Enter The Light
Part Twenty Three: The Bandit's Return to Action
Standard Disclaimer Thingie: Characters are not mine, plot mostly is. Trying to sue will get you nothing, as I have no money – I just spent it all on this new laptop, which you can't have either. Stealing is probably a waste of your time, too.
Her vision was blurry and her head was spinning. It seemed as though she would crash to the floor, and yet Hikari did not have the strength to stop herself. She felt her eyes closing and then she felt the world turn upside down. Managing to force her eyes open, she saw the ground was rushing closer.
And then it wasn't, for something – no, someone had grabbed her and was managing to hold her up, to hold her steady. Feeling light headed, Hikari turned her eyes in the direction of her rescuer and saw two clear, though confused, eyes meeting her own.
"Hikari?" he said then, and she smiled. "Are you - ?"
"I'll be fine," she said, and then she shut her eyes and saw no more.
"Meteor Wing!" shouted Birdramon again and a rain of fire came down on the ground.
There was a wall of flames now between the village and the encroaching army of digimon, but Sora knew that it would only be a temporary measure. Birdramon flew over the wall and landed on the ground beyond.
"Stay here and do what you can," Sora told her partner as she climbed down. "Keep those flames up as long as possible. I've got to try to help the villagers. I'll send them home…I don't know where else…."
"Go," Birdramon advised. "Hurry."
Sora was halfway to the village when she spotted a flash of something in the sky and turned to see that the bug-like digimon she had seen near the palace was now flying in the direction of the army. "Who - ," she wondered momentarily, but put it aside and hurried to the village.
Another flash of movement caught her eye just on the outskirts of the town, this time a flash of a black color, but again, she pushed it from her mind and ran into the village center.
It wasn't difficult to inform the villagers of the trouble, for they were mostly aware of the approaching army and the wall of fire that tenuously protected them. "No, no!" Sora said, stopping a young man and woman who were running northward. "That way. Go that way." She pointed them in the direction of her home. They hesitated only briefly, and then nodded.
One of the villagers, a middle-aged woman, recognized her. "Thank you Lady Sora," she said. "Bless your heart."
Sora smiled briefly and urged her onward. "Hurry," she told her. "Or you won't have anything to thank me for."
"There's not much time," a voice said from behind her, and she turned to see that a stranger she recognized, dressed in black, was standing behind her, on the roof of a small hut, turned to face the wall of fire and the encroaching army. "I don't suppose you have a plan for saving yourself?"
He turned his face to look at her, and Sora saw that it was indeed who she had thought. His eyes were the same blue she remembered, his hair the same dark color, his smile the same mischievous smirk she recalled from nearly a year earlier when he had saved Miyako's life in this very village.
"You live," she gasped, though she had never clearly thought that he might be dead. "I had thought -." But what had she thought?
The smirk faded. "Your tactic was a good idea," said the Dark Bandit. "I don't think it will hold much longer, though, and your partner tires."
"Do you think they'll be safer there?" Sora asked.
"I don't know," he answered, frowning deeply now. "We shall see. Go and collect your partner. I'll direct the stragglers. There's nothing left here now except things."
Hikari was swallowed in a sea of white robes, for the mages had surrounded her almost immediately and were carrying her to a room where she might rest.
Miyako, on the edge of the action, watched as she was swept away, then found herself alone in the room. Almost alone, that is.
Daisuke was watching the crowd as it flowed from the room. When it had left, he seemed to come awake, and look around at his surroundings for the first time. When his eyes met Miyako, he stopped, looking at her for a long moment as though trying to remember something.
She stepped forward, eager to know what he remembered and yet not wishing to frighten him if he truly did remember nothing. "Are you - ?" she began, but then wasn't sure how to finish the question and so let it trail off into nothing.
He said nothing, didn't seem to even realize that she'd spoken. His silence, which was so very unlike everything Miyako knew Daisuke to be, was eerie, and if not for his eyes, which were now very much his own, she would have wondered if the spell had worked at all.
It had, at least partially, she saw, for the multiple strands of dark magic that had wound around him, forming a complex web that had covered him from head to toe, were gone. Yet something remained. Hikari's attempt had not completely broken the spell, and yet he was free, or so it seemed. There was one little remnant of something….
"I know you," Daisuke said then, startling her. It had been a long silence, and she had begun to wonder if he could speak. He took a step forward, squinting. "I - ," he hesitated. "I'm not sure why…."
"The memories," she said. "They are not yet clear?"
He shook his head, finally looking away from her, and looked around the rest of the empty, huge room. "Where am I?"
"The Sanctuary of Magic," Miyako answered. "On an island in the middle of the sea. What do you remember?"
He was quiet for a moment, looking toward the doorway by which Hikari had left. "Hikari," he said, his voice faint. "I remember her. I'm not sure why. And you." Daisuke shut his eyes, thinking, searching.
"Do you remember…," she began, but he interrupted.
"I remember," he said, opening his eyes once more. "I remember you. Miyako." He looked at the ceiling, not seeing it but thinking. "You shared a secret, didn't you?" Again, he met her eyes with questions.
"Yes," she said, almost having forgotten it herself. "Yes, I did. I do. It's still a secret."
There was a long silence. In the distance, they could hear the sound of voices talking in casual conversation, but no sounds of the outside filtered through the walls.
"The last thing I remember," he said, "is fire."
The flames leapt into the sky, but only reached a few inches now. Sora, with Piyomon in her arms looking a bit tired, watched from beyond the village grounds as the massive army made its way through the village, destroying homes and businesses and crushing much of the farms beyond.
"I shouldn't have argued with him," Sora berated herself. "I should have come right away."
"You couldn't have known," he disagreed. "You came as quickly as you could. And even if you had come earlier, what then? You cannot stop all of them on your own."
"No," she admitted, feeling suddenly tired. She sat down in the cool grass, the warm sun sinking behind her. "What do they want?"
"It's hard to say," the bandit answered, having folded his arms before him, a frown on his face. "I think they are testing you."
"Testing?" she echoed, looking up at him. "Why?"
"Not you, personally," he amended. "The Chosen. They want to know what you're capable of, what you can do. And, they are looking for something."
"What? They've attacked villages connected to the Chosen, but villages with nothing of value in them…."
"Nothing?" he echoed. "Perhaps there is something of value. Perhaps it depends on what you value."
"Fire?" Miyako questioned, and then nodded. "In the forest…."
"Yes," he said, frowning. He shook his head. "Everything else is a blur."
"I think it will become clearer. The memories. They'll return, in time, I'm sure." She smiled in a way she hoped was reassuring. "I think you need to rest."
Daisuke turned toward the door by which Hikari had left, a dour sort of expression still on his face. "I want to see her. Is she all right?"
"She's fine," Miyako assured him. "She's tired, and she needs to rest, but she's not hurt. You need to rest, too. Come."
His expression was reluctant, but he followed.
The last of the Lopmon was scurrying through the village streets, hurrying to catch up with the army that had gone ahead of it. From behind a house still smoldering from the attack, Sora watched it scamper forward and then she followed, dashing across the street to take shelter behind another building, this one with its roof nearly torn off and one wall completely destroyed.
The village itself was half gone. The army of digimon, with the bandaged leader at the front, had torn a path through the village center, leaving a mess of flattened, smoking, and burnt buildings in its wake. Following it at a relatively safe distance, Sora was relieved to see no bodies and no injured. Beyond the center of the town, homes and shops were unharmed, but those that had stood in the way of the march had been completely ruined.
Past the village was farmland, and in the light of the setting sun the monsters were black shapes against the darkening sky. Sora hid behind the remains of tall stalks and followed, carrying Piyomon in her arms.
"Where do you think they're going?" the small bird questioned.
"I have no idea," she answered, shaking her head. "There's nothing out here but farmland. They took nothing from the village, and all the people have gone to safety." She glanced to the right, where her own home was, where the villagers were now, apparently safe. The army showed no interest in changing direction for the moment, for which Sora was relieved.
Suddenly, the march halted. None of the digimon spoke, although a few of the Lopmon near the back of the line began to silently argue, poking one another with their paws and tugging on one another's ears. Sora took advantage of the pause to dart forward through the fields on either side, trying to see what was happening at the front of the line.
The bandaged digimon was in the front of the crowd, surveying his troops. After a few moments, even the scuffling Lopmon fell silent, and it seemed to Sora as though they were waiting for something.
"Hmph," said the leader, and turned away from them. He took a few steps forward and then, from nowhere, a tall, thin woman appeared before him.
"This was the best you could manage?" she asked.
"You're late," he responded, obviously displeased. In the increasing darkness, Sora could not easily see their expressions, but she could tell that each was unhappy with the other.
"This is all fun and games to you, isn't it?" the woman questioned. She turned, and Sora could see that she wore a wide-brimmed hat and a thin skirt. Her shoes had tall heels, and she carried a thin staff in one hand that she absently twirled as she spoke. "Have you forgotten we have a purpose other than to stomp over human villages?"
From seemingly nowhere, the digimon had produced a tall hat, which he now placed atop his head, and a coat, which he drew over his shoulders. He took the thin staff from the woman and leaned heavily upon it as though suddenly tired and old. From a distance, Sora realized that he was human-looking in the dim light.
"Have you?" he retorted. "Have you managed to bring the master what he seeks, or have you simply been toying and playing with him, too?"
"My business is my own. Don't question my methods," she answered sharply. A few of the Lopmon in the front of the pack drew back, frightened by the anger in her voice, but their leader did not.
"And yet you question mine, dear sister?" he shot back.
There was a moment of tense silence. Sora tried not to breathe. None of the army moved.
"You," the woman said then, "are a fool." She turned away and walked a few steps up a small hill, a low rise in the land. "I have conjured an army for you, and you use it to destroy a village and a few farms. Two of the Chosen in your sights and you failed to terminate either of them."
She turned sharply again and looked out over the troops. "Be gone," she said, her voice a crisp command, and waved her arm.
The army disappeared into the night air with no further sound.
Sora felt a shiver travel down her spine. An entire army vanquished into the dark night and nary a trace remaining in evidence of its presence. This woman must surely be a powerful sorceress! And – two Chosen? Who was the other?
The desire for argument seemed to have waned in the digimon, however, for he shrugged, limping up the small hill with apparent difficulty. "There was nothing here, anyway," he said. "I had some fun and damaged a bit of property. No harm done, eh?"
"No harm indeed," she muttered. "I daresay you were supposed to do harm!"
Again, the digimon shrugged. "There was nothing here to damage," he replied, having reached the top of the hill. "No crystals. Nothing. Can we go now?"
"You're helpless, aren't you? Helpless and hopeless."
"Yes," he answered cheerfully.
And then they were gone.
Miyako had slept little, but could sleep no more. With Hawkmon trailing her on foot, she crossed the island in the early morning and sought out Hikari.
The mages had carried her back to her room and she had slept all night. Miyako slipped through the door with as little noise as possible and saw that Hikari still slept and still looked a little pale. Tailmon was curled in a ball at the foot of the bed, snoring lightly. The room was otherwise empty, and so Miyako sat in a chair across from the bed and lost herself in her own thoughts.
She must have dozed a bit, because the next thing she knew, the sun was a bit higher in the sky and the room was brighter than she remembered. Hikari had awakened and was sitting up in bed, peering out at the ocean, watching the waves lap up against the shore through the window.
"Good morning," she said, noticing that Miyako had come awake, and turned away from the window.
"How do you feel?" Miyako asked, stretching to remove the kinks that come from falling asleep in a chair.
"Exhausted," Hikari replied cheerfully. "Yet, better. How is he?"
The reply had to wait until Miyako had finished a rather powerful yawn. "Confused," she said when she had regained the power of speech. "The memories are returning to him, but not in order, and he doesn't know what to make of them." She shrugged lightly. "It will take time."
"Mmm," came the reply. "I don't think he'll remember much of anything here. He needs to go home – to where the memories are."
"Then we'll take him home," Miyako decided. "As soon as you have regained your strength."
"Yes," Hikari agreed. She turned toward the window again and spent a few moments watching the waves and feeling the cool ocean breezes. "Stay with him, Miyako."
"Stay - ?" she echoed.
"I don't think he should be alone."
"He won't be," Miyako assured her. "This island is full of people – you can't think any of them mean him harm?"
"I don't think they do," Hikari answered, turning away from the window. "I don't think he should be alone. I think he should be with someone from his past. Stay with him, please. Don't tell him the story of his past, let it come to him. And don't pressure him to remember, but stay with him if he does."
Sora had hoped that the morning would bring some amount of clarity to her thoughts, but she awoke as confused as she had been the evening before.
The village that had been half destroyed the night before was no more than an hour's walk from her home. Takenouchi had been built not far from Inoue, with only a small field between the two homes. In the space between the buildings and the village, there was a wide field and a small orchard full of small fruit trees. A road gently meandered between the two houses and then through the orchard to the village beyond. Past the village on all three sides was farmland and then beyond that, fields and forests, with roads and paths heading away south and north and east and west.
The field was full of villagers when she looked out from the house, preparing to return home. Miyako's father, Lord Inoue, was trying to organize the migration, while his wife and Sora's mother were helping mend wounds and heal the suffering. None of the injuries looked terrible – save, of course, for the driver of Sora's carriage, who had been badly wounded. Most of the villagers had been able to escape before the deadly march began. The difficulty would now lie in rebuilding that which had been destroyed.
Sora peered down at the scene from her bedroom window in the early morning, feeling cold despite the warm sun, her mind still as preoccupied as the evening before. She had hoped for and was not surprised by the sight of a mysterious bandit in the shadows.
"Two of them," Sora told him before he could ask. "Two who led the attack. The digimon in bandages led them to a hill just beyond the farms and met with a woman – a sorceress. She vanished the army without breaking a sweat and then they disappeared, leaving more questions than answered."
"A woman? Wearing red?" he questioned.
"I don't know," she answered, puzzled by the question, but puzzled by too many other questions in her own mind to be much concerned by this one. "It was too dark. They argued, she and the digimon. He called her 'sister.'"
He was silent, not offering his thoughts on the matter.
Feeling tired despite a good night's rest, Sora sighed, leaning against the metal railing of the veranda, peering over the edge. "I think I ought to leave here. I have done what I came for, and there's not much left to be done. Not for me, anyway."
"There's much left to do, Lady Sora. Much left to find out. Too many questions." He seemed to be talking to himself.
"Wait," Sora realized, turning around. "What does it matter if she's in red…have you seen her…."
He was gone.
"…before…?" Sora finished lamely.
A little bit of action here, a few questions answered, a few more raised. Whee. No serious cliffhangers this time – I've decided to go easy.
So the spell is broken but not? What do the mysterious digimon have in store for the Chosen? What will happen now?
The tension is killing you, isn't it?
Hopefully, I'll have the next part out before long. Expect ever more action, a few more questions answered, a few more raised, etc. I don't know when or how this whole thing will end, so stay tuned! Till next time, ja ne.