Kouichi-centric explanation chapter. Don't worry, the next one's from Harry's P.O.V., for those of you who wish I'd do more of the wizarding-side to the story. And I have a new fantasy/medieval story up, staring Kouji and Kouichi. It's called Lost In The Dusk if anyone's interested, so please check it out.
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or Harry Potter. I'm just really strange.
Chapter 23: Where Everything Else Is Addressed
Lowemon lead Kouichi over to a nicely-cushioned, tall chair against the back wall of the large room, motioning him to take a seat. The boy hesitated a moment, then settled in and looked around at the familiar and semi-familiar creatures.
MagnaAngemon, Angewomon, and Antylamon sat across from him, in much larger chairs to compensate for much larger bodies. Bokomon and Naemon were standing, the yellow one perfectly still and his friend bustling about nervously. Lowemon seamed content to take a place on the floor beside Kouichi's chair.
Kouichi shifted slightly, trying to sort things out in his thoughts. He'd just figured out the first question to ask before Antylamon spoke. "Before we begin to answer your questions…There's something I feel I must ask you, Kouichi."
The human blinked. "Ask me?" the animal-angel nodded. Kouichi shrugged. "Okay."
Antylamon sighed. "Did you…" he paused a moment, then changed his mind on how to word it. "Were you…in any way…injured because of your time here?"
"Injured…?" The boy blinked again. "No…I couldn't have been, I wasn't really here."
Angewomon sighed. "What he means is…" she leaned back just a little. "Did the act of your soul being pulled into the Digital World, separate from your body, cause any sort of…damage, to your physical or mental health?"
It took a moment for Kouichi to process that, then he shook his head. "No…Not that directly…"
MagnaAngemon raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"Well…" Kouichi shifted a bit, not sure how to explain it, and tapped his forehead, just above his right eye. "I…I hit my head, right about here…When I fell, right when I got pulled in… the…the Healers said it hit just the right place to mess with my magical perception, so I…faint…sometimes…"
Antylamon's ears drooped a bit in what could have been called guilt. "Opprimo." he whispered sadly.
Kouichi raised an eyebrow, glancing between MagnaAngemon and Angewomon, both of who looked a bit grim as well. "The proper name in Japanese is 'Futan Kakesugiru'." the male angel said slowly.
"You know it?" Kouichi asked.
"Naturally…" Angewomon nodded. "It was the only way we could bring you here in the first place."
Kouichi's eyebrows nearly leapt up to his hairline. The female angel smiled just a bit, then began her explanation. "You see…The forced separation between mind and body forged a sort of…permanent connection to the Digital World. Basically, you left a bit of your spirit here, and it kept contact with your conscious body in the Real World. This allowed us to make connections with the Real World, through you…"
"We asked Lowemon to send the messages…" Bokomon piped up. "Because he's the one you'd be most likely to recognize in a dream-like state."
"However, this does come at a cost…" MagnaAngemon sighed. "The connection left you extra-sensitive to outside forces of magic, wither it be from the Real World or from the Digital…How many times, exactly, have you passed out since your return?"
"Um…" Kouichi thought back a moment. "…Three. Not counting last night."
MagnaAngemon nodded. "At least two of those attacks…several years apart, mind you…came from the Digital World attempting to 'upgrade' itself, and doing so, taxing a bit of your magical energy and limiting the amount you could contain yourself. The third, I assume, was the Opprimo at its worst…"
"Wait a second!" Kouichi sliced his hands back and forth in a 'time out' gesture. "What are you talking about 'upgrade'? I mean, what for? And how do you guys even know about magic in the first place? The Digital World is…is digital! Digital and magic don't mix!"
Lowemon chuckled a little at the usually quiet boy's sudden outburst. Angewomon smiled as well. "To answer that…" she said slowly, controlling her laughter. "We'll have to go back to the beginning, won't we?"
Kouichi didn't know how to respond to that. "Um…Beginning?"
"Yes…" Angewomon leaned back, looking up at the ceiling, and for a moment he got a glimpse of Ophanimon, somewhere deep inside her. "You see, the Digital World has never been completely made of technology…if it were, it would be impossible to bring humans into it. Magic has been a part of the Digital World since the very beginning…"
Antylamon cleared his throat. "About twenty years ago, during the height of…of…"
Lowemon glanced up at Kouichi. "Just use his proper name." he sighed, slightly annoyed. "It'll save time, and the boy's not scared of a name, are you?"
Kouichi blinked, but shook his head.
Antylamon made an exasperated noise. "All right then…Twenty years ago, at the height of Voldemort's…" he paused a moment, just to make sure he wasn't scaring anyone, then continued. "…At the height of his time of power, there were some wizards who thought a combination of magic and muggle technology could be the answer to stopping him…namely, an amalgamation with the newly-created internet. The result of this venture was the creation of the first Digimon."
Kouichi had a look of shock on his face. Angewomon nodded with a slight smile and continued where the animal-like Digimon had left off. "The team that created this program was stretched out over three continents, but the core was located in Tokyo, where the technology was at its strongest. After Motarasu Konton no Makasu…"
"Harry."
Angewomon raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"His name's Harry. Harry Potter." Kouichi grinned just a little. "We've met him at school."
The female angel smiled just a bit more. "All right then. After Mr. Potter banished the Dark Being to the very edge of life, the project was disbanded. However, it was impossible to remove the magic from within the programming. Rather, it was left to grow and evolve on its own, eventually becoming the Digital World you know today. With the occasional upgrade to keep up with the constantly-changing technology of the Real World, we've managed to survive quite nicely."
"So…" Kouichi was trying to work it out more in his head. "When…When Lucemon…"
"Yes, that was a bit of a problem." MagnaAngemon sighed. "With every program, there are viruses that are bound to pop up. Initially, we had a sort of 'Firewall' program protecting the system…The Ten Warriors. However, after Lucemon's initial containment, the warrior's energy had to be re-distributed to recover the 'main program' of sorts. We were planning to build them back up eventually, but Lucemon was faster. After all, it takes more time to reload ten separate programs than one major one."
"When Lucemon recreated his own programming…" Angewomon nodded. "We were able to create minor levels of the original Warrior programs, in the form of the Spirits. However, we needed extra magical power to 'execute' these programs, so we found the most potential source we could…Untrained wizarding powers."
"Why 'untrained'?" Kouichi asked, blinking.
"Easier adjustment." MagnaAngemon smiled. "Younger children who have the potential for magic, but haven't been trained, are much more likely to simply adapt to unusual situations. As such, we limited the search to children age eleven and younger…"
"…Wizarding training in Japan starts at twelve." Kouichi nodded.
"Precisely." MagnaAngemon continued. "Of those that we found, there were several with the potential for magic. But only five…six, once you yourself were brought in…had the amount needed to control and bond with the Spirits."
Kouichi mulled this over a bit. It explained something he'd been wondering for a while now…The odd coincidence that their seemingly random group of four muggle-borns, two half-bloods and a wizard-born had not only met in the Digital World, but were all wizards sent to the same training location.
"Once the 'virus' was deleted, the Digital World took just a bit of magical energy from each of you to finish the recreation of the Legendary Warriors in their original state." Angewomon nodded to Lowemon with a kind smile. "Once you returned home, thing in the Digital World became normal as well…"
"…However." Kouichi looked up, noticing that the Digimon had all become strangely quiet. "There is a new problem to be addressed…"
The atmosphere in the room became uncomfortable. There was several minutes of silence before Kouichi spoke. "What kind of problem?"
"…Until recently, it was assumed that only ten humans…yourself, the others, and the four children who remained behind…knew exactly what the Digital World was." Antylamon sighed. "Unfortunately, we were wrong."
"One of the scientists who worked on the initial project must have speculated that the program had continued on its own." Angewomon muttered. "His investigations, however, somehow lead to Voldemort discovering the Digital World. Several weeks ago, he has tried everything he can to find a way in to the Digital World."
Kouichi's eyes widened. "He's not…He's not here, is he?"
"Not yet." MagnaAngemon shook his head. "But he has been close…very close. He's managed, more than a few times, to partially bring a Digimon into the Real World…"
"That Biyomon during the Quidditch match."
"Exactly." MagnaAngemon nodded. "We've been able to stop him from bringing a Digimon fully into the Real World, but we can't cut off his connection into this one…It's something he's hacked into from the Real World, we'd have to break it apart from there."
"Which is where…" Angewomon smiled at the boy. "You, and the other humans come in."
"Us?" Kouichi blinked. "What can we do? None of us have our phones…they turn into the D-Tectors…and even if we did, electronics don't work anywhere around Hogwarts, and we can't just leave the school."
"No…" Angewomon nodded. "But the D-Tector is no ordinary electronic device. By its creation, the circuitry is infused with magic. It can easily function anywhere in the wizarding world, including places like Hogwarts. And there is a way to create them in the Real World without the cell phones as a base…However…"
"However what?" Kouichi shifted nervously. He didn't like the look on her face.
"However…" Angewomon sighed. "It will be a slow process…And it will probably tax your own energy immensely."
"Mine?"
"Yes. The connection created by your accident is the only link we have that isn't through a computer." MagnaAngemon looked very contemplative. "Without any electronics, we'll have to use it to our advantage.."
"But it will only be possible…" Antylamon leaned forward. "If you will agree to it, Kouichi."
All eyes were on the human. The animal angel continued with a very serious look in his eyes. "It's dangerous. We've never tried anything like it before, and you will be the one at the most risk. There is a chance that your body may not be able to take the strain…"
"But the question is…" MagnaAngemon whispered. "Will you risk it?"
For a moment there was silence as all eyes stayed pinned on Kouichi. The boy glanced at them, then took a deep breath. "All right then. Tell me what to do."
TBC…
