Annihilation
Part Six
I really hope you have been enjoying the series so far ^.^. I've been putting a lot of time and effort into it. My blood, sweat, and tears have been put into this story, so I hope you like it! Also a note on my previous parts and this part: My first two parts were really bad. I mean really bad. Third was okay. But this one is the best! ^.^ Hope you like!
*winks* okay, I luv you, ba-bye.
Matt.
Matt was the dragon caller. Matt wouldn't help her in the dream because he wasn't supposed to. Kahandro was to freeze them and Matt was to…Sora gulped. Burn them.
Her eyes grew wide and instinctively she pulled against the chains as he rose. Snow fell off of his hair and his khaki pants unwrinkled when he stood up. Slowly, very slowly, he opened his dark blue eyes, as if he had been given a new life, a new meaning.
"Matt…" it came out barely a whisper, but she was sure he had heard it, since he looked straight at her. She didn't dare avert her eyes. She was paralyzed on the spot, staring into those dark blue eyes. They hypnotized her. They pierced her very soul as if they could see into her mind and heart. Sora heard herself whisper another name, the name of a person who couldn't help her right now.
Matt's eyes flickered over to Tai, imprisoned in his cage of ice, and he stopped breathing. His breath drew in sharply, as if he knew what his duty was, what he was to do. His feet shuffled slowly towards Tai. Kahandro crawled out of his way, crawling closer to Sora.
All movement ceased suddenly when the small mound of snow shifted. Matt's head snapped towards it's direction, his cold eyes analyzing it. A moan sounded from it, then a high-pitched squeal.
"Hey! That's my hair!"
"Ow! Stop that! Hey!"
Mimi shoved Izzy off of her disdainfully. "What are you trying to do, you perv?" Her hands shot up to hold herself. "Gees it's cold…"
The other figure rose, brushing the snow off of himself. "Well maybe if you didn't wear such skimpy outfits you wouldn't be so cold."
"Lay off the clothes, computer geek."
"Maybe you should lay off of the colors. Dying your hair multiple times causes it to fall out."
Mimi grabbed her brown hair, fear in her eyes. "Oh it will! Oh, my poor beautiful hair!"
She missed Izzy roll his eyes as she started inspecting every strand of her hair. Sora looked back and forth between the duo, wondering when they would realize what was going on.
Mimi shot Izzy a nasty look. "You lie! My hair is perfectly fine." She adjusted herself so that she was sitting on her knees. "Of all the people in the world, Izzy, I would at least expect you to not tease a girl about her hair. It's morally wrong."
Izzy gave her the "ewmp" eyes, packing a snowball tight as he did. He looked up suddenly at the group of people staring at him (well, two people plus a thing). Matt was giving him an evil eye, inspecting him closely as he continued walking towards the frozen Tai. Sora stared blankly at him, practically being held up by chains. And a blue creature (which looked remarkably like something off of Dragon Ball Z) was gawking at Mimi.
"Uh…what's…uh…"
Matt stopped. This was his chance. Tai would be gone forever if he did this. No more Tai. No more soccer star leader to look down upon him. A heart-piercing shriek sliced through his thoughts.
"TAI!!!"
The high-pitched sound of Mimi's scream made them all cringe, and they gritted their teeth together when she started wailing.
Kahandro looked impatiently at Matt, hands upon ears.
"Would you get on with it?!"
A blank was drawn up in Matt's mind. "Duh…wha-" His eyes suddenly glazed over and he strode backwards away from Tai. The words spilled out of his mouth unyielding, with an apathetic tone to them.
"Thus the lies and sorrows ended,
Upon one mighty roar,
The caller of the dragon,
Will finally get his score.
"With fire blazing and eyes glazing,
Death took its toll.
For every secret there is a lie,
And in every secret another secret lies."
Silence. The words had been spoken and not a single person drew in a breath. All were waiting. They stood watching Matt with a silent respect and at the same time they feared him. They feared that his unmoving posture would snap, like his disposition had many times before. The dragon would come out, they were all sure, but out of where not even Kahandro knew.
The Earth shuddered violently and the seemingly never-ending tundra they were on shifted noticeably. But it was so far away. Sora was forced to squint to see the ripples in the snow; strain her ears to hear the odd pulsating sounds. Then the sounds got louder and Sora suddenly became aware of how hard everyone was breathing. She herself was literally panting. She heard herself whisper the chorus to a lullaby: "Cherry Blossoms".
"Drift, Drift,
The world never ends.
Drift, Drift,
Never ever bends."
She gulped. Snow about twenty feet away was being thrown up off of the ground. She whispered the last words of the song in a very quiet and melancholy voice:
"Sakura…Sakura. Sa-ku-ra."
Silence. The mounds of snow that had been disturbed settled down into former positions, and the noise died down to barely a whisper. Sora could hear her heart pounding against her ears. The only word that could even begin to form itself in her mind was death, a cold and depressing word to think of at a time like this.
Matt's arms rose with a slow power, capturing everyone's thoughts. His lips moved but the words he whispered could not be heard at the distance. Then his arms descended swiftly and the noise started up again, faster with a heart-racing rhythm.
The very earth they stood on shook in time with the strong beat. Sora's chains rattled, Izzy grabbed hold of Mimi's arm, steadying her, and Kahandro clung on grimly to Sora's leg.
The sun gave a brilliant flash of blue light, engulfing them all in the sweet-scented beam. The ray of magnificent sunlight then imploded, straight through Matt's midsection. A stray tear rolled down Sora's profile. Matt…
Not a trace of him was left. Neither one strand of blond hair nor shred of clothing was spared. Matt was gone. Within that short time period, a rebellious young teenager lost his life.
Then all of them found out what the dragon really was and where it had originated.
Tai's imprisonment of ice melted away slowly as a great wave of heat struck.
Sora stood hypnotized by the brilliant light, forgetting to close her eyes against the flash.
Mimi grabbed Izzy's shirt and pulled him closer, shielding herself from the blast.
The dragon was not really alive physically; it was alive in Matt's heart and soul.
Kari passed her cat Meko a look.
"I'm not gonna feed you unless you feed me first."
The plump cat gave her an awkward look, cocking its head to one side. The animal batted at its water bowl playfully.
"Meko…stop that you stupid cat. Hey! Meko! Look what you've done! You've gotten water all over the floor!" she dragged herself off of the couch and towards the spilled water. "Mom's gonna blame me for this…huh?"
She stopped in the process of leaning over. Meko bristled fiercely, spitting on the already sodden carpet. "Uh…Tai? Is that you?"
Kari rose slowly, fear clutching her heart. Being all alone in her apartment didn't scare her…but hearing things? "I must be going crazy…" Meko kept on spitting.
But then why is the cat sensing this too?…
A loud 'thunk' sounded from her bedroom. Kari glanced sideways at the closed door. No one is home, no one is home…I can't believe this is happening to me. Call 911 Kari; get a hold of yourself.
She lifted her foot carefully towards the phone. Step by painstakingly slow step she advanced on the phone. After what seemed hours, the smooth cordless was in her hand. She flipped it over and brought her hand up to the nine.
Another hand closed over Kari's; a big, strong hand.
The phone dropped to the floor.
A painful throb awakened Tai. It coursed up and down through his veins, prickly and uncomfortable all the way. Even under the protection of his eyelids, Tai saw the flash of light. It caused dots of purple and red to explode in his "vision" *he can't really see since he has his eyes closed. Duh…*. Nothing seemed clear to him. Any past or present seemed blurry.
A muted scream struck the air to the left of him. Sora.
He struggled to open his eyes, but they were practically frozen shut. The light he could see faded slowly, as did the ice on his eyelashes.
Finally, he managed to regain his sight. The scene before him made him wish that he hadn't opened his eyes.
The explosion had finally died down to a faint glow, retreating from its destruction. All the snow had been melted away, exposing brown, dead earth. And on the horizon, the sun sank lower, and lower.
Tai forced himself to look sideways, dreading what awaited his sight but refusing to accept it until he saw it. With one glance, he forced himself to turn away.
Everyone was dead.
Or at least, that's what it seemed like…
A quiet whimper passed Sora's lips. She couldn't see. She had been so totally absorbed in the events that she had forgotten to look away.
She was sitting on the dry ground with her knees tucked under herself. The ice wall that her chains had been so crudely attached to was gone, but her shackles were still there. A horrid stench filled her nostrils, much like that of Kahandro's unique scent. She moved her hand out towards blackness, seeking for something to comfort her. Her hand bumped up against something wet. Then she realized what the scent was. It was Kahandro, with his flesh burnt off.
Sora threw up on her lap. The stench and the mental picture were too much for her. She had to get away. To the left of her was some flat lands (although she now had no idea what the scenery looked like) and to the right…Tai.
She got into a crawling position and headed in the direction that she was hoping led to Tai. Her seeking hand hit Kahandro's carcass again. She shuddered and tried to stop herself from regurgitating. Unfortunately, she failed.
Sora sat down and hugged herself. Nasty sick thing…how did I get pulled into this? Then she felt a sudden sorrow engulf her heart. Not for herself, but for Kahandro. He lived out here all alone, and then when someone comes, they make fun of him. Sora swallowed, hard. He's probably the reason why my flesh wasn't burnt off…he stood in front of my body and he took the blast…
Mimi Tachikawa listened to the silence around her. Too afraid to open her eyes, Mimi strained her ears for a sign of life. Nothing…
She opened her eyes slowly, gagging at a rancid smell. What is that?…
Mimi opened up her eyes fully, only to close them again. The arms around her…they were too tight…and immobile. She shoved hard, hearing the arms of the deceased Izzy snap off.
Mimi stared down at the crispy form of Izzy and the first words out of her mouth were…
"Ew…gross! He's fried to a crisp!" she then proceeded to look over herself, straightening clothes here and there.
Satisfied that she herself hadn't been burnt, Mimi looked towards the place where Sora and Tai had been located. She let out a little gasp.
"Oh! Why is Sora …ewwwww!! She threw up! … Is Tai crying??"
She squinted harder, seeing a definite twinkle slide down Tai's face.
"Well, that's a first."
But Tai couldn't help himself. In his mind, he was alone. He had never truly been alone; now, out in this desert-like place, with his friends presumably dead, he was alone. No way of knowing where he was or what to do.
In times that he needed it the most, his courage left him, fleeing to the corners of his mind and self-conscious. Now that his adventures in the digital world were over, it seemed that his crest had taken with it his courage. So he was not just crying because he thought his friends were dead, it was also because he didn't know how to react to the situation. Whether to search or to sit was beyond him, so he obeyed his first reaction. To cry.
But Tai refused to sob. There was a difference in crying and sobbing. Sobbing was uncontrollable, and, to Tai, unforgivable. So when he heard a sob, he knew that his assumption had been wrong. Someone was alive…