I'm going to die, aren't I?
It completely amazed Jun how calmly she thought this, even as her tormenter's blade went slicing over her shirt again, shredding it to pieces. She attempted to roll away, and the effort just barely saved her from losing most of the skin on her aching back. Still, it felt almost as if he had succeeding in striking her, as the motion caused the already gaping wound across her back to give a painful throb.
Something sharp nicked the side of her face, but it wasn't her attacker's weapon: rather, it was the horn of her precious burden she carried. As she struggled to regain some of her lost balance, Tsunomon shifted around so he could stare up at her, his copper eyes clearly showing his concern for her.
Don't worry, she thought, unable to give her thoughts voice at the moment, I won't let him hurt you. Maybe I can at least do that…
Then fire crossed her back again with rivers of pain, and the girl was forced to bite down on her tongue to prevent her shriek of agony. She caught the barest glimpse of her enemy's gleaming blade as he raised it over his head, then darkness claimed her and she knew no more.
* * *
Phantomon smirked, the expression masked by the crimson fabric of his hood. How pathetic these humans were; a little blood loss and they fainted dead away. They presented no challenge at all to him; the only way they could resist was to run. That, at least, the girl had done well enough, but now the game was over.
There was only one task left to him: retrieve the crest of Friendship and its partner from the dying girl's body. He could clearly see the little digimon already, quivering in the brat's arms, glaring up at him from the sparse cover that they afforded. Phantomon leered at him, and raised his scythe higher into the air. He would get rid of Tsunomon's only protection…by severing the brat's arms directly from her body!
The blade raised higher, higher…and was suddenly knocked out of his hands by a blast of light.
"What?" he exclaimed, then suddenly a voice called out behind him:
"Hand of Fate!"
Then another burst of golden light seared his back, and Phantomon screamed as he was blown backwards, slamming into the side of a building.
* * *
The sound of the explosion caused Jun to stir slightly, and she managed to force open her wavering, blurring eyes for a few seconds, just long enough to catch the barest glimpse of white feathers and billowing robes.
"An…angel…" she breathed, then her eyes slipped shut again, despite Tsunomon's screaming at her to stay awake…
* * *
"Did we get him?" Takeru asked, running out after Angemon. Jyou, Gomamon, and Wizardmon were right behind him.
"I don't know, but TK, you should be careful!" Jyou warned. "Remember, these bad guys have an annoying tendency to come back just as we think we've won…"
Phantomon roared with rage as he pulled himself out of the hole his impact with the side of the building had made and launched himself at Angemon, scythe lancing out toward the angel digimon's neck. Angemon dodged aside and brought his fist back, striking the ghost again with his Hand of Fate. Jyou sweatdropped.
"I hate it when I'm right," he murmured, and then turned to the others and said, "I'm going to go see if I can help that girl. Gomamon, you stay with Ken and Leafmon; Wizardmon, would you watch my back?"
"Hey, why can't I watch your back?" Gomamon asked, looking mildly hurt.
"Because Ikkakumon isn't very good at maneuvering on land," Jyou explained hastily, already running toward the fallen girl's side. Gomamon nodded in reluctant understanding and moved to stand before Ken and Leafmon. Glancing backward, he noticed that the boy had gone completely white, his already pale skin whitening even more.
"Uh…are you okay?" he asked, even though it was obvious that the boy was not okay. In his arms, Leafmon squirmed and turned worried eyes up to his partner.
"Ken?" he asked, not certain that he was being heard. "Ken?"
"Osamu…" Ken breathed, violet-blue eyes brimming with tears. He could not believe his eyes: the monster that Angemon was fighting…that creature…it was the one who had murdered Osamu!
"Ken?" Leafmon's trembling voice barely registered in his mind; his mind's eye was playing cruel tricks on him, replaying images from a nightmare over the battle that raged before him. Over and over again, the wind seemed to roar past him as he tumbled backward through midair, and above him a gush of crimson erupted from his elder brother's neck as the digimon sliced it open. Sticky drops of the same liquid seemed to fall from the scythe's blade even as he swung it at Angemon, a trick of the eyes that served as a mocking reminder of his loss and grief.
"O…Osamu…" he breathed again, then his anger took over, and he screamed, "OSSSAAAMMMUUU!"
"Huh?" Phantomon and Angemon both whirled around to stare in surprise at the young boy, and the evil digimon's eyes widened slightly as he recognized the child from before. However, the pinkish-purple light that seemed to pulse around the boy's arms for a moment…that was new…
"Leafmon digivolve to…Minomon!"
Ken started slightly, as if awakening from a dream, and he stared down at the digimon he was holding in his arms. The first thought that came into his mind was Wow…he got bigger…
Indeed, his partner had gotten bigger, although not as big as he thought at first. A cocoon now covered the bottom part of his body, and the leaf on top of his head now looked as if a stem had replaced it. His mouth's shape had changed as well: he had lost his tiny pacifier, and in its place was a tiny pair of jaws.
"A…In-Training," Phantomon said, then he suddenly began to laugh. "That sudden glow was just for a stupid, weak little In-Training? How pathetic! I thought you chosen children were much more powerful and resourceful than this…"
He laughed again, crimson eyes glittering as he took up his scythe again and held it out in front of him, daring his opponents to attack. All the digimon watched him warily, Gomamon moving in front of Ken and Minomon while his human partner went to check on the girl holding Tsunomon in her arms.
"Oh jeez…she's lost a lot of blood," Jyou muttered, stating the all too obvious. Biting his lip to keep himself focused, he forced his trembling hands to touch reddened clothing and flesh, hoping that he wouldn't faint. Although he barely brushed his fingers against her, the girl let out a pained moan, and her dark eyes fluttered open for a moment, trying to fix on his face.
"Hang on, you'll be okay," he promised, and she managed a moan in reply. In her arms, Tsunomon wiggled around until he could stare up into Jyou's face; the concern and fear in his bronze eyes spoke more clearly than words possibly could of his current terror. Clasped in one of the girl's hands was a small piece of jewelry, and as the blue-haired boy looked closer at it, he sucked in a sudden gasp of shock.
Why does she have both Tsunomon AND the Crest of Friendship with her?!? …Ohhh, I have a VERY bad feeling about this…
"Jyou, look out!" Gomamon's voice screamed, and the boy whirled around just in time to see a flash of silver arcing toward him. Onyx eyes widened in shock, and he instinctively flung himself down, slamming into Tsunomon and the girl and sending all three rolling out of harm's way. Phantomon's scythe flashed through empty air, and the ghost digimon let out a curse.
"Damn you human pests," he hissed, crimson eyes flashing as he whirled to face them. He raised his blade again, only to have another blast of golden energy sear through his hands and send it clattering to the ground.
"DAMN YOU!" he howled, spinning to face Angemon. He pointed his hands at the angel digimon, and a ball of black energy surged from them and struck him full in the stomach.
"ANGEMON, NO!" Takeru screamed as he watched his partner fly backward into a building. Angemon grunted as his back met the hard concrete, and a soft golden glow bathed him briefly as he fell to the street, shifting back into his Rookie form.
"Patamon!" Takeru shouted, running toward his fallen friend. Scarlet eyes flashing with triumph, Phantomon swept toward the running boy, raising his blade high above his head, ready to bring it down upon the child's skull.
Suddenly, a blast of foam covered his eyes, blinding him and causing him to miss the blonde boy completely and go flying face first into the same wall that Angemon had hit. Sputtering with rage, he fell back and wiped off his face, then turned to see Minomon standing in front of Ken. Before he could react, the little In-Training sent another volley of bubbles at him, and the tiny soap spheres coated his eyes again.
"DAMN YOU!" he spat, furiously wiping the bubbles away from his burning red eyes. Ken stood frozen behind his partner, staring at Minomon in surprise as the In-Training attacked again and again. While it was obvious that the bubbles were having little effect other than seriously ticking off the ghost Digimon, Minomon was still pressing the attack, thinking only to protect his partner.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" Phantomon howled, surging forward despite the fact that he was still blinded by the foam in his eyes. His scythe flashed out, ready to rend his enemies to shreds, and Ken stood paralyzed as the blade lanced forward. He couldn't move, not even to close his eyes to shut out the terrible sight of the weapon curving toward his body in a deadly arc.
Is this what Osamu saw right before…?
Phantomon's eyes gleamed bloodfire as he lashed out, wanting only to see the young brat's head fall to the ground in a spray of crimson. Just as he was about to finish his strike, however, pain shot through every nerve in his body. Electricity surged up and down his writhing form, and he screamed as he felt his form break into small pieces of digital information.
"…Ah…ah…ah," Ken heard himself gasp, eyes locked on the fading form before him. Then his violet eyes widened even more as a huge bug landed in front of him, peering curiously down at him, cocking its hideous, helmet-like head to one side.
"Hey, is everyone okay?" a voice called, and Ken stared in shock as a small boy suddenly hopped down from the horrible creature's back.
"Koushirou!" Takeru and Jyou cried, recognizing the boy. They ran up to him, Jyou carrying the strange girl and Tsunomon in his arms. The red-haired stranger took one look at the sorry condition she was in and inhaled sharply.
"Geez, she needs help," he breathed.
"Tell me something I don't know," Jyou muttered darkly.
"Okay, then, how about this: that new Digidestined child we've been looking for?"
"Is Hikari," Wizardmon finished for him, holding up the Crest of Light.
"Uh…yeah. AND…"
"…And she's not the only one, either!" Takeru said, beaming up at the red-haired boy with Minomon in his arms. "See, this little guy belongs to Ken, over there!" and he pointed over at where Ken was still standing motionless, gaping at Kabuterimon.
"What? Really?" and Koushirou gaped over at the younger boy, eyes wide with shock. Ken just stared back at him, an equally startled look on his face, and Koushirou shook his head in disbelief.
"Uh…hi…I don't suppose that you need a digimon partner, do you?" the redhead inquired after a few awkward moments. Ken slowly shook his head in the negative, and Minomon bounced into his arms, turning his wide black-blue eyes back on the strange bug curiously.
"Oh, great," Koushirou muttered, "that means that there's at least one more Digidestined kid out there we haven't met yet…"
That caught Jyou and Takeru's attention.
"What does that mean?" Jyou demanded, staring at the redhead in shock. Koushirou just shook his head again, his dark ebony eyes narrowing slightly in thought.
"Never mind that right now," he said. "We should concentrate on getting back to the others and plotting our next move. We'll talk it all over then. Besides," he added, indicating the girl still cradled in the older boy's arms, "we need to see to her wounds right away."
"Oh…right!" Jyou stammered, quickly clambering onto Kabuterimon's back. Takeru followed him, carrying Patamon in his arms, and Koushirou helped Gomamon and Wizardmon onto the bug's hard back next. As he seized one bony arm and began to pull himself up, he glanced over his shoulder at Ken, who had not moved.
"Are you coming?" he inquired, arching one eyebrow slightly; Ken did not reply, instead gaping blankly up at the towering insect. Realizing what was wrong, Jyou sighed and climbed back down beside Koushirou.
"Don't worry, Ken, everything will be just fine," he said, locking eyes with the younger boy. Ken stared back at him, too scared to speak, and the older boy's oynx eyes softened as he said, "Look, I know you're scared, but you just have to trust us. I promise that I won't let anything bad happen to you, okay?"
…Osamu… Ken thought, his violet-blue eyes wavering for a moment as he stared back at Jyou. Then, taking a deep breath, he tightened one arm around Minomon and stepped forward, gripping the older boy's proffered hand.
* * *
"…Phantomon is dead," Myotismon announced, his dark, soulless eyes becoming distant for a moment as he said this. There was no emotion in his voice, only a blunt statement of what could only be the truth. Demidevimon looked over at his master in shock, and Hawkmon simply closed his ice blue eyes and shook his head slightly.
"What? B-but how? What hap–"
"Isn't it obvious?" Hawkmon interrupted Demidevimon's startled stammering coldly, his eyes glittering like frost on a knife's edge. "Those accursed Digidestined children surely must have found and destroyed him. Or vice versa…no matter who started the conflict, it had the same result."
Demidevimon turned an outraged glare on the indifferent bird digimon, who ignored the look and began to preen his feathers a little bit. The bat-winged monster grimaced: as valuable as Hawkmon was to their cause, the avian had a tendency to rub him the wrong way with his stuffy attitude and snobbish treatment of others.
"It doesn't matter," Myotismon said, and as both of his henchmon turned their attention back toward him, the vampire smirked. One of his pointed, ivory fangs stood out against the pale purple of his lips, and his voice held a mocking undercurrent as he continued, "After all, we do have a few trump cards in our hands, and we can play those whenever we wish…"
He trailed off into a laugh, and Demidevimon shivered despite himself as his master's cackling seemed to bite into him with its cold edge. Glancing over at Hawkmon, he noticed with no small feeling of jealousy that the avian appeared unaffected by the eerie sound. Instead, the Rookie's pale eyes gleamed faintly, glittering like ice.
"Hawkmon!" Myotismon broke off his laughter with that sudden, curt snap; the bird digimon immediately dropped into a kneeling posture at the vampire's feet, folding one wing over his chest. "Go check up on our guests, will you? I want to be certain that they are comfortable…"
"At once, my lord," Hawkmon replied, and the avian was off to fulfill his master's wishes. As Myotismon began to chortle again, laughing at some private jest, Demidevimon glared after the Rookie digimon and wondered with some trepidation just why he seemed to be getting all of the best assignments lately.
* * *
A groan stirred behind pale, trembling lips, and sapphire pools of light opened into tiny slits behind a mass of ruffled blonde bangs as the Bearer of Friendship faded back into consciousness. This was a curse at best, considering his current position. He coughed, and a bloodied globule of spit trickled out of his mouth as the grating sound jarred his beaten body.
Gatomon regarded him with deep sympathy from behind the twisted bars of her cage, her own dark sapphire eyes shimmering with both pity and hatred. Pity that this young boy, that anyone, should be treated in such a manner, and hatred for the monsters who had inflicted such horrors upon him.
She also felt more than a little bit of guilt: once he had been brought in, her captors had lost all interest in beating her. They preferred to torture this boy, this child, both because he was a Digidestined child and because they were heartless bastards anyway. The lashes that had once torn into her fur had been redirected to this unfortunate's back, and it showed.
The Bearer of Friendship was a shadow of his former self. His dark green shirt, tan gloves, and jeans now hung in reddened tatters on his body: his other clothing had been roughly stripped from him. Angry crimson welts covered his chest and back, and his handsome face was now purple and swollen from bruises. While early on he had attempted to fight back, lashing out at his tormentors with his legs and feet, he now hung limply from his chains, suspended a few feet above the floor.
But they would not go so far as to kill him: that much Gatomon knew, although the thought gave her little comfort. At this point, he was much too valuable as a playing piece for Myotismon to simply destroy him. Gatomon gritted her teeth in outrage: to her former master, all of them were little more than pawns, just little bargaining chips he could use and manipulate to get exactly what he desired. Once they had been played to the best of his advantage, they would simply be discarded.
Even the other occupant of the room was part of this brutal game that Myotismon was playing, although the feline digimon had not figured out why as of this point. While it was true that the youngster huddled glumly in the shadows and brooding over his fate with a furrowed, defiant brow bore a shocking resemblance to the leader of the Digidestined, he was also far too young to serve as a convincing double. Perhaps he was only being punished for resistance; but if that was the case, why was he being held with them?
As if sensing her gaze, the boy stirred, and glanced over at her, his dark brown eyes filled with a grim determination that seemed much older than he was. Despite their current bleak situation, Gatomon found herself grinning slightly back at him: something about this boy caused a strange new hope and conviction in their chances of winning this war. She couldn't quite put a name to this feeling yet; but it rose in her chest each time she met those deep, chocolate brown eyes with her own sapphire ones…
The door creaked open, scattering her thoughts, and Gatomon glanced over at the lone figure that entered the room, closing the door behind him. Her dark blue eyes narrowed slightly as they locked with eyes as pale and cold as ice.
"Hawkmon," she whispered, her voice harsh.
"Gatomon," he replied emotionlessly, nodding briefly in her direction. The feline digimon watched him from behind thick metal bars as he strode past her, never breaking his cool, steady pace. As he strode up to the barely conscious Yamato, Gatomon closed her eyes in pain, knowing what was coming. She could not bear to watch this anymore, yet knew that she had no choice.
Hawkmon checked to make certain that the Bearer of Friendship was awake first; then, satisfied that this was the case, slowly reached up and plucked his feather from his headband. He stood regarding it and the boy for a few moments, running the top of one wing over his weapon's razor-sharp edge.
Then, a sudden grin of pure evil contorting his beak, Hawkmon reversed it in his wing and sliced it across Yamato's chest, once. The blonde boy jerked convulsively, stifling a cry of pain, and the avian's smirk grew wider as he lashed out again, again and again and again.
Gatomon forced herself to shut out the sound of Yamato's cries of pain, gritting her teeth in shared agony each time let out an involuntary shout. In the corner, the strange young boy shuddered once and hid his face in his lap, pulling his knees up to his chest. As the torture continued, the feline digimon vowed once again that nothing would prevent her from taking out Myotismon the moment she got the chance.
Nothing.
* * *
"Mmmm…Dai…Dai…suke…"
Tentomon jerked in surprise, and fluttered over to the unconscious girl's side as she stirred once. Koushirou looked up at his partner, his ebony eyes filling with curiosity, and the bug digimon soon turned back to him with his verdict.
"I think she's recovering, though she'll have a nasty headache," Tentomon volunteered. Hearing this, the Digidestined breathed a collective sigh of relief, and Jyou shook his head slightly.
"I would think it would be more of a backache," he commented, continuing to bandage up the gaping wounds he had seen on the girl's back as he did so. Koushirou and Sora nodded solemn agreement, and Sora knelt to help Jyou freshen the makeshift bandages.
"So, what exactly happened, anyway?" Koushirou inquired, turning his deep black eyes toward Tsunomon, who was currently cradled in Hikari's lap. The orange-furred In-Training glanced up at him, coppery eyes wavering with sudden tears, and the Bearer of Knowledge felt something twist deep inside him. He knew that he would not like what he heard, but he still had to ask.
"Please, Tsunomon, we need to hear what happened," he said, trying to keep his voice from trembling. Again, Tsunomon made no immediate response, and Koushirou sighed, wondering just how he could get him to answer.
"Tsunomon," Takeru suddenly spoke up, and all eyes turned toward the young keeper of Hope. His bright blue eyes were wavering as if he was about to cry, but no tears brimmed in them yet. As the others looked at him, concerned, he nervously fingered the edge of the tag and crest gripped tightly in one small hand, trying not to glance down at its symbol.
"Tsunomon," he repeated, staring over at his brother's partner, "please tell us what happened to Matt! I…I have to know what happened to my brother…"
Tsunomon stared back at the young boy, his coppery eyes darkening with sorrow. Hikari shifted nervously, her tan eyes becoming distant with sadness of her own. Noticing this, Chibimon trotted over to her and nuzzled her free hand, and she rested it against his head after a while. Wallace hugged Gummimon and Kokomon closer to him, while Ken held Minomon in an iron embrace. Patamon looked at his partner in concern, his own wide blue eyes wavering with near-tears.
"Tsunomon, please…" Sora pleaded, stroking Biyomon's head absently as she gazed over at the orange In-Training. "Just tell us what you know."
Jyou and Koushirou nodded agreement with her, each unconsciously scooting a little closer to their own partners. Gomamon and Tentomon looked back at their respective humans for a moment, sensing their pain.
Tsunomon looked at everyone again, then sighed.
"All right…I'll tell you what happened," he relented, and his coppery eyes wavered as he added, "But you're not going to like it…"
* * *
"Get out of my way!" Taichi roared, and Greymon roared in concert with his partner as they charged the startled Bakemon patrol. The ghost digimon were taken completely off guard; this had been a normal, seemingly uneventful patrol until just now, when these two had come charging out of nowhere. Too startled to react, the first wave was wiped out in a matter of seconds by a single, well-aimed fireball, and before the rest could rally, digimon and human were upon them.
Greymon fried most of the enemy digimon, but he noted with concern as he did so that he was not the only one fighting. Taichi had gone into battle and was like a man possessed, wielding a section of broken-off pipe he had found like a sword or something similar. As his digimon partner watched in pure shock and growing horror, Taichi took a swipe at one of the ghost digimon and managed to knock it down, and proceeded to beat in its robed head with the blunt object, stopping only when his victim had turned into digital information.
"Tai, what are you doing?" he exclaimed, frightened by the near-manic gleam he saw flashing behind the boy's narrowed brown eyes. Somehow, he doubted that he had been heard, as Taichi lashed out again and again.
"This is for Matt! And this is for Gabumon! This is for that girl Jun who lost her brother!" the boy was shouting in tune with his swings, hitting his mark each time. "And this is for all those children who your damned boss killed just to try and hit us! All those innocent people who got caught in the middle! Those kids in the building that your kind wiped out!"
The Bakemon were no longer able to respond to him; all of them had been deleted already, yet Taichi kept ranting and shouting, now pounding the metal bar in his hands again and again into the street, the walls, anything in front of him. Enraged tears trickled down his reddened cheeks, all but blinding him, going unnoticed as he continued to scream and rave, angry at the world.
Greymon shifted back into his Rookie form, and Agumon ran up to his partner's side, his green eyes filling with concern and fear.
"Tai, Tai, listen to me," he cried, waving his arms to get his human partner's attention. When this did not work, he attempted to grab the boy's flailing arms, and finally managed after a few moments to seize the end of the pipe, halting it in midswing. "Tai, you can't just beat up on everything! I know you're mad about what happened, but–"
He never saw it coming, just felt the sudden rush of pain as Taichi's other hand crashed into the side of his face. Startled, the small dinosaur reeled back, both hands reaching reflexively to cover his throbbing cheek as he stared up at his partner. He gaped at him with a wounded expression, hurt more in spirit than he was in body.
Taichi glared back at him for a few seconds, breathing heavily, his dark brown eyes filled with rage and anger. Then, slowly, the outrage melted away, as he slowly seemed to realize what he had just done. His anger dissolved into horror, and he stared at Agumon in shock, his mouth working in soundless apology, his wavering brown eyes speaking more for his repentance than he ever could.
Then, suddenly, he buried his face in his hands and began to cry, his tears dampening his gloves and trickling out through his fingers. Agumon ran back up to his partner and wrapped his own stubby arms around the boy, comforting. There was no accusation in his bright green eyes as they filled with understanding tears: he had forgiven Taichi for what he had done even while he was doing it.
"Tho-those people in the building…they died because I was too weak to save them," Taichi choked after a moment, beginning to tremble a little bit. "It's all my fault…what happened to them, and to Matt, Gabumon and that girl…it's all because of me! I should have been able to save them…I could have saved them, Agumon!"
Agumon wanted to reply, wanted to say something that would take all of his partner's pain and anger and sorrow away, but no words capable of doing that came to him. So, instead, he simply continued to embrace the boy, hoping that maybe the knowledge that no matter what, he would be there for him, would somehow end up being enough.
* * *
Behind the closet door, Mimi, Miyako, Iori and Palmon crouched in near-silence, each lost in their own thoughts on how best to handle what was happening. Mimi hugged her partner close to her own body, grateful to have her presence so close by and also frightened by the knowledge of what would happen if they were discovered here. She was also worried for Miyako and Iori: although the two children posed no real threat to Myotismon and his henchmon, if they were found with a chosen child like this, it would most likely mean their deaths as well.
Mimi realized with a start that she was biting her lip and quickly stopped doing so, although the tight tension in her heart refused to lighten its own sting as well. Inwardly, the girl raged at herself, wondering just how she had gotten herself into this mess.
What am I doing here? The lives of these people depend on me: Miyako, Iori, and Palmon too, not to mention all the people in this building! Why do I have to be the one responsible for them? Tai's the leader boy; he's the one who knows how to deal with situations like this…
Taichi and Yamato…Sora and Koushirou…Takeru and…Jyou…
I'm all alone now. I can't hide behind the others and let them handle everything for me.
It shocked her to think that, but at the same time she knew that it was true. Like it or not, she had to face the fact that she had been relying on everyone else up to this point. In the digital world – she forced herself to acknowledge this now – she had been very dependent on the others working out things for her while she stayed out of it. She had always been more concerned with herself, with not fighting or getting hurt. Oh, sure, there had been times where she had been forced to take a stand, when she had needed to stand up for herself and everyone else, but still, she tended to rely on what everybody else would do to stop things from going wrong.
But now she had no way of contacting them, no way of knowing for certain when exactly they would come attack this place and try to help everyone. And she couldn't afford to sit around and play damsel in distress any longer: too many lives depended on it.
She stood up suddenly, and Palmon, Miyako, and Iori all looked up at her in surprise. She looked back at them, her caramel eyes shining with sudden fire, and her digimon partner regarded her with surprise and shock.
"Mimi?" she asked, startled. Somehow, her partner no longer looked like the whiny young girl she remembered from their early adventures in the digital world.
"Palmon, you'd better get ready. Yolei, Iori, you too."
"Mimi, what's wrong?" Miyako asked, getting to her feet as Iori stood beside her. The older girl looked back at her and smiled, briefly, looking more and more confident and determined the longer she gazed back at her.
"We're not going to wait any longer," she told them, a new light coming into her face, making her seem radiant in a way no one had ever noticed before. "We're going to break out of this place!"
