Artistic Differences
By theladyknight
Disclaimer: Digimon—not mine!
Windedlove: I tried to get it done in under a month, but failed. Hopefully it was worth the wait!
My Name is R.C.: That just kinda came to me outta the blue. It sounded like something Tai would do, but it fit Matt's situation! Lol!
Yume-dream: I was on the way to a basketball game, and I was trying to come up with a name for the illness. It was the first thing that came to my mind!
Indigowolf: Marcus is on loan to you…
KatyRose: Three hours? Wow, I have a habit of writing too much! Thanks for all the compliments!
Inconnu: You must have been very bored or were very sick of "The Wheels on the Bus." Lol!
Scorpion05: I was going for the whole Shrek thing with the Are we There Yet? I don't know if Matt likes hiding under a bed; they all just force him to!
Kuroi Black Nightingale: -stares- Longer? The last chapter was like 3,322 words long? That's not enough? -sighs- lol! Oh well, this chapter's like 4,000 words so hopefully it's long enough for you!
Cherryblossom Sky: Gotta love the dry humor! Lol! I don't know if asthma medications existed. Izzy should invent them…
Crazyamzy: The day after I wrote this, we had a long bus ride…somewhere, and one of my friends started to sing it. I was cracking up and only one of my friends knew why. Matt is hopefully never going back there again!
And thanks to Ballet Kitty, Mrs. Ishida-to-you, Kay, BrnttsDoItBest, SoratoFan, Jodi Crystal, and sorato-takari.
Chapter 18: Into Town
"Get the princess upstairs immediately!" the guard shouted. "She needs to get to a doctor now!"
Tai pushed Sora towards the stairs, but she grabbed onto the handrail, causing Tai to fall over. "What about the Ishidas? They're probably at the most risk."
The guard paused. "We'll ask Lord Ichijouji about them. But go up the rest of you." No one moved. "QUICKLY!"
Sora and the others trudged up the staircase. "Sora, what are we going to do? None of us have that fake illness we made up."
"I know; I'm working on it!"
They headed to the King and Queen's chambers, all wondering how they could get out of this mess. Joe will go along with our plan, or lack of one, if I get a chance to talk with him. And, of course, I'll get to see Matt. But then again, I'm leading the authorities to him! Why didn't I think of that! I'm going to have to wing this as I go.
The princess gently knocked on her parents' door. "Father, mother, may the others and I enter?"
"Yes Sora, come inside." Her father called.
She stepped into the room, followed closely by her friends. "Well, what brings you all here?" Queen Toshiko wondered.
"You were interrupting our meeting, but I'm sure it's something important that can't wait." Lord Ichijouji sardonically stated.
Tai leaned over to Mimi. "What's up his butt?"
"Who knows?"
"Mother, we all need to go into Roselle, and…achoo!" Sora faked a sneeze. "Visit Joe; everyone who's been down in the dungeons is in danger of…" she suddenly went into a very believable coughing fit. Kari began to pat her on the back, and the princess's coughing gradually subsided.
"Dear, what's wrong?"
"There's this fungus in the dungeon. It was recently discovered to be linked to the fatal illness started in one of the western kingdoms. We all, having just been down there to visit the Ishidas, most likely came into contact with it. Joe has been studying its symptoms and has an antidote to it. We all need to visit him and get it right away so we don't get sick. Anyone who's been down there does." Sora explained before going into a hacking fit.
Lord Ichijouji raised an eyebrow. "Sounds made up,"
"It's not sir," Tai exclaimed. "We're all experiencing the same problems. And we never go down to the dungeons; that would explain why we're only feeling it now."
"If that's true, everyone in this room needs to be quarantined." King Haruhiko stated. "Are you sure you have this…what's it called?"
"Missinghimitis." Four voices replied in unison.
"Missinghimitis?" The other three repeated.
"You know those westerners," Mimi laughed. "They come up with some strange names."
The Queen laughed. "You're right about that. I ran into your friend Izzy when I was visiting the village the other day. He had just gotten back from a trip to the western kingdoms and was rambling off about something called walky-talkies."
"That sounds like Izzy," Tai responded. "I never have ANY idea what he's talking about!"
"That sounds like Tai." Sora, Mimi, and Kari all whispered.
"But, father, we really need to get into town. We've wasted enough time as it is." Sora explained.
King Haruhiko looked around the room, pondering his daughter's request. I've never heard of this illness, but I'm sure Joe has. "Alright then; we'll go to Joe. I want to question him about it first."
"O-of cou-course." Sora replied, trying not to hide her shock.
"Who all needs to go?" The Queen asked.
"Everyone in this room, Henry the guard, and…the Ishidas."
Lord Ichijouji jumped out of his seat. "There's no way they're getting out of this castle! They could try to escape. And if they escape, they might find Matt before we do."
Matt's still safe! Tai, Kari, and Mimi all thought at once.
"But they could die!" Sora exclaimed. "You can't be that cruel, Lord Ichijouji!"
"They'll be fine. We'll get the antidote and bring it there. Luckily for us, Matt Ishida is not hiding in Roselle. I searched the town last night and checked every place. He is not residing there, and he won't be able to attack. We'll just have to be careful on the way."
"You searched every house?" The King interrupted. "I gave no such orders!"
"Well, you see, Sire…"
"Lord Ichijouji, what all did you do?"
He held up his hands in defense. "I was just making sure the citizens of Roselle weren't at risk. Matt's a dangerous criminal."
Sora's eyes burned with rage. "Matt's not a dangerous criminal! Matt is innocent! He was framed!"
"By who, princess?"
"I…I'm not sure." Sora admitted, and Lord Ichijouji smirked at her. "But we're going to find out!"
The King stood up. "We will all be going into town in the next ten minutes. Please go to your different chambers and grab cloaks. We're all going to Joe's."
"At least I'll get a chance to apologize to him for searching his place yesterday."
"You searched Joe's house?" Sora and her father asked together.
"Lord Ichijouji I do not approve of your search in the first place, but searching Joe's house? Joe is a loyal member of the kingdom. He's like part of our close family."
Sora faced the man. "It's Joe we're talking about. Do you really think he'd take in a suspected criminal?" Hopefully Joe did…
Lord Ichijouji was silent. "Everyone, please go to your rooms. If this missinghimitis is as fatal as you described, we need to get there soon…"
Sora slipped away from her friends and darted to her room. She grabbed her stationary, sitting down on the bed. The girl scribbled a quick note, hoping she could pull her plan off. Sora folded the note and stamped her seal on it.
Going into the hallway, Sora's eyes searched for her target. "Cody! Cody come over here, quick!"
"What is it, pri..Sora?"
"I need you to do me a favor. It could put you in some danger or trouble, but it has to be done. You're the only one who'll be able to do it."
"Of course, Sora. Your family took me in a long time ago after my father died; I'm indebted to you."
Sora smiled at the boy. "I need you to leave right now and take this note to Dr. Kido. It's very important that you get there before we do. It could be a matter of life and death. Take the back forest path and run…run as fast as you possibly can. Get the note to Joe, and you'll need to take off as soon as you can. Here's some gold to stop in the local tavern and buy something to drink. You'll need it. Go to the tavern as soon as you deliver the note and stay there until you see us all go into Joe's house. Then come back here."
"Of course Sora, I'll leave right away."
"You don't know how much this means, Cody!" Sora gave the boy a hug, and with a wave, he sprinted out down the hall…
-Cody-
The young boy was making good time. While he was small for his age, he was very quick. Cody dodged trees, rocks, and other obstacles across the road. Sora had said this was an urgent matter, and he was going to do whatever he could to accomplish it.
Cody had become a servant in the castle when his father passed away. Cody's father—the former chief of security—had been killed when an assassin attempted to kill the King. His father jumped in front of the attack and was killed. Cody's mother and grandfather hadn't had enough means to support themselves and Cody.
King Haruhiko and Queen Toshiko were very generous in providing the Hida family with means to live by and offered to take Cody into their house. They made him one of the servants but treated him as one of the family. Cody had many special privileges other servants didn't. He wasn't angry about his situation; he didn't mind working for the Takenouchis. It definitely beat working in a mill or on a farm or for a cruel master.
Cody felt very indebted to their family and always tried to give his best. There it is! The boy rushed into town and headed to Joe's door.
KNOCK! KNOCK!
"Hello?" Joe asked, coming to the door. "Oh, Cody! What are you doing here?"
"This is from Sora." The boy panted, catching his breath.
"What's it about?"
The teen shook his head. "I'm not too sure, but I do know they're all coming into town shortly, and you needed to get this."
Cody turned to walk away. Joe skimmed the letter quickly. "Cody,"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for getting this here. It is very important. I'm glad we can rely on you."
"No problem, Joe. Good luck with whatever you need to do." Cody waved and walked off towards the local tavern. A rootbeer sounds really good right now…
-Joe's house-
Joe watched the boy walk off before realizing the gravity of the situation. I gotta get this done before the others get here.
He rushed inside, heading straight into the room where Matt was busy painting a portrait. One guess at who he was painting…"Matt, I need you help!" The doctor showed the artist the letter and rolled his eyes at the love struck look on Matt's face.
"Sora's coming…"
"It's been ONE whole day since you last saw her! If you don't help me with this, chances are she'll get in trouble, people will start wondering why she wanted to come here, and you'll get caught! This isn't in your character to act this way, Matt."
The blond sighed. "I know; I just miss her and my family."
"I understand,"
"Well, what do we have to do?"
Matt followed Joe into the kitchen and helped him pick up eight vials. "We need to make the medicine." The doctor explained after showing Matt the note and explaining everything.
"But they're not sick,"
"I know that, you know that, Sora and the others know it, but the adults don't. We're going to make fake medicine and convince them they really do have missinghimitis."
Matt smirked at the name. "Interesting choice of an illness name," Joe rewarded him with a laugh, "now what are we putting in here?"
"Anything we find that isn't poisonous, won't make them sick, and makes each vial look the same."
Matt began searching through Joe's cupboards. "Here's some milk; that could work. You can probably put a bunch of things with it."
"Yeah," Joe replied, "but we need something to disguise it."
The men checked high and low, desperately seeking something to conceal the color and hopefully change the taste a bit. There's got to be something. We're running out of time; I need to find something quickly! Joe opened the box of sweets his brother and family had recently sent. I got it! "Chocolate!"
"Chocolate?"
"Yeah!"
The blue-haired doctor put a block of chocolate into a cup of milk and stirred it. Nothing happened. "Maybe you could heat the chocolate." Matt suggested.
Joe did what the blond said, and to their relief, the melted chocolate turned the milk a shade of creamy brown and tasted delicious. "I think we invented something good here, Matt."
"I agree. But we need a name."
"Chocolate milk?" they both suggested in unison. "Sounds like a plan!"
"So who are we making these for?" Matt asked as Joe started melting more chocolate, and he poured some milk into each vial.
"The King, Queen, Sora, Tai, Kari, Mimi, a guard, and Lord Ichijouji."
Matt made a face. "Lord Ichijouji—oh great,"
"You're telling me,"
The blonde's handsome face suddenly lit up with a smirk. "Give me Lord Ichijouji's vial; it's time for some payback…"
"This had better work," Mimi whispered to Sora.
"Have you come up with a plan yet?" Tai asked as the group walked to Roselle.
The princess nodded. "Yeah, but now it's a matter of hoping it works." Sora let out a sneeze; the group of teens had been keeping up their act, and it seemed they were starting to convince the adults. It didn't hurt that Tai had let out an actual sneeze when they walked by a field of flowers.
The teens were clumped in the middle along with the King and Queen. Lord Ichijouji was in front, and Henry was in back, standing guard.
Cody, I really hope you made it there and let Joe know. But you've never let us down beforeso I'm not going to start doubting you now.
They reached the village's entrance and slowly made their way to Joe's house.
KNOCK! KNOCK!
"Hello? King Haruhiko? Queen Toshiko? What brings you here?" Joe stepped aside so the group could enter.
The King faced the teens. "These four say they've caught missinghimitis and are in need of some sort of antidote immediately. I've never heard of the illness. Could you explain it to us?"
"Certainly, sire. You see there are some alchemists and soothsayers over in the western lands who have been experimenting with different types of mushrooms and plants. It's their hope they can work as a catalyst in a reaction or serve as a type of medicine. However, they discovered a type of toxic mushroom that secretes a powerful enzyme…"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Too big of words!" Tai interrupted. "They're only adding to my horrible headache!"
The Queen smiled. "Could you please clarify for us, Joe?"
The doctor blushed. "Sorry, I've been spending too much time around Izzy. I was explaining this theory to him, and he gave me a few new words for my vocabulary. Those happened to be a few."
"Very understandable; that sounds like Izzy." King Haruhiko acknowledged. "Please continue.
"Well, these toxic mushrooms give off a powerful substance that can strike someone who comes into contact with one of these with mushrooms with symptoms of a usual cold. I have a feeling each of you are beginning to develop a headache, chest problems, sneezing, coughing, shivers, feeling light-headed or dizzy, and many common symptoms."
"Now that you mention it, I am feeling a bit cold." The Queen bit her lip.
Henry, the guard, nodded. "I've been coughing quite a lot. Can you cure us, Doctor Kido?"
"Of course," Joe replied, interrupted by Sora's coughing, "this illness has started to spread into our kingdom, and I recently made up some medicine for it, as a precautionary measure. How many do I need?"
"Eight," the group replied.
Joe walked over to the cupboard he kept the medicine in. "I've got seven; I'm going to have to ask one of you to stay here while I make up another one."
"I can do that," Tai volunteered.
"Don't be silly," Mimi said, "I'll do it."
No, it's going to be me that stays. Joe already knows my plan for this; it's time for his line.
"The medicine won't take long—oh my goodness!"
Sora had clutched her head and suddenly grown very limber. Her body collapsed down, and Tai managed to catch her before she hit the ground.
"Sora!" the King and Queen shouted.
Joe stepped through the crowd around her. "She's beginning to feel more of these symptoms. Her symptoms are more serious, and she's going to need more attention. King Haruhiko…I think she's going to need to stay here overnight. She poses the risk of affecting the rest of you with this should she stay around you."
The King and Queen looked at each other. "Are you sure she's going to be alright?"
Joe nodded. "You have my word. I will do whatever I can to make her well again. Will you let her stay here overnight?"
"Yes…"
"King Haruhiko, I'm not sure if that's a good idea!" Lord Ichijouji interrupted. "What if Matt…"
"Lord Ichijouji, we've discussed this before. Toshiko and I both believe Matt is innocent. And didn't you say you already searched the village? I'm sure Joe will lock all his doors and put into place all precautionary measures. Won't you Joe?"
"Of course."
The Queen smiled. "Then it's settled. Sora will stay here, and we'll come pick her up in the morning."
"Not to be rude or anything, but do you have the antidote? I don't want to get worse." Henry stated.
"Certainly," Joe grabbed a vial from the cabinet. "Drink this all, and it'll work as an antibiotic—something that will rid your body of the fumes. Once you drink this you will be immune to the illness and able to stand the places you found the mushrooms at."
The man gulped down the liquid. Everyone waited for a minute, and suddenly: "I feel better already. It's like; I can feel the toxic substances leaving my body."
Joe passed around a vial to everyone, making sure Lord Ichijouji ended up with the one on the end. "Yum!" Mimi licked her lips. "Oh, I can feel it leaving too."
"It's glad to know someone like you is prepared, Joe."
"Holy cow! I feel great!"
Lord Ichijouji gagged. "How did you all drink this?"
"We took the cork off the top, placed the vial to our mouth, and swallowed?" Tai suggested.
The man glared at him. He pinched his nose and forced the liquid down, quivering as he did so. "I hope I never have to drink this again!"
"I'll make up Sora's later, and give it to her when she's awake. She'll most likely need a more powerful dose than the rest of you."
"Just do your best Joe."
"Of course, your majesty,"
The King thought of something. "We need you to make some for the Ishidas as well: Malcolm, Nancy, and T.K. They're all in the dungeons right now."
"They've been down there for awhile, so I'll make theirs a bit stronger. You can just pick them up tomorrow when you pick up Sora."
Mimi smiled at him. "Thanks for all the help, Joe."
"It's no problem, guys."
The Queen headed to the door. "Well, while we're in town, I think we should start shopping around for things for our Independence Day celebration. It's in less than two weeks."
"You're right," her husband replied, "We'd better get started. Okay, Joe, good luck with everything, and we'll stop back tomorrow."
The doctor offered a faint smile. "I'll make sure Sora is healthy."
"We know you will."
"Bye Joe!" they all called, walking out the door and heading down the street to the food vendors.
Joe had taken Sora from Tai and carried her into the room where Matt was waiting, with his ear propped up against the door.
The girl jumped out of Joe's arms and into Matt's awaiting ones. "Matt! I missed you so much!"
"I missed you too, love."
"I'll just excuse myself. I'll be in my room." Joe answered.
The blond kissed the beauty in his arms long and hard, not wanting to let her go. She returned the passionate kiss and finally broke it, only to rest her head against his. "Tell me everything…"
They spent the next two hours communicating everything that happened in the past day and a half. Sora was stunned at Matt's journey but vowed to tell her father about Lord Ichijouji's tactics. She was also very happy Joe didn't crack under the pressure of lying. Thankfully Matt had helped him prepare a speech to give the adults about the symptoms of missinghimitis. Matt cracked up when Sora revealed everything that happened when they came up with the illness and their predictions about who framed the Ishidas.
"So what was in that vial you gave everyone?" Sora asked when Joe had come back into the room, announcing the Takenouchi family and company had left Roselle.
"Chocolate milk. Matt and I came up with it. It could be really big someday."
She laughed. "It sounded like everyone enjoyed it, well except Lord Ichijouji."
Matt gave an evil smirk. "That's because I added some extra ingredients to his."
Sora raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"
"Garlic, onion, and pepper…"
"What am I going to do with you?" Sora laughed as she wrapped her arms around him.
Joe smiled, before looking at the clock. "Guys, I kind of forgot something. I am supposed to be at a wedding in two hours in the village of Carroll. One of my friends that I grew up with is getting married, and in order to get there in time and visit with the families, I need to leave right now. It's getting dark out and I won't be back until early tomorrow morning. I'll be back before the King and Queen do, but I want you guys to lock the doors and windows, just to be safe."
"Of course," the two replied in unison, taking note of the dress-up clothes Joe was wearing.
"Have fun." Matt grinned.
"Don't steal too many girls' hearts." Sora laughed.
Joe laughed as well, a red blush finding his cheeks though. "I'll see you two tomorrow morning."
He waved once and headed out the door. Matt walked over to the door, locked it, and locked all the windows as well. He then went back into the room he was staying in and shut the curtains and locked the door. "I guess we're alone then…"
"Yeah," Sora replied, pulling Matt onto the bed with her. He slowly kissed her and ran his hands along her light blue dress. Sora leaned over and blew out one of the candles, leaving two remaining in the room. "I love you Matt," she whispered while unbuttoning his shirt.
"I love you too, Sora…"
A/N: Well, I'll leave the rest to your imaginations! Lol! Please review! I've got a very busy week—I'm going to be missing a lot of school—ahead, but hopefully you guys will hear from me by Sunday at least—as long as I survive all my nieces and nephews who are here yelling at the top of their lungs right now. Please review and bring back my sanity! Lol!