For They Shall Be Filled
By:
Vain (Vainglorious696)
__________________________________________________________
Ken: Hey, Remy. Where's Vain?
Remy: Wasn't my turn to watch her. Where'd yo grand frere go, cher?
Ken: *shrugs* I'm not sure, he just grabbed Wormmon and
left. Something about Athena and oatmeal
cookies . . .
Remy: Ah . . . By de way, I really t'ink that we
should take dat whip from de Kaiser, frere.
Ken: I don't know—he really
is rather fond of it.
Remy: Still, I really don'
t'ink dat it be healt'y for Vain ta bleed dat much, cher.
Ken: *twitches* Bleeding?
Remy: Uh-huh. Where ya goin'?
Ken: VAIN!!!!!!
Remy: Dat probably was a bad
t'ing. . . Vain owns rien, Shakespeare wrote de MacBeth soliloquy, et Ken uses de
"f" word once, mais please read and review anyway . . . I should probably go
help him . . .
Remy: *grins wickedly* . . . Course, dat doesn't mean I will.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
~"Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to
fulfill all righteousness."
-Matthew 12: 37
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Part
Fifteen
Outside the window
the Odaiba sky was steel-gray and thunder boomed loudly. Rain had turned the red sunset black, but
the wild-haired figure on the bed didn't notice.
Many Worlds . .
. Ever since returning from
the Digital World, Davis's mind had been working rapidly on Gennai's
revelations burning through him. I
can't believe that there is so much more out there and NO ONE knows it. Man, I'll bet even real smart people like
Ken don't have a clue. The thought
of the dark-haired genius brought a smile to Davis's face. Finally. I knew that I could get him on our side. The smile abruptly turned into a slight frown. I wish I knew what was up with him and
T.V., (A/n: T.K.) though. Then the frown vanished altogether. But hey, this could mean my chances with Kari are getting better!
In reality, Davis
didn't really think that he had any chances with the enchanting Child of Light,
but, hey, a guy could dream, right?
The phone rang
loudly downstairs. He heard Jun pick it
up halfway through the ring. "Hello,
Matt?!"
Davis sighed and
shook his head. He loved his sister,
brat that she was, but sometimes she came on a bit . . . strong. Chibimon dug himself out of the mess on the
foot of Davis's bed—a difficult thing to do without any arms—and yawned, his
little mouth opening to fantastic proportions. "I'm hungry Davish," the little creature announced in greeting.
The younger
Motomiya grinned, the left side of his mouth sliding upward. "You're always hungry," he protested
halfheartedly.
"Says you! I'm a growing digimon!"
"Humph," the Child
of Courage eyed his fuzzy blue partner dubiously. "You're gonna start growing the wrong way if you keep shoveling
food down your hole like that."
"Shoveling?!" Chibi blushed purple. "I do not shovel! Unlike you!"
"Oh, yeah—"
"DAVIS!!!!!!!" Jun
shrieked, rudely interrupting his insult. "I SAID 'COME GET THE PHONE!' IT'S CODY OR SOMEBODY!!!!!!"
"Alright; I'm
coming!" He turned to his digimon. "You want Oreos or Chips Ahoy?"
"Umm . . . Both!"
"You da 'mon!"
Dais said laughingly as he left.
He ran downstairs
and received the phone and a rather nasty look from his sister. "What took you so long, squirt? Get into a fight with the voices in your
head again?"
"Yeah," he
retorted sharply, "we couldn't agree on where to hide your body."
"Oh, funny."
He grinned at her
retreating back and lifted the phone to his mouth. "Hey, Cody."
"Er—um . . .This
is TK, Davis."
"Oh, hey P.K. What's up?"
The other boy
sighed but didn't correct Davis; he knew a lost cause when he saw one. "I talked to Matt, Tai, and my Dad. They all agreed to cover for us."
"Cool. So we're all going 'camping' again?"
"Yep. At least we have an extra-long weekend to
blow this time."
"That's us: saving
the worlds before bedtime."
"Um, Davis?"
"Yeah?"
"You watch way
too much T.V."
The brunette
laughed good-naturedly. "I am just
trying to get my daily dose of radiation waves, thank you very much!"
". . . Right."
"So what did he
say?"
"Who?"
"Duh: Ken! What did you two talk about?"
"Why're you asking
me?"
" . . . Look, T.K.,
I know that the others aren't real thrilled to have him around and Kari's . . .
well, I kinda think that Kari's a little bit scared of him. You're the only one other than her who's
really not freaking out over the whole thing, so I wanted to know what you
think of him."
" . . ."
"You still alive
over there?"
T.K. sighed into
the phone. "I don't know what to
think. I do know that whether he wants
to admit it or not, he needs our help."
"That's kinda what
I thought too."
There was silence
and it seemed to Davis as though they were each holding their breath almost
afraid to ask the question on both their minds. Well, I'm not the Child of Courage for nothing . . . He
took a deep breath. "Do you think . . .
I mean could he still be—er, um—evil?"
T.K. didn't answer
immediately. Then: "I don't really
know. I doubt that that's something
that you can ever really just walk away from. Maybe he'll just have to learn how to carry the darkness with him. When we talked earlier today, he told me
'I'm still learning.' Maybe that's what
he meant."
" . . ."
"You still there,
Davis?"
"Yeah."
"Listen, why don't
you call Yolei and Kari and I'll call Ken and Cody to tell them about the
trip. You won't have any trouble
getting your parents to say yes, will you? They'll believe you, right?"
"They never
believe anything I say. Don't worry,
though; I've got it covered."
"Cool. Do you know Ken's number? It's unlisted."
"Um-hmm. Hold on a minute; I think he's on my soccer
list." There was silence followed by
some shuffling of papers and some soft swearing. "Got it," Davis declared triumphantly over the phone. "Got a piece of paper?"
"Yeah; go ahead."
"687-555-8730."
"Got it. Thanks, Davis."
"No problem, T.P."
" . . .
Whatever. See you tomorrow. Don't forget we have a math test."
"Oh, joy," the
other boy replied sourly. "Later." Davis hung up.
"What," demanded
Jun, "was that all about?"
"Anyone ever tell
you that it's rude to eavesdrop on people?"
"No. Besides, you're not a person, you're my
brother: that's different. And you
still didn't answer my question."
"That's because
you're a pig."
Jun turned a
fascinating shade of red. "I am
not! MOM!"
"I DID NOT!" Davis
yelled in protest. He pushed past his
sister and dashed towards the kitchen to recover the promised cookies for
Chibimon.
"Davis, stop
making fun of your sister!" Mrs. Motomiya yelled from the living room.
Davis responded by
slipping from the kitchen back up the stairs and to his room where he was
promptly pounced upon by a ravenous digimon.
"Whash tup?" Chibi
asked, chocolate and crumbs distorting his words.
"We," declared
Davis while swiping a handful of Oreos, "are going camping."
Chibi looked
confused. What about meeting the
others and saving the Digital World tomorrow? Then he shrugged. "Oh. OK."
All that yelling
over camping? Oh well, thought
the little blue digimon philosophically. If camping was what Davis wanted to do, then camping is what they would
do. Still, Chibimon had to agree with
Wormmon on that point: sometimes humans could be so weird . . .
**************
In Tamachi, the
rain didn't just fall: it attacked the ground with a fury and deliberation
unimagined in all the mythological hells of men. The torment and confusion of nature was reflected in the fragile
looking person who walked unheeding through the onslaught, and while Ken was
vaguely aware of the water assaulting his bare head, he simply could not bring
himself to care that much. He walked
the streets of Tamachi listlessly, oblivious to his surroundings. Thoughts swirled through his head
chaotically and he made no effort to restore them to a semblance of order. The chaos prevented him from lingering on
anything for very long. It was still
long enough to brood, but it was only when he focused his brooding that he was
dangerous—or at least more dangerous than usual.
Despite his best
efforts to lose himself in a stream of consciousness, however, one thought
insisted on continuously interrupting him: tomorrow.
Tomorrow and
tomorrow and tomorrow
Gennai had
declared that the test was to be tomorrow.
Creeps at this
petty pace from day to day
They all had to
attend school first, of course—it was Friday, but after that . . . it was to
begin—the "testing."
Until all our
yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death.
But tomorrow was
something more, too.
Out, out, brief
candle. Life is but a walking shadow.
It was the
day.
A poor player who struts and frets his hour upon the stage
It was The
Anniversary.
And then is
heard no more.
Of all the days
for Gennai to pick, he had chosen The Anniversary—that bastard.
It is a tale
told by an idiot,
But it couldn't
really be helped could it? There were
worlds at stake, right? Right?
Full of Sound and Fury
The Anniversary .
. .
And signifying
nothing.
. . . Oniichan.
Ken came to a
sudden halt and his head snapped up in surprise. Rain slid down his face carrying the scent of shampoo into his
eyes. He absently brushed it aside with
his hand and squinted at the sign above him.
Tamachi Cemetery.
Perhaps his
wanderings hadn't been so aimless, after all.
After a moment of
hesitation, he entered slowly. He knew
the path by heart and had walked it numerous times, both awake and in his
dreams. The farther into the cemetery
he went, the less real the situation seemed to be. The rain didn't really seem to hit him and the ground rolled away
faster than he was walking. The light
was more silver than gray, catching the humid air and sending a thousand
iridescent sparkles to him.
He knelt at the
foot of the grave, neatly folded his hands, bowed his and began to speak in a
dead, even voice. "I didn't bring
incense, Sam. I didn't bring a candle
or a flower. Actually, I didn't really
mean to come here at all, but it would have been rude not to stop in when I was
so close. I haven't been here for a
while and I'm sorry for that. Things .
. . things got out of hand. I created a
situation and lost control of it. What
I've done . . . I am beyond forgiveness."
The younger
Ichijouji stopped and let out a bitter bark of laughter. Still looking down, he tilted his head
slightly and ran a hand uselessly through his rain-blackened hair. "God, I'm turning into such a simpering
twit. Is this who I was when you were
alive, Sam? No wonder you despised
me. It's funny, though; I can't really
remember anything solid from the last few years. Not since that damnable digivice came from your computer."
He shook his head
rapidly, flinging water back into the rain in a desperate attempt to unfocus
himself once more. This line of thought
could only lead to brooding. "What's
happening to me, Osamu?" Ken whispered in despair. "Why do I feel so lost? Torn? Why do I feel like—"
The words lodged
themselves in his throat and refused to be voiced. Saying them would make it real; make it something tangible that
could consume him. But the thought
could not be controlled and it slid through his mind like a snake through oil.
"Why do I feel—"
Like I'm losing my mind.
Ken's head snapped
up, face made ghastly pale by the unnatural light. His violet eyes stared straight ahead with a terrifying emptiness
and absorbed the granite monument that Fate had so kindly erected to his
stupidity. Immortal little flowers were
carved into gray and two angels fluttered happily, forever trapped in the
polished stone.
Here lies Osamu Ichijouji
Beloved Son, Brother, and Friend
He will be missed.
"You would have
done better, wouldn't you?" Ken asked emotionlessly. His eyes were had become purple pits. "But you are dead now. For me. Because. Of. Me. And I am here to deal with
these things alone." His voice cracked
sharply. "You left me alone!" Ken dropped his head again, unaware of the
tears sliding down his cheeks to meet the falling rain.
"Yet what does any
of this matter to you now? You're
dead. You can't even hear me. So this is all moot point. I would apologize for wasting your time, but
I doubt it would matter."
The young genius
stared at the stone in silence for a moment, looking deep within himself for
something—he didn't know what it was, but he knew that he wouldn't be whole
until he found it. Was it in this world
waiting for him to discover it? Was it
in the Digital World where he had sought to make himself immortal? Was it here, hidden somewhere in the earth
with these rotting corpses? No, there
was nothing in this place for him.
"There is nothing
here for me, is there, nii-chan? Why do
I come here? This is not you; this a
rock lodged in the earth. This is as much
you as Mt. Fuji. You are not here and I
am searching in vain." He cocked his
head to the side as though he were debating something. Then he closed his eyes and his lips set
themselves in a thin line of finality. "Fuck The Anniversary. What is
it but another day? Goodbye, Osamu."
Ken rose smoothly
and turned hard on his heel. Three
steps away the boy stopped and turned his head to regard the headstone once
more. After a moment's hesitation, he
turned back around and approached the stone with something that was neither
reverence nor caution, but maybe a bit of both. Long, delicate fingers gently ran over the edge of the granite
and a few leaves fluttered to the ground with soft whispers.
" . . . I miss
you."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
