AN: oh…. my … God… Did I write an action sequence? I think I did… and it's about bloody time, too. After the next chapter, maybe two, I'm probably going to jump ahead about, oh, seven years. If I delineate every battle and step the destined go through, this fic will never end. Please let me know if you think this is going to fast, or changing pace too quickly. I'll refer back to what happened in the time past in flashbacks.
Anyway, for now, it's still moving pretty slowly. Please, please give me some feedback. I really feel like I've lost you all somewhere, and no one is reading this. I do hope your enjoying this…
A diamond of a morningWaked me an hour too soon;
Dawn had taken in the stars
And left the faint white moon.
O white moon, you are lonely,
It is the same with me,
But we have the world to roam over,
Only the lonely are free.
"Morning Song"
Sarah Teasdale
It felt like TK.
Matt stared at the object in his hands, torn between an overpowering desire to believe that his brother might still be out there somewhere, making his way home… and an equally overpowering desire to deny it all, to cling with fervor to the loneliness and despair that had become his armor against the world. Because if hope was powerful, than so too was despair, just as unreachable, just as steadfast. But holding the object in his hands, watching the light glint off its amber facets, there was no such thing as despair. Could it ever have existed? No, there was only faith, only strength, only justice. Only peace and only love. Only compassion and only charity. Only goodness. Only hope.
And it felt like TK.
It felt like the color of his eyes and the smell of his hair. It felt like the day he was born and the first time he smiled. It felt like his first word, like his first steps, like pride and like protection. It was true. It was all true… Gabumon and Devimon and Gennai, they were all as real as the memory of that last morning, of coffee and sunlight and tears. He raised stinging eyes to the elder before him, only will and pride restraining his sorrow.
"Hope?" He asked, asking everything. Gennai's eyes were filled with regret as he gazed at the Child of Friendship, filled with regret and guilt. He had not acted soon enough, his inaction… his silence… his foolish hopes had brought them to this place in time.
"Yes… you each have a crest that stands for a particular trait you exemplify among humanity… your brother's was Hope. He—it is a rare kind of light to have inside oneself… the light of Hope. We… there is no other who can bear this Crest, and all the Crests are needed to win the battles that lie ahead. If he lives, he MUST be found, Yamato. Take the Crest with you… it may aid you in your search for the others. Hold it until your brother comes to claim it… if he lives, he will find you eventually, if you do not find him. Some… destinies… are inescapable."
Matt slid the Crest over his head, feeling it warm ever so slightly as it settled directly over his heart. He glanced over at Gabumon, who gave him an encouraging smile, before looking back at Gennai.
"And my Crest?" He asked.
Gennai shook his head slightly, a sad smile on his face. "That is something you must learn for yourself, Yamato. Your brother did not know the meaning of his Crest until he found the answer within himself… you and the others must do the same."
Yamato frowned. "Others?"
Gennai smiled benignly as the bushes behind him, as if on cue, began to rustle and shake as someone moved through them. A small orange dinosaur—digimon, Matt corrected himself—broke free of the concealing greenery, a toothy grin crossing his face as he saw Gennai.
"Here they are, Tai! I told you I could find them!"
Matt's eyes widened and he stifled a groan as Tai Kamiya struggled through the thick brush, muffled curses attesting to the presence of thorns on some of the verdant undergrowth. Nonchalantly attempting to fish the leaves out of his mass of hair, Tai surveyed the scene before him. A strange look crossed his face as his brown eyes fell on Matt, and Gabumon who was waving cheerfully at Agumon. It looked like the glance was almost anger, before realization, and then pity replaced it. The two adolescents locked eyes for a brief moment, and Matt was about to scowl, before he felt the weight of his brother's crest around his neck. He stared at Tai for a long moment, before finally looking away, focusing on Gennai, a blessedly neutral figure.
Tai opened his mouth, about to address the elder when four more children popped out of the surrounding bushes… followed or preceded by their own digimon. Gabumon and Agumon ran over to the approaching creatures, gleefully greeting each other and commenting on each chosen child. The children themselves were less talkative, eyeing each other warily. Some of them, namely Mimi, Sora, and Joe, smiled tentatively, while Tai and Matt continued to stare neutrally at Gennai, and Izzy gazed around as though attempting to absorb all he saw.
Gennai glanced at the children who had formed a rough circle around him, each with their partners, each confused and concerned. Gazing around at their faces, he could pick out the Crests, each child already exhibiting signs of the requisite spiritual development. Love and Sincerity, Knowledge and Reliability, and Courage… and last his eyes landed on Friendship, the problem of the group. The Child of Friendship exhibited appropriate behavior traits only when his brother was involved… had Hope been with the first seven as planned, the problem would have rectified itself in time. But now… they could only hope… something that was in dangerously short supply at the moment.
Clearing his throat, he began. "Well, now that we are… all… assembled, I suppose you would like to know what you are doing here. Yamato and I have already discussed this briefly, but for the rest of you, I must ask you to suspend your disbelief at least until I am finished. Now, as I told Yamato, you have each been summoned here to the Digital world…"
Gennai spoke into the silence for the better part of an hour, watching the expressions on the faces of the Chosen as they absorbed the news both good and bad, and the differences in their reactions were like a mosaic of different temperaments, from barely restrained anger in Tai to rabid curiosity in Izzy.
When he finished, Tai was the first to speak. "What do you mean we can't go home?!?"
Gennai nodded sadly, meeting the boy's eyes squarely. "I do not have the power to send you home. After you have found your Crests and defeated the Dark Masters, your Crests will be able to bring you home. You can choose to not fight, if you so desire, but you will never be able to go home."
Tai looked as though he was ready to argue, and Joe and Mimi looked faintly ill at the thought of fighting, but Sora stepped forward, placing a determined and restraining hand on Tai. "What do we have to do?"
Gennai reached into a deep hidden pocket, his robes were conveniently riddled with just such pockets, and brought out a handful of tags, which he tossed towards the children. Like the Digivices, they floated in front of their intended owners, and after a moment of trepidation, the kids grabbed them.
"You are now on the continent of Server, your Crests are scattered over this continent. These tags will lead you to them. Things are… not quite as I would have planned them to be, and at least one of the Dark Masters has already been destroyed. The others will be hot on your trail, however. Your digimon can protect you, and you must protect each other. I wish you the best of luck… the fates of your world and this world now rest entirely on your shoulders."
Izzy looked surprised, and gazed at the elder with concern in his dark eyes. "What? You're not coming with us?"
Gennai shook his head. "No, child. This road the sev—six of you must walk alone, if you are ever going to be able to fulfill you destinies. I will e-mail you from time to time to monitor your progress, so remember to check your mail, Izumi, and you will be fine."
The children watched in shock as he vanished into the woods, swiftly fading in the brush. They looked at each other, silent for a long moment; before Tai, never one for patience, finally spoke.
"Well, now what?"
Today is gonna be the day that they're gonna throw it back to you…By now, you should've somehow realized what you've gotta do…
And all the roads we have to walk are winding…
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding…
There are many things that I would like to say to you…
But I don't know how…
Because maybe…you're gonna be the one that saves me…
Today was gonna be the day but they'll never throw it back to you…
"Wonderwall"
Oasis
Unseen, a final watcher fluttered into a nearby tree, blue eyes gazing over the assembled partners before settling on the Child of Friendship. Patamon stifled a jealous sigh at the sight of the boy, who looked so much like his own partner. Blue eyes glanced his way, and with a start, the small Digimon realized the boy was wearing TK's crest. The ice blue eyes slid past his hiding place without seeming to see him, but the frosty glance sent a shudder through him. The eyes were eerily similar and yet vastly different from TK's. Patamon remembered it all so vividly, even the parts in which he had digivolved to a higher form…
Angemon battled the creature fiercely, his staff hitting dark flesh with dull thuds and cracking thin bones in rotting black wings. Desperation was beginning to distract the Holy Warrior from the intricacies of the battle, allowing the demon to get several solid hits in. The Angel knew he had to act quickly, before the other Dark Masters realized what was going on and came to investigate. The amount of Holy energy being thrown off by him and his charge could not go unnoticed for long. Devimon seemed to realize this also, and his attacks were as loud and as flashy as he could make them, attempting to broadcast the duel throughout the shadowed citadel.
The room was steeped in deep shadows broken in places by searing golden light, the battle taking place in total darkness and blinding brilliance by turns. The darkness was a handicap for the Champion of Hope, who could only see his opponent in the sudden turns of light. Angemon was torn between his instinct to destroy the dark creature through any available means, and an equally powerful instinct to stay between his already suffering Chosen and danger.
Twisting the golden staff in a deft movement, the Angel sent the Demon flying into a wall, momentarily stilling the combat as both assailants regained their equilibrium. Angemon spared a glance for his Chosen, who was huddled in a corner, his eyes wide in his face as he watched the epic scene before him. His Crest of Hope and Digivice were clutched in small, bloody hands, casting a soft but constant golden radiance about the child.
The glance was a millisecond to long.
Angemon felt the Evil before he even saw the blurred movement—and hard upon the metallic taste of Evil was a flash of blinding pain along his back as the creature's claws ripped through his bright wings, sending a rain of scarlet blood and ivory feathers flying through the darkness. The feathers slowly lost their radiance as they scattered, and Angemon watched the dimming glow of the falling feathers with a detached feeling of mingled horror and failure.
Time seemed to stretch out… the taste of blood in his mouth…the nauseating pulse of Evil in the room…the dizzying patterns of glowing feathers as they floated in breezes of light and dark, good and evil…the insane, vengeful laughter of the Demon… and the tears flowing down TK's grungy, bloody face…
Devimon gathered up his energy for a final attack, the foul energy building and peaking in a shrieking of despair that Angemon could feel vibrating in his bones…he looked down at TK, the Child of Hope, and wondered how it could have come down to this…so much suffering, and he couldn't even protect one child from the cruelty of a war older than time…what was the point of anything if he couldn't protect a single boy?
"I'm sorry TK… Gennai was right, I couldn't save you…I—"The angel faltered, blood loss and emotion making the words muddled and soft, "I—I had hoped—"
The Demon behind him continued to laugh in the way that only those who have truly been given to darkness can, and the Holy warrior could only pray that his Chosen could hear his last confession. TK was looking up at him, and despite the encumbering helmet, Angemon felt sure the child was staring directly into his eyes, blue meeting blue, and despite the many months the boy had spent in this small bit of misplaced hell, the Digimon could read nothing of suffering in those young eyes.
The child looked into his eyes… "I hoped too… for Matt…"
As if that name was the signal for time to resume its normal pace, suddenly everything was moving fast, too fast. The Crest of Hope exploded into sunlight, and the rush of luminescence hit the Angel just as the Dark attack hit him from behind.
For a moment it seemed as though time had stopped again, and the Demon and the child watched as the light and darkness battled for the interminable space between two heartbeats. And then the light won.
"Angemon… digivolve to…MagnaAngemon!"
Through the infinite iridescence surrounding him, the Holy Champion could just make out an expression of wonder on the face of his charge, which contrasted sharply with expression of horror on the face of Devimon. Now the tiny cell was bathed in light, all shadow banished from even the darkest corners as the Angel leveled his sword at his opponent. With a confidence born of preordained victory, MagnaAngemon swung the sword in a circle, creating a deadly ring of white fire and golden justice.
"Gate of Destiny!"
Patamon was jerked back to the present as the children, after some argument, settled down to rest for the night before setting out the next morning. Settling into his leafy perch, Patamon decided to follow the Chosen for the time being, not that he could possibly help much since he had so disastrously failed his own Destined, and now could no longer digivolve. Why had he pushed TK through the gate? Why hadn't he found another way?
He knew TK was still alive. If TK were dead, then he too would be dead, having already formed the bond with the boy that the other children were developing with their own partners now. The question, then, was where was TK, and how was he ever going to find him?
He must have gone to the real world… the Human world. Patamon would just have to get there, somehow. Surely it wouldn't be hard to find TK once he was there. He had found him the Digital World easily enough.
The orange digimon smiled to himself as he settled down to watch over the remaining Chosen, especially TK's brother. He wouldn't fail this time… not this time.
"A man who hasn't discovered something he will die for isn't fit to live."
Martin Luther King, Jr.
The next morning, six extremely grumpy Chosen gathered around, sharing what small rations each had brought on this impromptu adventure. As they ate, they talked to each other, wariness slowly giving way to a tenuous camaraderie. Like it or not, they were in this crazy situation together, and each still had Gennai's charge, 'Protect each other' ringing in their ears.
"Any e-mail, yet, Izzy?" Tai asked, falling into a leadership role easily, although the rest of the kids didn't whether this was because he was the most qualified or if he was just the loudest.
Izzy, typing rapidly in manner that would soon become extremely familiar to the Destined, shook his head. "Not yet… I guess he's waiting for us to get started before he gives us an update."
The kids sat in silence for a long moment until Joe, always pragmatic, finally asked what was on all their minds. "How do we know where to start? What do these Crests even look like?"
Matt sat silent, in the group but distinctly separate, debating whether or not to show his treasure to the others. Finally… "Well, they look like this. It belonged—belongs—to my brother." He pulled the Crest of Hope out from under his shirt, feeling slightly bereft as its warmth left him. The other kids gasped slightly, leaning forward to watch the sunlight dance on its golden facets.
"Prodigious…" Izzy breathed, squinting slightly as he examined it critically.
Tai reached out to take it, and silence rippled over the group as Matt jerked back, pulling the Crest towards his chest possessively. The others eyed Matt with varying expressions of pity and wariness. After a long moment, Matt extended it towards them again. He gave them a sheepish almost-smile.
"Sorry… I get a little weird about my little brother."
Tai smirked, withdrawing his hand in a placating manner. "There's a newsflash—OW! Geez Sora!"
Smiling slightly across the circle at Matt, Sora shook her hand slightly to stop the stinging from smacking Tai. "Stupid Tai."
The digimon, who had until this point been watching the proceedings in tense silence, began to giggle quietly at the disgruntled expression on Tai's face. All except Gabumon, who placed a paw on Matt's knee, smiling up at his partner in an encouraging way. At that moment, however, Matt's eyes were focused across the circle, on Sora who was giggling with Tai and Biyomon.
"Better put that away."
Matt startled, his eyes flicking from the Crest to Joe, had been sitting quietly beside him, considering the Crest as the others laughed. The older boy smiled slightly. "TK will want it back when we find him."
Matt stared at him, wondering how much he had guessed from what little Gennai had told the others about TK last night. Joe only smiled in a knowing way, as though the intricacies of brotherhood were no mystery to him, and Matt's half smile turned into a full one as he slipped the Crest over his head.
The boys stood and stretched as the group prepared to set out into the woods, and into their destinies.
Once there was a time Like no other time beforeHope was still an open an open door…
Once upon a dream…
And I was unafraid,
The dream was so exciting,
But now I see it fade,
And I am here alone…
Once upon a dream…
You were heaven sent to me
Was it never meant to be?
Are you just a dream?
Could we begin again?
Once upon a dream…
"Once Upon a Dream"
Jekyll &Hyde
A pair of blue eyes watched the Crest hungrily as it disappeared beneath Matt's shirt. Patamon was still groggy, as the tree he had perched in the night before hadn't been spectacularly comfortable. His dreams hadn't helped, either. They weren't bad, per say, just disturbing. It was actually vaguely disturbing that he should be dreaming at all, as it wasn't a trait terribly common to digimon. Most digimon require so much energy to Digivolve and maintain their forms that they slept like the dead.
However, ever since bonding with TK in the darkness and terror of Spiral Mountain all those years ago, Patamon found that he dreamt with alarming frequency. As usual, his dreams the night before had been about TK, but not about the past, this time. It had been odd…
TK was sitting, with his digimon sitting in his lap, looking longingly across a campfire at his brother. But TK was different than Patamon remembered him being… older—younger than the other children, but older than he'd been at Spiral Mountain.
Matt stood up, finally, and came around the circle to sit beside his brother. He was different, as well. Not older, but younger. He looked the same, physically, but he seemed… more innocent, somehow, to Patamon, who watched him warily from his partner's lap.
Matt looked down at the boy, a protective, fond look on his face. "What's up, squirt? You should get some rest."
TK shrugged, glancing at his brother shyly, as though he didn't really know how to say what was on his mind. "I—can't sleep…" He looked down, slightly ashamed, as though he felt he were being a burden to his brother and the group by admitting this.
Matt looked at him quietly for a moment, before reaching into his pocket. Pulling out a silver harmonica, he played a soft, simple melody. The notes floated out over the fire, quieting the other children, who stilled their activities to join the warm moment created by the two brothers.
The music continued into the night, and as the dream slowly faded, Patamon came to a realization that woke him with a start.
"That's how it should have been…"
Awwwww… come on, please? Just let me know there's SOME life in the universe…