Author's Notes: Yeah, I'm still writing. Horrible, ain't it? If you get lost, just remember chapter one clearly states who's related to whom. Oh, and have no fear. I'm making sure that at least one of the 01/02 CC appear in every chapter. I will not forget them. You have my word. ;)
***
Circle Game
***
Chapter 3: Flower Child
Leala Motomiya wasn't quite sure where she was, and honestly, she really did not care. Wherever it was, it was warm and soft, and comfortable enough for her to go past her half-asleep state to a full out nap.
However, Fate decided that the begoggled girl was not going to get off so easily.
Something, or someone, poked her hard in the stomach.
"Yee-ouch!" Leala's violet eyes shot open, and she jerked to a sitting position, one hand on her stomach.
Large, aqua eyes stared back at her, blinking when she did, and narrowing and widening at the same time, as well. Slowly, Leala refocused away from the eyes, and onto the face that wore them. The aqua eyes blinked on a sphere-like yellow head, with a heart shaped mouth with two tiny fangs sticking out of it. Large, pink petals frame the creature's face, covering a good deal of its yellow body, which billowed out like a skirt, green legs sticking out. The creature, still not speaking, lifted a green arm, revealing a flower for a hand, and tapped Leala on the nose.
The pollen there promptly made Leala sneeze.
"Bless you, Leala-chan!" the creature declared brightly, smiling.
"Thanks," Leala muttered, wiping her nose. Her eyes suddenly widened when the full affect of everything hit her like a truck. "Hey!" Leala yelped, backing away while on the ground. "Where am I? How'd I get here? Where is everyone? Who are you, and how do you know my name?"
The creature stared blankly at her for a long moment, until finally uttering, "Huh?"
Leala jumped to her feet, scanning the surrounding area, while trying to keep her eye on the thing in front of her. After all, she didn't know just what the creature was. Soon, however, she couldn't have cared less if there was a hungry tiger staring at her.
"The Digital World!" Leala squealed, delighted. "So cool! I'm in the Digital World." She tapped a blue colored tree. "And without Papa's D3. So, these things gotta be Digivices!" She reached down to grab her device, only to find that it wasn't in her pants pocket. More to the point, her pants no longer had pockets. "What the... ?'
Leala began to frantically look down at her clothing, her squealing becoming higher at every moment. Her T-shirt, jeans and ratty shoes were gone, replaced with a black leather trenchcoat with matching pants. With a slight moment of panic, she reached up, and breathed a sigh of relief upon feeling her goggles still in their rightful place.
"This is... " she murmured. "So cool!" Then, she frowned, puzzled. "But, where'd my Digivice go?"
"Right here, Leala-chan!" said the creature, happily holding up the white and orange object. "You dropped it when you fell here. I thought you weren't ever going to wake up," the little flower digimon confided.
"Um, thanks," Leala said, hesitantly taking her Digivice back, and strapping it to her belt. "How do you know my name, anyhoo?"
"Anyhoo... mon?" the digimon blinked. "No, my name's not Anyhoomon, Leala-chan. It's Petalmon!"
"Petalmon," Leala repeated to herself. "Okay, then. Petalmon, how do you know me? I don't think I've ever seen a digimon like you during my visits here with Papa and Mama."
"You're silly, Leala-chan," giggled Petalmon. "I know you because I've been waiting for you."
Leala raised a brow. "Eh?"
"Waiting for a long, long time," Petalmon sighed, obviously lost in thought. "Sometimes, I hated it. But I knew it would be worth the wait. I knew you were going to be the most funnest friend ever! My partner, Leala-chan!" she proclaimed, grabbing hold of Leala's upper legs, and giving her the fiercest hug she could.
Leala wobbled in the embrace. "Part-- Whoa!" She lost what little footing she had, and fell back, Petalmon still gripping her. "Ow... "
The digimon blushed, and finally let go. "Sorry, Leala-chan."
"S'okay," Leala winced, sitting up. She gazed appraisingly at the digimon. "So, you're my partner, huh?"
"Yup!" Petalmon grinned, nodding enthusiastically.
"As in, a Chosen Child Partner?" Leala questioned.
"Yup!" Petalmon repeated, still grinning merrily.
"As in, I'm a Chosen Child, and you're my Chosen Partner?" Leala stood up, one brow raised.
"Yup!" Petalmon chirped once more, standing up as well.
"That's... That's a lotta news," Leala admitted, placing a hand on her hip, the other hand raised so she could tap her goggles.
She had always wondered what it would be like, to be Chosen, like her parents. Zap to the Digital World whenever she felt like it, save the world with her super powered digimon. Be a hero. Of course, that also entailed lots of hard work, constant risks of life, and possible emotional and physical trauma. Her parents wouldn't be too thrilled, either. And Leala wasn't much into the idea of dying before she became a famous soccer player.
Tapping her goggles harder, she looked down at her change of clothing, then at Petalmon, who smiled up at her. The digimon's aqua eyes shone with untold happiness, and Leala felt her mouth quirk up a little.
"This is the coolest thing ever!" Leala finally shouted, much to Petalmon's vocal delight. "Oh, hey," Leala frowned, once again tapping her headgear. "How am I gonna find everyone? They got zapped here, too. I think," she added.
"I don't know," Petalmon said, obviously disappointed that she couldn't help her new-found Partner. "I'm not a very good tracker."
"The Digital World is huge!" Leala exclaimed, pacing in a small circle. "They coulda landed anywhere. Oh, well," she stopped abruptly, and shrugged. "I guess we'll just have to go look for them. C'mon, Petalmon!" With a wave of her hand, Leala started out, into the thick woods.
"Eh?" Petalmon stared after her for a few seconds confused over Leala's mood swing. Then, she shrugged herself, and chased after the curly haired girl. "Wait, Leala-chan!"
***
"Hiro-san," Doroko placed a gentle hand on the brunette boy's shoulder, "are you okay?"
Hiro's cinnamon brown eyes remained locked on the laptop he held. So focused was he on the machine, that Doroko's question made him jolt in shock. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," he murmured, off handedly as he stood up, still gripping the laptop.
"Are you sure?" Doroko asked, dark brown eyes filled with concern.
"Yeah, sure," Hiro muttered, walking away, like he was entranced.
His fanbase looked on, confused, and Doroko pouted with worry. Not fully registering what he was doing, Hiro walked over to his dirt bike, taking the safety chain, and using it to secure the blue laptop on his handle bars. Then, grasping the still exposed grips, he hopped on and took off down the street, the houses and apartments soon becoming mere blurs.
As he sped along, his thoughts flew by, as well. His cousins were gone, as well as Yukio and Leala. Most likely in the Digital World, if the blinking laptop was any indication. Okay, how? They'd need a Digivice or D3, something none of them had. So, one of them had to swipe it from a parent. Hiro didn't think it was either of his cousins; Tenshi was far too respectful, and Kiyoshi knew better. He wasn't at all close to Yukio --no one was-- but Hiro couldn't picture the serious boy doing something so foolish. Leala, however, he could. All too easily.
So, Leala got them all zapped into the Digital World. Okay. He could handle this. He was twelve, after all. He'd been responsible for the camera work for the past four school plays, and he was going to direct this one. He could figure this out. Just go inside, tell one of his parents what had happened, and they'd go off to find the four lost children. It was the responsible thing to do, after all.
However, as Hiro chained his bike up in his apartment's garage, and took the elevator up, he began to play with the notion of going in himself. His father had once shown him how his Digivice worked. Just hold, point, and shout, "Digital Gate, open!" Easy enough.
Hiro nearly whacked himself over the head at the thought. He couldn't do that! He couldn't risk that much responsibility! He... He just wasn't ready for it. Sure, telling his parents was one thing. It was the mature, right thing to do. But, stealing one of his parents' Digivices and going in alone? That was insane! What if he got lost? Or stuck somewhere? Or eaten?
Feeling almost ill, Hiro walked into his apartment, the sight of his mother getting ready to run out to work greeting him. She was stuffing some make-up hurriedly into her purse with one hand, snatching up her wallet and car keys off the kitchen counter with the other. Palmon stood by her side, staring almost in awe at the quick movements of her Partner.
"Hiro!" Mimi smiled at her son, as she slipped her pink purse's strap onto her shoulder. "Perfect timing. Palmon and I are just about to leave. Be a dear and vacuum the apartment before your father gets home, okay?"
"Uh... Okay," Hiro shrugged, his eyes going back and forth between Mimi's face and her purse, where he knew she had her Digivice. If he could just make an excuse... Oh, no! No, no. No, no, no. He was not going to do it. Was not. "Uh, Mom," he stuttered, his calm exterior melting down into nerves, "I h-have a small problem... "
"You do?" Mimi halted everything she was doing, putting full attention on her son. Hiro almost hated when she did this; he felt guilty for taking up her time. With a reassuring smile, Mimi walked over to him, giving him a light tap on the head. "Tell Mommy, sweetie."
"Yeah, uh, you see, on my way out of school, I... " His tongue seemed
to twist into a knot, and a bunch of jumble nonsense began to stumble out.
"Well, I just, I saw, I think I... It just happened so fast... It's all
very confusing, and... I just thought you should know that... " Hiro bit
his lip. He had to do this. He had to tell. His hands, still guiltily gripping
the laptop, were covered in sweat. Just tell. That's it. Tell.
He took a breath. "I just wanted to tell you that... I love you very
much!" he gushed, throwing his arms around Mimi, making sure not to hit
her with the laptop.
"Hiro!" his mother giggled, returning the embrace. "I love you, too. But, I have to go now, hon. Don't want Mommy to be late, do you?"
Hiro winced. Stupid instincts! His eyes went to Mimi's purse. He was so close now. She'd never know; he'd just reach in and snag the Digivice. He'd bring it back soon enough. No one would know.
"Anything else you want to tell me?" Mimi asked, fondly.
His hand reached for the purse... "I... Um, I really just, uh, wanted you to know that I appreciate you. I don't tell you that often." Just a few more seconds, that's all he needed. No one would know!
"Oh, you're such a sweet boy!" Mimi tightened her grip. "I'm so glad you grew up so well. You never cause me any trouble."
Hiro's hand froze.
"I just know that I could count on you for anything."
Slowly, his hand moved away from the purse. "Gee, thanks, Mom," he murmured, miserably.
"Well," Mimi grinned, giving him a quick kiss on the forehead, "we're off. Remember your promise."
He blinked. "Huh?"
"Vacuum!" she called, she and Palmon heading out the door.
" ...Okay, Mom," he said, as the door shut, leaving him alone. He stared
on a for a few minutes, before looking down at the blue laptop he still
held. "Dammit!" Hiro nearly slammed the thing down onto the coffee table,
and flipped it open. The screen blinked at him, but nothing more. "What
was I thinking?" he asked to no one. "I must've lost my mind. Completely
nuts.
"Stupid me. Stupid computer!" he pointed at the offending object. "I
swear, I'll figure out a way to get everyone back, or my name's not Hiro
Yagami!" He paused for a dramatic effect. Then, he realized there was no
audience to appreciate his performance. "Stupid computer," he repeated,
with far less force, and much more annoyance.
The laptop blinked back.
Hiro scowled, and challenged, "Can't you do anything but that?!"
Much to his surprise, it did. With a pulse of light, something shot into his hand. However, Hiro didn't notice it, for he was far more focused on the fact that he was being pulled forward, very forcefully, and very fast.
When the pulse of light burnt out, Hiro was gone, and only the laptop was proof of his existence.
With a *click*, the computer stopped blinking.
***
Kiseki winced, her hand instinctively going to her shoulder, as she watched the viral Garurumon slash into her partner's side with his dagger-like claws. She didn't know how well Accumon could manage in this fight; she didn't have much room to maneuver, and was trying to keep the destruction away from the children. She needed space to finish the dark Garurumon off.
As it stood, Accumon was doing what she could to keep the kids safe, blocking most of the attacks, but taking a great deal of damage and pain doing so. She hissed in agony, as the Garurumon bit deeply into her side. Howling in anger, she threw him off, clawing at his eyes.
"Come on!" Kiseki hollered, running over to where Tenshi, Kiyoshi and Yukio stood, watching the fight in awe. "Into the woods!" she ordered over the chaos behind her. "Move!"
Yukio looked like he was about to argue, but Kiyoshi took hold of his arm, and began to drag him away, following Kiseki. Tenshi followed, as well, though he was hindered by constantly craning his neck to see the fight.
However, it was that craning that saved his life, as he barely managed to dodge a stray attack from Garurumon. As it was, he could feel his left foot actually stinging from the cold that almost hit him. He tumbled to the ground, grasping his foot, containing a groan of pain as best he could.
Accumon blocked another Freeze Fang with her tail, hissing as she took a savage swipe at Garurumon's head. However, as much as she defended, the feline Adult could not stop the advancing viral digimon; he was getting closer to his human targets every moment, snapping and clawing at Accumon at such a fast rate, it was all she could do to keep up. In a move too quick to catch, the viral Garurumon pounced onto Accumon's back, sinking his teeth into her neck as if to snap it in his jaws. Beside Tenshi, Kiseki screamed in horror.
"Accumon! Accumon!!" she shrieked, for one rare moment showing a loss of self control. Tenshi curiously watched, as the indigo haired girl closed her eyes tightly, her face contorted from some internal conflict. Then, without opening her eyes, Kiseki called out in a strained voice, "Accumon! D-do what you have to do, but defeat him. Defeat him!"
Accumon's green eyes narrowed in sudden determination, and with a deep, loud hiss, she flung the viral Garurumon off herself. Crouching low to brace herself, the feline Adult dodged the brunt of another Freeze Fang, jumping over the attack and landing almost face to face with her adversary.
"Wailing Treble!" she screamed, a shock of maroon flying out of her mouth, and striking the Garurumon hard. Kiseki turned away, her hands over her eyes, as the attack exploded deafeningly, deleting the virus in a rain of pixels.
With an exhausted sigh, Accumon devolved to a very haggard Bellmon, who collapsed, panting.
"Oh, Bellmon!" Kiseki cried, turning back and running to her partner. With a sob, the girl scooped up the tired cat digimon. "I'm so sorry. Are you all right?"
"Fine, Kiseki," replied Bellmon, rubbing her face against Kiseki's in a comforting manner. "I'm sorry I upset you. I know you don't like me to hurt anyone."
"It's okay," Kiseki whispered. "It's not your fault. He didn't leave us much choice, did he?"
The tired cat digimon shook her head, sadly.
Shaking his still stinging foot, Tenshi stood up. "Kiseki Ichijouji."
Golden eyes looked away from their partner and focused on the blonde boy. "Yes?"
Tenshi blinked a moment, almost unnerved by the girl. Softly, he murmured, "I... Was wondering- "
"You know how to work your Digivice," Yukio interrupted, walking over to the girl. "You have a Partner, as well, so I'm assuming you've been here before. If you could- "
Kiyoshi gripped the redhead's arm, shaking her head disapprovingly.
Yukio frowned. "What?"
Sighing, Kiyoshi signed her response slowly, hoping he caught the gist of what she was trying to get across.
"So what?" Yukio scowled at the younger girl's mild lecture. "She's not that upset. And she should tell us what she knows. It's only logical."
Kiyoshi gave the boy a withering look, before turning her attention to Kiseki. With a small, friendly smile, she waved.
" ...Hello," Kiseki replied, softly.
"Pointless small talk," Yukio muttered. "We have more pressing matters."
For once, Tenshi ignored Yukio's rudeness. "Leala-chan... Leala-chan's here somewhere. We have to find her."
"Leala... Motomiya?" Kiseki asked, eyes widening. "That's why I saw four new lights on my D-Cell instead of three."
"D-Cell?" Yukio repeated.
"My Digivice," Kiseki clarified, holding out the black, deformed triangular machine. It flipped open, the screen on the top showing different colored blinking lights.
"Interesting," Yukio murmured, opening his as well. His usually calm, black eyes widened. "Hey... With you with us and Motomiya somewhere, there should be five lights all together, correct?"
"Yes," Kiseki nodded.
"Well, my... D-Cell is showing seven lights," Yukio stated.
"What?" The indigo haired girl stared at her device. "Mine isn't showing five anymore, but it's showing six now, not seven."
"Seven on mine," said Tenshi, showing off his screen.
Kiyoshi held hers up, as well, revealing seven blinking lights.
"Curious," Yukio fixed his tilting sunglasses. "I wonder why yours is only showing six."
"Oh, it's your Partners," Kiseki remembered. "That extra light must be your Partner. My D-Cell had an extra light on it before I met Bellmon. That has to be it." She scratched the cat digimon fondly behind the ear, before her Partner jumped gracefully to the ground.
"So, this group of lights is us," said Tenshi, eyebrows furrowed. "And these three lights represent Leala-chan, my Partner, and someone else. Which one's which?"
"Well, the three separate lights are orange, gray and purple," Yukio said. "However, there's a purple light in our group of lights, as well."
"That can't be right," Tenshi said, softly. "The three lights are orange, gray and blue. Kiyoshi, what're the colors on your screen?"
The girl showed off her device, revealing their group of maroon, blue, red, purple and blue lights, as well as separate orange, gray and another red light.
"That's very odd," Yukio stated.
"The two lights on mine are orange and gray," Kiseki informed them.
"Those must be Leala-san and another Chosen that's fallen here. So, the
other light on your D-Cell's must be your Partner. Your Partner must match
the light that represents you.
"So," she looked around, "who do we go after first? Leala-san or the
other Chosen, whichever light they might be, or your Partners?"
"Partner," Yukio said, quickly.
"Leala-chan!" Tenshi snapped, for once not allowing his shyness to get the better of him.
"Why? Motomiya can take care of herself," Yukio argued. "And the other Chosen will probably be okay, too. Why not look for our Partners? Aren't you curious?"
"Of course, I am," Tenshi defended. "But I'm not leaving Leala-chan out there alone! You can go off looking for your Partner if you want, but I'm not that heartless. I'm going after Leala-chan!"
Yukio shrugged. "Fine. Do what you want, Takaishi. I'll see you around."
Without a second glance, the small boy turned on his heel and walked away, following the light to where his new Partner would hopefully be. Worried, Kiyoshi moved to follow, but Tenshi gripped her shoulder.
"You're staying with us," he said. "Let Yukio go. If he wants to be a jerk, let him."
Kiyoshi wanted to argue against their splitting up, but with no voice to speak with, and Tenshi not that well versed in Sign, she was forced to resort to a saddened sigh.
"So," Kiseki began, holding her arm out in the direction of one of the lights on the screen, "shall we go?"
***
"I don't get this," Seiko Natsuko muttered for what seemed like the fiftieth time. Perhaps it was. "She was right here. She had to be. Did she go out the window?" He looked up, only to see the same windows, still closed and locked from the inside, staring at him.
He had spent the last twenty minutes roaming through the computer lab, looking for the mysterious Kiseki, who had just as mysteriously vanished. The one computer that had been on when he opened the door of the room was still humming and blinking its screen. Otherwise, the place was deserted.
Honestly, Seiko felt enormously stupid looking around the place still. After five minutes, he should've left and gone home. What did he care about this girl, anyway? He didn't know her... He didn't think. Which was odd. He knew he hadn't met her before, but there was something familiar. Maybe her hair, or her eyes... Those golden eyes... Maybe he had been in a foster home where someone else had had golden eyes. Yes, that was probably it. He'd been in so many they were all a blur now.
That was probably another reason why he hadn't have left. His new foster home wasn't working out, per usual. He'd leave soon, chances were, and be placed in a new school district, as well. So, what was spending a few extra minutes at school to him, anyway?
"Goddammit!" Seiko swore, pounding his fist on one of the tables. "Where the hell could she have gone?"
The room answered with silence.
"Shit, this is ridiculous," he grumbled, storming towards the doorway. "I'm getting the hell outta here."
"My, my, what a mouth," tsked someone. "Do you kiss your mother with it?"
Seiko spun around, blue eyes darting, but seeing no one. "Who's there? C'mon out, jackass!"
"Now, where's a bar of soap when I need it?" the smooth, masculine voice pondered, amused. "To think, you're one of them. And what you represent! Stranger things have happened, I guess."
Seiko clenched his fists, now extremely irritated. "Where are you?!"
"Over here, hot head," the voice replied.
Seiko blinked, seeing nothing. "Where?"
"Here. Over here! The blinking computer," the voice clarified, rather annoyed. "I'm hard to miss."
"What the hell... ?" the boy trailed, not knowing what to say, as he walked slowly to the humming computer.
"Must you curse?" the voice asked. "It's very unbecoming for a young man."
"Psh, what's it to you?" Seiko challenged, suddenly more defensive than bewildered.
"Ooo, what a temper. You're going to be interesting," the voice sighed. "Oh, well. Nothing to be done about it, I suppose. Now, hang on. They're waiting for you."
"Huh?" Seiko took a wary step back. "Who? What?"
"The others. They're waiting," said the voice, as if it explained everything. "Now, just hold tight. This'll only take a minute."
"What the goddamn hell- ?!"
Whatever Seiko was going to say was cut off, as the light flashed, consuming him and pulling him towards a shared destiny. When the computer light faded, the boy was gone.
The voice sighed, wearily. "I really don't know what I did to deserve this. As if the first two groups weren't hard enough to handle... "
***
She was cold. So very cold, and very scared. The place was pitch black, her bare feet touching the cold, wet ground. A bitter wind blew, biting through the thin material of her hospital outfit. It always started like this. She never did like the beginning. She shivered, sucking in cold air through chattering teeth. Even rubbing her goosebumped arms didn't warm her a bit.
Soon, however, the light began to form, like it always did. It swelled, encompassing an area that, no matter how hard she tried, she could never reach. How she wanted to reach it. To actually see who was there, instead of just their form.
But the form was all she saw; a small, shadowed figure, black among the light, floating in the air. The only thing she was sure of was that the figure wasn't human, and that it was female. She didn't know how, the figure's voice never did hint to gender, but she just knew it was female. It remained suspended, bobbing a bit, the cloud around its back feet wispy.
"You came!" exclaimed the figure, delighted.
"Of course," she smiled, the cold around her seeming to melt away from the figure's presence. "I always do, don't I?"
"We'll be together soon," informed the figure, happily. "We won't have to meet like this anymore."
She frowned, confused. "How? You know they won't let me out... "
"You'll see. I've seen it," the figure said. "You'll be free. And we'll be together!"
"I... " she smiled, a sense of calmness coming over her. "I'd like that."
"Me too!"
The light began to throb, then, like it did every so often, until it brightened to the point that it was hurting her sensitive eyes, and she needed to shield them. And along with the pulsing light, the figure's form changed. It was something she was used to, but still came to dread. It meant their meeting would be cut short. The figure could never stay long in its other form.
"I have to go," the figure explained sadly, its voice sounding older now.
"Don't, please," she begged, her heart actually hurting at the thought. Their meetings were far too short nowadays. She tried to stare through the painful light, to finally, actually see what her friend looked like. It was far too bright; all she could see was a tail. A long tail.
"I'll be back soon," the figure promised. "Don't worry. They won't be able to keep us apart for long."
"Wait... Wait!" she called, the light fading, everything fading. It
was all getting hazy, cloudy. The air around her became thick, until it
no longer felt like air, but like fabric. Until it was fabric, and she
was no longer in her dream, but awake and in bed.
"No! Come back!" she cried, red eyes opening for tears to slip out.
"Please, come back! I'm scared here!"
She tried to get out of her bed, but leather straps held her arms and legs down, biting unforgivingly into her skin. They had restrained her again, like they usually did at night. Her dreams, so real to her, were deemed unhealthy delusions. She knew if she kept crying out they'd come in to medicate her. She didn't care. She was so scared, and her friend was gone. And her loved one... He was in another room. They didn't allow them to be together. That tore at her everyday, ripped slowly at her sanity, threatening it.
"Come back!" she screamed, burning tears now pouring down her pale skin. "Please, don't leave me! Please! Come back!"
She kept on calling, and sure enough, they came in, asking her in gentle tones to calm down, all the while holding her roughly down so one could stick a needle in her arm. It only made her screams that much worse.
"Nori! I want Nori! Where is he?! Please, can I see Nori? Nori!!!"
A few rooms away, a small, pale boy pressed his face against the padded wall. He couldn't hear her; he couldn't hear anything in his room. But he knew his loved one was calling out for him. He closed his blood red eyes, petting the wall, trying to imagine it was her, trying to somehow get through to her from where he was.
"It's okay, Nariko," he whispered. "I'm right here. You're safe. We'll be fine. I promise. I'm right here... "
Next Chapter: How Illogically Logical
