DISCLAIMER & AUTHOR'S NOTES: Oh ho hum, here we go again. Yep, U guessed it, Digimon doesn't belong 2 me. It is the official property of Saban, Bandai and Toei. I am very poor after Christmas raided my pockets and piggy bank alike; so there is absolutely no point whatsoever in suing me as I have nothing. Zip. Nichts. All out. Broke. Bankrupt. Poverty stricken... You get the picture.
However, this terminal lack of cash has allowed me to come up with many horrible fates for any plagiarizers stupid enough to try and nick dis fic. I read a lot a fanfiction, so believe me, if U do, I'll find you (& I shall not be a happy bunny!)
I've decided to include some author's notes at the beginning of this chapter to explain the random comment I stuck at the end of "Noble Deeds". This is a true story I read in the newspaper over Christmas, and it goes a little something like this; a lifeboat was called out to rescue the crew of a fishing boat, which had mysteriously capsized in the middle of the ocean. When they arrived at the scene, the rescuers found four survivors floating there. Their boat was nowhere to be seen. It was a lovely day with no hint of a storm in the sky, and no submarines or any other military vessels nearby which could have sunk the little craft. But when they asked the captain of the fishermen what happened, all he did was point up into the clear sky and say "beware of falling cows." It turned out that a small plane had taken off from a nearby airport earlier that day, and en route 2 its destination realised that it had not refuelled before take off. With only a meagre supply left, they decided to dump their cargo into the sea in order to make themselves lighter and so get more mileage out of their remaining fuel so that they could return home safely. Unfortunately they were carrying a planeload of cows to be sold at a market when they got to their destination. Just as these were deployed, the plane passed over a little boat out in the ocean, and a distinctly bovine missile fell on it, sinking it and rendering its crew in the drink.
So now you know. I'm not crazy, just a little weird. And before I say anything weirder, I give you the seventh part of my fanfic.
Oh, and when U go out.... Remember to take a really big umbrella, OK?
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"The Darkness Within" By Scribbler
Chapter Seven ~ "Inner Demons"
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"Your world is a living expression of how you are using and have used your mind." -- Earl Nightingale
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Sora sat perched on the edge of a wooden chair in her bedroom. Matt had dragged it in from the kitchen for her, leaving scuffmarks on the linoleum, but right now the last thing on Sora's mind was the state of the floor in her apartment. She shivered slightly. The pale pink pyjamas covering her body were aesthetically pleasing, but offered little resistance against the cold. Not that her bedroom was exceptionally freezing, but an oppressive chill hung in the air. Outside a distant roll of thunder could be heard, but nobody really took any notice of it. The bleak sky had been threatening rain for a few hours now.
The auburn haired girl's gaze was fixed on one thing. Tai Kamiya lay in her bed - seemingly asleep, but she couldn't be sure after the battering his body had received. At any other time she would have laughed at the thought of Tai sleeping in a bed of rose-coloured pillows and frilly sheets, but now the idea was too much of a painful reality to merit even a chuckle. The boy was still, unmoving. If it were not for the fractional rise and fall of his chest now and again, Sora would have thought him dead. His brown hair fanned out around his head like a fawn mane spread across the pink pillowslip. His face was peaceful, his lips soft, betraying no hint of the wickedly sharp teeth that had once indented them.
Joe and Yolei sure did a good job cleaning him up, Sora thought idly, Joe's going to make one fine doctor someday.
It was true; the marks of the battle with Angewomon were practically invisible. Tai looked like he'd never even been in a fight at all, it was almost... unnatural. Sora sighed, but then again, nothing seemed natural or normal anymore. It had never been part of her nature before to be irresponsible, but when Joe suggested calling the police for the bodies in the alley...well; she just couldn't stay there. She couldn't bear to wait for their arrival. For the questions she couldn't answer. So they'd run. The corpses were still there for the authorities, but the Digidestined were not. It was difficult to believe that only this morning she'd been worrying about trivial, everyday matters like schoolwork, or her mother's constant fussing...
Her mother. Sora wondered what Mrs. Takenouchi would say if she knew who now rested in her daughter's bed. The older woman had never been of a strong disposition, so the shock of finding Tai here may have been enough to cause another breakdown.
The hazel-eyed teenager winced at this word. It had been six years, but memories of her mother's illness were still raw. The gaunt face, the incessant mutterings to herself, all seemed like they had only occurred yesterday. Sora doubted they would ever truly leave her. Her own personal demons. Every day she worried about her mother having a relapse, looking for the telltale signs in everything she did. The way she buttered her toast in the mornings, the way she walked, the way she watered her beloved plants. Perhaps this was the reason Sora didn't always share her feelings with her mother. She was too scared about initiating a second hell. For both the older woman and herself. She couldn't get through it again. Couldn't survive it a second time. The only reason she'd come out of the last occasion in one peace was because of Tai.
Tai...
Sora remembered how he'd been there for her, a shoulder to cry on in her time of need. He'd always listened when she felt overwhelmed by the intense responsibilities her mother's breakdown coupled with her father's absence had heaped on her. Letting her pour out her troubles, whether down a phone-line or to his face. She'd been so grateful to him for his attentive ear and comforting words. A true friend. The phrase had never been so well used.
Now it was Sora's turn to be a true friend. Time for her to repay what he'd done for her by helping him through his time of need. If it was the last thing she did, the chestnut-haired girl swore that she'd find out what happened to Tai one year ago, and what was happening now.
The room was ultimately silent, save for the gentle breathing of the two teenagers. Tai looks so peaceful, Sora mused. Oh, Tai. What happened to you that you felt you couldn't come to us for help? Couldn't come to me with your problems? We were always so close. What changed?
If she expected answers, then none were forthcoming. Sora's hazel eyes began to slide lazily around the room, coming to rest on a wide purple and yellow-striped plastic bag atop her dresser. A khaki sleeve poked out of it, and a smiling yellow face was visible through the space in the handle. Sora rose from her seat, anxious to sidetrack herself from the maelstrom of thoughts and feelings whirling through her brain. She'd asked to be alone, but now found that she longed for the company of another. Someone to share her worries with, to talk to. Matt had offered to stay with her, but she'd declined his offer. Really, the only person she wanted to speak to was Tai...
Carefully - unwilling to break the silence surrounding her - Sora removed the T-Shirt from its plastic prison and held it at arms length. She studied it critically. It was all right, as far as clothes went, she supposed, but somehow it lacked the appeal of several of her garments. Her old yellow top, for instance - the one she'd worn throughout all her time in the Digiworld five years ago. It had been comforting to have something that reminded her of home on her person all the time. An island of sanity in an ocean of chaos, as it was. The corners of the teenager's mouth twitched as she recalled how angry she'd been upon returning home from soccer practise not long after Apocalymon's defeat to find that her mother had thrown it away. True, it had been abraded and smelly, but at the same time, it had been her last reminder of a world she thought she'd never see again. Of friends she believed she'd seen for the last time. Of Biyomon...
The teenage girl replaced the vestment in the bag, not bothering to consider her mother's choices. No doubt they were either pink, or frilly, or worse - both! She shuddered inwardly at the thought of her wardrobe - already straining with hundreds of 'feminine' items - being asked to accommodate more. If it were alive, it'd probably go on strike, Sora decided silently.
The 'Hello Kitty' clock on her wall ticked incessantly, the sound seeming much louder as she noticed it in the quiet room. The chestnut haired girl half-considered removing the batteries from it, but dismissed this idea as the clock was too far up the wall for her to reach. It had been a gift from her father on one of his many trips. 'Yet another peace offering', her mother had called it. Sora had only been seven years old at the time, so the significance of this comment had been lost on her. She'd only seen a pretty clock where her mother had seen the results of a guilty conscience. Now that she was older, however, Sora could understand the existence of the bitterness in Mrs. Takenouchi's voice. The hazel-eyed girl missed him too when he was away.
A faint patter started on the glass doors leading onto Sora's balcony. It was raining. Sora shivered, crossing the room to make sure that the doors were shut and locked securely. Touching their smooth surface reminded her of the events there only a few hours ago. Tai had looked so scared. Fear - such an alien emotion to see etched into his usually strong face. It had disturbed Sora to see him that way. Unchecked, raw terror so clearly evident in his hazel eyes. Those eyes... His eyes....
Something stirred in Sora's chest. A strange feeling, unlike anything she had felt before. It seemed to emanate from an erstwhile-unused part of her heart. A part that had been frozen for a very long time. Ever since...
Sora whirled around at a noise behind her. In the soft light cast by her bedside lamp, the figure in the bed twitched, and then moved. A soft groan escaped his lips as he tested his bruised muscles. Sora held her breath as the two eyelids haltingly slid open, blinking in the light the eyes beneath were suddenly faced with. Tai's gaze slowly focused, and he stared blankly up at the ceiling. Sora saw with relief that the irises were hazel, not red. She let out the lungful of air that was beginning to burn her chest. At this sound the brown haired head upon the pillow turned to look at her. Sora watched this movement nervously, wondering what to expect. He was so quiet. So deathly silent.
Tai's eyes widened, until the melting hazel centres were dwarfed by the stark whiteness around them. His mouth formed only one whispered word, but the dismay in his voice was so fierce that it speared Sora's heart with its near corporeal vehemence.
"No!" Tai's body flung itself upright, and he struggled to disentangle himself from the lacy sheets like a rabbit caught in a snare. "No! No! No!" He said hoarsely, vocal chords not yet strong enough to create the shout he obviously wanted to unleash.
Sora flew to his bedside. "Tai, what's wrong? Don't you remember me? It's Sora. It's me, Sora Takenouchi. You're at my apartment."
"I know!" He whimpered cryptically, still attempting to extricate his body from the resistant bedclothes. Sora's brow knitted, and she reached out to catch one flailing arm.
"If you know it's me then why are you so frightened? What are you afraid of, Tai?" She held him with such force that he was coerced into stillness. The brown haired boy simply stared at her, his face a mask of consternation.
"You mustn't keep me here. It's too dangerous." He murmured, voice cracking slightly.
"What's too dangerous?" Sora asked, her own tone barely above a whisper.
"Me. You. Everything. Please," His hazel eyes were pleading. "Let me go. I've got to get away from here before it's too late."
Sora simply gazed at him, disbelief written across her features. She released his arm, but drew back her own and did something she'd never done before in her life. She slapped him. Tai's head twisted sideways from the force of her blow, the palm of her slender hand producing a red mark on his tanned cheek. Sora's eyes flashed, embers of anger smouldering in her gaze as she spoke with the same angry vehemence she had used when addressing the other Digidestined hours earlier.
"Don't you dare!" She positively growled. "Do you have any idea what I've been through to get you back here now, Tai? I thought you were dead, DEAD! And you let me think it. You disappeared for an entire year without a word, and then reappear as if you've been resurrected, only to say that you have to leave again, without explaining where you've been or why you left! You can't DO that, Tai. You just can't. I won't let you leave me again!"
Her breathing was harsh as she fought back tears. No, she wouldn't cry! She had to be strong, to make him comprehend what she was saying. He couldn't just leave. She'd missed him so much it hurt, but the pain of losing him again would be too great. Why didn't he appreciate that? What was it that had him running from his own friends? From her?
Tai's face was still turned away from her, hazel eyes hidden behind black eyelashes curled onto his bronzed cheeks. He spoke softly, voice tinged with a hopelessness that made Sora's heart splinter in sympathy.
"You don't understand." He whispered mournfully.
Sora reached out with her good arm again, this time without violent intentions. Gently, she cupped his cheek and pulled his head back to face her. His skin felt soft beneath her fingertips, warm and real. This served to make her tenacity even stronger concerning his departure. She didn't want to never be able to touch his tanned skin again, never to feel the faint pulse of blood through his veins below her fingers. Hazel met hazel, and for a brief moment in time they locked, unblinkingly staring into the depths of the other's.
"Then make me." Sora stated simply.
Silence reigned in the small room. Even the 'Hello Kitty' clock's ticking seemed faint and far away to the pair as they gazed unremittingly at each other. Two people, separated for so long by physical distance, now divided by an intangible barrier. Sora made no move to remove her hand from his face, enjoying the sensation of her skin touching his for the first time in almost a year. It made him seem...more real, somehow. Like he wasn't a mirage her confused mind had created, but instead a teenage boy she'd known and grown up with, returned to her by some strange twist of fate's fickle hand. Likewise, Tai didn't attempt to break free of the contact. He only gazed into her serious hazel orbs, drunk on the near-liquidity of her eyes. Quietly, his tone dead and flat, Tai broke the silence.
"I'm going to kill you."
"What?" Sora's eyes widened incredulously.
"I'm going to kill all of you." The brown haired boy reiterated lifelessly.
"Why?" Sora choked out, surprised at his words despite what she'd seen in the alley.
Tai's expression became cheerless and sorrowful. He dropped his gaze, bending his head slightly so that he wouldn't have to look at the girl before him.
"I don't know." A large tear rolled down his cheek, followed by another. Sora gaped as Tai suddenly collapsed against her, sobbing. She wasn't sure how to react. This kind of emotional display was unheard of from Tai. It...it just wasn't something he did. Tai was strong. Tai was fearless. Tai didn't weep like a bereft child onto your shoulder. But he was. Huge gulping gasps wracked his thin body, and tears copiously dripped onto her pyjamas. Hesitantly, Sora raised her unbandaged arm and tenderly patted the boy on his back. It had no effect on his sobs, but she drew solace from the action, and rubbed his spine in a gesture of comfort.
What had happened to reduce Tai - the cogent leader of the Digidestined team - to a quivering mess in this way? Sora murmured soothing words to him as he leaned against her on the bed. She drew her knees up to a kneeling position so as to be more comfortable under their combined weight.
"Shhh, it's all right. It's OK, I'm here. There's nothing to worry about, you're safe, Tai."
"But you're not." He gulped haltingly into the fabric of her nightclothes. "Not as long as I'm around." The sobs were fading, coming in fits and starts as opposed to the consistent weeping which had juddered his body only moments ago. Yet still he trembled. Sora rested her cheek against his hair, feeling the wiry tresses brush over her ivory skin as he quaked. His voice came again, strained and taunt through his tears.
"I've seen it happen so many times already. You all died, even you, Sora. I felt your blood running through my fingers, but I couldn't stop killing you. It wouldn't let me stop. That's how I know that if I stay you're going to die. I don't want to see you die. I don't want anybody to die by my hand."
"They won't. We won't." Sora declared.
"How can you be certain I won't kill you?"
"How can you be certain you will?"
Silence. He had no answer - at least, none that he could communicate in words and make this girl understand. How could she comprehend what a monster he was? How could she possibly know how much pain and suffering he'd already caused in this world?
"I just don't want to see you get hurt." He repeated softly, lips trembling as they formed the words. He lifted his head from Sora's shoulder, cheeks streaked with his still-wet tears. "You...you all mean so much to me, I...I don't want you to become involved in all of this. It's too dangerous. I mean it, Sora!" He added at the rebellious expression that had crossed her face as he said these words.
Sora stroked his tanned cheek again. Even with all his obviously damaging problems, the old Tai was still coming through. Concerned for others despite his own troubles. A warm knot manifested just above the hazel-eyed girl's stomach. A delicious sensation, pervading her very being as she stared deeply into those pained hazel eyes. What was this unusual feeling? She'd never felt it before, and couldn't recognise what it was. It began to spread through her like a drug, dampening her senses with its warmth.
Tai gazed into the hazel eyes of the girl before him. She really had no idea what she was messing with. Knelt here in her bedroom, sheltering a demon like him. Yes...a demon. That was really the only way to describe him. He'd been called worse in the past, but demon seemed to pretty much sum it up.
Yet he couldn't break his stare away. Somehow, his aching muscles wouldn't obey him when he ordered them to move. To get up, climb out of this bed, and leave this place and its inhabitants before something happened which he would regret until the end of his days. All his senses seemed to shut down as he looked into Sora's eyes, drowning in their gentle seriousness. There was nobody and nothing else in the world at that moment. Only a pair of fathomless hazel eyes, gazing comfortingly into his. Tai began to drift on a sea of contentment...
Suddenly, without warning, the door to Sora's bedroom opened and a figure walked in.
"Hey, Sora. I just - " Matt began, but stopped at the scene before him. Sora was knelt on the bed next to Tai - who was awake at last, and sitting up - her one good arm cupping his cheek in a gesture of affection and comfort. The pair had been gazing at each other, their faces nearly touching, but jumped apart upon his entrance, and Matt couldn't help but feel that he had just walked in on something rather important.
"Uh," He grunted, still clutching the steaming mug of coffee he'd brought for Sora in his hands. It was scalding hot, and he had to keep readjusting his grip as he searched for something to say. Sora guessed at his intentions, scrambling off the bed and relieving him of the beverage before he spilled it. The blonde boy turned his attention to Tai, a thousand questions whirling in his head, but none on his tongue.
"Hello, Tai." He finally managed, inwardly kicking himself for his inarticulacy. Tai seemed confused.
"Matt, what are you doing here?" Mentally, Tai was also berating himself. He'd slipped, badly. Another few seconds, and who knows what might have happened? A repeat of the alley, or worse. Tai suddenly realised that he had no idea what had happened in that darkened side street. Yet another portion of his life blanked out; but what was new? Matt's husky voice snapped him abruptly from his thoughts.
"We're all here. All the Digidestined team, both old and new. You didn't think we'd pass up an opportunity of seeing you again, did you?" The blue-eyed teenager attempted to make light of the situation, but his only response was the widening of Tai's eyes in alarm.
"What, everybody's here? That's terrible!"
"It is?" Sora repeated.
"I have to leave, right now!" Tai began to clamber out of the bed. "I can't stay. Not with so many innocents here."
"Leave? Innocents?" Matt was bemused. "What are you talking about, Tai?"
Tai opened his mouth to answer - at the same time noting that Sora was crossing the room to try and force him back into the bed - when suddenly something caught his eye. Behind Matt, in the doorway to the small space stood a short, petite, and all-to-familiar figure. Blonde hair cascaded down her back, and her arms were folded across her chest as two steely grey eyes watched him unrelentingly. As always, a non-existent breeze ruffled her golden tresses, blowing a few stray locks across her pallid face. Neither Matt nor Sora seemed aware of the presence of the translucent little girl, nor did the other Digidestined outside the room, despite the fact that she was blatantly standing in the aperture between the two areas. She stared at Tai, her gaze never wavering. Accusing. Wordlessly warning him of what would happen if he allowed himself to remain with these people. Reminding him.
All of a sudden, everything became too much for Tai. The sight of his own inner demon in this place where he had once been so happy stabbed his heart like a knife. His already fragile mind snapped, shattered by guilt and regret into a thousand tiny pieces, which spun like brittle leaves on a vicious Autumn wind.
Much to Sora and Matt's surprise, a foreign expression suddenly crossed their friend's face. One of pure, unadulterated horror, so raw that they could almost feel it themselves just by looking at his visage. Tai abruptly grabbed his head with his hands and screamed. A long, pain-filled scream. Such a scream as will never be forgotten by those who heard it, and would cause inadvertent shudders whenever brought to mind.
Sora rushed forward, closely followed by Matt. She shook Tai by his shoulders, begging him to cease his wretched screaming. But the stricken boy either ignored her pleas, or couldn't hear her. He screwed his eyes shut, every breath a fresh, grief-filled scream. It tore Sora's heart in two to hear him so distressed, and she felt helpless, so utterly helpless, to do anything about it.
Faces appeared at the door. Worried faces that had rushed to the scene upon hearing that terrible, terrible scream.
"What happened?" Joe demanded, hastening forward. "What did you do to him?"
"Nothing!" Matt protested, voice tinged with guilt. What had they done? What HAD they done? "We didn't do anything!"
"Well you must have done something." Yolei reasoned. "People don't scream like that for no reason."
Joe crouched beside the bed, where Tai knelt, head clutched desperately in his hands, horrific noises still escaping his guilt-ridden lips. "Tai. Tai, it's Joe. Joe Kido. Can you hear me?" His only answer was another scream.
Kari darted past the others. "Tai! Tai!" She yelled, but TK caught her elbow. She turned to stare into his solemn blue eyes, her own filled with unshed tears.
"Stay here." The blonde boy said softly. "Let Joe work."
"But...but..." Kari stuttered, stealing a second glance at her brother, who was now rocking back and forth among the bedclothes. He hadn't even acknowledged her call, and was ignoring Joe's words too. Nothing, it seemed, could pierce the fog of screams enshrouding the hazel-eyed teenager.
Cody watched her through unfathomable green eyes. Kari, the soul of the Digidestined, so helpless - and aware of her own powerlessness - that it cut through his soul to see her. He transferred his gaze to the figure on the bed. Screams filled his ears. Screams that would follow him into eternity and beyond. Cody's hands clenched into fists. He felt...angry. Angry with himself, at his bad luck for causing this to happen to Tai. Angry with fate, for cursing him with this Midas touch. Angry that he didn't know what was hurting his friend. Just...angry. And guilty. The brown haired boy screwed his eyes shut to prevent tears of frustration from leaking down his face. The backs of his eyes burned, but somehow, this little amount of pain felt justified in the face of what Tai was obviously suffering. Through everything, Cody's guilt hinged on the fact that he couldn't right things because he didn't know what had happened to Tai. He didn't KNOW, and it cut him up inside that this was so.
Izzy noticed the little boy hanging back behind his comrades, who were crowding around the open door. Extricating himself from this worried mass, he knelt beside the smaller child, whose eyes were firmly closed. Izzy laid a concerned hand on Cody's shoulder.
"Cody?" At once, green eyes flew open, and Izzy very nearly recoiled at the culpability and rage imbedded there. Cody's eyes shone with uncried tears, and he glared at the older boy, wallowing in his own sea of choler and iniquity.
"It's not fair!" He spat passionately. "It's just not fair! This is my fault!"
Izzy was confused. He'd never heard Cody sound so vehement - or emotional for that matter. The small boy was usually so calm and collected, the voice of reason for the Digidestined team. To see him this way affected the technophile in a way he had not thought possible. He felt...almost brotherly. The need to protect this little boy who blamed himself for what was happening emerged inside him, a completely foreign emotion to the teenager.
"Cody, this isn't your fault." He soothed.
"Yes, it is!" Cody retorted furiously. "It's always my fault! Always!"
"What?" Izzy felt perplexed. What was Cody talking about? How could this situation possibly have been his fault? Did he know something he wasn't telling? Cody's hoarse voice sliced through his musings like a dagger.
"First it was my Dad, then Mr. Oikawa, now Tai. Everyone who knows me always ends up getting hurt."
"That's not true." Izzy protested. "Look at me, I know you and I'm not hurt, am I?"
"Not physically, but don't you hurt inside when you think about what's happening to Tai?" Izzy had to admit that he did. "It's always the same. I can never care about anyone without harming them somehow."
Izzy grasped Cody's shoulders with both hands, spinning the boy round to face him. "Cody, this is NOT your fault. You can't blame yourself. Bad things happen, that's the way the world works. If they didn't, then how would we recognise the good things?"
"But - " Cody began. Izzy cut him off.
"No buts. My parents died when I was really small, but if I took the same view as you then I could blame myself for what happened to them."
"But you were only a baby." Cody said. He - like all the new Digidestined - was familiar with the story of Izzy's adoption. "How could you have been responsible when you couldn't even talk yet? That's ridiculous."
"So is what you're saying." Izzy shot back. "Cody, this isn't happening because of you. It's much bigger than either you or me. You have to understand that. You're not accountable."
Cody just stared into the sage eyes of his comrade. What he was saying made sense, but still...
Izzy's dark eyes distended slightly, as suddenly the small boy before him fell forward, embracing the teenager in a weeping hug. Unsure of how to react, Izzy just let him sob onto his shirt, releasing years of guilt and blame in a flood of rarely seen tears. Cody shuddered profusely, clutching at the older boy for support.
"I just...just feel so...helpless. I wish I could stop all this from happening, but I don't even know what's going on. I don't know, Izzy. I DON'T KNOW!"
Izzy raised his arms and patted the sobbing child on his trembling back as his mother had done for him when he was small. The pain in Cody's voice struck a chord with the young genius. The agony of not knowing something was something Izzy could relate to, having been through it for years after discovering by accident about his adoption. For so long he'd wondered what had happened to his biological parents, brewing feelings of guilt and feebleness within his soul until he though he would burst from the sheer intensity of them. He wished now that he could help Cody with what he was feeling. Aid him somehow against his problems. This desire burned within him as he held the juddering child in his arms; he wished he could provide Cody - and everyone - with the knowledge that they sought. He wished...
Suddenly, a light seemed to explode from within Izzy's chest. Cody's head jerked up as he fell backwards, and all the other Digidestined whirled around. The strange - almost ethereal - green light bathed the teenager with its eerie phosphoresce.
"Wha- what's going on?" Davis demanded.
"Izzy!" Cody called desperately. It was happening again. Despite all that Izzy had said, he was being hurt. The little boy stared at his friend from where he sat on the floor.
But Izzy didn't appear to be in pain. In fact, he was smiling. Gently, he reached out one hand, gesturing that Cody should take it.
"Come on. I can't do this alone." He murmured. Inexplicably, his voice - though only a whisper - seemed louder than even Tai's screams, resonating inside everyone's ears like a knell.
Suddenly Mimi cried out. "Look! His chest!" The youngsters all gazed at where she pointed. There, glowing brightly through Izzy's shirt was a curious mark. Like two circles linked by a horizontal straight line, it illuminated his entire being as it shone through his very skin.
"The crest of Knowledge." TK breathed incredulously.
Comprehension dawned in Cody's green eyes, as he finally understood what Izzy was asking him to do. He rose to his feet, silently taking the proffered hand. At once an odd - not altogether unpleasant - sensation spread through him. He may not have been the original holder of the crest, but his own power merged with the older boy's, illuminating the entire room with their combined light. The two parts of Knowledge united the power given them when they became Digidestined, sending it out from their bodies to encompass those of their friends as well.
With a faint whooshing, this green power entered the bedroom, filling it completely. It filtered into the minds of all those there, giving them what they all wanted to know. Taking them back with it, to a time when all began. Explaining everything through memory itself. Tai rocked back and forth on the bed, whimpering softly as he was quietened by the soft illumination around him.
Back they went. Into the very mind of their comrade. Back, back, and further back still. Back to the start. To see. To find out. To finally know.
And so it began. The witnessing of something even those originally involved should never have seen....
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AUTHOR'S NOTES: Yes it's me again. So what did you think? No good? R&R please, I need some input. The next chapter is a doozy, so I HAVE 2 be absolutely sure B4 I post it, OK? It took me an entire week 2 write, and is kind of the hinge on which the whole fic swings, so I MUST know whether people even want 2 know what happens next. (BTW; I've never watched Earthworm Jim, but I hear it's a good - if weird - show.)
Thanx.
Remember, amateurs built the ark - professionals built the Titanic.
Scribbler ;-D
However, this terminal lack of cash has allowed me to come up with many horrible fates for any plagiarizers stupid enough to try and nick dis fic. I read a lot a fanfiction, so believe me, if U do, I'll find you (& I shall not be a happy bunny!)
I've decided to include some author's notes at the beginning of this chapter to explain the random comment I stuck at the end of "Noble Deeds". This is a true story I read in the newspaper over Christmas, and it goes a little something like this; a lifeboat was called out to rescue the crew of a fishing boat, which had mysteriously capsized in the middle of the ocean. When they arrived at the scene, the rescuers found four survivors floating there. Their boat was nowhere to be seen. It was a lovely day with no hint of a storm in the sky, and no submarines or any other military vessels nearby which could have sunk the little craft. But when they asked the captain of the fishermen what happened, all he did was point up into the clear sky and say "beware of falling cows." It turned out that a small plane had taken off from a nearby airport earlier that day, and en route 2 its destination realised that it had not refuelled before take off. With only a meagre supply left, they decided to dump their cargo into the sea in order to make themselves lighter and so get more mileage out of their remaining fuel so that they could return home safely. Unfortunately they were carrying a planeload of cows to be sold at a market when they got to their destination. Just as these were deployed, the plane passed over a little boat out in the ocean, and a distinctly bovine missile fell on it, sinking it and rendering its crew in the drink.
So now you know. I'm not crazy, just a little weird. And before I say anything weirder, I give you the seventh part of my fanfic.
Oh, and when U go out.... Remember to take a really big umbrella, OK?
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"The Darkness Within" By Scribbler
Chapter Seven ~ "Inner Demons"
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"Your world is a living expression of how you are using and have used your mind." -- Earl Nightingale
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Sora sat perched on the edge of a wooden chair in her bedroom. Matt had dragged it in from the kitchen for her, leaving scuffmarks on the linoleum, but right now the last thing on Sora's mind was the state of the floor in her apartment. She shivered slightly. The pale pink pyjamas covering her body were aesthetically pleasing, but offered little resistance against the cold. Not that her bedroom was exceptionally freezing, but an oppressive chill hung in the air. Outside a distant roll of thunder could be heard, but nobody really took any notice of it. The bleak sky had been threatening rain for a few hours now.
The auburn haired girl's gaze was fixed on one thing. Tai Kamiya lay in her bed - seemingly asleep, but she couldn't be sure after the battering his body had received. At any other time she would have laughed at the thought of Tai sleeping in a bed of rose-coloured pillows and frilly sheets, but now the idea was too much of a painful reality to merit even a chuckle. The boy was still, unmoving. If it were not for the fractional rise and fall of his chest now and again, Sora would have thought him dead. His brown hair fanned out around his head like a fawn mane spread across the pink pillowslip. His face was peaceful, his lips soft, betraying no hint of the wickedly sharp teeth that had once indented them.
Joe and Yolei sure did a good job cleaning him up, Sora thought idly, Joe's going to make one fine doctor someday.
It was true; the marks of the battle with Angewomon were practically invisible. Tai looked like he'd never even been in a fight at all, it was almost... unnatural. Sora sighed, but then again, nothing seemed natural or normal anymore. It had never been part of her nature before to be irresponsible, but when Joe suggested calling the police for the bodies in the alley...well; she just couldn't stay there. She couldn't bear to wait for their arrival. For the questions she couldn't answer. So they'd run. The corpses were still there for the authorities, but the Digidestined were not. It was difficult to believe that only this morning she'd been worrying about trivial, everyday matters like schoolwork, or her mother's constant fussing...
Her mother. Sora wondered what Mrs. Takenouchi would say if she knew who now rested in her daughter's bed. The older woman had never been of a strong disposition, so the shock of finding Tai here may have been enough to cause another breakdown.
The hazel-eyed teenager winced at this word. It had been six years, but memories of her mother's illness were still raw. The gaunt face, the incessant mutterings to herself, all seemed like they had only occurred yesterday. Sora doubted they would ever truly leave her. Her own personal demons. Every day she worried about her mother having a relapse, looking for the telltale signs in everything she did. The way she buttered her toast in the mornings, the way she walked, the way she watered her beloved plants. Perhaps this was the reason Sora didn't always share her feelings with her mother. She was too scared about initiating a second hell. For both the older woman and herself. She couldn't get through it again. Couldn't survive it a second time. The only reason she'd come out of the last occasion in one peace was because of Tai.
Tai...
Sora remembered how he'd been there for her, a shoulder to cry on in her time of need. He'd always listened when she felt overwhelmed by the intense responsibilities her mother's breakdown coupled with her father's absence had heaped on her. Letting her pour out her troubles, whether down a phone-line or to his face. She'd been so grateful to him for his attentive ear and comforting words. A true friend. The phrase had never been so well used.
Now it was Sora's turn to be a true friend. Time for her to repay what he'd done for her by helping him through his time of need. If it was the last thing she did, the chestnut-haired girl swore that she'd find out what happened to Tai one year ago, and what was happening now.
The room was ultimately silent, save for the gentle breathing of the two teenagers. Tai looks so peaceful, Sora mused. Oh, Tai. What happened to you that you felt you couldn't come to us for help? Couldn't come to me with your problems? We were always so close. What changed?
If she expected answers, then none were forthcoming. Sora's hazel eyes began to slide lazily around the room, coming to rest on a wide purple and yellow-striped plastic bag atop her dresser. A khaki sleeve poked out of it, and a smiling yellow face was visible through the space in the handle. Sora rose from her seat, anxious to sidetrack herself from the maelstrom of thoughts and feelings whirling through her brain. She'd asked to be alone, but now found that she longed for the company of another. Someone to share her worries with, to talk to. Matt had offered to stay with her, but she'd declined his offer. Really, the only person she wanted to speak to was Tai...
Carefully - unwilling to break the silence surrounding her - Sora removed the T-Shirt from its plastic prison and held it at arms length. She studied it critically. It was all right, as far as clothes went, she supposed, but somehow it lacked the appeal of several of her garments. Her old yellow top, for instance - the one she'd worn throughout all her time in the Digiworld five years ago. It had been comforting to have something that reminded her of home on her person all the time. An island of sanity in an ocean of chaos, as it was. The corners of the teenager's mouth twitched as she recalled how angry she'd been upon returning home from soccer practise not long after Apocalymon's defeat to find that her mother had thrown it away. True, it had been abraded and smelly, but at the same time, it had been her last reminder of a world she thought she'd never see again. Of friends she believed she'd seen for the last time. Of Biyomon...
The teenage girl replaced the vestment in the bag, not bothering to consider her mother's choices. No doubt they were either pink, or frilly, or worse - both! She shuddered inwardly at the thought of her wardrobe - already straining with hundreds of 'feminine' items - being asked to accommodate more. If it were alive, it'd probably go on strike, Sora decided silently.
The 'Hello Kitty' clock on her wall ticked incessantly, the sound seeming much louder as she noticed it in the quiet room. The chestnut haired girl half-considered removing the batteries from it, but dismissed this idea as the clock was too far up the wall for her to reach. It had been a gift from her father on one of his many trips. 'Yet another peace offering', her mother had called it. Sora had only been seven years old at the time, so the significance of this comment had been lost on her. She'd only seen a pretty clock where her mother had seen the results of a guilty conscience. Now that she was older, however, Sora could understand the existence of the bitterness in Mrs. Takenouchi's voice. The hazel-eyed girl missed him too when he was away.
A faint patter started on the glass doors leading onto Sora's balcony. It was raining. Sora shivered, crossing the room to make sure that the doors were shut and locked securely. Touching their smooth surface reminded her of the events there only a few hours ago. Tai had looked so scared. Fear - such an alien emotion to see etched into his usually strong face. It had disturbed Sora to see him that way. Unchecked, raw terror so clearly evident in his hazel eyes. Those eyes... His eyes....
Something stirred in Sora's chest. A strange feeling, unlike anything she had felt before. It seemed to emanate from an erstwhile-unused part of her heart. A part that had been frozen for a very long time. Ever since...
Sora whirled around at a noise behind her. In the soft light cast by her bedside lamp, the figure in the bed twitched, and then moved. A soft groan escaped his lips as he tested his bruised muscles. Sora held her breath as the two eyelids haltingly slid open, blinking in the light the eyes beneath were suddenly faced with. Tai's gaze slowly focused, and he stared blankly up at the ceiling. Sora saw with relief that the irises were hazel, not red. She let out the lungful of air that was beginning to burn her chest. At this sound the brown haired head upon the pillow turned to look at her. Sora watched this movement nervously, wondering what to expect. He was so quiet. So deathly silent.
Tai's eyes widened, until the melting hazel centres were dwarfed by the stark whiteness around them. His mouth formed only one whispered word, but the dismay in his voice was so fierce that it speared Sora's heart with its near corporeal vehemence.
"No!" Tai's body flung itself upright, and he struggled to disentangle himself from the lacy sheets like a rabbit caught in a snare. "No! No! No!" He said hoarsely, vocal chords not yet strong enough to create the shout he obviously wanted to unleash.
Sora flew to his bedside. "Tai, what's wrong? Don't you remember me? It's Sora. It's me, Sora Takenouchi. You're at my apartment."
"I know!" He whimpered cryptically, still attempting to extricate his body from the resistant bedclothes. Sora's brow knitted, and she reached out to catch one flailing arm.
"If you know it's me then why are you so frightened? What are you afraid of, Tai?" She held him with such force that he was coerced into stillness. The brown haired boy simply stared at her, his face a mask of consternation.
"You mustn't keep me here. It's too dangerous." He murmured, voice cracking slightly.
"What's too dangerous?" Sora asked, her own tone barely above a whisper.
"Me. You. Everything. Please," His hazel eyes were pleading. "Let me go. I've got to get away from here before it's too late."
Sora simply gazed at him, disbelief written across her features. She released his arm, but drew back her own and did something she'd never done before in her life. She slapped him. Tai's head twisted sideways from the force of her blow, the palm of her slender hand producing a red mark on his tanned cheek. Sora's eyes flashed, embers of anger smouldering in her gaze as she spoke with the same angry vehemence she had used when addressing the other Digidestined hours earlier.
"Don't you dare!" She positively growled. "Do you have any idea what I've been through to get you back here now, Tai? I thought you were dead, DEAD! And you let me think it. You disappeared for an entire year without a word, and then reappear as if you've been resurrected, only to say that you have to leave again, without explaining where you've been or why you left! You can't DO that, Tai. You just can't. I won't let you leave me again!"
Her breathing was harsh as she fought back tears. No, she wouldn't cry! She had to be strong, to make him comprehend what she was saying. He couldn't just leave. She'd missed him so much it hurt, but the pain of losing him again would be too great. Why didn't he appreciate that? What was it that had him running from his own friends? From her?
Tai's face was still turned away from her, hazel eyes hidden behind black eyelashes curled onto his bronzed cheeks. He spoke softly, voice tinged with a hopelessness that made Sora's heart splinter in sympathy.
"You don't understand." He whispered mournfully.
Sora reached out with her good arm again, this time without violent intentions. Gently, she cupped his cheek and pulled his head back to face her. His skin felt soft beneath her fingertips, warm and real. This served to make her tenacity even stronger concerning his departure. She didn't want to never be able to touch his tanned skin again, never to feel the faint pulse of blood through his veins below her fingers. Hazel met hazel, and for a brief moment in time they locked, unblinkingly staring into the depths of the other's.
"Then make me." Sora stated simply.
Silence reigned in the small room. Even the 'Hello Kitty' clock's ticking seemed faint and far away to the pair as they gazed unremittingly at each other. Two people, separated for so long by physical distance, now divided by an intangible barrier. Sora made no move to remove her hand from his face, enjoying the sensation of her skin touching his for the first time in almost a year. It made him seem...more real, somehow. Like he wasn't a mirage her confused mind had created, but instead a teenage boy she'd known and grown up with, returned to her by some strange twist of fate's fickle hand. Likewise, Tai didn't attempt to break free of the contact. He only gazed into her serious hazel orbs, drunk on the near-liquidity of her eyes. Quietly, his tone dead and flat, Tai broke the silence.
"I'm going to kill you."
"What?" Sora's eyes widened incredulously.
"I'm going to kill all of you." The brown haired boy reiterated lifelessly.
"Why?" Sora choked out, surprised at his words despite what she'd seen in the alley.
Tai's expression became cheerless and sorrowful. He dropped his gaze, bending his head slightly so that he wouldn't have to look at the girl before him.
"I don't know." A large tear rolled down his cheek, followed by another. Sora gaped as Tai suddenly collapsed against her, sobbing. She wasn't sure how to react. This kind of emotional display was unheard of from Tai. It...it just wasn't something he did. Tai was strong. Tai was fearless. Tai didn't weep like a bereft child onto your shoulder. But he was. Huge gulping gasps wracked his thin body, and tears copiously dripped onto her pyjamas. Hesitantly, Sora raised her unbandaged arm and tenderly patted the boy on his back. It had no effect on his sobs, but she drew solace from the action, and rubbed his spine in a gesture of comfort.
What had happened to reduce Tai - the cogent leader of the Digidestined team - to a quivering mess in this way? Sora murmured soothing words to him as he leaned against her on the bed. She drew her knees up to a kneeling position so as to be more comfortable under their combined weight.
"Shhh, it's all right. It's OK, I'm here. There's nothing to worry about, you're safe, Tai."
"But you're not." He gulped haltingly into the fabric of her nightclothes. "Not as long as I'm around." The sobs were fading, coming in fits and starts as opposed to the consistent weeping which had juddered his body only moments ago. Yet still he trembled. Sora rested her cheek against his hair, feeling the wiry tresses brush over her ivory skin as he quaked. His voice came again, strained and taunt through his tears.
"I've seen it happen so many times already. You all died, even you, Sora. I felt your blood running through my fingers, but I couldn't stop killing you. It wouldn't let me stop. That's how I know that if I stay you're going to die. I don't want to see you die. I don't want anybody to die by my hand."
"They won't. We won't." Sora declared.
"How can you be certain I won't kill you?"
"How can you be certain you will?"
Silence. He had no answer - at least, none that he could communicate in words and make this girl understand. How could she comprehend what a monster he was? How could she possibly know how much pain and suffering he'd already caused in this world?
"I just don't want to see you get hurt." He repeated softly, lips trembling as they formed the words. He lifted his head from Sora's shoulder, cheeks streaked with his still-wet tears. "You...you all mean so much to me, I...I don't want you to become involved in all of this. It's too dangerous. I mean it, Sora!" He added at the rebellious expression that had crossed her face as he said these words.
Sora stroked his tanned cheek again. Even with all his obviously damaging problems, the old Tai was still coming through. Concerned for others despite his own troubles. A warm knot manifested just above the hazel-eyed girl's stomach. A delicious sensation, pervading her very being as she stared deeply into those pained hazel eyes. What was this unusual feeling? She'd never felt it before, and couldn't recognise what it was. It began to spread through her like a drug, dampening her senses with its warmth.
Tai gazed into the hazel eyes of the girl before him. She really had no idea what she was messing with. Knelt here in her bedroom, sheltering a demon like him. Yes...a demon. That was really the only way to describe him. He'd been called worse in the past, but demon seemed to pretty much sum it up.
Yet he couldn't break his stare away. Somehow, his aching muscles wouldn't obey him when he ordered them to move. To get up, climb out of this bed, and leave this place and its inhabitants before something happened which he would regret until the end of his days. All his senses seemed to shut down as he looked into Sora's eyes, drowning in their gentle seriousness. There was nobody and nothing else in the world at that moment. Only a pair of fathomless hazel eyes, gazing comfortingly into his. Tai began to drift on a sea of contentment...
Suddenly, without warning, the door to Sora's bedroom opened and a figure walked in.
"Hey, Sora. I just - " Matt began, but stopped at the scene before him. Sora was knelt on the bed next to Tai - who was awake at last, and sitting up - her one good arm cupping his cheek in a gesture of affection and comfort. The pair had been gazing at each other, their faces nearly touching, but jumped apart upon his entrance, and Matt couldn't help but feel that he had just walked in on something rather important.
"Uh," He grunted, still clutching the steaming mug of coffee he'd brought for Sora in his hands. It was scalding hot, and he had to keep readjusting his grip as he searched for something to say. Sora guessed at his intentions, scrambling off the bed and relieving him of the beverage before he spilled it. The blonde boy turned his attention to Tai, a thousand questions whirling in his head, but none on his tongue.
"Hello, Tai." He finally managed, inwardly kicking himself for his inarticulacy. Tai seemed confused.
"Matt, what are you doing here?" Mentally, Tai was also berating himself. He'd slipped, badly. Another few seconds, and who knows what might have happened? A repeat of the alley, or worse. Tai suddenly realised that he had no idea what had happened in that darkened side street. Yet another portion of his life blanked out; but what was new? Matt's husky voice snapped him abruptly from his thoughts.
"We're all here. All the Digidestined team, both old and new. You didn't think we'd pass up an opportunity of seeing you again, did you?" The blue-eyed teenager attempted to make light of the situation, but his only response was the widening of Tai's eyes in alarm.
"What, everybody's here? That's terrible!"
"It is?" Sora repeated.
"I have to leave, right now!" Tai began to clamber out of the bed. "I can't stay. Not with so many innocents here."
"Leave? Innocents?" Matt was bemused. "What are you talking about, Tai?"
Tai opened his mouth to answer - at the same time noting that Sora was crossing the room to try and force him back into the bed - when suddenly something caught his eye. Behind Matt, in the doorway to the small space stood a short, petite, and all-to-familiar figure. Blonde hair cascaded down her back, and her arms were folded across her chest as two steely grey eyes watched him unrelentingly. As always, a non-existent breeze ruffled her golden tresses, blowing a few stray locks across her pallid face. Neither Matt nor Sora seemed aware of the presence of the translucent little girl, nor did the other Digidestined outside the room, despite the fact that she was blatantly standing in the aperture between the two areas. She stared at Tai, her gaze never wavering. Accusing. Wordlessly warning him of what would happen if he allowed himself to remain with these people. Reminding him.
All of a sudden, everything became too much for Tai. The sight of his own inner demon in this place where he had once been so happy stabbed his heart like a knife. His already fragile mind snapped, shattered by guilt and regret into a thousand tiny pieces, which spun like brittle leaves on a vicious Autumn wind.
Much to Sora and Matt's surprise, a foreign expression suddenly crossed their friend's face. One of pure, unadulterated horror, so raw that they could almost feel it themselves just by looking at his visage. Tai abruptly grabbed his head with his hands and screamed. A long, pain-filled scream. Such a scream as will never be forgotten by those who heard it, and would cause inadvertent shudders whenever brought to mind.
Sora rushed forward, closely followed by Matt. She shook Tai by his shoulders, begging him to cease his wretched screaming. But the stricken boy either ignored her pleas, or couldn't hear her. He screwed his eyes shut, every breath a fresh, grief-filled scream. It tore Sora's heart in two to hear him so distressed, and she felt helpless, so utterly helpless, to do anything about it.
Faces appeared at the door. Worried faces that had rushed to the scene upon hearing that terrible, terrible scream.
"What happened?" Joe demanded, hastening forward. "What did you do to him?"
"Nothing!" Matt protested, voice tinged with guilt. What had they done? What HAD they done? "We didn't do anything!"
"Well you must have done something." Yolei reasoned. "People don't scream like that for no reason."
Joe crouched beside the bed, where Tai knelt, head clutched desperately in his hands, horrific noises still escaping his guilt-ridden lips. "Tai. Tai, it's Joe. Joe Kido. Can you hear me?" His only answer was another scream.
Kari darted past the others. "Tai! Tai!" She yelled, but TK caught her elbow. She turned to stare into his solemn blue eyes, her own filled with unshed tears.
"Stay here." The blonde boy said softly. "Let Joe work."
"But...but..." Kari stuttered, stealing a second glance at her brother, who was now rocking back and forth among the bedclothes. He hadn't even acknowledged her call, and was ignoring Joe's words too. Nothing, it seemed, could pierce the fog of screams enshrouding the hazel-eyed teenager.
Cody watched her through unfathomable green eyes. Kari, the soul of the Digidestined, so helpless - and aware of her own powerlessness - that it cut through his soul to see her. He transferred his gaze to the figure on the bed. Screams filled his ears. Screams that would follow him into eternity and beyond. Cody's hands clenched into fists. He felt...angry. Angry with himself, at his bad luck for causing this to happen to Tai. Angry with fate, for cursing him with this Midas touch. Angry that he didn't know what was hurting his friend. Just...angry. And guilty. The brown haired boy screwed his eyes shut to prevent tears of frustration from leaking down his face. The backs of his eyes burned, but somehow, this little amount of pain felt justified in the face of what Tai was obviously suffering. Through everything, Cody's guilt hinged on the fact that he couldn't right things because he didn't know what had happened to Tai. He didn't KNOW, and it cut him up inside that this was so.
Izzy noticed the little boy hanging back behind his comrades, who were crowding around the open door. Extricating himself from this worried mass, he knelt beside the smaller child, whose eyes were firmly closed. Izzy laid a concerned hand on Cody's shoulder.
"Cody?" At once, green eyes flew open, and Izzy very nearly recoiled at the culpability and rage imbedded there. Cody's eyes shone with uncried tears, and he glared at the older boy, wallowing in his own sea of choler and iniquity.
"It's not fair!" He spat passionately. "It's just not fair! This is my fault!"
Izzy was confused. He'd never heard Cody sound so vehement - or emotional for that matter. The small boy was usually so calm and collected, the voice of reason for the Digidestined team. To see him this way affected the technophile in a way he had not thought possible. He felt...almost brotherly. The need to protect this little boy who blamed himself for what was happening emerged inside him, a completely foreign emotion to the teenager.
"Cody, this isn't your fault." He soothed.
"Yes, it is!" Cody retorted furiously. "It's always my fault! Always!"
"What?" Izzy felt perplexed. What was Cody talking about? How could this situation possibly have been his fault? Did he know something he wasn't telling? Cody's hoarse voice sliced through his musings like a dagger.
"First it was my Dad, then Mr. Oikawa, now Tai. Everyone who knows me always ends up getting hurt."
"That's not true." Izzy protested. "Look at me, I know you and I'm not hurt, am I?"
"Not physically, but don't you hurt inside when you think about what's happening to Tai?" Izzy had to admit that he did. "It's always the same. I can never care about anyone without harming them somehow."
Izzy grasped Cody's shoulders with both hands, spinning the boy round to face him. "Cody, this is NOT your fault. You can't blame yourself. Bad things happen, that's the way the world works. If they didn't, then how would we recognise the good things?"
"But - " Cody began. Izzy cut him off.
"No buts. My parents died when I was really small, but if I took the same view as you then I could blame myself for what happened to them."
"But you were only a baby." Cody said. He - like all the new Digidestined - was familiar with the story of Izzy's adoption. "How could you have been responsible when you couldn't even talk yet? That's ridiculous."
"So is what you're saying." Izzy shot back. "Cody, this isn't happening because of you. It's much bigger than either you or me. You have to understand that. You're not accountable."
Cody just stared into the sage eyes of his comrade. What he was saying made sense, but still...
Izzy's dark eyes distended slightly, as suddenly the small boy before him fell forward, embracing the teenager in a weeping hug. Unsure of how to react, Izzy just let him sob onto his shirt, releasing years of guilt and blame in a flood of rarely seen tears. Cody shuddered profusely, clutching at the older boy for support.
"I just...just feel so...helpless. I wish I could stop all this from happening, but I don't even know what's going on. I don't know, Izzy. I DON'T KNOW!"
Izzy raised his arms and patted the sobbing child on his trembling back as his mother had done for him when he was small. The pain in Cody's voice struck a chord with the young genius. The agony of not knowing something was something Izzy could relate to, having been through it for years after discovering by accident about his adoption. For so long he'd wondered what had happened to his biological parents, brewing feelings of guilt and feebleness within his soul until he though he would burst from the sheer intensity of them. He wished now that he could help Cody with what he was feeling. Aid him somehow against his problems. This desire burned within him as he held the juddering child in his arms; he wished he could provide Cody - and everyone - with the knowledge that they sought. He wished...
Suddenly, a light seemed to explode from within Izzy's chest. Cody's head jerked up as he fell backwards, and all the other Digidestined whirled around. The strange - almost ethereal - green light bathed the teenager with its eerie phosphoresce.
"Wha- what's going on?" Davis demanded.
"Izzy!" Cody called desperately. It was happening again. Despite all that Izzy had said, he was being hurt. The little boy stared at his friend from where he sat on the floor.
But Izzy didn't appear to be in pain. In fact, he was smiling. Gently, he reached out one hand, gesturing that Cody should take it.
"Come on. I can't do this alone." He murmured. Inexplicably, his voice - though only a whisper - seemed louder than even Tai's screams, resonating inside everyone's ears like a knell.
Suddenly Mimi cried out. "Look! His chest!" The youngsters all gazed at where she pointed. There, glowing brightly through Izzy's shirt was a curious mark. Like two circles linked by a horizontal straight line, it illuminated his entire being as it shone through his very skin.
"The crest of Knowledge." TK breathed incredulously.
Comprehension dawned in Cody's green eyes, as he finally understood what Izzy was asking him to do. He rose to his feet, silently taking the proffered hand. At once an odd - not altogether unpleasant - sensation spread through him. He may not have been the original holder of the crest, but his own power merged with the older boy's, illuminating the entire room with their combined light. The two parts of Knowledge united the power given them when they became Digidestined, sending it out from their bodies to encompass those of their friends as well.
With a faint whooshing, this green power entered the bedroom, filling it completely. It filtered into the minds of all those there, giving them what they all wanted to know. Taking them back with it, to a time when all began. Explaining everything through memory itself. Tai rocked back and forth on the bed, whimpering softly as he was quietened by the soft illumination around him.
Back they went. Into the very mind of their comrade. Back, back, and further back still. Back to the start. To see. To find out. To finally know.
And so it began. The witnessing of something even those originally involved should never have seen....
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AUTHOR'S NOTES: Yes it's me again. So what did you think? No good? R&R please, I need some input. The next chapter is a doozy, so I HAVE 2 be absolutely sure B4 I post it, OK? It took me an entire week 2 write, and is kind of the hinge on which the whole fic swings, so I MUST know whether people even want 2 know what happens next. (BTW; I've never watched Earthworm Jim, but I hear it's a good - if weird - show.)
Thanx.
Remember, amateurs built the ark - professionals built the Titanic.
Scribbler ;-D
