Having Faith: The Saga of Hope & Light: Chapter 2
Prelude to Darkness II:
The Thing That Should Not Be
Author's Note: Before I delve any farther into the story, I'd just like to give credit to those who have given me help with this, even though they have NO clue that they have done so: Karen (aka KarenSedai-Kibou no Tenshi) for her insight into takari, especially on the connections between "The Call of Dagomon" and H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos; Ukyoluvr and JHG for their Zero Two psych profiles; Daisukefire, Caspian, Sailormoonshadow, and CyberDracomon for their support of my takarist pursuits and for entertaining me with their well written takari; Kale for getting me into digimon fanfiction in the first place (by his works); and to all my readers for all their support. Thank you all! Arigatou gozaimasu!
Legal Disclaimer: "The Thing That Should Not Be" is property of Metallica. Lyrics by James Hetfield.
*****
"Messenger of Fear In Sight
Dark Deception Kills the Light
Hybrid Children Watch the Sea
Pray for Father, Roaming Free
[Fearless Wretch
Insanity
He Watches
Lurking Beneath the Sea
Great Old One
Forbidden Site
He Searches
Hunter of the Shadows is Rising
Immortal
In Madness You Dwell]
Crawling Chaos Underground
Cult Has Summoned Twisted Sound
Out From Ruins Once Possessed
Fallen City, Living Death
[Fearless Wretch
Insanity
He Watches
Lurking Beneath the Sea
Timeless Sleep
Has Been Upset
He Awakens
Hunter of the Shadows is Rising
Immortal
In Madness You Dwell]
Not Dead Which Eternal Lie
Stranger Eons Death May Die
Drain You of Your Sanity
Face the Thing that Should Not Be
[Fearless Wretch
Insanity
He Watches
Lurking Beneath the Sea
Great Old One
Forbidden Site
He Searches
Hunter of the Shadows is Rising
Immortal
In Madness You Dwell]"
~"The Thing That Should Not Be" by Metallica
After handing their tickets over to the ticket collector, Hikari and Takeru boarded the train and headed for their seats. They stowed their things in one of the overhead compartments, and made themselves comfortable. Ten minutes later, the train slowly pulled out of the station, and Hikari and Takeru's vacation began. Takeru reclined his seat back, put up his footrest and sank into a state of peaceful meditation as he watched the scenery outside the window. Being on the aisle seat, watching the scenery meant he also had his eye on Hikari. He wanted to make sure that she didn't start disappearing on him like the last time Dagomon had attempted to call her into his grasp. Hikari, on the other hand, simply pulled out a book she'd been reading for the past few days and picked up where she'd last left off.
Takeru tried to not look at Hikari, since looking at her when she seemed so peaceful and content made his heart want to break. He usually forced himself to look away so that he wouldn't have to be agonized by the pain his love for her brought him. However, at that moment, he felt compelled to turn his attention from the window to her. She had grown her hair longer in the back over the years, down to just past her shoulders. However, her bangs were still pulled over, but instead of hanging in front, she now had them pulled back behind her ears. Takeru liked her new hairstyle, but then again, he liked any hair style she had. However, in his opinion, this one made her look even more beautiful. She wore a pair of light khaki capris, which showed off her very womanly curves. She had on a pink u-cut top whose sleeves ended a centimeter or two past her shoulders and the open part began right at the collarbone. If Takeru had looked at any of the guys his age on the train who had passed by where he and Hikari were sitting, he knew he would've seen them all give him very jealous stares. However, Takeru was sick of others seeing him and Hikari as a couple, even though he secretly wished they were. Takeru couldn't help but think how . . . balanced . . . she looked. She wore a somewhat modest outfit, which, without looking like she was advertising her body, still managed to be quite flirtatious. On the inside where personality and character reigned, she was just as elegant and beautiful to Takeru as she was on the outside. She was in balance, or at least she looked that way, because despite her peaceful exterior, Takeru knew that she was still very much haunted by Dagomon's attempt on her that morning. He wished he could just take the fear those memories caused away from her; wished he could do something more than he could do now, which was simply to be there for her, to watch over her, and to protect her as best he could.
His thoughts were interrupted when he felt someone come up to his and Hikari's row. "Konnichiwa, Takaishi-san, Yagami-san," an attendant said after quickly glancing at a clipboard he had, "Lunch will be served in half an hour. Would either of you like to have seats reserved?"
Hikari looked up from her book and looked at Takeru. With only a nod as a response, they'd decided. "Yes, we'd like to reserve seats," Hikari said.
"Separate seating, or a table together?" the attendant inquired politely.
"Finally, someone who hasn't assumed anything about us, even though its his job not to assume," Takeru thought. "Together," he said to the attendant.
"Very well, then, Takaishi-san, Yagami-san. You'll hear your table called when it is ready. Oh, um, under whose name should I have the table reserved?"
Hikari beat Takeru to the punch this time, wanting to do something for him this time. "Put it under mine," she said sweetly. "Mr. Gracious here has paid my tab enough times already."
The attendant laughed as he wrote down Hikari's name on his clipboard. "I see, I see," he chuckled. "Yagami, table of two. Your table should be ready in half an hour."
***
"Why can't we use the digital gate, Gennai?" Patamon asked, hovering over the scroll the hermit had rolled out on his desk. "I thought the only way to and from the worlds was through the Gate."
"It is," Gennai said, calmly, his finger tracing over lines upon lines of script written in a language spoken by a people long forgotten, "However, we can't use the usual method. Dagomon may be sick and evil, but he is far from stupid. The old records don't call him a conquering genius just because they liked how it came out on parchment. By now, he probably has his spies watching all entry points, and as soon as we get Takeru and Hikari through the gate, they'll either be killed or captured instantly. No, we have to use an older method. One which Dagomon isn't familiar with."
"What do you mean by that?" Tailmon asked, jumping up onto Gennai's desk.
"Well, bring me that scroll over there and you'll see, Tailmon," Gennai said, pointing to a scroll on the bottom level of the cubbyhole shelf which held all of his old scrolls. Tailmon retrieved the indicated scroll and Gennai spread it out on his desk.
"Does that say what I think it does?" Patamon asked.
Gennai nodded. "It does."
"But what are we going to do with an entire train-full of people? You did say that they're on a train right now, right?"
Gennai nodded again. "But we can only bring in those who have digivices. It doesn't have to be a wave like eleven years ago when they were first brought here. No, I've got another idea in mind.
"But why are we doing this? They'll be in more danger by being brought here than they are in the Digital World, won't they?"
"If Dagomon takes over the Digital World, then nothing can stop him from invading and successfully conquering the Real World. Besides, if Dagomon doesn't know that they're here, then he won't be able to know what they're doing for a time. That's the time we've got in which to work out a plan."
"Then what do you want us to do, Gennai?" Patamon asked.
Gennai turned to his computer and called up a map of the Digital World and marked four points on the map. "War is coming, and if we're going to fight, we need an army. Best to start gathering one before Dagomon's army or armies begin invading. I need you two to get these places and begin organizing as many digimon able to fight as possible. I know that the digimon at these places will come to our aid immediately." Gennai then reached into his desk and pulled out an orb, glowing a soft cobalt blue. "Qinglongmon has given me this. Evolve and start off right now. They'll be here when you get back."
***
"We are now arriving in Kyoto," said an electronic voice over the PA system. "If you are getting off in Kyoto, please be ready to disembark by the time the train comes to a complete stop in the station."
Takeru closed and reopened his sighed as he thought about how to get out of his seat without disturbing Hikari. She slept soundly next to him in the same position she had been in when she first nodded off. He understood completely; after all, it had been quite a day for both of them and she'd had it worse than most. Lunch had been wonderful, and it had been the first time that either of them had eaten in a dining car, because the last time they'd been on a long distance train trip had been in America, and had been rudely interrupted. Still, it had been a hot meal, and Hikari being as mentally exhausted as she was after that morning, Takeru didn't blame her for falling fast asleep soon afterwards. It had made him a bit nervous when after she fell asleep on his shoulder, but not wanting to wake her up by sitting her upright, he'd let her stay that way. He'd tried to go into meditiation to contemplate things, namely the plot of his next story; however, the temptation to just watch her was too strong. So, he spent the rest of the trip quietly watching her sleep, her chest moving up and down in a steady, peaceful rhythm. For the rest of the trip, Takeru felt totally content, as if everything was going right for the both of them. However, he now had to get up to get their bags, though he still didn't have the heart to wake Hikari. Ever so deftly, he put his seat back up a bit, so that the seatback's side formed a slight pillow for Hikari. He moved her upright a bit and her head leaned to the side a bit and rested against the side of his seat back. Mission accomplished, and he was now free to move without waking her. "Poor Hikari. This vacation is just what she needs, thankfully," he thought as he opened the overhead bins and pulled out their suitcases and his katana's case. He set the suitcases upright on the floor in front of them, and held firmly onto his katana's case. Japan's long-distance trains weren't known for having many active pickpockets or muggers on board due to the train-car's confined nature and ease of spotting a thief, but one could never be too sure with an item as valuable as a custom made katana like his. He hadn't originally planned to bring his Katana along, but now Hikari was in need of someone watching over her more than ever, and the promises he had made to both Taichi and Sora eleven years ago to protect Hikari had come back to him in full. Takeru's Katana was not just a tool, but an extension of himself, and it would now be used in Hikari's defense; he could do nothing less than give his all in protecting her from further harm.
Minutes later, Takeru felt the train's brakes being applied when inertia caused him to be shoved forward slightly. The slight jolt caused Hikari to stir, and the next application of the brakes woke her up. She sat up and rubbed her eyes then reoriented herself. "Takeru, are we in Kyoto?"
"Pulling in right now," he said, motioning to their luggage right in front of them, and added. "And I went on and got our luggage down from the overhead compartment."
"How sweet! Thank you Takeru." she said sweetly.
"Consider it as me paying you back for paying for lunch," he said, grinning.
"Somehow I doubt that covers it Takaishi Takeru," she teasingly glowered, "And you better make sure you didn't know how expensive lunch was before I offered to pay, else you will be the one paying on our way back."
"I didn't! If you hadn't gotten to it before me, you know I would've paid!" he said, falling for her tease, and putting his hands up in surrender.
"Foolish Takeru, I know you didn't know," she giggled. "I was only playing."
Takeru was about to respond again when the voice over the PA came on again. "Kyoto, Kyoto. If this is your stop, please watch your step and we hope you enjoyed your trip."
"Guess that's our cue," Takeru said, picking up his Katana case and suitcase. "Hello Kyoto!"
After they disembarked, Takeru and Hikari caught a shuttle to their hotel. However, as the driver began to pull out of his parking spot, a heavy impenetrable fog swept in without warning. The fog was so thick, that the driver couldn't see two meters beyond the shuttle's front end, and he had to stop and pull back into his old spot.
"Sorry folks, but we'll be stuck here for a while," the driver said, apologizing to the seven or so people in the shuttle, including Takeru and Hikari.
"Takeru, I've got a weird feeling about all this," Hikari said looking outside the shuttle at the fog.
"Bad feeling?"
"No, its not bad, just . . . weird. There's no other way to describe it."
A moment later, Hikari's weird feeling became reality when everyone in the shuttle began to hear an urgent beeping from two unknown and unseen devices. Well, unknown except for Takeru and Hikari, because the beeping was coming from them. Takeru reached into his pocket, and sure enough, his digivice was going off, and its display screen was lit up like it usually was been right before going through the Gate.
"Hikari-chan! Look!" he said, showing her the screen.
"Huh?" she asked, confused till she recognized what the digivice was reacting to. She reached into her purse, and pulled her digivice out and sure enough, it was beeping urgently as well. "You don't think . . . ? No! I thought it ended eight years ago!"
"Apparently not," Takeru said, tightening his grip on his katana case just as they faded from the Real World before the stunned and amazed eyes of the five other shuttle passengers like dreams after the dreamer wakes up, clearly present one moment and gone the next.
"Will whoever's cell phone that is either shut it off or . . ." the driver began as he turned around and saw that he was suddenly two passengers short, and that the remaining passengers all looked like they had just seen ghosts.
"Hey, wasn't a young couple sitting there just a moment ago?" the driver asked, puzzled. "I could've sworn that there had been."
***
It wasn't like their usual trip to the Digital World. Instead of being of all possible colors randomized and tossed about, the passage was covered in some oily black ooze and unnatural blue-white lightning crackled and collided, threatening to suddenly strike the two dimensional travelers. As he was being pulled along, Takeru got a sick feeling that the battle with darkness had just been reignited, and that their side wasn't faring too well. However, even if he wanted to, he couldn't express his sentiments to Hikari, as the static hiss in the tunnel was deafening, like someone was projecting the sound of a dial-up modem busy connecting to the internet to a large amplifier turned all the way up. Thankfully, their trip started and ended in a matter of moments. Takeru was glad to be out of the gate tunnel. That was, until he saw where he and Hikari were going to land.
"Oh crap!" was all he had time to say till he splashed head first into a fresh water lake.
The next thing Takeru knew, he felt a strong arm grabbing onto him and hauling him out of the water. Takeru took a moment to get his bearings till he looked around for his benefactor. He immediately spotted him reaching down into the lake and pulling a soaking wet Hikari onto the shore, then grabbed a slowly sinking case, which was right below the surface and falling.
"Sorry about that," their benefactor said. He was dressed in a white hooded robe with wood-brown hems, and his hood covered his face, though his voice sounded strangely familiar. It wasn't till he tossed back his hood, did the two humans realize just who he was.
"Gennai!" they both said simultaneously.
Surprised at speaking at the same time, Takeru and Hikari immediately turned their heads towards each other, and Takeru nearly stunned himself again. Hikari's top, while modest when dry, became like a window pane when wet. Takeru felt as if all the little blood vessels in his nose were about to rupture, and he hurriedly had to turn away before he embarrassed himself. Hikari instantly realized she was exposed, and immediately covered her breasts with her arms, and glowered evilly at Gennai.
"Gennai!" she snapped, anger sharpening her words, "You could've picked a better spot!"
"I . . . I'm sorry, Hikari," Gennai apologized, eyes averted. "I'm somewhat out of practice, and was several meters off. You should've landed safely on the bank."
"Just be glad Hikari-chan isn't the one with the katana." Takeru joked dryly, picking himself up.
"Well, be glad that you didn't land in the trees," Gennai said, slightly annoyed.
"Hey, take it easy, Gennai," Takeru said, trying to diffuse the situation. "Hikari-chan and I have both had a hectic day," and added "especially Hikari-chan" under his breath.
"Sorry I snapped, Gennai," Hikari said coming up beside Takeru, "But making me into a wet T-shirt contestant isn't a smart way to get a friendly greeting out of me. Apology accepted, though."
"Good, because I didn't yank you both out of the Real World just to say hello."
"I think we noticed," Takeru said, his tone souring slightly. "The gate tunnel looked like it was possessed."
"Yes. That's why you weren't brought in via one of the established gates. I couldn't risk you two getting detected coming in. However, I'll explain that later. For now, lets get down to my house. I have some large towels that you two can wrap up in while your clothes dry."
***
Even in the summer afternoon heat, it didn't take Takeru and Hikari long before they started getting chilled from their soaking wet clothes. By the time Gennai had led them down the rock staircase to his house, the both of them were visibly shivering. Gennai found them towels, then realized he also still had a few pairs of hakama1 and iagi2 that they could wear as well. Half an hour later after they were not quite so damp and in dry clothes, Gennai fixed hot tea to warm them up. Now they were sitting beside each other in Gennai's study, where eleven years ago, Gennai had explained about the eighth child and of Vamdemon's gate. Now the study, instead of being mostly barren, was not filled with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves filled with books of all kinds. A currently unlit fireplace occupied the spot where a window used to be, and a couch, easy chair, and a regular table with cushions arrayed around it were the only furniture in the room. Adjoining the study was a smaller study, which was occupied by Gennai's computer, desk, and shelves of scrolls. Gennai sat himself down in the easy chair, and handed the two friends their tea.
"I think I owe you two some explanations," he began. He produced a small remote and cued a hidden holographic projector. Before Takeru and Hikari, three worlds were displayed. "These three worlds are Earth, the Digital World, and the realm known to you as the Dark Ocean. I know you two have been to the Dark Ocean before, but do you know about who or what is actually there?"
"Dagomon," Takeru growled. "He's made himself known several times."
"So, he's tried for his goal several times before. This isn't good."
"What do you mean 'tried for his goal'?" Hikari asked straightforwardly, trying not to shiver at the ice which shot down her back at Gennai's words.
"His ultimate goal, power. And according to the prophecy, he can get it by sacrificing and absorbing the Light."
"What prophecy, Gennai?" Takeru asked, not liking the way the conversation was now going.
Gennai put down his tea and his face went from a casual expression to one of absolute seriousness. When he spoke, he seemed an eerie replica of himself,
"Balance now, threatened be
A battle of Heaven's lightning and devil's sea
Two outcomes the battle may yield
Hell's victory, or vanquish, contest of sword and shield.
Two champions each side shall claim
War they shall till one side doth remain.
If darkness' deception destroys the Light
Infinity will be ruled by evil might
Though if light's wrath can smother Evil's will
Balance restored, peace once again reigns still.
For Light, be there mortals Heaven blessed
Twice before into its service pressed
Rock of Hope and Namesake of Light
Committed to Heaven they do fight.
Of Hell's dark denizens be there two
Unmatched in cruelty, many they slew
Lord of rape and King of blackened sea
Satan's champions, things that should not be.
Oh that my words proven false will be
That such a battle no good being may ever see.
But the Truth I know I do speak
Forewarned by Good Master whom I seek
I charge ye be watchful with ready sword
That ye may hold back Satan's evil horde."
An eerie silence filled the quiet study for a good minute after Gennai recited the ancient poem and prophecy. All that could be heard was the dampened rumble of thunder from the void-black storm clouds covering the sky. Takeru looked over at Hikari, and her calm outward demeanor had all but shattered, and she was visibly shaken, and Takeru put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"I won't let you go through this alone, Hikari-chan," he said, firmly, trying to be strong even though he was even more shaken than she, as his talent with language caused him to see a deeper and more dire warning in the prophecy. "We will get through this."
"You should hope so, Takeru," Gennai said, his face still showing the dark foreboding look of absolute seriousness. "If you two are defeated in this war, all will be lost. If the Digital World falls, there will be no saving the Real World."
"Dagomon is one of our enemies, but who is the other?" Hikari asked, drawing strength from Takeru and from defenses she had set up since the last time Dagomon had tried to come for her.
"I'm not sure, Hikari, but I have a feeling that you two have faced him before. Ever since Belial Vamdemon was destroyed, I've been keeping my eye on the Dark Ocean, never mind my methods, and there have been some disturbing rumors going around. It seems the word there is that Dagomon is in league with Baal, who is worshipped even above Dagomon. This Baal could be the other enemy."
Eerie silence once descended once again. Takeru was running the name Baal through his mind, sure he'd heard the name before somewhere at sometime. Then it struck him. Biblical mythology! His mind traced back to a book he had for mythological reference, and its section on biblical mythology had really interested him.
"Gennai," Takeru said abruptly, breaking the silence. "Do you have a book called Mythology in the Ancient World?"
"I think I do. Let me check," Gennai said, getting up and going to a section of books on his bookshelf. He pulled one out and handed it to Takeru. "Is this what you're looking for?"
Takeru nodded, and flipped to a certain spot in the book.
"Baal." he said, reading the passage aloud, "Biblical myth. False god in the Christian Bible. Was worshipped for a time by the Israelites despite many warnings from the God of Abraham not do so or else. The priests of Baal in Judah and Israel were executed by the prophet Elijah because they failed to obey the God of Abraham, their ancestry. Origins: Canaanite for 'lord' or 'master' and Baal, as a deity, was worshipped around the globe in many forms till Christianity became the official religion under Emperor Constantine. Baal is only worshipped today by small, disorganized demon cults, whose practices are suspected to involve human sacrifice, mutilation, and cannibalism among other things."
Takeru shuddered as he marked the page and shut the book. "At least he's a myth," he said, "But that doesn't seem to stop those who worship him."
Gennai nodded as if recalling something, then shuddered as if he remembered something he'd rather have forgotten. "Right . . . now I remember. Those are no myths, Takeru. Human sacrifice to Baal was real, very real. This is real."
"It's surreal, you know," Hikari said, her voice sounding emotionally withdrawn. "I'm just a normal girl, not some saint. And I know Takeru is just a normal guy, even though he does act like a saint sometimes. So why are we here fighting gods of all things!?"
"Maybe we aren't as normal as we wish we were, Hikari-chan. We are Chosen whether we like it or not."
"I guess so, Takeru. But how do we fight Dagomon and Baal?"
Takeru shrugged, and both of them looked at Gennai, questioning looks on their faces. "You're the one who called us here, Gennai," Hikari said, "How do we fight these two?"
"War," Gennai responded bluntly, no hint of teasing or joking in his voice. "To stop them, we have to go to war. As you have seen, something is happening. That thing is Dagomon. He's already got troops here, I'm sure of it. Many of them are probably monitoring every Gate entrance. That's why I pulled you in the way I did. Till Dagomon realizes what happened, he'll still assume that all of the Chosen are still on Earth. He'll be looking there until he can't find you on Earth anymore, or one of his agents reports Gate activity. Once he has his forces assembled, we'll be facing an invasion on a grand scale. He may not be a Digimon, but ever since I've been keeping tabs on him, he's been focused completely on the Digital and Real Worlds."
Hikari shivered uncontrollably. "We saw evidence of that this morning."
"What do you mean, Hikari?" Gennai asked, concerned. "What happened?"
"Let it be, Gennai," Takeru interjected, calmly. "It's not right for Hikari-chan to have to relive that so soon after it happened."
"No, Takeru, please," Hikari said, gently removing his hand from her shoulder, "I probably need to let it out anyway."
Giving as much detail as she could bear, Hikari began to retell her experience to Gennai. As she told it from her point of view, Takeru began to relive the incident himself. As Hikari went deeper into the retelling, Takeru's anger began to boil up inside him. How dare Dagomon lay even so much as a tentacle on her! How DARE he try and touch her in that manner! How DARE he desire to have her sacrificed! How DARE Dagomon bring such suffering to his beloved Hikari! HOW DARE HE! Seething hatred for Dagomon and his minions swept through Takeru like a Tsunami, and pain for Hikari's suffering raised the waves of his hatred to unbearable heights. When Hikari got to the part where Dagomon tried to touch her while she was dressing, Takeru couldn't hold his rage in any longer, and he abruptly rose, excused himself, and quickly left the room in a foul mood. He only stopped briefly to retrieve his Katana from its case, then went outside to work off his anger.
Takeru unsheathed his sharpened steel iaito katana from its saya with a flourish. He brought the lethal weapon and tool into the forward guard position, raised the blade high till the pommel, the Fuchi Kashira was at the same level as his forehead, and sliced down with a vicious forward strike. Acutely aware of where the blade tip was at all times, he stopped the blade when it was less than a centimeter from the ground. His blade now in the lower guard position, he swept the katana back and to the left, crossing his right hand over his left. Lower left guard. He released a swift diagonal strike ending upward and outward from his right shoulder, above his head. From there he twisted his wrists swiftly and precisely, whirling the blade above his head and then dropped his blade into a powerful horizontal slice. It wasn't working. His blood still pulsated with pure anger. If Dagomon were in front of him, Takeru would have sliced the demon to shreds before the being knew what was going on. Just the recollection of Hikari bound in those tentacles reaching out for him made his heart break and filled him with raging hatred and horror. He couldn't stand it! He had almost lost his beloved Hikari to that wretched, insane being! And in that moment, Takeru came as close as he had ever come to losing control over himself.
"HURRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!" he roared in a terribly powerful voice of rage, bringing his blade about, and, envisioning Dagomon infront of him, began to decimate the vision. In a whirlwind of slices and cuts, all woven together with amazing speed, and accuracy, he attacked his imagined opponent. If anything living had been in the path of his blade, it surely would have perished had it not been similarly armed. His whirlwind of anger and hatred directed towards the Dark King of the Undersea who was currently present only in his mind, lasted for what seemed like an eternity to Takeru.
Finally, his attacks slowed, and eventually stopped. Takeru, still gripping his katana, put his hands on his knees, panting. Gennai, who had seen a large portion of Takeru's battle with his own internal rage, walked over to the young swordsman, and put his hands on Takeru's shoulders as a father might do when calming down an enraged or emotionally hurt son.
"Takeru? Takeru! It's all right! Hikari is here, safe, out of Dagomon's grasp. You did not fail her, Takeru!"
But Takeru did not hear. Even his heavy breathing came in through clenched teeth, and Gennai could see that Takeru's eyes remained clouded with fear, rage, and hatred. Fear for Hikari. Rage for what had been done to Hikari. Hatred towards Dagomon and all evil for disrupting Hikari's life. Gennai stepped back, far back, as he did not know if Takeru could tell that a living person stood in front of him, in range of his blade.
"Gennai! I've never seen him like this! What's wrong with Takeru?" Hikari asked, desperately. "I need to go to him!"
Gennai put out an arm, blocking Hikari from going off of the porch to Takeru who was regaining his energy in the middle of the yard. "Don't, Hikari. Let him release it all. They are his demons, let him handle them."
"But they're there because of me, right!? He worries about me! Dagomon trying to take me is what's causing this, isn't it? I'm the one who's causing him this pain, Gennai! Let me go to him!"
"No, Hikari!" Gennai snapped angrily. "If you should blame ANYONE, you should blame Dagomon! Takeru chose to agree to Taichi's promise as well as Sora's eleven years ago, and he chose soon after to keep that promise for his entire life. He chose to worry over and look after you, not you. Dagomon tried to take you, and Takeru blames himself. Let him battle Dagomon in his own mind. He shouldn't have to, but like yourself, Takeru takes on burdens as his own that are not, in reality, his own. He needs to feel some absolution."
"Gennai . . ." Hikari said, as she saw Gennai's eyes loose focus of objects, as he began to relive a part of his past. "How do you know all this about Takeru?"
"Because I used to be just like him long ago." Gennai responded in a timeless voice, seeing his past instead of the present. "However, I truly did fail her that time. It was a pain no man should ever have to face. It took me many years to understand that it wasn't my fault and that I did not truly fail my Chihiro. The pain still lives deeply within me, however. I remember facing a pain much like his, except his is not as unbearable as mine was."
"Why is that?"
"You lived through your ordeal thanks to Takeru's intervention. Not even the mightiest army could have saved Chihiro from death, let alone a single samurai. Believe me, Hikari, Dagomon and Baal have many crimes to pay for even if it was by their worshipers hands and not their own directly."
"You mean . . . ." Hikari began, but was interrupted when Takeru let out a terrible battle cry. It was filled with hurt and rage, and as Hikari heard it, her knees buckled as her heart broke for Takeru.
***
Takeru could no longer distinguish reality from nightmare. Over and over and over again in his mind the images played. No matter what he did, he could not save her from death, torture or ravaging. Her screams dominated his mind, overwhelmed it. "No! Stay Away! Help me Takeru! Help me!" All he heard were her agonized screams.
"You cannot save her, Paladin. No matter how hard you try, she shall be ours."
"NO! You can't have her!"
"You don't know what you're talking about! This is beyond you! You can do nothing now! You have failed!"
"Wrong! There's always a chance! I love her too much to fail her!"
"Face it, boy! You have failed! You are a failure!"
"Stop it!"
"You are a breaker of your promise! You can't protect her like you promised! Hear her screams! See her face! You can do nothing! You FAILED! Just as you failed in the past to protect her, you have failed now! Pathetic!"
"You're wrong! That's not true! I saved her from things such as you many times before!"
"Then why did another of your comrades have to protect her when I pulled her into my domain a second time?"
"I did what I could! It was your fault for doing so, dammit! Now stop it! Let me through to Hikari-chan!"
"She's DEAD! You FAILED HER!"
"NO! LIAR! She's still alive!"
"Failure! Failure! Failure! Failure! False one! You broke your promise!"
"Shut up."
"Failure!"
"Shut up!"
"False one!"
"I said to shut up!"
"Breaker of promises!"
"SHUT . . . UP!!!!!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" He bellowed, having recovered his energy.
"Takeru! Stop it!" Hikari cried out.
"You're a figment of my imagination! Go away and stop torturing me!"
"She's not a figment, Paladin! You will still fail her eventually" It was the image of Dagomon, standing, before him, contempt in the demon's eyes. "You can't prevent her from becoming my lovely sacrifice. I wonder what she feels like . . ."
Takeru stuck at his hallucination with a swift forward strike, black blood spurted from the gaping gash along the creature's midsection. "DON'T!" He severed a tentacle, "YOU!" Off went another tentacle, "EVER!" Two more tentacles fell by Takeru's deadly blade, "TOUCH!" He leapt up with tremendous agility, a downward slice sent two more tentacles to their fate, "HIKARI-CHAN!" On his downward arc, a forward strike took off the final two tentacles on the imaginary Dagomon's body, "AGAIN!"
Takeru landed gracefully, and to his eyes, his blade was dripping with thick, black blood, and it only fed his hatred more. Pathetic creature! Evil demon! He was going to kill it! Send it back to Hell! With a final roar, Takeru poured all his anger, pain, hatred, rage, and contempt into one final strike. Low left guard. Upward strike. He leapt, launching himself into the air. "DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!" He released his strike, and as his blade cut through tissue, organs, bone and blood vessel, a tremendous energy was released. As his swing finished, a massive compression wave composed of all the blackness inside Takeru, boomed, obliterating the imaginary Dagomon from Takeru's mind.
He had won, he had defeated the blackness. But at what cost? Confused over what was reality and what was nightmare, he assumed Hikari was dead. That her voice had only been a cruel trick. Gone. Dead. Never to see her smile, hear her laugh. Gone. In the confusion of the aftermath, Takeru collapsed in grief, sobbing with the pain of loss.
***
In that plane of existence where time has no meaning, the Hell Demon Baal laughed. He truly enjoyed toying with strong minds. The violation of the mind was a much more difficult and challenging task than violating the body, and the result was far more exquisite, like perfectly aged wine. He preferred the combination of both, which was what gave him the title 'god of rape' or 'lord of rape.' He had severely weakened the Paladin's defenses, though they would soon be rebuilt because she was there. Oh how he would enjoy the feel of her flesh, the taste of her body, and the anguish! Hers would be especially entertaining. Then telling the Paladin exactly what he, Baal, had done to his beloved, and telling him the truth irrefutable! The Paladin would break like no other, and his chief priest-servant Dagomon would personally perform the sacrifice!
Such irony, such great irony! Like a black hole, he would swallow the Light! The balance would be destroyed! His master's plan for the acceleration of the Final Day for temporal beings would begin! No, Hell would prove that God did not merely allow their miserable existence, but, instead, could do nothing about it! Baal held only contempt for those who had cast him out of Heaven, and he would have his revenge on them and their servants, especially His servants such as the Paladin and the girl. Doing so would gain him even more power, placing him as Lucifer's equal! The final battle would be won, not lost as God, said when sentence had been pronounced on Baal and his cohorts in Heaven! He would have his total revenge! It would be his greatest violation, greatest glory!
***
Takeru slammed his katana into the ground point-first, and slumped down onto the ground, tears streaming swiftly and silently down his face. Gone. She was gone from his life forever. He'd heard her screams and sobs! He'd heard her cry out and then be silenced forever! He had failed her. A miserable Takeru lay on the ground, unable to tell that he was gravely mistaken, confused, completely vulnerable. Nightmare and reality were the same to him now. Defenses shattered, spirit broken, he felt he had nothing to live for. No reason to keep on living. He just wanted to slip into darkness and die. He just wanted . . . .
Hikari, seeing Takeru collapse immediately ran over to him. "Takeru!" she cried out, "Takeru, are you ok?"
She fell onto her knees as she reached him, and was confused when she saw that he didn't even respond. He just stared blankly outward, tears streaming down his face. Was there nothing she could do for him? Was there no way to reach him? As soon as she saw that his outburst had finally ended, she'd been relieved, and now her heart broke all over again to see Takeru like this.
"Confusion." Gennai said simply. "It wasn't just his own anger. Something or someone was toying with his mind."
"Dagomon . . ." Hikari growled. "Add another charge to his list of crimes."
"I don't think it was Dagomon," Gennai said, pondering the situation. "Baal, most likely. From what you told me, I think Dagomon is still sulking after having himself burned by Takeru. Besides, Dagomon doesn't yet have the power to enter minds. Baal does. In any case, Takeru has been wounded very badly. What he needs now is someone to care for him."
"I'll do that. But how can I help heal him? He won't even answer me!"
"Do you remember how you helped the supposed Scubamon3 back when Dagomon brought you to the Dark Ocean for the first time?"
Hikari nodded vaguely. "I think so, yes."
"Takeru needs something like that. He needs your strength. This is what Light does, Hikari. It heals those who serve it or are of it, and it burns those who are of darkness or who serve darkness. Heal him with your Light."
"I'm not sure I can, Gennai. I'm not sure I can bring forth that Light," Hikari said, nervously.
"Not if you doubt yourself like that, Hikari," Gennai responded. "Self-doubt is one of the greatest weapons you can give to your enemies. Don't do it. You have the strength, Hikari. Takeru knows it, and so should you."
"I'll give it my best," Hikari said.
Gennai nodded. "I'll go and prepare rooms for you two."
Hikari moved a bit closer to Takeru. She shook him, trying to get him to look at her. "Takeru, its me, Hikari. Please look at me, Takeru! Don't you recognize me, your Hikari-chan?"
No response. She thought it was worth a try anyway. She concentrated, and focused on that part of herself from which she drew strength. She drew on the friendship of her fellow Chosen, from Miyako, Daisuke, Ken, Iori, Sora, Yamato, Koushiro, Mimi, Joe, and, Takeru himself. She drew on the love from her family, Tou-san, Kaa-san, and her beloved Nii-chan. However, it wasn't enough to bring out her Light. She couldn't let Takeru down. She couldn't bear it if she let him down after he'd done so much for her so selflessly. After all they had been through together, she couldn't bear to see him become a vegetable, effectively dead to her; she just couldn't bear it. She wouldn't give up so easily, she owed Takeru that much at least, for all that he had done for her. She refused to give up on the man who had been the best friend to her that there ever could be.
The light that burst forth in her hands was spectacular! Radiating warmth and comfort, it flowed in, out, and over Takeru's entire body. Life returned to Takeru's face, and his eyes were now no longer blank, but full of life again themselves. With Hikari's help, Takeru sat up and he looked at her, and seeing him look at her after the scare she'd just went through was too much for her.
"Takeru . . .," she whispered, tears of joy just beginning to trickle out of her eyes..
"Hikari-chan?" he asked, disoriented, and confused. "Are you ok? You're crying."
"Takeru!" she cried happily. "Oh, Takeru! Thank god!"
"Hikari-chan? What happened to me?"
Hikari helped him to his feet, as he had been almost totally drained of all energy in him. "We'll talk about it in the morning, Takeru," she said as she led him into the house. She brought him to his room, and when he lay down in his bed, he fell asleep almost instantly.
Hikari covered him up, and, for a time, watched him sleep peacefully. Finally, she got up to go to bed herself, but, before she closed the door, she poked her head back in.
"Oyasumi nasai4, Takeru," she said softly, then closed the door and went off to bed herself.
"Oyasumi nasai, Hikari-chan," Takeru whispered back once the door was shut.
To Be Continued . . .
1 & 2: A Hakama is the bottom portion of a martial arts training outfit, especially in dojos of the sword arts. The iagi is the top.
3: Scubamon is also synonymous with Divermon. I am not using the Japanese version of the name which is Hangeyomon, mainly because I don't want to confuse my readers of the previous version, and also, the majority of people know these digimon as Scubamon.
4: means Good night
