Enter The Light
Part Thirty One: The City By The Sea
Standard Disclaimer Thing: Digimon is not mine. Obviously I don't own it, because if I did I wouldn't writing fanfiction about it. The plot, however, is 95 mine. Parts are borrowed from the original, and the characters are, as I said, not mine. Don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.
Moo.
They'd been at Hida for nearly a week before Koushiro emerged from the interior of the large manor house and made his way down to the village, slipping unnoticed between the crowds of people, both natives and outsiders, who were attempting to rebuild the town. A rather large crowd had gathered in what was once the town square, preparing for the day to come. It was early morning, the sun barely risen, but Koushiro had not slept and so was not tired.
"Ten? You only want ten?" a woman's voice was saying loudly over the general buzz of the crowd. "I'd think at least twenty for each building."
"I've seen buildings built with three or four," another, calmer voice returned. "They know what they're doing, they'll manage with ten men for each building. I think two or three days for each, right?" It was Iori speaking, Koushiro saw now, noticing the small young man in the center of the circle.
"Three days tops, sir," said another voice. "Most of them we'll have done in two. Larger houses could take three, but I don't see anything taking beyond that if there's no weather interference." Koushiro's eyes followed the voice and saw that it belonged to a tall, hefty man, obviously the leader of the men that had been recruited for the task of building.
"Sounds great," Iori said, nodding. "Let's try and give everyone someplace to live, all right?" There was a general shout of enthusiastic agreement from the men, and then the crowd broke up into smaller groups to get to their tasks.
"What do we do in the meantime?" the woman who had spoken before questioned. Koushiro saw that she was an elderly woman he had seen around before, obviously the most vocal of the villagers.
"My advice would be to stay out of their way," Iori answered. "There's more to fill a home than just space and wood. People will need blankets and clothing and furniture and food. These men will have buildings up in a few days' time, but there's much more that the people living in them will need."
The woman considered this for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "All right," she said, addressing the crowd of villagers that remained – mostly women. "We need to get started. There's been plenty of cloth and fabrics sent up. Let's get sewing!"
There was a cheer of enthusiastic approval to this decision as well and the women moved off to get to work, the crowd dissipating in their wake so that soon Koushiro was standing alone where he had once been surrounded by many. It was a few moments before Iori had noticed him, for he was involved with watching the others move off to work. When he did, however, he asked immediately: "Progress?"
"I see," Koushiro noted, nodding. "They're certainly keeping their spirits up."
Iori nodded. "At this rate, the village will be better than ever in only a few weeks. I'm just hoping it doesn't get destroyed again. Have you found a crystal or anything nearby?"
Koushiro shook his head. "I've cast the spell a few times now, and the nearest powerful magic that might be a crystal emanates from quite a ways east of here – I'm guessing, though I cannot be sure – that it comes from near Kido. This village is safe for now. That doesn't mean they won't come looking for a crystal again, but there's not one here, at least not so far as I've been able to find."
"In Kido?" Iori asked. "I suppose this means we ought to go and help Jyou…."
"I ought to go and help Jyou," the wizard agreed. "You, I think, ought to stay here."
"Stay here?" he echoed. "Why?"
"You're the only thing that's held this place together for the last few weeks," Koushiro told him. "If we both leave, the rebuilding effort will completely fall apart."
"Completely?" Iori echoed, disbelieving. "Why? I've hardly done anything….."
The wizard was quiet a moment, a frown of thought appearing on his face. He folded his arms in front of him. "It seems to me that this place was nearly forgotten for almost twenty years," he finally said. "When we came, we came directly from the capital, from the King, and we saved the village from complete destruction. It gives them some sort of hope." When Iori only stared blankly at him, Koushiro sighed. "If we both leave they could see it as the King is abandoning them again. We have come directly from him, and we are a sign that he's interested, concerned about what happens to these people."
"We're a sign?" Iori repeated, shaking his head. He gestured towards the wagons at the edge of the village, still largely stuffed with supplies of food and other material goods. "That's not a sign they're not forgotten?"
Koushiro shrugged. "That's one shipment of goods, Iori," he told him. "Who's to say there will be more?"
"I say there will be more," Iori answered immediately. "They don't honestly think that if I leave there will be nothing else coming, do they?" He looked in the direction of a cart filled with fabric, where a crowd of women was examining the bolts of cloth, deciding which ones would be best used in blankets and which in clothing.
"Maybe they do, maybe they don't," the wizard admitted. "But if you stay, that means that they're not forgotten." He shrugged again. "Only a theory, mind you, but I think you ought to stay here, at least for a while. I'll go and give Jyou a hand."
Iori was still watching the crowd of women as they fussed over the cloth, most of them extraordinarily pleased by the quantity and quality of the fabrics. "All right," he said finally, sighing. "For a while."
"They'd fall apart without you, Iori. Completely apart," Koushiro said again, already a few steps away, heading back toward the manor house. "I'll stop by here again on my way back home, see how you're doing."
"All right," Iori said, sighing again. He was beginning to feel a headache forming in his skull, right above his eyes.
It was mid-afternoon and the sun was shining brightly overhead. Shijo had dragged his brother from the dismal room he'd called his own for the last few weeks, away from his books of magic, out into the outside world. In the midst of green grass, under brilliant blue skies, both wandered the seemingly endless grounds of the palace for the first time since they'd arrived.
"What do you suppose Mama's doing right now?" Maigo asked. They'd stopped at the edge of a Monochromon enclosure, looking out at the dozens of huge beasts as they grazed on the grass.
"Making food?" Shijo wondered, shrugging. He against the wooden fence and looked at the dirt beneath his feet. "Monochromon are awfully boring."
"What do you suppose they do with all of them?" his partner Koromon questioned. "Why would they need so many?"
"To pull carriages and wagons," Shijo answered. He looked up in time to see that, in the distance, one of the stable hands was leading one of the beasts in from the pasture. "Pull wagons northward, full of supplies."
"Northward?" Maigo echoed. "Why?"
"Haven't you heard? A village in the north was attacked and almost destroyed. The King is sending relief supplies to help them rebuild their village. Doctors and medicine and everything they need."
"Wow," his brother answered. "Wouldn't it be great to go there and help out?"
"If you went north you wouldn't be able to study magic," his partner Motimon reminded him.
"Oh yeah," Maigo remembered. "I'd rather stay here."
Shijo yawned dramatically and turned away from the Monochromon, which had ceased to interest him. "Let's go see the gardens," he decided, pointing back toward the palace building and a section of the grounds which appeared to have quite a few colorful flowers. "I'll race you." Then, without giving his brother a chance to respond, he dashed off, easily ten steps away before Maigo could even take one.
"No fair!" the younger brother called out, protesting, hurrying to catch up.
It wasn't long before they reached the gardens. Even though it was only early spring, many of the flowers were in full bloom and many of the plants were as tall or taller than both boys. They wandered through the maze of flowers for a while before Shijo climbed up on a high stone wall that lined the paths.
"Do you like it here, Shijo?" Maigo asked after a moment of silence had passed between them.
The elder brother shrugged, examining a bright pink flower beside him with some interest. "It's all right," he answered. "Kind of boring, but nice, I guess." He shrugged again.
"I like it," the younger declared. "I like studying magic."
Shijo abandoned the study of the flower and looked at his brother with a curious expression. "Can you do any spells yet?" he asked.
"Not yet," Maigo answered, undeterred. "Soon, though." He grinned.
Shijo shrugged again, sighing. "I wish something exciting would happen," he declared. "I wish I could travel with the Chosen again, see battles. That was exciting." He sighed once more and looked up at the sky overhead.
Now it was Maigo who shrugged, not as enthusiastic about participating in or witnessing epic battles. A few moments of silence passed between the brothers before the younger said, suddenly, "Hey…Is that?"
"Is what what?" Shijo demanded impatiently, turning toward the other, but Maigo had already left him and was dashing across the gardens in the direction of the palace. "Hey! Where are you going?"
"I think he's heading for whoever that is," Koromon theorized, pointing out another individual that was crossing the grounds at that moment, heading toward the gardens.
"Has he lost it?" he wondered, climbing down from the stone wall on which he'd been seated and making his way much more slowly after his brother. "It's probably one of his teachers. As though he's gone more than a few hours without seeing one of them." He frowned resentfully.
"No, that doesn't look like one of those old mages," Koromon answered. "Looks like someone else."
Maigo had somehow spotted him from what was probably a greater distance than Daisuke had thought possible and it was not long before he was running at top speed across the grass. He was running so quickly that Daisuke was slightly fearful that he'd collide directly with him and cause them both great injury. V-mon, peering around his ankles, was similarly concerned.
"He runs fast for a human," he noted. "I suppose he wants to see you?"
"Seems that way," Daisuke agreed, his voice a mixture of amusement and nervousness.
A few seconds later, Maigo arrived, managing to halt a few steps before he collided with Daisuke, completely out of breath. He had to take a few minutes before he was able to speak, and in the meantime he stood up straight and saluted, grinning. "Good to…see you…sir!" he said, panting heavily.
Daisuke blinked at him for a moment or two and then glanced down toward V-mon, who only stared blankly at him. He sighed. "Leave off the sir, please," he said, uncomfortably shifting his weight between his feet. "Where's your brother?"
"Following," Maigo answered, pointing behind him to where Shijo was making his way across the grass at a much more reasonable rate of speed than his younger sibling. "I'm glad to see you're all right," he said, obediently refraining from any more 'sirs'. "Have you come to take me home?"
"Home? No," Daisuke answered, once again blinking in confusion for a few moments. "Do you…want to go home?"
"No!" he said almost before the question was complete. "Not that I don't miss Mama, of course," he added, chastising himself, "but I'm very happy here. I like studying magic."
"Studying magic?" he echoed. "You've been studying magic? I didn't know you – that's terrific!"
Maigo grinned from ear to ear. "Yes, yes it is."
"Daisuke - ?" Shijo interrupted at that precise moment, his voice an astonished sentiment of disbelief. He hesitated briefly. "I mean…um…."
"Don't call him 'sir,' Maigo advised. "He doesn't like that."
Shijo turned toward his brother and stared blankly for a moment or two. "What - ?" he finally said, his mind somehow apparently overwhelmed by the entire situation.
"He's right," Daisuke told him cheerfully. "I don't. Hello, Shijo."
The boy turned away from his brother and stared for a moment more at Daisuke before regaining the power of speech. "She broke the spell?" he finally boldly asked, for the last time he had seen Daisuke had been right after the illusion had broken.
A look passed between Daisuke and his partner and then he grimaced, looking rather uncomfortable. "Not exactly," he answered. "For now, yes."
"So everything is back to normal now?" he wondered.
"No," Maigo answered. "Nothing is normal. We're here and not at home and Daisuke's here, too, and he's Chosen." He turned toward Daisuke then, his eyes intently focusing on him for brief moment. "You're not normal, either," he noted, shocking both his brother and Daisuke.
"Maigo!" Shijo scolded.
"It was your digivice we found, wasn't it? In the ruins. Why was it there? What does it do? Do you have it now?"
"Yes," Daisuke answered to all the questions which 'yes' could be an answer to. He pulled the object in question from his pocket and held it out so Maigo and Shijo could see it again. "It was in the ruins because -," he paused for a moment and the boys could see that something about that answer made him uncomfortable. They waited a moment, and then he said "because that's where it was left. What it does is helps V-mon to evolve."
"Hello," V-mon said pleasantly, waving from his spot behind his partner's legs.
"Have you been in many battles?" Shijo asked despite himself, his curiosity suddenly getting the better of any wariness he'd previously had.
"Yes," he answered immediately, pocketing the device again. "Too many, I think."
"Did you come to take us home?" Shijo asked.
He shook his head. "No. I came from your home, and from your mother. She sends you both letters, which I didn't bring out here. " He gestured toward the palace behind him. "If you want to go home, I could arrange it, but I can't do it myself, not right now." He sighed. "Too many other things to do now."
"What sort of other things?" Maigo wanted to know, and again Shijo scolded his brother and poked him sharply on the arm.
"Do you want to go home?" Daisuke asked Shijo, who studied the ground for a moment.
"No," he said finally. "Not yet."
"I'm glad to hear it," he said cheerfully, and rummaged in his pocket. After a moment, he took something out and held it in his closed hand. "Do you remember when you found this?" he asked, opening his hand to reveal a small glass crystal on a thin, long string.
Shijo looked at it for a long moment and then took it in his hand, dangling it by the string. The light reflected off the crystal as it hung, casting rainbows on the grass and on his face and clothes. "This is from my house, isn't it? Why did you bring it here?"
"There's magic in it," Maigo said. He was looking at it with wide eyes. "I can feel it."
"Magic?" Shijo echoed, staring first at his brother, and then toward Daisuke, who nodded. "I found it in the mud."
"Yes. A lot of magic, actually. I took it with me because I think I might be able to keep it safe, and keep your home safe. There are powerful digimon searching for this crystal and they'd destroy the whole village in order to get it. They tried to."
"And you stopped it?" Shijo concluded. "There was a battle – in my village?"
"Wow," Maigo breathed, eyes still wide.
"Two, actually," Daisuke clarified, taking the crystal back and shoving it within his pocket once more. "Do you remember anything about where or when you found it?"
"It was a long time ago," he answered after a moment of thought. "It was in the mud by the river. I don't remember anything strange about it, I just thought it was pretty and I could give it to Mama. She hung it up and it was there ever since."
"It was before Papa left," Maigo recalled, the memory of his father causing his previous cheerful expression to briefly change to a frown.
"Yeah," Shijo agreed, glancing briefly toward his brother. "That's all."
Jyou had forgotten precisely how many things he'd left behind when he'd decided to travel south, but the room he'd once called his own was still stuffed full of things of all kinds, boxes full of ancient objects he'd once found precious. Worst of all it, seemed as though he would be required to sort through all of it, to decide what of it needed to be salvaged and what needed to be disposed of.
The village in Kido was a port town on the coast of a northern sea, and the townsfolk there were all shipbuilders or sailors or merchants. It was a bustling, prosperous town through which large amounts of goods passed each day. When Jyou had arrived, his carriage passing through the city streets in the early morning light, he thought that an attack here would do a great amount of damage not only to the people here but also to the economy of the rest of the kingdom.
For the moment, however, in the early evening of his third day in the home he'd left many years earlier, Jyou thought only of the dust and cobwebs that covered every inch of the boxes in his closet, and how much he was not looking forward to searching through memories of times long past.
Gomamon, for his part, seemed mostly unconcerned, indulging himself in the happier memories of nostalgia. He was looking fondly toward the sea far below from the bedroom window, remembering lazy summer afternoons he'd spent frolicking in the waters whilst his partner had sat on the dock, immersed in study. A sudden crash interrupted his introspection, and he saw with some alarm that a large pile of boxes had just fallen to the ground, scattering books and papers and a few other unidentifiable trinkets around the room.
"I don't remember being this much of a slob," Jyou grumbled to himself, pausing to sneeze in the dust before bending over to pick up a few pens from the floor.
"Not a slob, Jyou," his partner corrected. "A bit of a pack-rat, though." He grinned cheekily.
The doctor only frowned sharply in the digimon's direction – he had become used to his partner's taunts by now and saved his energy for more useful endeavors. "This was once my favorite pen," he said wistfully, noting a particularly nice writing implement that had fallen from the topmost crate. "I suppose I could get rid of it now, though," he added, noting his partner's semi-critical eye. "A pen is a pen, right?"
"I suppose," Gomamon conceded, not being built for writing. "As long as ink flows out of it, it's good." He shrugged lightly and turned back toward the window. "Do you suppose an army of Tyrannomon will attack this place?"
"Don't say that!" Jyou scolded, tossing the pen over his shoulder. It clattered to the floor in the far corner. "I'll never get anything done if we have to spend all our time fighting Tyrannomon. I'll certainly never be able to warn the people in time to leave, there's too many of them!" He picked up an empty inkstand and frowned deeply at it for a few minutes before sighing in defeat and tossing it into the same corner as the pen. "Two items down, six thousand to go."
"Throw it all away," Gomamon advised, shrugging. "It's been in your closet for almost ten years now, you can't have missed it."
"It might be important," his partner disagreed. He lifted a small notebook that was covered with scribbles he'd once found important to his studies and squinted at his own writing for a few moments.
"Do you think I could defeat a whole army of Tyrannomon?"
Jyou sighed, tossing the notebook to the same corner as the last two items. "Let's try not to think about it," he decided. "Let's hope they don't come here. At any rate, I'm not the Lord of Kido, and so the safety of the city should not be my responsibility." A slight touch of bitterness was at the edge of his voice, so slight that it would not have been noticeable to one who was not listening closely.
"You are Chosen," Gomamon pointed out. "Is it not the job of the Chosen to defend…?"
"Is it?" Jyou mumbled absently, digging through a box of papers. "I never figured out what the job of the Chosen was, exactly. I got a digivice and a partner and a crest and was thrown into battles. I don't remember a mission statement." He frowned deeply at the entire box and sighed, decided that none of it was worth saving, and carried the whole of it to the corner with the other items to be disposed of.
Gomamon frowned deeply in his partner's direction but Jyou, already deeply immersed in another box full of papers and pens and empty bottles of ink, was oblivious. After a few moments in which the digimon could think of nothing further to say, he glanced back toward the sea below.
Koushiro had decided after a bit of thought that it was best for him to travel toward Kido alone, and that he would take a small wagon to carry a few books and some other necessary supplies with him. He didn't wish to bother any of the re-builders or the villagers themselves, and so drove the cart himself.
It took nearly three days to travel to Kido, even without stopping much and without any sort of delays on the road. It was long past dark by the time the wizard Chosen reached the protective outer wall of the city, a single firelight in the tower above him shining as a beacon for travelers on the land and the sea. The edge of the rocky coast was home to scattered lanterns and torches illuminating the rocks for boats approaching.
"Awfully late to travel, sir," the guard noted when Koushiro approached. "What's your business in this city?"
"I'm only passing through for a few days," Koushiro answered (he hoped) truthfully. "I daresay I shan't cause you any trouble."
"Have a place to stay for the evening?" he asked. "Don't know that you'll find a room this late."
"I plan to stay with a friend," the wizard replied. "I sent word ahead, he'll be expecting me."
"All right, then," the sentry decided, apparently believing that this visitor would be no threat. "See there's no trouble, then."
"No trouble at all," Koushiro answered urging the Monochromon forward. "With any luck," he thought aloud, after the guard was out of range, "I will prevent trouble."
It was late and so the streets of the city were mostly empty of people save those who were heading for home or guards patrolling the streets and keeping order. In the darkest corner of the streets he thought he could see shadows moving as those who made their living in the night came awake and went to work. He urged the small wagon through the streets and Monochromon lumbered slowly onward, tired from the long journey.
Tentomon had been dozing in the back of the wagon atop the pile of books, snoring lightly. When the wheels began to clatter over stone streets, he awoke, yawning, and flew forward to join his partner in the front of the vehicle. "Something feels strange here," he mused aloud.
Koushiro resisted the temptation to halt the cart abruptly. He frowned deeply in the dim light, and directed the Monochromon to turn away from the water, inland, toward the tall manor house at the edge of the city. "I know, I feel something, too," he admitted in a low voice. The wheels clattered over the stones steadily as they turned onto the road leading toward the house. "Do you think you could fly ahead and find Jyou?"
"And leave you here alone?" Tentomon hesitated.
"How big is the danger you sense coming?" Koushiro asked. "Do you think we could handle it ourselves?"
The cart clattered along the road for a few moments longer. "I don't know," the digimon finally answered grimly. "It's a weird feeling. I don't know where it's coming from or what it is."
The wizard frowned, closing his eyes, trying to hone his magical senses. "I don't know either. I know it will be here soon, though…."
He could say nothing further, because the ground began to violently shake. The cart was thrown violently backwards, sending Koushiro flying. When the dust had cleared and he had regained his sense of the world, the wizard found himself on the ground, his partner hovering over him, the cart overturned some distance away, the poor Monochromon trapped beneath.
"Or it might be here now," Tentomon observed, eyes focused on that which was before him now.
Almost instantly, they found themselves surrounded by a crowd of the city's guards, each dressed in an almost identical uniform of black and navy blue, each carrying a shiny, glinting sword.
"I don't think that those will do you much good," said the tall man who had caused the disturbance. Koushiro focused his eyes on the center of the circle of guards, the space of which was occupied by a tall, thin man leaning heavily upon a walking stick, and a woman beside him dressed in a long red skirt and hat who twirled a lock of slivery hair around her. Some part of Koushiro's magical senses warned him of something, but he wasn't quite sure what.
"What is the meaning of this?" demanded the leader of the guards, the circle moving ever closer while Koushiro picked himself up off the ground. Tentomon glanced toward him briefly, but he shook his head once, almost imperceptibly, preferring to remain invisible for the moment.
"Some sort of magical disturbance, sir," the guard standing directly behind the leader observed. "Obviously unauthorized."
"We have no time for this discussion," the woman stated, and with every word she spoke Koushiro could feel the magical energy in the city grow much greater. Instantly, he realized that this must be the sorceress Sora had spoken of seeing near Takenouchi-Inoue. Outwardly, however, he displayed no reaction, only taking the time to brush some dust from his shirt and lift a small bag from the ground. The night air had suddenly grown colder, and he removed from the bag a long cloak, which he now threw over his shoulders.
"Are you all right, sir?" one of the younger-looking guards asked of Koushiro, who nodded absently, his ears listening to the conversation between the leader of the guards and the two intruders.
"Attacking an unarmed civilian, completely unprovoked, causing damage to city roads," the leader of the guards was saying, listing their crimes. "I daresay you'll have to make time for this discussion, and have to make even further time!"
"Unarmed civilian?" the tall man echoed, an amused tone to his voice. He poked the woman beside him and laughed heartily as though he had been told a very amusing joke. "Hear that? He thinks this traveler is an unarmed civilian!"
"Amusing," the woman said dryly, jabbing him back hard enough so that he finally stopped giggling.
"Ow!" he groaned, moving a step to the side, out of range of her elbow. "To think! He's the only one who presents us any danger at all."
Koushiro frowned from beneath the hood of his long cloak as he absently fastened it beneath his chin. Silently, each of the guards in the circle turned to look at him with new eyes.
"I've no time for this," muttered the woman under her breath. She pulled a few strands of silvery hair from her head with one hand and waved the other hand vaguely in front of her. A powerful wind knocked back each of the soldiers so that the only ones standing were Koushiro and the two strangers.
The woman tossed aside the strands of hair, which sailed cleanly through the air and then disappeared. Koushiro frowned in their direction, one hand feeling into his pocket for his digivice.
"What's going on here?" the leader of the guards demanded, his voice sounding confused. He got to his feet quickly, still holding his sword before him. He glanced toward Koushiro, who appeared to be looking intently at some empty section of air. "Explain this!"
"Later," Koushiro answered dismissively. "For now, I think you ought to consider heading for safety and doing your best to evacuate the city."
"What -?" he demanded, but stopped himself halfway through, for he saw that from what had been empty space before were now appearing a few dark shadowy shapes. "What are those?"
"I would guess," the wizard answered calmly, as though addressing one of his students, "that they are creations of dark magic, brought here by the power of the shadow world. If Miyako were here, she could see much more clearly than I can sense, but even without her, I can determine that much."
This explanation did absolutely nothing to clarify the situation so far as the guard was concerned, but then the dark shapes began to form into clearer molds and colors began to appear in sections. Before long they had taken the form of two massive Tyrannomon and one rather angry and violent looking Ogremon.
"You know what to do," the woman told these creations absently, already looking as though she had lost interest in the whole situation. "Find the crystal, destroy the Chosen."
"Chosen?" the guard echoed, having clearly heard not more than the last word of her sentence. He turned toward Koushiro and gasped out, "You're Chosen?"
The wizard didn't bother to answer. A high pitched, repetitive noise was sounding from somewhere on his person, and his digimon was glowing slightly. Over the sound of the noise and the ferocious growls of the two Tyrannomon, the small bug digimon shouted "Tentomon evolve! Kabuterimon!"
The Tyrannomon opened his mouth and the leader of the guards saw his life flash before his eyes and his legs and arms became useless. His mouth fell open and his eyes grew wide. Fire spilled from the jaws of the huge dinosaur digimon, and before long the previously empty streets were filled with fire. Miraculously, however, the guards remained unharmed and then the fire dissipated.
"Do you have some sort of a warning system in this city?" Koushiro asked him. "If you do, I suggest you implement it immediately. If you do not, I suggest you all quickly work to evacuate the city as soon as possible, especially this section. I can keep them contained for now, but I do not believe this will be the whole of the danger."
"What – what the hell is this?" the guard demanded, slowly regaining the power of speech. "What do they want? Why are they here? Who are they?"
"I will explain everything as best I can when they're gone," the wizard answered. "For now, you need to get your men and the rest of this city to safety. I cannot keep this place safe on my own."
The second Tyrannomon now roared loudly and turned in a different direction, spewing flames from its mouth and igniting several houses. After a few moments, the occupants of the homes came out into the street, crying out in alarm. Almost simultaneously, the Ogremon leapt into the center of the circle of soldiers, swinging its club in a broad circle and causing some of the slower humans to go flying. One of them crashed violently into a house and slumped over, badly injured. Others ran quickly from the attacking digimon.
"Mega Blaster!" Kabuterimon called and a blast of lightning seemed to come from nowhere and connect soundly with the attacking Ogremon. Momentarily stunned, the ogre paused its attacks, groaning in pain. A piece of its green skin flaked off, revealing the dark core at the center.
Koushiro glanced back toward the soldier nearest him. If he could not count on this man to take action and protect the others in the city, then a great deal of damage would be done. He hoped that past experiences would propel him to take the necessary actions, but so far the man had simply stared, stunned, at both the wizard and the attackers.
Finally, however, he seemed to come to a realization. Sheathing his sword, (a good sign, Koushiro reasoned, as it meant he knew that such a weapon would be useless in a situation like this) he shouted orders to the other men to assist the injured among them. "Li, run to the waterfront and sound the alarm bells. Wake everyone in the whole city. Wake General Joto, wake Sergeant Yao, tell them we need to evacuate the Eastern District first."
"Yes, sir." The man in question hurried off immediately in the direction of the sea.
"Yamamoto, Tanaka, Sato, you three head south. Knock on every door you come across and tell everyone to head for the waterfront."
"No," Koushiro interrupted. "Tell them to head that way. They won't attack the manor." He pointed toward the Lord's house on the edge of the city.
"You're certain?" the guard asked.
"Positive," he answered, hoping silently to himself that the invaders would stick to pattern.
"All right then," he agreed. "Yamada, head to Lord Kido, and let them know we're going to send evacuees their way."
"Yes sir," a chorus of voices echoed, and then the small crowd dispersed, heading off to their appointed duties. Before long the soldiers had all gone their separate directions. Distantly came the sound of doors being knocked on and voices urging evacuation.
The Tyrannomon were blasting fire almost continuously now, and Koushiro resisted the temptation to shield every house and building from the flames, knowing that to do so would only exhaust him, and to exhaust him would also exhaust his partner, who was, for the moment, the city's only hope.
"Where's Jyou?" he mumbled to himself, frowning, but the doctor was no where in sight, yet.
The closet had been mostly emptied of its boxes, and now the corner of the room held a knee-deep pile of items to be disposed of. Feeling tired, but accomplished, Jyou brushed the dust from his pants and began to think about getting ready for bed. It was still early, but the sun had gone down and he'd had a long day spent emptying the closet.
"Jyou," Gomamon said from the window seat, where he'd been lounging, napping in the sun all day, watching the bustling city below. "Do you remember there being a bonfire in this city before?"
"A bonfire?" Jyou echoed absently, violently fussing with a stubborn bit of dust on his dark pants. "Not that I remember. It's been a long time, though."
"Well, they're having one now," his partner reported. "I'd guess they'd got a wizard to make it, too, because there's some sort of a light show."
"Hmm," he answered, paying little attention. "Bonfire…."
A few moments of silence passed. Jyou gave up on his pants, deciding he was best off changing into nightclothes now, anyway. Better yet, a bath sounded like a good way to end a day spent cleaning. He crossed the room and opened his trunk, rummaging through it for his nightclothes, when a sudden cold sensation collided with his stomach and he paused in his steps.
"Jyou…," Gomamon said again, still looking out the window. "I think we ought to go down there…."
He shivered, wondering where the cold feeling had come from, and crossed to the window. "To join a celebration?" he asked with more levity than he felt.
"No…," his partner answered slowly. "I think there's some sort of trouble. That looks like Kabuterimon, and…."
"Oh, don't say that," Jyou interrupted before his partner could say anything further. "Please don't say that. I don't really want to go down and fight monsters tonight. I want to take a bath and go to sleep." By now, however, he'd reached the window and saw that the creature his partner had noticed was, in fact, Kabuterimon, and he guessed that the other creatures were Tyrannomon.
"There's an army coming from the north, too," Gomamon noted glumly, gesturing toward the edge of the city. A massive crowd of what appeared to be Lopmon was making its way quickly toward the center of the city.
"Damn," the doctor moaned glumly. "Damn. Koushiro doesn't even know about the Lopmon, I'll bet. And if this is anything like the other attacks, it probably won't be all there is, either." He groaned. "We'll have to go, then." He took his partner in his arms. "You wanted to fight, didn't you? You wanted excitement. Me, all I want is a bath."
This section is a bit longer than previous chapters, but that's because I wanted to squeeze in a lot. It sort of reflects this entire story, because I don't really know when to stop it. I get the idea, actually, that there should have been some sort of a conclusion to this a while back, but I was never quite clear on where to stick it.
Anyway. Thirty one chapters is a lot. I never intended it to be this huge. Originally, the Dark Bandit was supposed to be a short little thing. Obviously, my ideas ran away with me. Not that it's a bad thing! I'm having a lot of fun with this universe, and the ideas haven't dried up.
I have finally, at any rate, reached a stopping point. The overall saga isn't done, but this section will be, soon. Wow. Two more chapters to Enter the Light, at most, and then I'm going to switch to a new story. I won't tell you what it's called yet, but I've already started on it. Of course, there's no end in sight, not for the whole universe, but at least there will be a slight break. Really, this story should have stopped a while ago. I might go back and reorganize later, but it's a pain after everyone's already started reading it…I don't know. I'll think about it.
Wow, how's that for rambling. Two more parts here, at most, and then a new story. Till next time, ja ne. Thanks for reading!