*Note: Chapter 16 and the Epilogue were uploaded together.*
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or any of the main characters in this fic except for Rime and Phloem. I also came up with the idea of 'weremon.'
Chapter 16: Beating Heart
A root from a tree pushed its way through the ground. With other such roots, it pushed on and on until, finally, they all reached what they were searching for. A pulsing white orb sat beneath a layer of molten rock and metal, but the magma did not damage the roots. The roots went on and touched the orb, wrapping themselves around It. Its light and energy spread into them, and they sent something into It to fight the infection that threatened to destroy the Earth and the newly living moon. The Trees of the Crests refused to let It be hurt.
One by one, the eleven Digidestined and their Digimon appeared in the orb. The Trees knew that what the chosen ones would see would not be what they saw. Where they saw the pulsing core of the Earth, the Digidestined would see an endless white plane.
Alan, Imperialdramon, Kurai, and Rosemon were the firsts to appear in the core. Then came Brian and Goldramon, Pixie and Seraphimon, Relaina and MetalGarurumon, and Magnus and Gallantmon. Before they could even form a clear thought, the last ones appeared: Rime, Vikemon, Tatsu, Justimon, Sakura, Magnadramon, Sho, Boltmon, Phloem (now fully healed), and SkullMammothmon. Vahn was the only one not there.
"Where are we?" Pixie wondered.
Brian looked thoughtful. "I think we're somewhere inside the Earth."
"Then it is the inside of the moon, too," Rime commented as he took off his sunglasses. "Could it be both?"
Kurai threw an incredulous glance at Rime. "The moon?" Rime nodded. Slowly, silence permeated the Digidestined.
Moments later, Magnadramon lowered her head towards Sakura. "Something is not right here. There is something very wrong in the air."
"What do you mean?" asked Sakura.
"Can't you feel it?" Phloem asked her. He shivered at the feeling that filled the air.
"It's evil," SkullMammothmon said, standing protectively over Phloem. He turned his head, his tusks sweeping the air, searching for the source.
A booming laughter filled the air. "So, you noticed my presence," the voice said. The area in front of them darkened and blocked out all light. The surface of the core darkened as the shadows melted into the form of Daemon. His blood red robes covered most of his body and left all but his evil blue eyes shadowed. Horns protruded from his forehead, his fingers ended in red claws, bat-like wings sprouted from his back. The star was sown into the hood of his cloak. Around his feet, the pure data was corrupted and blackened.
SkullMammothmon growled and lowered his head threateningly. "You're back. Isn't being sealed in the Dark World enough for you?"
The horrible eyes of Daemon swept past Phloem and onto the evolution of Tapirmon. Phloem suppressed a shudder at the twisted feelings the mind behind the eyes contained. "The Dark World grants wishes," Daemon stated simply. "It is made of pure human and Digimon emotions. I was weak after being sealed there, true, but it eventually granted my wishes, making me stronger and more powerful than any, including Dragomon." He turned his head. "Speaking of which… Evil Inferno!" He cast black fire behind him, and it exploded as the world shook.
Brian's power gave him a vision of what was to come in Daemon's version of the future. Walls blackened by fire, bones littering the ground… An even more monstrous Daemon casually ground a bone into dust while laughing. The ash and dust swept into the air by the motion floated back down, landing in a pool of dark blood. All color was being sucked into a hole in the sky. "He's planning to join his world with ours," he whispered in horror.
Where the fire had hit, a hole was burning in the very substance of the world. The burning data crumbled like walls turned to dust, opening up a portal to the darkness. A large shadow with a presence almost as intimidating as that of Daemon lumbered to the front of the shifting shadows. Its eyes burned with dark flame as it slid a tentacle through the broken barrier between the worlds. "Finally… the light will be mine." Its hoarse voice sounded both ancient and horrible.
Daemon's eyes glimmered in dark amusement. "I don't think so."
The shadow Dragomon stopped. "What do you mean, Daemon? We had a deal to conquer this world together! I will have the light."
"You can't handle it." Daemon turned to look Dragomon in the eyes. "See?" he said, gesturing to Dragomon's outstretched tentacle.
The tentacle was slowly being consumed by the glow of the still uncorrupted data. "Nooooo!" Dragomon gave a pathetic scream of pain as it slowly vanished. After ruling a world of darkness for so long, Dragomon could not live in the light. "Daemon! You said… You said I would rule the light!"
"I will be the sole ruler," he replied. "But…you may yet be of help." He made another gesture at the vanishing data of Dragomon's tentacle, and instead of vanishing the data began to flow into Daemon's outstretched hand. Dragomon roared in pain and anger as he was quickly absorbed into Daemon. The demon lord went on to absorb the rest of the shadows, growing in size and atrociousness. His horns became longer and more curved; his wings more deadly. The upside-down stars on his cloak grew circles around them, turning them into inverted pentagrams, the true sign of the devil. The darkness around him spread as he fell to his knees at the rush of power he was experienced. He began to laugh again; he laughed and laughed and laughed as he realized that he had become the true embodiment of the Dark Ocean.
One of his arms morphed into a tentacle much like those of Dragomon. Lazily, he began to approach the Digidestined. It had all happened too quickly for them to do much more than watch in surprise as the events unfolded. Now they stood ready for any attack…or so they thought.
Gallantmon was the first to try and attack. As the large red knight Digimon attacked, Daemon, now of equal size, simply sent out his tentacle. A slight movement of it sent Gallantmon crashing against the barriers of the core, proving that it did not truly go on forever. A shadow crawled over Gallantmon, trying to corrupt his data, but light from the core's wall made it dissolve. Slowly, Gallantmon got back up as the other Digimon tried their attacks.
MetalGarurumon sent off a barrage of Giga Missiles, but the long-range weapons did not even reach halfway before Daemon's fire blew them up. Imperialdramon's Positron Laser barely burnt the edge of the opposing Digimon's cloak. After that, Boltmon did not get close before being smashed into the wall by another wave of Daemon's tentacle, but Rosemon was able to use her thorn whips to pull Boltmon out of the way before a second strike hit him. Kurai gave her Digimon a thumbs up, but all the other Digidestined were either worrying about their Digimon or the threat of Daemon.
A blizzard sent at Daemon by Vikemon had little effect but to make Daemon pause and condescendingly brush the snow out of his eyes. Magnadramon, Justimon, Seraphimon, and Goldramon all used this pause to attack together. The combined attacks were enough to blow Daemon back. None of the Digidestined cheered, however; all of them noticed that the area around Daemon was still turning black.
Daemon stood up with only slight difficulty. "You are annoying me." He sent his tentacle out again, but this time it was towards the Digidestined. It snaked past the Digimon in front and went straight towards Phloem, who was standing closest. Phloem watched it come with despondency, realizing that it was moving too quickly to dodge.
Then, suddenly, SkullMammothmon was in front of him, and the tentacle, instead of smashing Phloem, smashed through the skeleton Digimon's ribcage and pierced straight into the heart. Daemon seemed to sneer as he wrapped the tentacle around the still beating heart. "You used to be such a pesky Wizardmon," he said, and then he pulled. The heart was crushed and disappeared in a stream of digital data.
SkullMammothmon crumpled; it was obvious that he could no longer survive. Behind him, Phloem felt his own heart stop and put his hand to his chest as the immense pain spread through him. "Tapir…Tapirmon…" Phloem gasped, still living, as his Digimon began to dissipate in front of him. "Tapirmon…"
SkullMammothmon devolved for just a second, turning back into the Tapirmon that Phloem knew so well. He looked at his partner with sad eyes. "I'm sorry…I couldn't save you," he said. "You're dying because I am…" That body, too, was disappearing, beginning with the smoky legs and working its way up.
A weakened and dying Phloem went down on his knees as he embraced what was left of his Digimon. "You tried… You tried…"
Suddenly, Phloem realized there was a hand on his shoulder and looked up into Sho's eyes as Sho used his healing powers to restart Phloem's stopped heart. Another wave of pain hit Phloem, but he knew he'd live. However, in front of him, Tapirmon continued to vanish. Phloem gasped as his lungs began to work again. "T-Tapirmon…" Tapirmon shook his head, but that too vanished. "TAPIRMON!"
"We still have to fight Daemon," said Sho. Phloem didn't reply; he just looked at Sho with empty eyes that were streaming tears. Behind them, the sounds of battle resumed. The others watched both their Digimon battle and Phloem's tragedy. Sho shook Phloem's shoulders. "You can't give up now!" Sho could feel the life draining out of Phloem's body; without his Digimon, Phloem didn't wish to live. The core's immense, reality-bending power, combined with the portal to the Dark Ocean, made it only too possible for Phloem to wish himself to death. In a last-ditch attempt to save Phloem's life, Sho continued to heal him, replacing the power Phloem was letting go.
As Daemon was hit with Magnadramon's Dragon Fire, Phloem finally fell into unconsciousness. Sho, spent of all his power, laid him down on the ground. Whether Phloem lived or died was now completely out of his hands.
********
Vahn felt a sudden pain in his heart. He was standing alone under the Tree of Friendship. Above, the sky was dark and the stars could not be seen. "Something's happened to Phloem," he realized. Gently, he put a palm on the tree's massive trunk. "Please… Let me go to Phloem. Please…"
As if it heard his request, the bark beneath his palm began to glow gently. A child's voice emanated from it. "Okay. We'll help you, too." Before he could ask what the tree-child meant, he vanished from underneath the Tree.
Just as suddenly, Vahn found himself standing near a group of children with many other people and Digimon. The children were at the center of the area, which swirled out in a rainbow of colors before fading into white. Another different thing about the children were that none of them had Digimon, yet each of them had Digimon attribute, whether it be tails, ears, or even wings.
One with brown hair in a very unusual hairstyle and an Agumon tail stepped forward. "Hello. My name is Taichi," he said with a smile. "I'm the spirit in the Tree of Courage." Beside him, a girl with Gatomon ears and tail stepped forward. "And this is my sister, Hikari, the spirit of the Tree of Light."
Vahn's eyes widened. "You're the original Digidestined?"
A child with blue hair and the markings of a Gomamon pushed up his glasses nervously. "We're them, but we have been dead a very long time." He bowed politely. "My name is Jou. I represent Reliability."
Another boy, this time with the antennae of a Tentomon, stepped forwards. "I am Koushirou. The Holy Digimon and Digimon Sovereigns pulled together and put all of their power into recompiling us. We were separate humans and Digimon, but now we are hybrids and are the protectors of this world."
One standing in the back who had Veemon ears and the V symbol on his forehead raised his hand to get everyone's attention. "Hi, I'm Daisuke, representing the Tree of Miracles! As some of you know, but most of you don't, the Digimon Sovereigns and the Holy Digimon also selected eleven new Digidestined to allow our Trees to grow. Currently, they're fighting off Daemon… but there's a problem. They aren't yet strong enough to win."
Vahn took a step towards them. "Is Phloem okay?"
A blonde boy with two different ears, Lopmon on the left and Terriermon on the right, shook his head. "He's still alive," he said hesitantly. "I'm Wallace of the Tree of Destiny. We've sensed that Phloem may not be the only one with problems if we don't do something soon."
"I'm Yamato of Friendship. There's already several problems beginning to impact the Earth," said another with the horn and stripes of a Gabumon. "Around the world, there have been sudden earthquakes, tsunamis, and tornados. One place even suffered a volcanic eruption, but everyone in the area was able to get away in time. If we don't do something soon, it could all be gone!"
After that, the other Tree spirits introduced themselves. There was Ken, a boy with Wormmon antennae and markings, and Mimi, a girl with hair made of Palmon-like flower petals. There was also Sora, who had pink wings the color of a Biyomon, and finally Takeru, the brother of Yamato, who had Patamon ears.
Takeru explained the plan the Trees had made. "We're going to make you all into a new group of Digidestined." The people standing around the spirits took a look around themselves for the first time since they had appeared in the circle. There were many young people, but not a few older people. Girls and boys, men and women of various countries with Digimon of all attributes and levels stood together. Since the Digital Realization, few had traveled across the borders of their countries. Now, they all mingled.
"Excuse me," a girl of perhaps eight without a Digimon nearby spoke up. "I don't have a Digimon, and some of the Digimon here don't look like they have humans. How are we supposed to help?" Vahn vaguely noted that she was speaking a different language, but something about the circle let him understand her.
Sora smiled. "You have a Digimon," she said. "Most of you do. Just look around." The girl did as she was told. Her face broke into a smile when she saw a Labramon, and he smiled back. Soon the Digimon and human were hugging and talking like old friends. Around the room, other such meetings were taking place, until Vahn was the only one standing alone.
Ken, who was half Vahn's height, walked up to him and touched Vahn's arm. "You should prepare for a fight, too," he said softly. Vahn smiled. The Trees evidently knew a lot about him. Slowly, he transformed into his Lucemon form. Several humans behind him gasped in shock, but no one made any comment. Ken nodded and stepped back.
"When will we get to our destination?" Vahn asked. The circle's colors were beginning to pulse in time with a silent heartbeat.
Wallace cocked one ear as if listening. "I believe…we're there." Abruptly, they found themselves standing behind the various Mega-level Digimon of the Digidestined. Daemon was still fighting them, but, though badly injured, none of the other Digimon were close to giving up their fight.
Vahn looked around until he spotted what he was most worried about. With a few beats of his wings, his soared through the air and landed next to the fallen Phloem. He knelt by Phloem's side, pressing a hand against Phloem's face. "Phloem…" Distantly, part of him noticed that any Mega Digimon among the new people were also joining the fight against Daemon.
Softly, the spirits of the Trees also approached the unconscious Digidestined. Hikari was crying. "Wizardmon…Wizardmon was always such a kind person. Why'd he have to die again?" Phloem's hand twitched at the mention of his Digimon.
The new Digidestined were also approaching, and quietly Taichi explained who the Tree spirits were. He also said his sister had once been a friend of the now deceased Tapirmon. Tatsu shook his head. "Tapirmon isn't completely gone yet," he announced. The others looked at him in surprise. He pointed to his eyes. "I can see a kind of ghost floating around Phloem. Tapirmon is still here."
Brian shook his head. "I can sense him now, with my power, but he's not strong enough to become a Digimon again. I'm afraid that that's all that could save Phloem."
"Wait!" Sakura exclaimed suddenly. "What if he became a hybrid of human and Digimon?"
Koushirou shook his head. "Hybrids require that at least some semblance of the Digimon to still exist in a physical form. Phloem was truthfully a partial hybrid, but now…"
Sakura winced as a cut appeared down her arm. Magnadramon had been hit. "She knows that," Tatsu said, "but what if he becomes a full hybrid? It would be something like a weremon…" he trailed off.
"That's it!" Daisuke exclaimed. "He'll be a full Hybrid! It'll be a new species, if he's willing, and with the creation of a new type of being should come mega power! Enough to completely obliterate Daemon and the Dark Ocean, without risking a merger of that world and this one!"
The Digidestined, old and new, looked at each other. "It sounds like a good idea," said Pixie. Alan and Magnus nodded in agreement.
Alan asked, "How can Phloem and Tapirmon merge? None of us have the power to do anything on that scale."
Taking a deep breath, Taichi said, "We know that. We will channel all of our power into Phloem's body and…"
"And?" wondered Relaina.
"…We'll just have to hope for the best." He turned to look at Daemon, who was slowly battering all resistance out of his path. "At this point, we have no other choice." Ancient wisdom and experience showed in the eyes of Taichi's young body. "It's worked before. It may just work again."
Takeru nodded. "Hope for the best," he said softly, "and it will happen."
The other spirits nodded together, and they all began to glow. Slowly, the various colors of the crests bled together into a white light, and the glow engulfed Phloem.
********
Phloem blinked as he noticed that he was floating above his body. "Not again…" He frowned. "But this time, Tapirmon isn't here."
Yes, I am…
He looked around himself, but he couldn't see anything. Everything was so blurry. "Tapirmon?"
Phloem…
He shook his head. He couldn't be hearing things. "Tapirmon, where are you?"
I am gone…yet I am still here…
"You…you died." Even without a physical body, it seemed that spirits could still cry. Phloem felt the tears running down his face. "I'm alone."
I can be a part of you.
"I'd do anything," Phloem sobbed. "I'd do anything to have you back!"
Then I will come.
There was a flash of light, and then a sensation that Phloem had never felt before. It felt like…complete contentment. And, just as sudden as the flash of light, Phloem realized that he had never truly been alone…
********
Vahn watched as Phloem's body blurred and began to dissipate. Then, the light around them grew brighter and brighter until even Rime, with his sunglasses, wondered how it was possible for him to see. The Digidestined each noticed the symbol of their Crest glowing on their chest. Vahn looked around, realizing that all the humans now had Crests, even if they were not one of the original Crests. They seemed to be mixtures of some Crests, variants of others… He realized that even he had a Crest, and he touched the shining purple crest with awe. He somehow knew its name: Righteousness, a combination of Knowledge and Reliability.
He looked up, and then he saw that Phloem was not gone. Instead of the boy he had known with green eyes and light brown hair, there was someone who looked exactly like Phloem, but wasn't quite. The new Phloem had one blue eye and one purple eye, and his hair was the same brown as Tapirmon's darkest fur. His pants were now purple, the shade of some of Tapirmon's markings, and his light brown shirt was simply another shade of the Digimon's fur. Around his wrist hung a Holy Ring, and on the middle of his forehead was the same yellow marking of the third eye that had adorned Tapirmon's metal mask.
Energy was radiating from Phloem in waves that strengthened all of the humans and all of the Digimon, except for Daemon. The demon lord Digimon let out a cry of agony as the attacks of all the Digimon from Baby to Mega gained enough power to seriously damage him. He grew smaller and smaller, losing the tentacles and powers he had gained from absorbing Dragomon, and belatedly tried to retreat towards the portal to the Dark Ocean… only to find it was gone, completely destroyed. The new Digidestined had combined all their powers to obliterate it, and Rime's power had erased all traces of corruption.
"It was to be my world, my paradise, my… Aaaaaaargh!" Daemon let out one last shriek before a final combined attack erased him from the world, forever.
The power slowly ebbed out of the room, and the glow died down. The voices of the Trees spoke as the children vanished. "Thank you. Now, the world is safe, and you can go back to fighting your own personal battles…" The voices faded, and all the humans and Digimon vanished from the core.
Kurai looked around herself, bemused. They had been returned to the roof of the palace, and it was night. The stars shined brightly above them. Even a few of the humans and Digimon that had come to the battle later were there, but not many. "We won… Hey, Rime, how do you feel?" she asked as she turned to face him. He was standing in front of a window, looking out into the city. She fell silent at the sight. Cracks ran through the earth; several buildings had fallen.
"I feel like I better get to work," Rime said solemnly. "If I'm going to be a good emperor, I had better start now and help the people through this." He smiled quirkily. "Rebuilding is going to be hell."
"I thought this was supposed to be 'the angels' land'?" Brian half-joked.
Rime sighed. "This 'angels' land' just suffered through the war we fought against Daemon. A war of the angels' land… though this angels' land has never been heaven."
Phloem spoke up. "I don't know," he said. His voice had a strange tone to it that was reminiscent of Tapirmon. "A person's heaven can be whatever they wish."
"Then let's bring these people's 'heaven' back to them."
********
Phloem/Tapirmon stood with Vahn on the castle walls, overlooking the reconstruction that was occurring. "It is a good thing that so few people died," Phloem commented.
"It's bad that any died at all," Vahn countered. Eleven people had died during the night during the battle, though few people had yet realized what had truly happened. The ten or so residents of the region that had come to the battle at the same time as Vahn were slowly spreading the word.
Phloem nodded, agreeing with Vahn's statement. "True." Phloem looked Vahn in the eyes. "Vahn, you aren't sure of how to act around me anymore, are you?"
Vahn shook his head. "No…but also yes. You're different: not quite Phloem, not quite Tapirmon. You're the only true Hybrid in the world. It's…" He shrugged, unsure of what to say.
"It's almost like being a weremon, I guess," Phloem said. "Just think of me as Phloem and Tapirmon."
Nodding, Vahn said, "I know. At least, I think I know. What do you think we'll be doing next…after all the reconstruction?"
"We can go abroad. Spreading the word about Hybrids and weremon needs to be done. Any prejudices have at least begin to end," Phloem replied. "I think one day, when the Realization is truly over, there will be no such thing as a pure human or Digimon." He paused. "But, in the long run, that is not important to the relationship between you and me. What is important is if you are in love with me or not."
"I love you," Vahn replied. "There is no doubt in my mind."
"I know," said Phloem. "And that's enough." He smiled and carefully reached out to hold Vahn's hand. And it was enough.
~To Be Continued… (Almost done…)~
Chibigreen's Notes: I can't believe I finished it. I mean, I finished it, won't be writing in it anymore, won't update it… It's done. I'm kind of blown over. Well, I know some people won't be quite happy with the ending, but…I tried. I really did, but sometime during the second half of this fic it became a lot harder for me to write. I just…didn't want to, I guess, but I really wanted to finish it. And now I did.
I'd like to thank everyone for their support and comments throughout the span of this story. It was crazy, the plot wasn't the best, and the only people that read it (more or less) were the people who put in a character or two… but, it was read, so I'm happy. Even if you never reviewed, but happen to see this note, I hope that you enjoyed the story. Thank you for reading.
Fallen Angel – I'm not sure if you're still reading this story, but both Magnus and Brian were nice characters to write.
Merodi no Megami – It was good to have Pixie in my story. She was a very interesting character, and thank you for reviewing often.
Steel Knight – I know that my ending for the story may have messed up your continuation of it, but I haven't really hung around the Digimon section lately, so I don't know if it was updated. Well, good luck it, if you choose to continue it.
AlanAlectai – It was nice to have a character who really wasn't very gung-ho. Your reviews were always nice and supportive.
ChibiSora – You were probably one of the most frequent reviewers, and I have to thank you for that. Relaina was a very noteworthy character.
Tatsu no Houou – You continually contacted me and provided interesting tidbits about Tatsu and Sakura. It was nice to have a person that was so into the story, and I regret not being able to include more about Tatsu in my ficlet.
Takeru and Hikari – I was so happy when someone submitted a homosexual character so that I could pair him with Phloem. And eventually Vahn became a very important character, so it was a good thing I accepted him into the story. You have also been supportive in reviews and e-mails, and it has really helped me get motivated enough to finally wrap up this story.
PrincessKitty-Chan – What am I supposed to say to one of my best friends? Oh, thank you for letting me discuss shounen-ai with you. Fox Girl Aisha gets twitchy at that subject, doesn't she? And, of course, thank you for being VERY supportive throughout the whole story, even when the support consisted of you pestering me until I had to write another chapter, and also for getting sad that I was ending it. ^___^ What are friends for, huh?
And also a huge thanks to Fox Girl Aisha, Red Wolf, and every other person who ever reviewed! THANK YOU!
But you're not done quite yet! On to the epilogue.