Chapter Fifty Five: Broken
[Kari's P.O.V]
I sat on the ground looking around. I didn't feel safe sitting in some unknown area of the Dark Ocean. Not only did it not feel safe it didn't feel right either. Gatomon seemed unsettled but I couldn't blame her because I wasn't feeling very well myself. Gatomon was pacing and seemed to jump at every little noise that she heard. Takuya, despite seeming like he shouldn't have much strength left he had wandered off on his own, he went to look at the cave that was in the clearing. Koji had climbed the only tree that stood in this clearing. I had a feeling he had dozed off though since his head had dropped a few moments ago.
"We need to get what we came here for, which I don't even know what that is at this point, and leave as soon as we can." Koichi looked at me while I stood up as I spoke.
"I don't want to stay here for a long period of time, it's already been ten minutes and Takuya has already wandered off by himself." The fact that Takuya hasn't come back yet was also starting to worry me.
At this point no one could really fight so we shouldn't have split up. I hadn't even noticed that Takuya was wondering away until it was too late to stop him. I still wasn't all that sure about Storm, something wasn't right and maybe it was the Dark Ocean that seemed to have made the distrust seem to have multiplied. Maybe it was the Dark Area that had made me not trust her in the first place. I trusted her at first but something seemed to have changed as we wondered through the Dark Area. Maybe the Dark Area affected me like the Dark Ocean did.
"This place isn't safe; we can barely fight so we shouldn't stay here." Koichi sighed and he looked at Storm who was still fast asleep.
"What are we supposed to do Kari? Do you know how to open a gate out?" I opened my mouth but I actually didn't have anything to say.
"Guys, you might want to see this!" I looked at Takuya when he came out of the cave, he looked surprised.
"What did you find?" I glanced at Koji when he jumped from the tree, I thought he was asleep.
"Well, I'm not completely sure since it's all in Digital Symbols but there is one thing that I do understand." Wait, did he find the reason why we're here?
"Well none of us can read Digital Symbols now can we?" Koji was annoyed and Takuya groaned.
"This is the best lead that we have Koji! I bet we can find someone who can, we can always go find Bokomon and Neemon if that's what it takes." I was confused but Koji groaned this time and placed a hand on his face.
"Please, no. I don't feel like dealing with those two in this situation." I take it that they're probably annoying.
"Hey don't be so mean; they helped us when we first went to the Digital World." Koji grumbled something but I couldn't hear what he said.
"Wait, Koichi didn't Storm admit to being to read what they called Digital Script?" That stopped Takuya and Koji's argument and they looked at Koichi and Storm; Koichi seemed slightly uncomfortable with all of the attention on him suddenly for some reason.
"Yeah, she said that she could." If she really could read it then we might've found what we needed.
"Didn't she also mention knowing where the prophecy was?" At Koji's question I froze.
If what Takuya found was the prophecy then it was here, hidden in a world that is probably complete darkness. This place always carried bad news so if the prophecy was here what did it all say? Maybe Storm did remember it and it wasn't something very pleasant. If it was here then it probably wasn't the happiest of prophecies. I sighed but then one harsh truth hit me like a ton of bricks.
"We're too late." Takuya, Koichi, and Koji all stared at me now while Gatomon was confused.
"What do you mean we're too late?" If it was here and we would only find out now we were miles behind.
"We're too late for that prophecy to help us any even if we can figure out what it means." This trip into the darkness was worthless.
"Destroy." The one word tore through the tense atmosphere.
I gulped and I turned around. There was a bunch of those shadows that had turned into Divermons the last time I was here. I watched as some shifted into Divermons but some didn't while others took on other forms. This wasn't good at all. There was no way that we could fight a whole horde of them. My hands twitched and I reached for my Digivice.
"Are those real Digimon?" Takuya's question snapped Gatomon out of her surprise and she moved so she was in front of us.
"As far as I know they're not." I gripped my Digivice but nothing happened.
"Gatomon, please tell me you can Digivolve." This wasn't good one bit.
She shook her head and I took a step back. The shadowy Digimon came towards us and one of them came rushing out of the pack. I had no clue what the Digimon was. I hadn't seen the Digimon before but he was quick. He went straight for Gatomon but Gatomon managed to dodge the attack.
"Lightning Paw!" She hit the shadow Digimon and he stumbled slightly but it did barely anything.
If she can't Digivolve normally then the best bet is to go with Armor Evolution. It was better than nothing. Nefertimon would be able to help and would be a bit stronger.
"Digi Armor Energize!" After those words the world seemed to stop for a matter of seconds.
Gatomon didn't Armor Digivolve, nothing even happened. Why didn't the Armor Digivolution work either? What happened? Gatomon was thrown when she got hit from behind and the horde of shadow Digimon turned towards us. What are we supposed to do?
"That doesn't work." I took a step back and I shook.
"I knew something bad was going to happen." I muttered the words and before the shadow that had first charged could attack me Gatomon managed to hit him yet again.
Even if she could hit them it didn't seem like her attacks really did anything. There were at least twelve shadows. Gatomon got smacked away and a second of them attacked me but Koji yet again shoved me out of the way. He got hit this time but it wasn't fatal yet it was enough to make him stumble backwards and fall to the ground. There had to be something that we could do.
"This is perfect. Amaya will take care of the defenseless girl in the Real World and we can get rid of you five." My eyes went to the guy who was leaning on the tree; he had a smirk on his face.
He had messy red hair and cold black eyes. His smirk shifted into a cruel smile. Something wasn't right with him. Something about him just seemed vile. He wore a red and black hoodie and black jeans. There was a bracelet on his wrist that was giving off a red glow; the red glow was dark and distorted. It looked vile as well.
"You four; Hikari Kamiya, Koji Minamoto, Koichi Kimura, and Takuya Kanbara are just mere idiots of what this battle is since you haven't seen the harshness so perhaps you four are just fools dancing to the undeniable fate that has been laid out before you." He laughed as he spoke and I felt angry.
"How do you know our names?" When Takuya shouted I noticed that the shadows had stilled.
"Oh come now, I'm not that stupid. Koji, Koichi, and Takuya defeated the last part of Lucemon that remained that kept him from fully reviving. Oh, also I must thank you for destroying that part of him and helping him to fully revive." Takuya's hands turned into fists while Koichi's eyes widened and Koji paled.
"Besides I would know who Hiro's son is! Hiro was one of my former best friends but he chose to walk away from the chance of being on top of the worlds and immunity from the Demon Lords all because of what he called the pride of being a DigiDestined!" I was surprised hearing that yet so was Takuya so that meant that he hadn't known that about his own father.
"I also ain't stupid enough not to pay attention to the DigiDestined of Light; I was the DigiDestined of Light before her so I know just how strong a DigiDestined of Light can become." He stepped forwards and snapped all of the shadow like Digimon turned towards me.
"When I figured out that she was the DigiDestined of Harmony though, that was when I knew that she had to be dealt with sooner rather than later. I waited for the perfect chance and it's presented itself yet I can get rid of five of the seven." They began to come closer and I backed away from them.
"Stop it!" Attention was turned to Koji and he held his D Tector up and his hand was engulfed in fractal code but that wasn't what got my attention about the process.
His D Tector was cracked just like I thought it was. It didn't even seem to work. Yet he proved my thought wrong when it did work. He only managed to turn into Lobomon though but hopefully that would be enough. Yet once the light died and he stilled from his sudden burst of speed as he attacked one of the shadows I saw that it wasn't only his D Tector that seemed damaged. The armor that belonged to Lobomon was cracked as well.
"This is far too funny, why struggle so hard? That form isn't worth much you know, it's only a matter of time before it fails you." Koji was going to attack but the armor cracked and it shattered, he was thrown back by some kind of backlash.
"Your Digivice won't last much longer if you keep pushing it but be my guest, it'll make picking you off much easier." I curled my hands into fists but before I could say anything fire hit the same shadow that Koji it, the shadow had been about to attack Koji, the shadow flickered before it vanished.
"Once your Digivices shatter there isn't anything you idiots can do besides sit on the sidelines and watch as everyone you know dies!" He shouted it and out of nowhere there was a huge shadow that came from nowhere.
Takuya was hit by the shadow and what had been small almost unnoticeable cracks turned into huge cracks before his armor shattered as well. He like Koji was thrown but his Digivice hit the ground. The shadow picked it up and threw it, the red haired male caught it and I noticed that he also had Koji's D Tector. I glanced at Gatomon but she wasn't getting up and I knew she was out for a while.
"No one to fight or resist after all Koichi can't fight, the next evolution he performs will be his last." Koichi gave a slight smirk.
"You forgot about someone." I was confused until I realized something.
He sat that kneeling on the ground but Storm was gone. She seemed to have completely disappeared. Had she fled and left us to fight on our own? I shoved away all of those dark thoughts blaming the Dark Ocean and the Dark Area. Storm wouldn't do that, she could've on multiple occasions but she hadn't. She hasn't run away yet and she's struggled alongside us even after it was obvious that she didn't have our trust.
"Oh that's right, Storm Aleister no I should call her Spark Gallant. Did you know she's the reason why I found you guys?" I looked from Koichi to the red haired guy but my eyes stopped, the shadows had drawn so close to me.
"She chose to be kind to Hikari, she knew what it was to lose her home so when Belphemon attacked Hikari's world she crossed worlds and intercepted him. We had meant to flush out the only unknown member at the time but she showed instead, she managed to outsmart Belphemon since he has meat for brains." I was surprised hearing that.
"She's lucky she only got away with a cut on her torso since Belphemon could've easily squashed her." My mind flashed back to the wound she had on her torso, she had gotten that from Belphemon.
"I'm not scared of a mere child." I heard a crack in the air and suddenly a huge bolt of lightning struck down from the sky.
It was heading for the red haired male but the shadows protected him, they moved far quicker than I thought they would be able to move. The lightning tore through three shadows as if they were nothing, the fourth shadow stopped it yet it too vanished. There were now only seven shadows that remained. Storm could still fight so we had some hope. Storm appeared in a spark of lightning but when she solidified completely I saw that blood stained her shirt yet again.
"I thought so, that ghost boy could only heal your wounds for a matter of time. You're still pretty messed up from Piedmon and Leviamon." Storm gave a pained smiled.
"So what if I am? Just because I busted open my wounds don't mean I'm weak." She sparked and something told me that she had nearly dropped to her knees.
"Yes, yes but your card is also on the verge of shattering too isn't it?" She narrowed her eyes but when he brought up the card my eyes widened.
That's right. I wasn't completely helpless or useless. Where did I put the card? Wait, she can summon it to her so that means I probably could too. I focused and while it took time and blocking out part of what was said the card formed in my hands. My hands shook as I held it but I stared at it. If I used it then I could fight. I could finally protect with my own two hands instead of being protected. The red hair male's attention was on Storm, the lightning that sparked off of her was gaining a red tint to it but it more looked like liquid was washing over her lightning which was what was giving the red tint to it.
"Release." I whispered the words not wanting to draw attention to myself.
I closed my eyes hoping that this time would be better than the last. The last time I released the card I had no control. It was as if something had controlled me that time. I couldn't even hold it for a minute. It had done something to make the Sangloupmons disappear so I was grateful for that but this time, I wanted more control. I had to be in control this time.
"Shit!" I opened my eyes and saw that the red haired male had whipped around to face me.
"You're not supposed to have one of those!" I would leave questioning what the card was exactly for a different time.
I felt a power rushing through me but I didn't have time to think about that. A shadow was rushing at me and it was quick. I jumped to the side but I stumbled, I had flashed halfway across the clearing. I stumbled and barely caught myself. Everyone was surprised not just me. I would need to learn how to use this but I could hold this, it didn't seem to be completely out of control this time. I could tell it was draining quickly but not nearly as quickly as last time.
"How did you get one of those stupid cards?" One of the shadows sent a blast at me and I held my hands up since I wouldn't be able to dodge it.
I was surprised when light appeared in front of me like a shield and the shield deflected the attack. How do I attack in this form? I can flash and defend but can I attack?
"Focus on what you want to do! It'll do everything in its power to fulfill what you need Kari." I glanced at Storm but one of the shadows attacked her but she flashed away.
She stumbled when she reappeared from being full lightning and she fell. Her outfit vanished and her card appeared in the air. It was sparking wildly, the S that was on the back of the card cracked. I flinched when all of sudden lightning burst forth from the card as it cracked before shattering completely. The shadows were struck; all but one was completely obliterated.
"Kill her before she can tell how to wield that foolish card!" The shadow, it was big and it reminded me of WereGarurumon slightly.
It darted towards her and at that moment I acted because something nudged me. Something told me that at the moment it was the true Storm. No, the girl on the ground who looked so terrified yet so accepting of death yet wished it wasn't the end was Zale. I flashed across the clearing yet I didn't stumble this time. I stood in front of the shadow and with my hands held out the shield appeared which blocked his attack. I want to protect instead of being protected. I want to be able to fight alongside them. I watched as light engulfed my hands and in a flash I stopped leaking light and I noticed that my clothes had changed.
Yet what I noticed first was what seemed like ribbons of light had struck out and impaled the shadow. The shadow flickered but it didn't vanish but it exploded. The red haired male was left staring. The ribbons of light dissipated but I wanted to drive the red haired male away but he retreated, well he vanished completely. Once I knew he was gone I looked at my hands. I was surprised because I hadn't expected this. The rapid drop seemed to have slowed so much I felt like I could hold this for days.
I looked at the outfit the best that I could. I wore black pants while I wore a sleeveless white top with a baggy turtleneck. I wore fingerless gloves that went to above my elbows while it was decorated in a checkered pattern. I turned towards Storm, she gave a small laugh and she smiled at me.
"Thanks, know you don't trust me so the fact you protected me means a lot." She tried to hide it but I knew she was having trouble, I don't know why but it seemed as clear as day right this moment.
I want to help her. Blood was staining what she wore and without the lightning cloaking her it was easy to see just how messed up she was. I curled my hands into fists and I wanted to be able to do something but there couldn't be another that I could do.
You would be surprised; light is an element capable of healing.
My eyes widened when the voice slipped into my mind. I began to glow only seconds later and I felt the air brush against my back; when the air did I realized that the shirt revealed the top of my back. The cold feeling of the Dark Ocean was gone and it just felt warm. I noticed that she was staring at me with wide eyes for some reason; I noticed that everyone was staring for some reason. I saw Storm's lips move as if she said something but it was so low that I didn't hear it.
P.O.V Change, Koji's P.O.V
I couldn't help but stare at Kari. She looked confused but she was staring at her hands. She was glowing brightly and the coldness of the Dark Ocean had been chased away. It felt warm and safe for some reason being bathed in this light. Yet that wasn't the thing that held my attention. Flickering wings had formed and spread out behind her. On her right side there was a wing of flickering shadows while on her left was a wing of light. It was odd that despite the light that was filling the clearing you could distinguish the wing from the light that enveloped the clearing.
My eyes widened though when the wings disappeared and the light vanished. Her change of outfit vanished as well and the card dropped to the ground. She collapsed to the ground and I thought it would take a lot to force my body to move but it moved with ease. She didn't hit the ground completely; Storm had shot forwards and managed to at least stop her head from slamming into the ground. I rushed to her side. She seemed perfectly fine; I looked at Storm when she laughed.
"She's fine; she just used too much energy that's all. She healed us all somehow and it exhausted her." She was careful as she placed Kari's head on the ground.
"Geez, I knew Harmony was spoken highly of because of the strength that it carried but I never thought I'd see that." She stood up and placed a hand on her head.
"I've seen those cards grant many appearances but I never thought I would ever see them grant an appearance such as an angel." She was still laughing slightly.
"We should get what we came for quickly so we don't get attacked again." She nodded when I spoke.
"So um, I found some Digital Symbols and Koichi and Kari said you could read it." Storm nodded and turned towards Takuya.
"Yeah, show me it and I'll translate it unless it's written in the most ancient of symbols." I glanced at Takuya and he stood up.
I watched as Storm followed after Takuya into the cave, Koichi glanced at me before he went with them. I looked at Kari and while I hesitated I reached over and I brushed away the hair that had fallen over her face. Despite having passed out she seemed so peaceful and just seemed like she had fallen asleep. I glanced around and once I saw it I grabbed the card. It had the same odd symbol as Storm's jacket. I flipped it over but what had once been a fancy 'K' was now a fancy 'H'.
"Just what is this card?" I muttered the words as I looked the card over.
It allowed humans to fight against Digimon. It reminded me almost of a Spirit Evolution but it didn't give them a new form or any apparent defense against Digimon. They remained human and just seemed like they got the ability to control an element. Yet if what I thought was correct then these cards were rare and really powerful. Yet at the same time they had an obvious weakness. Unlike Spirit Evolution they remained defenseless against attacks pretty much because they have no armor.
"There's something that someone's not telling us." I can't say that Storm isn't talking about it because I have a feeling she doesn't know either; I got that feeling because she looked surprised when Kari had the sudden change of outfit.
I couldn't call what had just transpired a transformation though because nothing besides her clothes seemed to change. Well besides the obvious fact that she seemed able to use light. Yet if I had to guess she could also probably used shadows as well if her wings were any indication of what she was capable of. My train of thought shifted though back to what had happened after Storm got thrown; the card she had shattered. What happens now? Can she even fight anymore? Was Storm just going to be dead weight now? As far as I know her card was her only means of fighting.
"If we get attacked again there is no way we could manage it." I bit my lip as I tried to think about what to do.
I pulled out my D Tector and flinched slightly. The state it was in was horrible. The body of it was riddled with cracks if I thought it had a lot of cracks before I would be wrong. The screen was next to being shattered; shards of the screen were missing and a few looked ready to fall out. It was probably useless now in truth. If Koichi and Takuya's D Tector was in the same condition then we're in trouble. That would be four out of five that's unable to fight.
"Gatomon, are you awake?" I called her name and glanced at her, she didn't move through but she seemed fine.
Something wasn't right with that battle. Gatomon couldn't Digivolve and if you consider the battle we're facing that could be really bad. I looked back to Kari and I saw her Digivice slipping from her pocket. I hesitated but I grabbed her Digivice. It didn't look broken so why didn't it work? Wait the device that was attached to the guy's wrist. It was doing something since it was glowing. Had it stopped Gatomon from Digivolving maybe?
I gripped her Digivice as I looked around. I didn't want to move her at the moment but we couldn't sit out here in the open. At the moment there was no way to fight if we got attacked. I hated feeling useless but now wasn't exactly the time to wallow in that. I put both the Digivice and the card into one of my pockets before pocketing my own D Tector.
"What happened, Koji?" I almost jumped hearing Gatomon suddenly talk.
"Kari used the card and managed to get rid of the last shadow left standing." Gatomon looked confused but she walked over towards Kari and me.
"I don't understand why I couldn't Digivolve." I sighed and shook my head.
"I don't understand either but I think it had to deal with that light from the device that the guy had on his wrist." I was careful as picked Kari up.
"What are you doing?" I shifted Kari slightly so I had a better grip on her.
"The others went to look at what Takuya found and I don't want to stay out here by ourselves with no way to fight, it's to open out here." She looked around before nodded.
I was careful as I entered the cave; the light that barely existed in the place that Kari called the Dark Ocean provided little light for the cave. After a few steps there was no light but I was surprised. Suddenly patches of the wall lit up yet once my eyes adjusted I saw what had lit up, patches of moss had lit up. Some of the moss gave off soft pink light while other patches of moss gave off a soft blue light. I was still careful as I walked but there was enough light so I could see where I was going. I noticed that after I got so far the moss behind me stopped glowing.
Soon enough I reached moss that gave off light that were a soft red, pale yellow, and some gave off a bleak grey light like the light that just kind of seemed to exist outside. I noticed that blue and pink soon joined the colors of the light that the moss gave off. This cave is actually starting to creep me out now. After I turned the corner I found Koichi, Takuya, and Storm.
"Koji?" I nodded and once closer to them I placed Kari down so she was leaning against the wall but she was still out.
"At the moment I'd rather not sit out in the open." Takuya laughed slightly and Koichi had already looked away from me, he had said my name but quickly turned back to whatever he had been looking at.
"So it's pretty clear that this prophecy is about us." I looked at Koichi when he spoke while Takuya leaned on the wall.
"How do you know that?" From the way Storm was looking at the symbols something told me she hadn't translated it yet.
"Look at this; this is what Takuya wanted us to look at before we were ambushed." I was careful as I moved, the tunnel was actually kind of wide but I didn't want to trip over Kari's legs.
I moved so I was standing beside Koichi and I was taken aback by what I saw. I stared at what was on the wall. I couldn't believe my eyes. I blinked a few times and actually rubbed my eyes. There was no way what I saw was real.
"You're kidding me right?" Takuya leaned on Koichi and my shoulder as he joined in looking at it.
"Nope, what you're seeing is real Koji. It shocked me too; I want to know what the wall says now." I wanted to know what was there written in Digital Symbols now too.
"Thanks to the added light it's a bit easier to make out now, hopefully it shouldn't take long before I have it translated." I glanced at the symbols upon the wall.
I couldn't understand them one bit so how she could read it was beyond me. Then again from what I've seen she's an oddball. After that fight against Piedmon she had my trust, she could've left me there but she hadn't. She could've betrayed us as well but she hadn't. What bothered me though was her eye; her left eye was still different, it hadn't gone back to red but had instead stayed that blue with that symbol.