A/N: Sorry about the repost again!My chapter got deleted for some weird, twisted reason! Iswear, no matter how many computers my family gets at this house, something always screws them up! It makes me so mad! Does anyone else go through this?
Inconnu: Lol. Da Vinci is still brilliant! Forget I said anything… :P
Strawberry'd: Hey. Thanks for all the constructive criticism. It's nice when reviewers find things for me to improve. But...about Omnimon impersonating Sora's parents. Well, in one of my later chapters, Omnimon impersonated only her dad in a dream that she had in which he was trying to suck her into a place that would eventually cause her destruction.
ALSO, Taichi's dad couldn't have just asked her nicely. Remember, the nymphs hated the humans because they thought they worked with Omnimon to destroy the Furugawan leaders (Sorry, is it getting confusing?) and because of that, Sora's "parents" would have never let the humans near her. Is it really cliché? Well, whatever, I'm not attempting to make a literary masterpiece with here. It's all for entertainment purposes.
Painin Uranus: Please be patient. I only have so much material per chapter. I know what the chapter will be about, but I have to make up the content on the spot.
Light's Blue Blossom: Thanks for reviewing! Sora's aunt didn't tell her for fear that she wouldn't grow up to be normal, Furugawan royalty (even if she's not exactly your average future empress.)
Thanks again everyone! Man, you guys have so many questions! Lol, all will be revealed in the end! About three chapters left.
Voguish Fib
chapter twenty one – Sora's Escape
"What—what happened?"
"Oh, Onii-chan, it's much too much to explain in one sitting. I'm not even supposed to be speaking to you right now," Hikari whispered as she dropped the bucket of water next to the disoriented Taichi, lying on the ground.
As Hikari turned to leave, Taichi grabbed her arm. "Please just tell me where I am, little sister…"
Hikari felt a sudden lump in her throat at the affectionate call. "Onii-chan…the place we are all in is not something solid, or physical. You are actually in the mind of Omnimon, in the mind of your own, and in the mind of all the children." Taichi looked up into her sister's ruby eyes with confusion. She continued. "I know it seems extremely ambiguous and confusing, but…I don't know how to explain it in any other way."
"So…what happened to our bodies?" Taichi asked, struggling to sit up from his position on the dark pavement. Hikari helped him before sitting beside him.
"Our bodies are being controlled by Omnimon and his minions. I haven't seen the actual world in nine years Onii-chan. And—now…with what's going to happen, I don't expect that I'll ever see it again," Hikari told him sadly as she looked at her mental manifestation of her hands. They looked real and felt real, but Hikari didn't feel the warmth that her physical self would have felt.
"What do you mean 'with what's going to happen'?" Taichi asked carefully.
"In three days—" Hikari began, sounding vaguely frightened yet anxious to get it out to her brother.
A rush, almost like a stampede, came with intense quickness toward them. The siblings looked up and found, what appeared to be, a herd of demi-devimon flying and running toward them. Taichi's eyes widened.
There are so many! he thought, grabbing his sister protectively and slowly backing up into more darkness.
"Hikari, why are they…"
"I told you Onii-chan, I'm not supposed to be here! I have to go! Please!" Hikari begged as she yanked her arm away from her brother and escaped into the pitch blackness.
"HIKARI! WAIT!"
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"This is it."
Sora, Yamato, Koushiro, Mimi, and Takato gawked at Gennai across the long stretch of the table.
"What do you mean that's it?" Takato asked, breaking the silence eagerly.
"I mean your training is complete."
"But Koushiro and I barely did a thing while Sora, Yamato and Mimi religiously developed their skills," Takato replied flatly.
Gennai laughed heartily. "Why would you need training Takato? You've been training all your life. You already know what you're supposed to do when the time comes."
Takato sulked. "Yeah, whatever…fine."
Koushiro sat back. In the back of his mind, he wondered too. Sure he was the "Wise One", but during their little adventure, he never really did anything worthy of the title. Was he too young, too inexperienced to hold such a massive title?
I've helped and healed people in the past… he reminded himself. But…what is my purpose for this possible war? To predict the future? To aid in the aftermath of the destruction? Koushiro suddenly felt his head hurt for the first time. Brain cramp? Great…
Gennai glanced over at the wondering Koushiro. His eyes seemed all-knowing, possibly more all-knowing that Koushiro, if there was a possibility of there being more when it came to all-knowing.
But then, Koushiro understood. Sora was not the only "key" in this mission.
Then as if on cue, Sora spoke up.
"Gennai-san? We have one problem."
"And what is that?"
"Where are we going to find Omnimon?"
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It had been two days since Gennai's declaration of the end of their training and no one could figure out the whereabouts of Omnimon. Until, of course, Koushiro called everyone—Sora, Yamato, Mimi, Takato, Miyako, Satoru, and even Emperor and Empress Yagami—to an urgent meeting.
"This is it! Just like Gennai said, this is it!" Koushiro nearly screamed as he slammed a map down on the table once everyone had arrived. Everyone present that night gave him strange look. He had bloodshot eyes and deranged hair.
"What are you talking about Koushiro?" Miyako asked, staring down at the map that he slammed down.
"I couldn't sleep when I figured it out. When I found out that tonight was the only night I could talk to everyone, I nearly cried—"
"Koushiro! Can you just tell us what you found out?" Yamato interrupted insistently.
Koushiro nodded. "Yes, yes of course. You see, in the boundaries of the numinous, which is the Yagami Territories and its regions, etc. and Furugawa and other states of the Nymph are covered by spiritual barriers that avoid Omnimon from entering. And non-magical humans keep mighty powerful ofuda that block his evil energy as well. Only when he fully recovers will he have the power to tear through all of those barriers and destroy every being."
This staggered the Yagamis. It never occurred to them that after all this time, these kids had already acquired so much information about their sordid past. Especially Sora…they were surprised that she didn't start rebelling or throwing things, or plotting against Furugawa for lying to her. They sat in the back, listening to the Wise One and thinking at the same time if they were ever going to see their children again. First it was Hikari, now Taichi was gone too…
"What are you trying to say then?" Sora asked Koushiro.
"What I'm trying to say is that Omnimon's physical hideout is in Kuro-aki."
Takato's eyes widened. "My home?"
"Yes, Takato. Your home. Despite your gates that keep evil out, it has a flaw. If the mental state of a being is free from thoughts of harming others, they are able to enter, even if the being itself is evil. Omnimon also managed to conjure up a barrier of his own—a barrier to keep his evil thoughts away using the children's memories."
"So Omnimon only used the children for their memories?" Ken inquired after Miyako told him what Sora and Mimi explained to her a day ago. He had a few questions of his own about the past of these beings that were Miyako's friends.
"As of now, only Omnimon knows that answer…I'm not quite sure…" Koushiro answered, scratching his head thoughtfully. Everyone began talking at once, almost excitedly yet still wondering if Omnimon could even be defeated—especially by a bunch of teenagers.
"What do you plan on doing?" Empress Yagami spoke up. The group turned to her anxious eyes.
Everyone seemed to have the same question.
Sora stood up from her seat. "Let's go," she said, with an authoritative tone to her voice.
"Now?" Mimi exclaimed.
"Yes, now. I don't want to wait any longer while they're stuck there. You heard Koushiro. No one knows what Omnimon wanted to do with those children! He could have done anything to them by now—the possibilities are endless! And what about Taichi?" Sora asked, her voice softening. It had been way too long since she last saw him, and she was really starting to regret all the bad things she'd said to him. "Do you just want to stand around and wait! Because I can't wait any longer." Sora looked at the faces around her. "So who's with me?"
Everyone's eyes suddenly seemed to avert hers, except for the emperor and empress who didn't know how they could possibly help her. If they could leave their states they would, but unfortunately there would be no one to rule over the lands.
Sora turned eagerly to her friends but found that they were all looking at everything else—except her. Even Yamato, Taichi's best friend.
Yamato finally spoke up. "I think what they're trying to say is that it's not a good idea until we know what we're getting ourselves into."
Sora sighed and rolled her eyes. "We're going to have to face him sooner or later—besides, we're never going to know what to expect from Omnimon! Our encounter isn't going to be planned out!" she cried out, slamming her fists on the table. She was getting frustrated. She couldn't understand why they'd want to wait! She began to pace.
"But we should plan more, strategize," Koushiro explained, attempting to calm her down.
"No. We don't have time!" Sora shook her head before looking back at the group. "Does everyone feel this way?"
"I think Koushiro's right…I'm sorry Sora. We should wait until we have a plan laid down," Mimi apologized.
Sora shook her head again and stalked out of the room. Across the long hall, everyone heard a loud bang. Each of them jumped at the sound, despite its distance.
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It was almost two in the morning, but Sora was still awake.
Earlier that night, she heard the others talking of a plan somewhere outside, but she didn't want to hear any of it. She had to leave now. She couldn't take the thought of Taichi out there, stuck with something that was ultimately evil, possibly going to die, possibly dead. It was just too hard to swallow at once. Plus, she never got to patch things up with him after all the arguments, betrayals, lies, horrible thoughts...
So leave she did. She made sure everyone had gone to bed before hastily, but silently, sneaking out through the window, the same window that her fellow Furugawa nymphs had once entered in to kidnap her. Now she was using it to escape Taichi's home.
With the swiftness Gennai had taught her, she stole a horse without being detected and quickly mounted it, riding off into the ebony depths of the Akaguchi forest.
I'm going to get you back Taichi, no matter what happens to me… Sora thought, her hands clutching nervously at the reigns.
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o
"HIKARI! Where are you?" Taichi called out. He followed the echoing breathing noises he heard up front, but it seemed to come from every direction. He looked back and noticed that the demi-devimon had stopped following them. He continued to jog forward, hoping to catch his sister…if that even was his sister. If they were in a collaboration of minds, there was no such thing as reality, meaning that could have been anyone.
The thought scared him a little. (Gasp! Thought within a thought…)
"Hikari! Please come back!" Taichi called.
Then with an unexpected flash, what seemed like hundreds of demi-devimon came flying at him from the darkness, scratching, flapping, biting, and clawing at him as he struggled to punch and kick at them. Unfortunately, he only flailed without any success as they continued attacking him from all directions.
"Shit—get the hell away—stupid, ugly flying rats!" Taichi screamed at them. Finally he was able to punch one away, causing the others to suddenly disintegrate. Taichi fell back and looked at the blood dripping from his cuts. Those things can really scratch… he thought, breathing heavily.
Things seemed to keep surprising him today. Right in front of him, a little set appeared, like the opening scene of a play. It was hard for him to adjust to the light, but eventually, he saw everything. Inside the room was a young girl, chained, beaten, and extremely pale…as if she'd lost blood.
"Hi…Hikari…" Taichi gasped.
"Well, hello Prince Yagami," a tall, dark being greeted, stepping in Taichi's view of the incarcerated girl.
"Who the fuck are you and what hell did you do to my sister?"
"Oh…I didn't do a thing to your sister. I'm only the Great One's assistant." Taichi said nothing when he suddenly felt blood begin to gush out of his cuts. He reached for it with a finger and stared in horror as waterfalls of blood fell from his body.
What the… Taichi felt his consciousness leave his body. What the hell's happening?
"My name's Myotismon."
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o
The sun hadn't come up yet when Sora took a step onto Kuro-aki soil. Up ahead, she saw something that caused her eyes to widen out of sheer astonishment. She'd never seen anything like it.
There were thousands of Kuro-aki inhabitants staring at her in organized positions. They seemed to blanket the town for miles and miles. Children held the hands of some mothers, fathers, and siblings. The elderly gazed at her with their aged and experienced eyes, almost as if they were telling her "Go, go!" She watched them part, creating a path for her as she cautiously walked forward.
She swallowed hard, unsure if she should say anything to the inhabitants.
What in the world is going on? She wondered, smiling nervously at the many eyes seemingly penetrating hers. She wanted to look away, but they were everywhere.
Her lips parted to speak, but she couldn't figure out what she could possibly say to these people. Were they waiting for this to happen? Did Takato know about this? Everyone in the entire region of Kuro-aki seemed to be present for this particular occasion. Were they expecting her?
"I'm here for—" she found herself saying.
"The flowers are going to come back," a little girl with ruby eyes called out to her. Sora turned the the young girl and slowly approached her, kneeling down in front of the little girl and smiling, taking her hand gently.
"What do you mean?" she asked softly.
The girl continued to stare for a few seconds before pulling her hand away and running off, ducking between peoples' hips and knees until she was out of sight. Sora watched her flee, but said nothing. She was beginning to wonder if Koushiro was right about waiting one more day.
The flowers? she thought, completely and utterly flustered.
She slowly stood up and continued walking through the people, following the path they led her to as they parted to make way. Sora felt her heart pound in her chest like a heavy drum.
Taichi did say that the "mission" was going to be dangerous. A couple weeks ago, she would have never even given a second thought about doing such a thing as saving the youth of the Numinous.
Now I'm in way too deep to back out, she thought to herself. Sora was rapidly getting a headache watching all their eyes. Their gawking, colorful irises spinning in her head…those endless pupils gazing at her unabatedly.
Taichi…Taichi where are you? she thought helplessly.
"You're Queen Hitomi's daughter," another inhabitant commented. Sora immediately turned at the sound of his voice.
"You knew her?" Sora asked anxiously.
The elderly man who spoke up smiled sincerely at Sora. "The world knew her."
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A/N:Why are these people so ambiguous? Find out next time on Voguish Fib! Eh...that sounded weird...
I'm so sorry! I had to end this chapter here! It was so perfect! And again, I WILL try to get my chapters out sooner! But for now, I hope this is all right. Thanks again for reading and reviewing everyone!