For They Shall Be Filled
By: Vain (Vainglorious696)
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bVain:/b Oh my God, I've actually update.
bHisoka:/b Will wonders never cease?
bKaiser:/b WHAT THE HELL?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
bVain:/b Calm down, Kai. I told you I was writing a Yami no Matsuei fic, didn't I? Well, meet my newest muse.
bRemy:/b Is it just me or is it gettin' ta be a bit crowded here, neh?
bKaiser:/b *glares at Hisoka* Somebody's gonna pay for this.
bHisoka:/b *lifts an eyebrow* Why exactly do you smell like you just crawled out of a sewer?
bKaiser:/b *twitches*
bVain:/b *smirks* I own nothing and I'm poor. R&R, please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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~ "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth.
I did not come to bring peace, but a sword."
-Matthew 10: 34
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Part Twenty-Eight
A Separate PathDinner was a rather hurried affair. Ken was silent, secretive, and brooding, which wasn't unusual in and of itself, but he somehow managed to cast a rather sedate air over the table. Kari was pale and quiet, although she looked more relaxed than she had since the Test—somehow some of the sadness was gone. Davis kept grinning and starting lines of conversation that nobody really followed except for Wormmon and Veemon, who had made poor Patamon choke on a rice ball when the little blue digimon digivolved about five minutes through the meal. Gatomon and Patamon then decided to lecture the "inexperienced" digimon on proper digivolving form and Hawkmon tossed out a few of his own tidbits of wisdom, conveniently overlooking the fact that he was actually a few days younger than Veemon. Wormmon seemed to find the entire production intensely amusing at first, but after it started to get a bit too weird for his sensitive tastes, he allowed Armadillomon to entice him into a discussion on the finer points of Japanese and Australian cuisine. Gennai picked up the conversational slack and tried to interest Cody in a discussion about computer programs but kept getting interrupted by Yolei, who seemed to think that everything he had been doing for the past several years was hopelessly backwards. Davis would occasionally toss an odd little grin Kari's way and she would return it. After casting several covert glances in TK's direction, Yolei was surprise to see that the Child of Hope neither noticed the weird little exchanges nor cared. He was staring at Ken.
Abruptly, the dark-haired genius stood, absently tossing his napkin on the table. Everyone stopped and looked at him. "I need to do a few little things before we're ready to go. Will you all meet me in the Control Room in roughly an hour and forty-five minutes?"
It was simply amazing how much a question could sound like an order.
Yolei fixed a hard glare at him and opened her mouth, but Ken merely turned around and walked away. He stopped in the doorway for a moment and looked back at the table with a slight frown. The Child of Love and Sincerity continued to glare and the former tyrant shook himself as though disgusted with something. He shrugged slightly and spoke in a barely audible voice. "Thank you. Dinner was excellent."
**************
Ken punch a few more buttons on the arm pad of his throne and glared at the power levels the monitors displayed. His opposite hand clenched into a fist and he smashed it down into his thigh. The pain didn't resister. "Intolerable," he growled at the numbers. They stared back at him silently, unafraid of the former Kaiser's wrath.
Behind Ken the door slid open, a long rectangle of light against the otherwise black wall. Wormmon puttered in, his pods making their distinct popping noises against the smooth metal floor. The little virus stopped short when he saw his human sitting on the throne—the former heart of his empire . . .
One of Ken's hands was balled up into an angry fist and the other was being used to prop up his head. His eyes were cold and flat, reflecting only the light of the large screens before him. Deep lines of displeasure twisted the boy's face into something cruel and unnaturally harsh and his lips were a firm unforgiving line, making him look years older than he actually was. Add spiked hair, a royal blue and white jumper, heavy black boots, a yellow-fringed cape, and a whip and—
"Did you reroute the power, Wormmon?" Ken's icy voice slid through his thoughts.
"Yes, sir."
The boy nodded without looking at him. It had only been a few weeks and it was very easy for them to both to slide back into the roles that they had occupied for so very long. Old habits sometimes refuse to ever die completely. Ken stood and walked over to the monitors, arms akimbo. He reached up towards a computer panel that would have been invisible to anyone else and punched a few button seemingly at random. The keys glowed a heavy malevolent red as his fingers danced over the console.
A grunt of approval slid from between his lips and he nodded curtly as the numbers and graphs on the monitors began to climb. 45% 57% 62% Power would need to be rerouted from some of the lower levels. 69% 72% 74% . . . 74%
Would that be enough? It would have to be.
"Computer," the boy genius barked sharply into the chill air, "run a diagnostic of all systems and subsystems still operational. Operational Procedures: Kaiser Theta 10. Display all available data."
"Estimated time for analysis: 23 minutes and 58 seconds."
A muscle twitched in Ken's jaw. "Initiate."
There was the instant and intense hum of machinery as the computers set about their mammoth task and Ken returned to his throne. He crossed his legs and propped his head up on his right hand, drumming the fingers of his left hand on the throne's armrest. Tap . . . tap . . .tap . . .tap. Something didn't feel quite right about this situation.
"Ken-chan?"
Tap . . . tap . . .tap . . .tap. Something felt out of place.
"Ken?"
Tap . . . tap . . .tap . . .tap. It was like . . .
" . . . Master?"
Tap . . . tap . . . Unforgiving violet eyes pinned the little insect to the floor and it took all of Wormmon's power not to shy back. As it was, he couldn't help cringing a bit.
"What?" It was like . .
"I'm sorry, Master."
Ken stiffened as he realized what was wrong. His face instantly softened. "Oh, Wormmon, I'm so sorry . . ." Twisting around at an odd angle, the boy bent over the arm of his chair and lifted his partner into his lap. "I didn't—"
"I know, Ken-chan." The little virus snuggled up closer to his boy. "It's okay. I did it too."
The child reclined in his seat and ran a hand through limp hair. "Old habits," he murmured.
The two sat still as the computer hummed a soothing electronic lullaby. Ken's head nodded a bit and the figures that he was staring at on the monitor began to blur together. His head snapped up again and he blinked. Great, he chided himself in disgust. Now is not the time to be falling asleep, genius.
Unfortunately, Wormmon's warmth in his arms, the music of the computers, several sleepless nights, and a belly full of soup were all conspiring to do him in and his head began to nod once more. Violet eyes fluttered closed delicately and deep within Ken Ichijouji's mind a dream arose and reached out long cold hands to drag him into slumber.
**************
A shadow moved through the ship, flowing towards the engine room. It was here, she knew. She could feel its presence. If the Master insisted on keeping Ichijouji alive, then she would be sure that the boy was weakened. Such a move would severely cripple the Digidestined and hopefully force Gennai to join with them.
She suddenly stopped, her senses going on full alert as she felt a shift in the barriers of time and space. "What is this?" she murmured, trying to place the feeling. Her empty eye socket looked up and scanned the ceiling as though it could yield answers. "So . . . the little Brat Emperor has slid into yet another phase warp . . . I should hurry."
Ken had cleaned up the engine room after his repair duty, so it was immaculate as ever. Not that it mattered—she could have found what she was looking for anywhere. A smile graced her full lips as she flowed towards the core. She could feel it there, it's Darkness acting like a beacon. It was reacting both to the Darkness of her presence and the fact that she was not its master.
The missing half of the Digimental of Miracles; without it, the Digidestined would be helpless.
Now where is it? She honed in on the feeling. Ah . . . "What?!"
The tugging had ceased. "How . . .?"
The woman sent out her mind, desperately searching for the Golden Digi Egg. Where is it? How did this happen? It was just here!!
Her search yielded nothing.
A sharp hiss of air left the shadow's lips as she scanned again. Nothing. A familiar presence tugged at the edges of her mind, though. It was Gennai. A smirk danced over her face. Perhaps this would not be a wasted trip after all. Ichijouji still had to be dealt with, but for now, rattling the traveler's cage would have to suffice.
She vanished, headed towards her former protégé. After she disappeared, two phantoms became visible near the core.
Osamu glared at his unwelcome companion. What the hell are you doing?! You shouldn't be here. It's dangerous for you. And what if the Guardians found out? You know how important you are to their plans.
// What? And miss out on all the fun? //
I'm serious!
// You're always serious, 'Samu. //
What did you do with the other half of the Digimental? Why have you removed it from this plane?!
// Relax. It'll be safe. I'm going to be putting it to good use. //
Damnit, when are you going to grow up?! This isn't a game anymore. Ken needs that! You can't just decide to jump in during the middle of things! Given everything that you've gone through, I would have expected you to be more responsible. Don't you ever think things through?!
//Oh! And of course only you know what's best for Ken, don't you?! Don't you dare play the loving big brother to me, Ichijouji! I know you too well for that! Don't forget that I know what you've done and I know exactly why your soul was consigned to limbo instead of transcending, so don't you dare get self-righteous with me! This is all your fault, anyway! He never should have been left alone! //
Osamu pulled back and pointed an accusing finger at the other spirit. I don't trust you with him—he got hurt because of you. You're the reason he's running around with that . . . that thing growing inside him!
A sigh. // You don't trust anybody with him. He's not a baby, Osamu. //
The purple haired ghost glared at his old friend and ten turned away and vanished, hurt by this reproach. The other remained there for a long moment. The spirit fluttered and sent out his mind, feeling for Ken's location. Perfect—he was approaching limbo. The air in the spirit's hand shimmered, slowly coalescing into something dark and pulsing with restrained power. The spirit looked at it sadly for a moment and wished that there was a gentler way to rejoin the halved Crest. There was not.
Osamu's words rang in the air. You're the reason he's got that thing growing inside him!
It was always the same old argument with Osamu. There could be no doubt that he loved Ken, but he was suffocating the boy. When Osamu realized that Ken had been chosen to be Digidestined and not him, it had been almost more than he could bear and now this was happening. Osamu had been horrified to see the rise of the Emperor, but never had the spirit attributed it to his own action—he hadn't even noticed the rather alarming resemblance that the Emperor bore to him until it was pointed out.
Another sigh disturbed the air. // I'm sorry for this Osamu, but he's not just your baby ototochan anymore. He's not even human anymore . . . //
**************
"That," declared Davis, "was undoubtedly one of the best meals I have ever eaten!"
Yolei gave him a level look. "You and TK still have to do the dishes, Davis."
"Hey! I was being serious." The goggle boy crossed his arms and looked defensive and put out. "Why doesn't anyone ever believe me?"
"I believe you," Veemon offered.
Davis grinned at his partner. "You want my last cream puff?"
The little vaccine's eyes lit up. "Yeah!!"
Gennai smiled faintly and rose. "I have something that I need to do."
"But—" Davis closed his mouth over the words as the traveler vanished out the door. "Hmph." He turned to the blond sitting across from him. "I guess that we should get started TP."
The blond merely stood up, tucked Patamon under and arm and picked up a plate with the last three cream puffs. "Sorry, Davis. I already volunteered to take Ken and Wormmon dessert."
"But—" He stared as Takeru also vanished. He turned to Veemon. "What just happened here?"
Yolei's voice rolled out of the kitchen like a peel of thunder. "DAVIS, DISHES! NOW!"
**************
Gennai's footsteps echoed down the hall. The shadow cast grotesque images across him as he moved but he ignored them. It had been a long time since shadows had frightened him. A sudden chill went up his spine and he came to an abrupt halt.
He turned around in a slow circle. "Ken?" There was silence. "TK? Davis? Yolei? Kari?" No one answered. The young man's voice dropped down to a whisper. "Osamu . . .? Is that you?"
Silence.
Suddenly, a woman's low sultry laughter cut through the air and slid through Gennai's ears like a knife. He stiffened and choked back a gasp of surprise and fear. The voice was smooth and low with the promise of pleasure and pain and lust and sin. Gennai took a step back as the chill in the hall localized itself and the air solidified into a shadow.
The shadow slowly took shape until it was the outline of a tall, slender woman wrapped in a cloak. Her entire demeanor seemed to scream: 'look at me, you idiot! I am everything that you have ever wanted, ever dreamed of! I am you hottest dream and most forbidden fantasy and all you have to do is believe in me to make it real!' A dark cowl covered her face down to the tip of her delicate nose. A wide full mouth the color of red roses was set in a face the color of fine china—not pale, but paper white. Gennai didn't need to see the face to know the woman's identity.
"What are you doing here?" the traveler hissed, recoiling from the translucent woman.
"Now, now, Gennai. Is that any way to greet an old friend?" she purred in a deep throaty voice.
Gennai cast an unnecessary glance around him to make sure that he was alone before he took a menacing step towards her. "How did you get here?"
"Oh, relax," she drawled, waving a grossly over-sized hand with dangerously tapered fingers through the air. "This is only an astral projection. Besides, the forces of Darkness are strong here. It is easier to slip through the widening rift between dimensions in places like this."
Gennai stared at her hand in horror. "What happened to you?"
She put her hands on her hips, suddenly angry. "You betrayed us, that's what happened to us!" she hissed. "You stood against us in the final battle and helped those brats lock us away in that damnable dimension! That's what happened to us!"
"No," the traveler shook his head sadly and regarded her with pity. "You betrayed yourselves, my dear. You betrayed your covenant with the Guardians and brought this ruin upon yourselves."
"The Guardians!" she spat in contempt, tossing her head like an offended horse. "The corrupt masters of two decaying worlds! We offered you eternity as a god—and instead you choose lifetimes as a slave. We offered you forever." Suddenly her voice dropped to a whisper and she took an almost hesitant step forward. She raised a long sharp finger up and drew it across his jaw line, down his neck and down his chest. "I offered you more."
"I—"
"Do you think I didn't know how you felt about me?" She leaned closer as her hand continued its downward path. "Do you think I didn't care?"
Gennai was frozen like a bird under the eyes of a cobra. She was so close he could almost smell her. This was every childhood fantasy that he had ever had come true, and he knew it was sick, he knew it was wrong, he knew that it was twisted and foul. And he wanted it anyway. She was so close he could almost taste her . . .
"Stop it, you imbecile!!!"
Gennai jerked away from the shade sharply as a loud spectral voice cut through the overheated hormonal sludge of his thoughts. "Whu—"
The woman made a sound that sounded suspiciously like a growl and her mouth twisted unpleasantly. She vanished.
Gennai staggered backwards, shocked and uncoordinated. He raised haunted eyes to stare at the gradually visible and extremely furious Osamu Ichijouji. The boy's glasses flashed cruelly in the dim light. Gennai flinched and looked away. "I . . ." He licked his lips nervously. "Ho—how much did you see?"
"Enough." The firstborn Ichijouji's mouth contorted in disgust and contempt. "More than enough." He glared at the traveler, rage and betrayal bleeding into the very air around him. "We don't have the time for you to have second thoughts, traveler. I suggest you choose sides—now. Before they're chosen for you."
A voice suddenly blasted through the loudspeakers, startling them both. "Everyone, this is TK! You've gotta come to the control room right now! Something is really, really wrong with Ken!"
A look of pure panic flashed across Osamu's face, swiftly followed by horrified comprehension, and he swore, shocking the traveler. Damn, him!!! What did he do to him?! It was obvious that he wasn't damning Ken, so who was he talking about? Before he could ask, the specter vanished.
A sudden wave of shame and nausea hit Gennai and he raised both of his hands and covered his face. He slid to the floor in a boneless heap and images danced across the back of his eyelids. Ken . . . Anya . . . I'm so sorry. He remembered the last battle against Millenniumon—the look of shock and pain and fear on Ken's face when the spore had hit him. The same look had been on Anya's face when her own digimon had turned on her and killed her. He shook his head to banish the images, but they kept coming.
Ken's blue eyes looked up in horror as something flew towards Ryou. He leapt forward. "Look out! Aagh!" . . . Anya's blue eyes looked down in horror as her Digi Tomamon whirled to face her, tears flowing out of his shell. "I love you, Anya," he whispered. "Nightmare Syndroma!!" . . . "My name is the Digimon Emperor!!!" . . . "You idiots think that you can stop me?! I am Anya and this world is mine!!!" . . . "I will make you all my slaves!" . . . "You will serve the Dark Master or you will die!" . . . "Where's the kind and gentle Ken I used to love?" . . . "I love you Anya."
Gennai moaned and slammed his head hard against the wall behind him. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry . . .
Kimeramon exploded in a flash of light. . . . Anya screamed as a wave of darkness overtook her. . . . Ken collapsed on the ground, sobbing hysterically. . . . Black fire licked at Anya's body and the scent of burnt flesh filled the air.
Gennai trembled. "I'm sorry . . ."
TK's voice crackled out of the loudspeaker. "Gennai, where are you?! Ken needs you!"
Ken . . . The traveler pushed himself to his feet and stepped towards the control room with lurching steps. Ken needs me. A sudden sense of urgency and duty filled the young man. Ken needs me. He began to run. Ken . . .
An eternity later, or so it seemed to him, Gennai burst into the control room. He started and froze as the children all stared at him in shock and he tried to get his bearings. The control room was big, dark, and just a generally creepy place to be. The walls were all covered in thick shadows and were mounted with dozens of television screens, all ranging from tiny to enormous. The darkness of the walls and TV mounts made it look as though they were floating in mid air. The only other object in the room was an extremely modern, if Spartan-like, black throne set in the exact center of the room. The only light in the chamber shone down directly on that throne, giving the rather disturbing impression that the chair's occupant was the sole source of light other than the monitors. That occupant was currently Ken Ichijouji.
Takeru was kneeling on the floor just below the small dais upon which the throne sat with one hand on the arm of said throne. The other children were arrayed behind him, unsure of what to do. Osamu floated above and behind his brother, looking pale and frantic. Gennai pushed past the children and ignored the ghost as he came to stand directly in front of Ken.
Wormmon looked up at his the traveler from his place by his boy's feet with large frightened eyes. "What's happened to Ken-chan?"
Gennai studied Ken for a moment. The boy was sitting in the throne in a slight slouch with his head dropped down on to his chest. One arm was curled up in his lap where Wormmon had presumably been, and the other was cast almost carelessly across the arm of the chair. The normal lines of anger and bitterness had faded, allowing the traveler to appreciate how truly young the child actually was. The thing that was most interesting, however, was the fact that he was all in black and white. Not just black and white, but truly black and white—like an old television image or photograph. His body also appeared to flicker from time to time, like television static—no, not flicker . . . phase.
Gennai stared as the truth dawned upon him. He had head of it, was aware of it . . . but he had never actually seen it. "He's stumbled into a phase warp," the traveler breathed.
TK looked up at him, fear evident in his eyes if not his voice. "What do we do?"
Gennai stared at Ken. "Hope."
**************
A/N: I HAVE CHANGED KEN'S LULLABYE FROM "DISARM" TO "CROSSROADS." DISARM DIDN'T FIT FOR WHAT I WANTED TO DO. I HAVE NO IDEA WHICH CHAPTER THE CHANGE HAS APPEARED IN HERE ON FF.NET, BUT I WILL EVENTUALLY GO BACK AND EDIT IT SO THAT THE SONG IS THE SAME IN THE END AND BEGINNING OF THE FIC. PLEASE DO NOT BE CONFUSED BY THE CHANGE IN LYRICS.
**************
The air was stagnant and smelled faintly like something was rotting. A slight breeze blew, but it offered no relief and did little more than move his hair. He flipped his long indigo locks out of his eyes, but they stubbornly fell back into his face. He ignored them.
Where am I?
He hadn't asked aloud, but the thought seemed to echo with an unsettling lack of finality. He turned around in a full circle.
The beach, he thought. It seemed to be almost sacrilegious to speak and break the trembling silence. I'm at the Dark Ocean . . .
Somehow, he did not find that to be the least bit disturbing.
Behind him rose black, jagged cliffs that stabbed the sky with a harsh, unforgiving outline. In front of him, dark, almost tar-like waves lapped hungrily at the shore. The sky was the same color as the ocean, giving him the dizzying sensation of there being no sky at all, merely an infinite ocean. Wormmon? he projected the thought. Yagami? Anyone . . .?
The boy started as something wet and impossibly cold wrapped around his ankles and he looked down. The tide was rising and the water had flowed up to grip at his legs. He stared at for a moment in something that was like clinical horror. It wasn't normal water. It was a thick, almost viscose fluid that moved like oil and clung to him like melted rubber. It was colder than ice—so cold it almost burned. The sensation bit through his pant legs and into his flesh, infiltrating his body down to the very marrow of his bones.
"This is mine now! And no one can take it from me or hide it in a drawer!"
"What?" Ken's head snapped up to regard a small child kneeling in the water and clutching small something to him greedily. At the sound of his voice the little boy turned to glare at him defensively. Ken took a step back in surprise and the child bared his teeth at him and growled like a wild animal. Then he faded into nothingness.
Ken stared in shock where the child had been. Those eyes . . . blue when they were happy, deep purple for anger . . . As far as Ken knew there were only two people in the world with eyes like that and one of them was dead. That left . . . "Me? That was me?"
A sudden sense of urgency overtook the boy and, working on instincts he hadn't known himself to possess, he turned to the West, placing the cliffs to his left. He walked at first, but it gradually turned into a run as the need to be somewhere grew into something that was close to a full-blown panic attack. His breath came in quick, jarring gasps as his long legs carried him towards his unknown objective. He stopped short when he heard the singing.
"Do you remember who I was? / Can you still feel it?"
It was a child's voice singing, reedy, alto, and slightly shrill.
"Can you find my pain? / Can you heal it?"
Ken recognized it instantly, the way one recognizes one's own voice from long ago by hearing the inflection and intonation.
"Then lay your hands upon me now / and cast this darkness from my soul."
The boy was dresses in kaki shorts and a lilac t-shirt with blue trim going around the sleeves. His back was turned and he was using the ash-like sand to build a sand castle. He was sitting, however, within the reach of the rising waves and the water was continually washing up and knocking down the edifice. Long-ish indigo hair fell smoothly and curled slightly up towards the edges of his face.
"You alone can light my way. / You alone can make me whole / once again."
Ken approached him cautiously, trying to relax his breathing and still his heart. The child stopped singing.
"I've been waiting for you," he called softly without turning.
Ken froze. It took a moment before he remembered to speak. "Why?'
He could almost hear the boy's shrug in his voice. "Won't you approach?"
Ken didn't move. He knew that he should—that it was expected of him—but every instinct in his body was screaming at him to turn around and walk away. "I . . ."
The youngster's patience instantly evaporated. "I've been waiting a long time!" the he exclaimed in anger. The child still didn't turn around, but his voice became shriller with the intensity of his emotions. "You were not true! You did not come! And now we are running out of time."
"Who are you?"
"What you were." Suddenly, the child stood, leaving his sandcastle to be wrecked anew by the water. The little boy turned around to glare fiercely at his older counterpart. "I am inconsequential now. The question you should be asking is: what are you?"
Ken looked back, afraid. "I am who I am."
"No. Yours is a separate path." The little one shook his head, hair shifting slightly. His child's voice dropped to a whisper. "You are an abomination."
Ken stiffened as though he had been struck. Then he advanced on his former self, unconsciously bringing to bear all the mannerisms and menace of the Digimon Emperor. "What are you?" he hissed.
The younger Ken was not impressed. "What you were! What should be! What you killed! I was the Kaiser's alternative. I was the one who should have been, not him! Not you!"
"Did you just bring me here to talk in riddles?"
An extremely unpleasant and out of place look of contemptuous disgust twisted the tiny boy's features. "These aren't riddles," he snapped. "These are the truths that you have discarded and thrown away. These are the memories that you cast asi—"
"Memories that were stolen from me by that damnable traveler!" Ken interrupted, furious.
"No!" the little boy countered. "Gennai can tell you nothing of your past that is not there for you to discover yourself. Do you think that he has the keys to your past and future? He does not! Those lay within yourself and no one else!"
" 'Within myself,' " the former dictator mocked, pulling back sharply and putting his hands on his hips. " 'Within myself' . . . There is nothing within me! I am empty!"
A pair of small violet eyes narrowed and glared up at another pair of violet eyes. "Then you will die."
The two stood like that for a moment, neither willing to break the gaze. Then Ken blinked. He looked down at his smaller counterpart with lackluster eyes and his voice was a whisper half drowned by the thick waves. "Then so be it."
He turned to go.
"Wait!" A tiny hand wrapped around his wrist like a vice. "Please don't leave me alone again."
He turned and looked down at the child—at himself. "I have to go now, Ken."
"No," the child pleaded with a slight shake of his head. "You made me angry. We still haven't gotten the balance right, you see. But now, there is something that I must show you—must make you understand." He tugged on the older boy's wrist. "Come with me."
For the briefest instant, Ken entertained the idea of hurling that tiny child away from him into the black waves and walking away. Instead, he only shrugged. "Very well."
Little Ken released his grip on the elder's wrist and threaded his chubby little fingers through Ken's long slender ones. He began to walk into the Ocean.
The older Ken resisted. "Ken, I don't think that—"
"It's okay," a reedy voice responded. "A part of you belongs here. The Ocean never forgets what belongs to it. You can always come home again here."
Ken opened his mouth to protest once more, but the words died on his lips. The water was rising. The water level was not getting higher; the water was actually physically rising to form an enormous black wall that stretched from side to side as far as the eye could see. The former Emperor balked.
"We have to hurry now," the child chided the elder Ken for his reluctance. "You have nothing to fear so long as we don't call His attention down upon us. But we have wasted a lot of time already."
"But who—"
The little boy tugged at his hand impatiently, not seeming to understand his older version's hesitation.
Ken's voice sounded like the waves. "What is this . . .?"
"Everything you need." Startlingly blue eyes looked up into haunted purple ones. "This is what you are seeking."
The boy stepped through the wall, pulling Ken along behind him. The genius gasped when he passed under the through the thick liquid. He was burning. He was bleeding. He was breaking. He was screaming. He was . . .
. . . Standing in a white room.
"What the—"
"Silly!" Somehow little Ken was now standing about two feet away and laughing at him. "What did you think would happen?"
"I—" Ken turned around all he could see was white. "I—what is this? This makes no sense!"
"Well, it's your mind!" the child retorted peevishly. "It's not my fault you're a raging lunatic."
"I am not a—" The indigo haired youth broke off with a sigh and pressed the heels of his palms against his eyes. "This isn't real . . . this is only a dream—a nightmare."
"But what if it was real, Kenny-boy?"
Ken stiffened. He slowly opened his eyes to gaze in disbelief at the figure of a boy with wild auburn hair and laughing green eyes standing behind his double. A slight moan slipped out from between Ken's lips.
"Reality is only as we perceive it, remember?" the new youth continued, waving one white-gloved hand in front of him to illustrate his words. "You proved that by what you did in the Digital World."
The child Ken assumed an air of wisdom and nodded, bobbing his head up and down like a dashboard ornament.
Ken stared. "Ryou?"
Ryou gave Ken one of his trademark half smiles and stepped off to the side. Osamu was standing behind him.
Ken groaned and his knees gave way beneath him. "No . . ."
Osamu placed his hands on little Ken's shoulders and stood expressionlessly behind the dream image of his little brother. Still smiling, Ryou took the dream child's hand into his own and stood by his side, a little bit in front of the eldest Ichijouji.
Suddenly, everything seemed surrealistic—hazy. It was getting difficult to breathe . . .
When Ryou had first convinced Osamu to let Ken battle in the Digital World, the day Ken left the three boys had posed for a picture. It looked exactly like the image that greeted Ken's eyes now.
He pushed himself to his feet shakily. The back of his neck throbbed fiercely. The room was spinning. He felt terribly nauseous.
Osamu silently lifted his right fist straight out and turned the fist over. He opened his fingers. Standing perfectly upright on the original genius's hand was a brown oval egg.
Ken's voice caught in his throat. "Whu—"
"Take it," Ryou urged him.
"Yes," chimed in little Ken. "It's yours now." Nothing had moved but their lips.
Hesitant steps took him toward his Oniisan. He gingerly lifted the egg off of Osamu's palm. "I—Oniisan, I don't understand."
A swift look of pity distorted his brother's face. He shook his head and, replacing his hand on little Ken's shoulder, closed his eyes in a slow, sad blink.
Ken cradled the egg in his palm like it was something precious and looked at him pleadingly. "Oniisan? What is this?" Osamu remained still. "Ryou?" He turned his wide blue-violet eyes to the child. "Ken?"
Nothing.
"I don't understand what you want me to do. What is this?"
They did not move.
"Answer me! Why do you just stand there? Stop staring at me! I don't know what you want!"
There was still no reaction and Ken took a menacing step forward. He clutched the egg in his fist. "Why do you all keep haunting me? Leave me alone!"
Tears were sliding down Osamu's cheeks and the back of Ken's neck was throbbing terribly now, heat running through his limbs. He stared into his brother's liquid eyes and felt something deep inside him snap. "Damn you!" he snarled. "Damn you, damn you, damn you forever!!" He raised the hand holding the egg. "The dead stay dead!!!!"
The egg went flying through the air with more than enough force to slam into the wall, but instead in merely hit the floor roughly a meter from the dream images and rolled to a quiet and anticlimactic stop, perfectly intact. Osamu looked down at the egg, tears streaming down his cheeks, and then looked back up at his brother. Ken was panting.
Then a small, nearly invisible, crack appeared on Osamu's forehead. Ken's eyes widened in horror as the crack began to grow and cause other cracks that in turn spread to little Ken and Ryou. Two trembling hand flew up to cover Ken's mouth, barely stifling the moan lodged in his throat.
"Nononononononono—"
It was fine china. It was like watching that egg he had thrown break in slow motion. But the egg hadn't broken—the people had. There came the small sound that pottery makes as it hits the floor and the three figures began to collapsed in on themselves. Then Little Ken, Ryou, and Osamu were only a pile of multicolored shards.
A choking noise staggered out of Ken's throat and he took a single step backwards. The egg, of its own volition, began to roll towards him. It came to rest a foot in front of his feet.
This wasn't real. This was a dream. There wasn't really a room here. There wasn't—
Pain exploded behind Ken's eyes, a heat coming from his neck and upper back and spreading to attack every limb. The pale boy fell to the ground trembling, his hands clawing desperately at his uniform. Pressure built up, making him feel like he was going to explode and be crushed all at once.
I'm going to die.
Blackness over took him.
Oh, God, please . . .
Then it was over. There came a sound of ceramic shifting—like many bricks being rubbed and shifted together. The shards were moving—rebuilding themselves. The boy shuddered. He knew without looking whom they were building themselves into.
"Get up."
Ken raised his head and squeezed his eyes shut against the overly bright light. He trembled, shocked, terrified, and confused. A shadow fell across the darkness behind his lids. The indigo haired youth shivered and shied back, disoriented. He opened his mouth to speak and gagged. A strong hand thumped him twice on the back and Ken's stomach rebelled. He leaned over and retched, body trembling as he vomited up something thick, salty, sour, and stale—it was the Ocean water.
The hand that had thumped him rubbed his back soothingly and words were whispered that he couldn't hear.
Ken tried to raise his head. "Where—"
A wave of dry heaves overtook him.
"Don't fight it," that hideously familiar voice counseled.
Ken tried to pull away from him, but the hand rubbing his back moved and grabbed his hair and forced his head down. "Just wait for it."
Ken held still. Then, something moved along his spine. Pain flared in the back of his neck and shot down his limbs. It was exactly the same thing that had happened to him that afternoon when the Portal had opened, but now the pain was much, much worse. The boy genius gagged. "Oh, God . . ." His stomach heaved again violently and for a moment it felt like his body was turning itself inside out.
"Stop," the familiar voice ordered coolly.
The pain stopped. Ken laid still, head still bowed to the ground. He didn't look up—what was the point? He already knew whom he'd find there.
Heavy footfalls bounced cruelly off of the walk and a pair of black boots entered the boy's field of vision. "Get up," the Digimon Emperor ordered once more.
Ken shivered as chills went through his body. Why do these things always happen to me?
Because you deserve it, his conscience replied cheerfully.
Shut up.
Well, you asked.
Shut. Up.
"Come, come, now, we're nearly out of time," the Emperor prodded again.
Ken raised his head slowly and glared at his double. "Quema en inferno."
The Emperor cuffed him sharply. "Get up," he ordered again without malice.
Ken pulled himself wearily to his feet. He looked his double in the eyes and felt a flash of irritation at the sight of the Emperor's ever-present glasses. The eyes behind those indigo lenses regarded him calmly.
"Where am I?" the boy asked.
The Emperor shrugged. "Here. It's not all that important, really. But there is something that you have to see before He turns His eyes to you."
" 'He?' "
The despot nodded. "The Dark Undersea Master. Take this. It's yours by right now," the other Ichijouji informed him as he shoved the egg into Ken's hand.
The Child of Kindness frowned and stared at it blankly for a moment. He briefly toyed with the idea of hurling it away, but was suddenly afraid that he too would break. He closed his fist over it and instantly felt all his fears and misgivings melt away. In fact, every emotion was gone except vague curiosity. Odd . . . He shrugged, brushing the thought off, and moved to catch up with the other boy. The two of them were then walking down a long hall. "Why does he want me?"
"Because you are like him." The Emperor looked over at the boy. "You don't see it yet, do you? Everyone wants you. You were an error. They hadn't counted on you being so strong, you know."
"I don't understand."
"Yes, you do, Ken. But you hide the truth from yourself. That is why I was necessary."
Ken frowned over at the Emperor. It suddenly occurred to him that he should find this entire sequence of events extraordinarily unnatural and illogical, but he didn't. It seemed to makes sense that he be doing this and that things had worked out the way that they had. Never mind the fact that this was all beyond bizarre, it was necessary. Ken accepted that without hesitation. "We are the same," he told his double.
"No," the Emperor shook his head. "There is no we, there is only you now. I am merely a suit of clothing, nothing more. You are the same."
Ken thought this over for a moment. "He said that I was an abomination."
"You are. But he is jealous."
"Why?"
"Because he has been forgotten and discarded. Because you think he is no longer necessary."
"Is he?"
"Yes."
"Are you?"
"We are the same. Are you necessary?"
" . . ." Ken turned away from the other's hidden eyes and instead tried to study the hallway they were walking in. Try as he may, though, his mind couldn't seem to latch onto a single solid feature about the hallway. Colors, shapes, light, and shadows all slid through his mind like oil, but he was unable to store them into his memory or even view them long or well enough to identify them. "Where are we?"
His double shrugged, the long cape he wore shifting slightly with the motion. "This is a special place."
"How so?"
"This is where things come to be forgotten." The Emperor looked over at him almost curiously. "You know that you are different, don't you? That's why you can't understand them."
"I know."
"Yours is a separate path." Abruptly the Emperor stopped and pointed to a door on their left. "There. This is it."
"What is it?"
"Destiny."
Ken looked at his double in confusion.
The other boy merely shrugged again. "I can go no farther with you. This is your destiny and I am not anything but you really."
The Chosen Child eyed the doorknob speculatively for a moment. It was round and shiny, a large brass affair with an odd etched into place instead of a lock. It looked like an inverted Crest of Kindness. After a moment, Ken extended his hand and grasped the knob. It was red hot. It didn't hurt really, but it wasn't the most pleasant sensation either. He wanted to pull back, but he could feel the Emperor's eyes on him, so he gripped the knob and pushed open the door.
The room was empty.
**************
TK stood and peered into Ken's flickering face as though he could keep the other boy in reality merely by that gesture alone. He did not look at Gennai as he spoke. "Hope?"
From her place behind Kari's legs Gatomon frowned at the purple-haired boy in the throne. "Why is his soul so eager to leave him?"
"What?" Davis eyed the little Champion curiously. "What do you mean?"
The cat-like digimon shrugged and left her place to come stand next to Wormmon. The insect turned his doleful eyes to her. Gatomon ignored him. "People who shift into other dimensions normally do so because they have nothing to hold them in their own dimension."
Wormmon looked like he was going to cry.
A sudden intake of breath startled them all and Ken lurched upward, nearly falling on top of TK as his eyes snapped open. Acting on instinct, the blond reached out and caught the slender boy up in his arms before he could tumble to the floor. Violent tremors shook the Ken and his eyes were wide, unfocused and without recognition.
"Empty . . ." he murmured through blue tinged lips, "It's all empty . . ."
Takeru shook the boy slightly. "Ken? Ken, wake up!"
Violet eyes flickered, and then blinked and a hazy recognition settled in them. "Takeru . . .?"
The shorter boy nodded and, with Gennai and Davis's help, jerked Ken to his feet. A shaking hand hid the boy's face and his indigo hair tumbled into his eyes.
"Ken-chan?" Wormmon's pods clicked softly as he approached the boy. He peered down at his digimon through a crack between his fingers. "Ken-chan, are you alright?"
The youth bent down and lifted the caterpillar up. When he stood, his eyes were flat and expressionless. "I'm fine." His free hand, now stilled, gently stroked Wormmon head, eliciting an odd purring noise from the tiny creature.
"You phased," Gennai reported, still eyeing the boy curiously.
Ken raked his eyes over him, noting that Gennai's pupils were dilated, his face flushed and sweaty, and his breathing was uneven. Now this certainly is interesting . . . "Really?" he drawled.
"What did you see?" demanded Kari.
"I . . ." a black expression transformed Ken's face. "I . . . I . . . don't know . . ."
Cody cocked his head to the side, but Armadillomon spoke for him. "Well, that just don't make any sense."
Ken's attention suddenly focused on the tawny digimon with awful intensity. "I—"
"Analysis complete."
Ken walked through the Digidestined as though he was going to walk over them and they parted quickly to avoid him. He touched another seemingly invisible console and punches a few buttons. New charts and graphs filled the monitors screens. Ken ground his teeth at the sight of them.
Gennai's voice floated up from behind him. "Problem?"
Wormmon shifted in his arm, lamenting the loss of Ken's petting. His large blue eyes absorbed the data on the screen for a moment before he saw what had displeased his boy. The monitors still read 74%. He frowned in his own way as he reviewed the numbers. There really should be more power available than that . . . then it occurred to him.
"The spirals and spires."
"What?" Ken looked down at the little green virus. "What are you talking about?"
Wormmon stifled a yawn. "The Dark Rings and Spirals are still classified as Primary Systems."
"Earth to Ken!" interrupted Yolei. "What's up with you?"
He ignored her and began punching buttons again.
"Reroute command entered," the computer informed him helpfully. "Warning: This is a Code Red Procedure. Input authorization codes in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6—" Ken did some more typing. "Authorization acknowledged. Warning: Transferring power from these systems will deactivate all Dark Rings and Spirals. Power transferring. Dark Ring power levels 92% 85% 43%27%13% 2% Power rerouted. Dark Spiral power levels 76% 59% 31% 18% 7% 0 Power rerouted."
The graphs began to climb. 74% 77% 82% 85% 90%.
"Power levels stabilized at 92%" the computer reported.
Ken hit a few buttons and turned around to frown at Gennai. "You've got your ride, traveler."
Auburn hair swung slightly as he nodded. "The coordinates are—"
"I set them already."
"Oh?" Gennai lifted an eyebrow unconsciously. "And how would you know to do that?"
A smirk. "Just how many holes are there in the Digital World that lead to the Dark Ocean?" The smirk abruptly vanished. "I kept my end of the bargain up, now you have to keep yours."
The traveler's shoulders sagged visibly, but he nodded. "Where?"
Ken looked at the others for a moment, considering. "I need to tie some things up here. I'll meet you in the observation deck in five?"
He turned back to his monitors.
Davis frowned and opened his mouth, but Veemon stepped on his foot. Gennai cast the little dragon a grateful glance and gestured towards the door. The Children all filed out silently. It was only after they were gone that Ken slumped forward and pressed his forehead against the monitor in front of him. Wormmon twisted around to frown at his face and the boy closed his eyes.
Gennai . . . He had thought—hoped—that the mysterious traveler would hold the key to his missing past, but now . . .
The dream was still with him, but it was hazy . . . vague. He couldn't recall the end at all—another loss for him.
"Gennai can tell you nothing of your past that is not there for you to discover yourself. Do you think that he has the keys to your past and future? He does not! Those lay within yourself and no one else!" . . .
" 'Within myself. Within myself' . . . There is nothing within me! I am empty!" . . . "Then you will die."
. . . "Then so be it."
Wormmon watched his boy's face worriedly. "Ken-chan . . .?" he ventured.
The boy straightened and opened his eyes. He hugged the digimon and rocked back and forth a bit. "Yeah, Wormmon?"
"Did you have a bad dream, Ken-chan?"
"No. No . . ." Something was wrong. A frown marred his face as his raised his hand to the light to look at it. The palm felt . . . tingly . . .? Violet eyes widened as he stared down at his hand. There was a small emblem branded into the palm: an odd M-like design . . .
Wormmon twisted in his arm to try and see why his human was staring at his hand and his face had gone so very pale. "Ken? Ken, did you hurt yourself?"
The boy lowered his hand and rubbed Wormmon's head gently. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back a bit. "I had . . . I . . . Hmph. I think I had an epiphany, that's all. It's nothing, really. Nothing at all."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
