as he
spoke. "They said he was a brilliant fighter. Like nothing they had ever seen
before. Even though he was still young, he went off to war with much older
men."
"He died in the war?"
A nod. "He had a few good battles before he died," he explained,
his voice wavering slightly. "The soldiers said that he had some sort of –
magic about him. Like it was in his blood to fight or something." He shrugged.
"I guess it wasn't enough magic."
Miyako didn't speak. She didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry," she
managed to state after a few moments of silence.
***
The King was an imposing figure. He stood in his room, peering
over a table with numerous charts, diagrams, and maps. "Miyako's obvious," he
mumbled under his breath. "And my children, of course. But who are the
others?"
There was a knock on the door. "Enter," the King commanded.
The Queen entered. "I was just wondering what you wanted served
for breakfast," she told him.
He glanced toward his wife. "Something triumphant," he replied.
"Bacon?"
A shrug. "That will do."
"Will you eat breakfast?"
"If I make some progress with this darn thing!" he declared,
banging his fist on the table in frustration.
His wife smiled slightly and shrugged. "You'll make sense of it
eventually."
"It's just not coming to me," he sighed. "'Defying Courage' must
be Taichi, of course. 'Standing by Light' is Hikari."
"'Love of Reason?'" the Queen questioned, pointing to another
entry.
"Sora, I've determined."
"'Truth of Friendship'?"
"Yamato Ishida."
"Are you certain?" the Queen asked. Her husband nodded. "'Hope in
Difficulty' his brother?"
"Takeru," the King nodded. "The next three I'm stumped on."
"'Faith of Self', 'Knowledge of All,' and 'Purity of Thought?'"
she read.
"Exactly. What young people could those be?" the King slammed his
fist on the table once more.
"Easy, my dear. That's already your third table. It is possible
that those three are not of this area."
"They have to be! Otherwise they would be of no use to me, and
they would not be in this prophecy! According to it, those with these inner
strength are all in a similar area!" He was nearly shouting now.
The Queen was silent for a moment. "And the last few?" she finally
ventured to ask.
"Those last four are supposed to be younger. 'Hope in Difficulty'
– Takeru, and 'Standing by with Light' – Hikari are both listed with the last
six as well as the first eight. The first two were simple," the King replied.
"'Courageous Friend of Enemy' is Daisuke."
The Queen nodded. "Yes, and 'Pure Love of Enemy?"
"Miyako. My enemies created her. She fits that description the
best."
"You have many enemies, dear. Why her?"
The King frowned. "Inoue and his wife had her after they
faced my punishment," he replied, eyes narrowing with anger.
"I'm not sure I understand the 'pure' part," his wife stated. "And
who could be the last one?"
"'Faithful self Knowledge helps'?" her husband read. "No, I don't
either. There's much I don't understand. Prophecies are always written in
circles."
***
"I don't know if this is a good idea," Jyou mumbled under his
breath.
"Oh Jyou, lighten up," Gomamon whispered in reply. "Don't you have
faith in Koushiro?"
"Oh yes. Tons. The last time I saw him try this spell he nearly
blew us both up. But that's fine, right?" The doctor's voice dripped with
sarcasm.
"Quiet!!" Koushiro hissed from somewhere in front of them. "I
need to concentrate!"
"Sorry," Jyou and Gomamon whispered.
The young wizard was indeed concentrating quite a bit. Jyou could
see a small ball of light forming between his hands.
A soft buzzing noise filled the air, as Tentomon returned.
"Koushiro, I could just knock them out, you know." A few bolts of
electricity flickered between his wings.
Koushiro shook his head. Small droplets of sweat were beginning to
appear. "I've – got it," he gasped. The floating ball of light was larger now.
He looked up at his digimon, a bit more composed now. "What's the situation?"
"I can't tell if they're all in that hallway," Tentomon replied.
"Can't see into the cells. But they probably are. It's the most heavily
guarded. Two outside and three inside. At least."
"That's probably them, then," Gomamon decided.
"Are you ready, Koushiro?" Jyou asked.
The young wizard nodded. "I need a diversion," he stated.
"Koushiro, why don't you let me just –," Tentomon offered.
He shook his head. "I don't need them getting hurt too badly," he replied.
He turned to Jyou and Gomamon. "Diversion, please?"
***
There was a noise from down the hall. The tall guard shrugged. The
shorter, fatter one looked to his more experienced partner. "Should we check it
out?"
The taller one scratched his nose and yawned. "Nah. S'probably
just some bugs or something."
"HEY!"
The two guards looked down the hall. They saw nothing.
"Did you – ?" the short one began.
"Not a thing."
There was silence.
"HEY! DUMMIES!"
"Sh!" came a whispered hiss.
"Who's there?" barked the taller one. He stepped away from the
door.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" the voice replied.
"Why, I oughta…," he grumbled.
"It's probably just some crazy Bakemon," the shorter guard noted.
"Well I'm gonna pound them until they're ghosts of ghosts!" he
shouted. Before the other could reply, the taller one dashed down the hall in
the direction of the voice.
"Should I?"
"I suppose. There's not much more choice. Go ahead."
The pudgy guard barely had time to notice the voices before one of
them shouted.
"Petit Thunder!"
"Are you sure he'll be all right?" Koushiro questioned.
Tentomon shrugged. "I think so," he replied. "I'm not quite that
strong."
Koushiro nodded. "I guess we'd better get that door, then." His
hands were still framing the floating ball of light. He shut his eyes and
concentrated for a few moments, then raised the ball over his head and heaved
it at the door.
A few moments later the door was no more, and the three guards
were unconscious.
"Koushiro!" Miyako's voice called from the first cell. "What are
you doing here?"
"Rescuing you, of course," he replied. "Are you all right? Is
everyone else here?"
"I think so," she answered.
He nodded. "Stand back."
"Um…Koushiro?" Tentomon spoke up.
"Not now, I'm concentrating." Koushiro formed the ball of light in
his hands once more.
"But, Koushiro…"
"Not now, Tentomon." The ball grew larger and the young wizard
lobbed it at the door, which easily gave way under the force. Miyako and Ken
stepped out.
"Koushiro, you could have used the keys."
Koushiro glanced toward the fallen guards that Tentomon pointed
at. "Oh."
"It's all right, Koushiro," Miyako assured him as Ken removed the
keys from the nearest guard and began to open the other cells. Yamato and
Takeru were surprised but relieved to find the door opening.
A few moments later, everyone was out. Taichi appeared to be in
the worst shape, but Daisuke wasn't much better off.
"We'll head back to my lab," Koushiro decided. He was already
trying to remember how to do an invisibility spell.
Before the young wizard could move, however, footsteps sounded in
the hall, and a tall, imposing figure appeared in the hall.
Then, all went blank.
***
"So close," the King grumbled. He surveyed the circle he had
created on the table in front of him. Nearly all of the spaces had names in
them. For the hundredth time, he re-read the prophecy in the book.
"To achieve the
greatest power,
to become truly renowned,
from those who would oppose him,
a leader's strength is found.
"Defying Courage to the north,
Love of Reason stands beside,
Truth of Friendship is his right
hand man,
they help evils defy.
"Beside the friend comes Knowledge
of All,
Faith in Self must aid as well,
Hope in Difficulty faces Westward,
most useful - as anyone can tell.
"Beside the love of reason,
is Purity of Thought,
for a traitor's will does not fall.
Standing By hope With Light,
the deepest traitor of them all.
"Somehow though a paradox,
kindness hidden in the dark.
He faces East; the last to be.
clad in darkness,
Is he an ally or a traitor?
That remains now to be seen.
"In the future time will tell,
a leader's truth will shine
The Hope in Difficulty will be seen
And Standing By will be Light,
to shine him through the dark.
"A Courageous Friend of Enemy,
The Pure Love of Enemy as well,
they shall ally to purge the common
enemy
of the darkness and the hell.
"To a Faithful Self, Knowledge
Helps,
The darkness soon shall pass,
And to regain his strength the
leader need only
Gain strength from strengths of
enemies."
"Taichi must be in the north, and then from there I can
place almost all of them. But who are those last ones? And what does the
passage about kindness in the east mean?"
With frustration, the King slammed his fist on the table. A crack
appeared in the wood, but he barely noticed. Turning away, he faced the large
picture window and was able to observe the dew-covered grounds. "Midnight would
be the best time. With the full moon tonight. The magic will be strongest then.
But it will be useless if I don't have all twelve."
He was silent for a moment, fatigue setting in. Slowly, his
eyelids drooped. A nap would be nice…
Suddenly, there was a knock, and the door opened. Leomon stood in
front of the cracked table. "Everything all right?" he questioned.
"Just tired," the King brushed the question off. "I'm so
frustrated over this damned prophecy. It doesn't make any sense."
"No luck?"
"None. And I can't figure out how Ichijouji fits in either."
"Why are you so certain that he's one of them?"
The King snorted. "My son and daughter have proven to be traitors.
All those who have associated with them are most likely traitors. One of
Taichi's most trusted friends is that Motomiya boy. He's got to fit in."
Leomon did not respond.
The King tore himself away from the window. "Several years ago,
there was a strange little wild digimon that passed through here. I don't
recall who he was, but he told many fortunes. He told me that the relative of
one who had once pleased me might just be part of my downfall."
"And you think this is Ken Ichijouji?"
"His brother once pleased me."
"There are many who once pleased you, sire."
"This was right after the older boy's death," the King clarified.
"It was what entered my mind then and it is what enters my mind now. But I
don't know how he fits into this prophecy."
Leomon was about to offer a suggestion, when the door opened.
"Sire?"
The King stared with ice-cold eyes at the soldier who hadn't even
bothered to knock. "What is it?"
"Sire, we were about to assemble the prisoners for questioning
when we discovered further traitors."
"Further - ? Who?"
"The wizard, sire," the soldier replied. "Koushiro. He was trying
to help them escape. Would have succeeded if we had not interrupted."
The King snorted and shook his head in disappointment. "A
tragedy," he noted with some cynicism in his voice. "He would have been useful.
Who else?"
"Down the hall we discovered the Lord Physician Jyou," the guard replied.
"He was attempting to distract the sentries so that the wizard could help the
prisoners."
"The Lord Jyou!?" the King was quite astonished. "I never would
have thought he would be a traitor to the crown!"
"When we searched the wizard's chambers we discovered one more,
sire."
"One more? Who?"
"Mimi Tachikawa.
It appears she arrived this morning and did not announce herself. And sire-,"
the soldier paused momentarily. "There's something else you should see."
***
Oooh…A cliffhanger. Don'tcha love those? ^_^
Meant to have this part up a week ago, but FF.net
was having issues, so I thought I'd wait. After much thought I have decided
that there are two parts after this one. I am almost finished with it,
so that's pretty much a final tally. There will most likely be a sequel, but I
plan to work on the sequel to A Stranger Digiworld first before I start on the
sequel to this one. Trust me, if I do more than one story at a time, you'll get
confused – I'll get confused. They'll both suffer.
So what's coming up? Well, obviously "our heros" are
in a lot of trouble. Look for the big, long confrontation with the King in the
next part. I'll try to put all of that scene into one part, so that will
probably be pretty long. Then the last part will clean up most of the
loose ends. There is, of course, going to be a big huge question thingie at the
end – oh, but I can't say anymore than that - it'll give it away!!
Don't worry Ken and or Miyako fans, (like me ^_^),
the story does return to its original focus eventually. I don't forget about
them. Or Daisuke. ^_^ I'm trying not to focus on any one character too long. Of
course, in the next part, Taichi will have a big part, since he's fighting his
father, but again I won't say anymore than that.
Ah well, before I give out anymore information I'll
end this note. If you want an update on when the next part of this or anything
else I write is posted either let me know in the review or send me an email at Turquoisecow@excite.com. I'll be glad
to let you know. Thanks for reading, thanks for reviewing, and remember, only
the plot is mine. (darn it) ^_^