HEY! Ff.n finally allowed me to update! I tried to get this up a few days ago but it wouldn't let me. I thought that it was because I had just gotten a new computer and that it was the computer because my old one worked just fine. Anywho, here is chapter 10 and I hope that you all enjoy it!
LadyDevimon: I'm glad that you liked it so far! I hope that you continue to read.
Ran: Ooooh! That is such a good idea! I think I'll put a version of that in. Please continue reading in the future for it! And a special cookie goes to you for helping me out!
Diana@Lineelu2001: Well, here is the next chapter for ya! I hope that you enjoy.
Kawaii Mimi-chan: What? You bashed little Takeru? WAAA! Lol! Just kidding! I'm glad that you're starting to like him! I hope you enjoy the rest of the fic!
Saprrow9: Thanks for the vote of confidence! I just hope that I can come up with something, sometime soon! Lol!
Musicstarlover: I'm glad that you liked the chapter! I hope that you like this one too!
lexi: Lol! I'm glad that I made Takeru to your liking in here. And just to let you know, I'm not Silver Angel. Lol. Actually, I've been thinking on changing my pen name. A friend signed me up on digisammiegirl and, well, I never liked being called anything with the 'y' on the end. Should I keep it or not do you think? Anyway, I hope that you enjoy this chapter!
Silver Angel: Hey, don't worry about it! And don't worry about me discontinuing this fic either! I would only discontinue it if something drastic happened to me, so…don't worry! Lol. I hope that you like chapter 10!
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Chapter: 10
A cool breeze flew by. It ruffled the grass, the trees, and a mop of blond hair. The owner of the hair didn't seem to notice because he was too busy thinking. 'I'm dreaming again,' Takeru thought as he looked over the cliff. He prepared himself to fell eyes burning into his back, but none came. In its place came a familiar voice.
"Hello, TK."
Takeru winced and stoically said, "Hello, Genni." He continued to look out over the cliff.
Genni was prepared for the tone but slightly winced at the abnormal coldness in it. Takeru had a right to be mad at him. He cleared his throat and went to stand beside Takeru. After a few minuets of silence, he put a hand on Takeru's shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. "You do know that everything will be fine, right?"
Several minuets of silence passed before Takeru answered in a quiet voice, "No. No I don't know that." He looked into Genni's eyes to find some sort of answer. None came.
More silence came before Genni asked, "Do you hate me, TK?" he knew the young boy had, by all means, every right to hate him.
Takeru answered with a prompt, "No! *Sigh* No, I don't hate you. I'm just…frustrated. My mind is doing weird things, I'm seeing my best friend's deaths, and my friends are stepping on egg shells because they think I'm crazy. I just want some answers," he ended sadly.
Genni sighed and said, "You will get the answers. Tonight. Remember?"
Takeru looked wide eyed at Genni, gave a crooked grin and shyly said, "Heh, heh. I guess being in a dream disorientates you a bit, huh?"
Genni chuckled and said, "In that case, you need to wake up. See you in a few."
With that, Takeru returned to reality. The first thing he noticed was that he was holding, what felt like, a person. 'Say what? Oh. Now I remember. Ken. Ken?! Oh dear.' He reluctantly opened his eyes and found Ken's black shirt in his face. More accurately, Ken's chest. He slowly looked up into Ken's face and saw him fast asleep with his head back, lips slightly parted. Takeru smiled at how serene Ken looked and didn't have the heart to wake him up. He made an effort to quietly get up and disentangle himself. His efforts proved to be futile as Ken mumbled in his sleep, shifted his weight a bit and settled again. 'Peachy. Just peachy,' Takeru thought sarcastically as he lowered his head again. He chanced a glance over to the other couch and found the Digimon curled up just as they were. Takeru couldn't help but laugh quietly at the current situation.
Ken had been worried about Takeru, trying to come up with a way to help. The urge to sleep was too great and the boy finally subsumed to the darkness and fell into a deep sleep. He was disturbed what seemed like seconds later, but he didn't want to move, just sleep. Later he felt some thing shaking him. Frustrated, he opened his eyes to find white. Just white. Upon later inspection, he noticed it was the ceiling. Once he got his bearings back, he remembered Takeru. 'Hadn't he fallen asleep? Then me? Ohh, boy. No wonder there's a light weight on me.' He looked down and found that Takeru was laughing a bit and was looking at something. Ken looked over toward Takeru's eye line and found the Digimon. He too started to laugh. Takeru must have thought he was asleep still because he jumped a little. Takeru looked up shyly and smiled. "Hello. I see you're awake."
"Um, ya, I am. Sorry about falling asleep on ya."
"No problem I think a good snooze did all four of us good," assured Ken as he let go of Takeru. Takeru in turn released Ken from his arms but kept his head on Ken's arm. Ken didn't like the fact that Takeru was so quiet. 'He's only quiet when something is bothering him. Hello genius! Of course something is bothering him. He was asleep though, wasn't he?' "You had another dream, didn't you?" He felt Takeru stiffen for only an instant. "What was it about?"
"Genni just wanted to assure me about tonight."
"Oh. Speaking of tonight," Ken started as he looked over at the clock, "it's about eleven thirty. Do you want to leave now and get there at midnight or go at midnight?"
"Neither. Saying that, I think going now would be a good idea," Takeru reluctantly said as he stood up and offered a hand to Ken.
Ken took the offered hand and allowed Takeru to pull him up. He noticed that Takeru had his mask on again. 'Stupid move Takeru.'
"Hey, Patamon. Wakey, wakey. Time to go."
"Huh? Oh! Time already?!" the Digimon exclaimed.
"It must be or you wouldn't be so loud this late at night," Wormon stated tiredly.
"Do you know where we're going, Takeru?" Ken asked.
"Ya. The original group has gone there before," Takeru answered.
"Where is it?" Ken restated.
"It's in a forest," Takeru said as he walked to his room with Patamon in his arms.
"I'm not getting a strait answer, am I?"
"Nope, because this is something you have to see for yourself," Takeru stated as he began looking for a close portal.
"You're such a tease."
"I am not. This is just one of those things you have to see for yourself to believe," Takeru pouted.
Ken just smirked and said, "Riiight. What ever you say pal. What ever you say." Takeru just stuck his bottom lip up as Ken leaned against his desk and the Digimon quietly laughed at their humans.
After a while, Ken asked, "Is it ready yet?"
Takeru gave him the evil eye and said, "You sound like a child." He returned his eyes to the screen.
Ken chuckled as the Digiport appeared. "I'll do it," he offered.
"By all means," Takeru agreed a little white in the face.
"Digiport, open!"
Once through, Ken looked around a bit. "Okay. A forest like you said. Now where?"
"Look for a lake. It will be there."
"That ought to be easy considering there's a stream near by," Patamon said atop of Takeru's head, his bat ears flapping.
"Alright. Where?" Takeru asked.
"That way," Patamon answered pointing to the right.
The duo proceeded to the right and stopped when they came to a stream. They took a little breather and got some water.
Ken shivered as he splashed himself awake. "Brrr! I've forgotten how cold it gets here. The water is freezing!"
"Ya. It always has been. Night was always the best to get cool drinks of water," Takeru said absently. "As much as I love the light of day, I've always loved the dark of night."
Ken was a little startled at first. "Why?"
"Huh? I don't know. At night it's always quiet and calm here. I loved looking up at the stars, so beautiful and foreign, ya know?"
Ken thought for a while then nodded his head in agreement. "Ya. I know what you mean." After a few moments of silence, Ken stated, "I think we should continue following the current."
Takeru took a deep breath through his nose, let it out though his mouth, got up, and walked in the direction. "Alright. Let's get this over with," he said as Patamon flew onto his head and Ken with Wormon in his arms followed close behind.
After a few minuets, they came across the lake. Ken and Wormon just looked around the clearing for any sign of a house. "Okay. Sooo, where is it?" Wormon asked.
Takeru didn't answer. He had a stern expression on his face as he calmly stalked over to the lake. "Um…Takeru?" Ken ventured as he followed the blond. Takeru stopped right in front of the lake. When Ken stood beside Takeru, the lake started shaking and churning as it parted to reveal steps leading to an old fashion Japanese house. "Whoa," was all Ken and Wormon would say.
Takeru lead them into the garden where they found Genni awaiting them. Takeru smiled as he greeted him with a nod. "Genni."
The young looking guardian returned the gesture in silence then acknowledged Ken with a nod. Ken returned it with a stern 'hello'. "I'm sure that you both want to know what's going on so please, come inside," Genni offered.
When they went in, the water walls crashed back down and startled the new comers. "Gyaaa!" the duo of Kindness exclaimed. Takeru gave a weak smile. "You knew, didn't you?" Ken accused.
"Told you, you had to see to believe," Takeru calmly stated as he sat down at the table. Ken grumbled, before joining.
Genni chuckled at the pair for a while. He widened his eyes as if remembering something. "Oh! Before I forget. TK…" he stated as he pulled a small white box, with the Crest of Hope on top, out of a near by drawer. "…I wanted to give you this. Happy Birthday," he said as he set it down in front of the surprised boy.
"Thank…you," Takeru stumbled in his shock.
"Go ahead. Open it," Genni encouraged.
Takeru nodded and pulled the top off. Inside, on a soft, light yellow cushion, laid a necklace. It was made of white leather fro the strap. Takeru noticed light yellow markings all around it and found that they made the Crest of Hope when put together. On the end hung a single, pure white feather, hanging upside down, attached to the necklace with a light yellow bead. Simple, yet beautiful. Takeru loved it right away. "Thank you," he said barely over a whisper.
"I thought you might like it. The leather you can get anywhere but I tampered with it a bit so that it doesn't break. The feather and bead, however, are quite special."
"How so?" Ken asked, seeing that Takeru could hardly talk.
"The feather is one of the smaller ones, about four inches, of Angemon's wings and the bead is a small fragment of your original Crest." All four were stunned to say the lest. "I'll explain more later. For now, I think I should explain the truth about Hope." Everyone became quiet as they listened to Genni's story. "As you know, there are nine Crests in all: Courage, Love, Friendship, Knowledge, Reliability, Sincerity, Light, Hope, and Kindness. At first, I told you that all the Crests made Light and this is true but with on exception, Hope. Courage, Friendship, Sincerity, Love, Reliability, Kindness and Knowledge are strong on their own but combined they become stronger, creating Light. In the process, Light, in turn, creates Hope. Hope then keeps the basic Crests alive which strengthens Light which makes Hope and son and so forth. Kind of like a circle, no beginning and no end. As for power, think of it as a ladder. On the bottom are the basic Crests, in the middle is Light, hence why Gatomon stays in her Champion form but uses a lot of energy to do so. On the top is Hope. There is no sign of this though in looks. The only way for this power to show is in combat or a difficult situation. I think the right term for it is 'stronger than he looks.' Who would think to look for the ultimate power in a small Digimon and a blue eyed boy? That is unless they deciphered the Prophecy of Hope." He paused to take a breather and let the boys to take in the information.
Ken couldn't' believe his ears. Takeru was secretly the strongest of them all. Even Takeru didn't know. "Wait a minuet. What is this Prophecy? How do you know that Takeru is the one!?" Ken asked, starting to lose his cool. Takeru remained silent.
Genni was more or less surprised that Ken was taking it harder than Takeru. "It says that the one shall be in the company of an angel Digimon. He himself will look almost like his partner with light hair and piercing eyes. Yes, I know Matt also fits, but it also says that the one shall be the first to delete, namely your first battle." Takeru's eyes widened at this. "It also states that this Warrior shall be humanoid, but shall not be Digimon nor human, but both. Kind of a half, half situation. In other words, TK, you are not human, nor Digimon, but both."
Takeru thought about this for a while than quietly said, "This is true."
Ken, Wormon, and Patamon could only exclaim, "What!?"
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Well, I hope that this wasn't too bad. I hope you all enjoyed it at some point. I am sorry about the cliffy buy I had to get this up some time soon. I'll have 11 up by Monday, hopefully. Anywho, please review! It would mean so much to me!