Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
A/N: Part of the next chapter is actually going to be in Luciamon's POV!
Following the Footsteps of Destiny
Chapter 95: A little Piece of Hope
Ryoko Ishida
Cyber, Western Hemisphere, Digital World
Ryoko slowly followed the others down the long corridor and glanced nervously over his shoulder. The castle was damp and dark inside, and the air felt strangely cold. The only source of light came from the flickering torches hanging from the walls on both sides of the narrow hallway, and the dim pools of light on the stone floor created a ghostly atmosphere within the large, almost menacing, structure. In fact, it was so cold he could actually see his breath.
"Can you guys believe Vampiramon and the others are actually keeping Gennai in a place like this?" Takara whispered, wrinkling her nose. "Poor guy."
Ryoko shifted closer to his digimon and made a face. "I can believe it. Why is it so cold in here?"
"Darkness," Ken murmured, his deep blue eyes darting frantically around the corridor. "This place is filled with darkness."
"What?" Mickey squeaked.
Ken lowered his eyes to the ground and did not respond.
"Can't you feel it, Mickey?" Matty gasped, clinging tightly to his twin's arm. "There's evil all around us. We'd better hurry up and find the crests before it swallows us whole."
"Matty! Will you please not say things like that?" the older twin wailed.
"Er...sorry. I'll shut up now."
Ryoko rolled his eyes at the younger twin and glanced anxiously at his uncle. T.K. had a hand on Ken's shoulder, and the look on his face suggested he, too, could feel the darkness hovering around them.
"I can feel it," Sam moaned, his face turning a nasty shade of green. "Please, Mickey, tell me you can feel it, too."
"I...I can, Sam. It's...it's horrible!"
"Maybe we're just imagining it?" Matty asked hopefully.
"No," T.K. said sharply, "the darkness is very real. We must be careful."
Ryoko winced at his uncle's words and hurried over to join Dai at the front of the group. He could feel a heavy weight pressing down on his shoulders, but obviously the sensation was not as strong as what Mickey and the others were feeling. He was certainly not immune to darkness, but it did not seem to be affecting him as it did some of the others. Dai, as usual, did not appear to have been affected in the slightest. The look on his face suggested he could fight the Powers of Darkness without lifting a finger and probably win.
I wonder why some of us are more vulnerable than others. Does it have something to do with our parents and things that might have happened to them in the past? Obviously some of our parents are feeling it, as well, but like Dai, Davis doesn't seem to be suffering too badly. Are we the way we are because of our parents? If that's the case then what could have happened to Ken to make him vulnerable to darkness, and what about my uncle? If only we knew more about the Dark Ocean...
"This way!" Luciamon called out, moving silently down the hallway. They reached the dead end Izzy had mentioned earlier, and the female angel pointed towards the left-hand tunnel. "According to Izzy we go that way, right?"
"That's right," Palmon agreed.
Ryoko glanced nervously down the right-hand corridor, but fortunately it was empty. "This place is giving me the creeps."
"You're not the only one," Alopemon muttered. "Come on, guys, let's keep moving."
They were about to head down the left-hand hallway when they heard voices coming from the right.
"Everyone get back!" Davis whispered, pushing his son towards a deep alcove on the right-hand side of the corridor they were currently standing in.
Ryoko quickly flattened himself against the wall with the others, and a moment later two ghost digimon floated out of the right-hand hallway and hovered at the point where the three corridors connected.
"Bakemon!" Ken hissed, his dark eyebrows narrowing into a frown.
"I'll be glad when the Digidestined are gone," the first Bakemon grumbled. "I hate guard duty."
The second Bakemon nodded in agreement. "I'm sure the boss will get his hands on them soon. I'll tell you one thing, though, it'll be nice to get back to terrorizing all the digimon villages on File Island again."
"Now there's an idea I like! Come on, we'd better get to the East Tower before Spritemon has another excuse to yell at us."
The two digimon moved off down the left-hand corridor and quickly disappeared from sight. There was a moment of tense silence, and after a minute or two Dai managed to find his voice. "I knew it! This place is swarming with guards!"
"Any more close calls like that and we're going to get caught," Ibismon muttered.
Ryoko turned to look at Davis, and the former Digidestined leader managed a weak grin. "Those Bakemon are probably long gone by now. Let's keep moving, and stick together."
They started down the left-hand corridor, and to Ryoko's immense relief the Bakemon had indeed gone down one of the many hallways located on both sides of the wall. They dutifully walked the twenty feet Izzy had mentioned and found themselves facing another left-hand corridor.
"This is the place," Embermon whispered. "Let's move before we run into any more Bakemon."
They quickly hurried down the hallway and reached the dead end they had expected to see. Ryoko took one last look over his shoulder before slipping through the weak point and gasped when he found himself standing in a dark stairwell.
"Now we wait," Gabrielmon said quietly.
Almost immediately an e-mail popped up on T.K.'s D-Terminal, and Ryoko leaned around his uncle's arm to read it. It said:
T.K.,
So far you guys are doing great. Alright, once you reach the top of the stairs I want you to go right. Follow the hallway until you reach a four way intersection and take the corridor on the left. Another weak point is located on the right about ten feet down the hallway. Step through it and you'll find yourselves standing in a stairwell that leads to the third floor. By the way, I know exactly where the crests are because their signals have appeared on my map of the castle along with the signals of your Digivices. (Obviously!) They're up there alright, and I'm going to make sure you guys reach them as soon as possible. Now, as for your question, I didn't respond earlier because I'm still trying to come up with an answer. You're right, you know. The fact that the other Digivices might be responding to the crests is the only explanation that makes sense. They obviously must be reacting to something in the castle because their light, although not as strong, has intensified, as well. It's a good theory, but I can't even begin to explain how it's possible. Maybe I am losing my touch! I think we'll let Gennai answer your question. He'll know. You guys had better keep going. Good luck!
Izzy
P.S. Ken, Yolei told me to tell you you'd better be watching Sam like a hawk!
Izzy's comment brought a small smile to Ken's face, and Davis waved his hand towards the stairs. "You heard him, let's go. ExVeemon, you and Stingmon had better go up first."
They reached the top of the stairs, and Ryoko almost ran into Takara when the group suddenly came to an abrupt stop.
"What is it?" Angemon whispered.
Ryoko wriggled his way to the front of the group and clapped a hand over his mouth when he spotted a digimon standing only a foot away from Dai. She had her back turned towards them, and it was obvious she had been instructed to guard the stairwell. Unfortunately for her she had chosen the worst possible moment to let her guard down. He glanced at his D-Coder and realized it had already picked up the information he needed in order to figure out what they were up against. According to his Digivice, the digimon in front of them went by the name of Harpymon, and she was definitely the type of digimon he would prefer not to mess with.
Davis motioned for ExVeemon to get rid of her, and the reptile digimon slowly crept forward. There was only one problem. Ryoko had forgotten to cover his Digivice with his hand, and the blue light, mixed with green, shone faintly on the stone wall in front of Harpymon. The female digimon must have noticed it because she suddenly turned around, and ExVeemon had to clap a hand over her mouth to stop her from crying out. "A little help here, guys!"
Gabrielmon immediately leaped forward and shoved his glowing sceptre directly into her heart. There was a flash of blinding orange light and Harpymon disappeared into data.
"Oh, that was brutal!" Mickey moaned, covering his face with his hands.
Gabrielmon slipped his arms around his partner and hugged the older twin close. "I'm sorry, Mickey, but we had no choice."
"It's never easy being a Digidestined," T.K. said quietly, his hand coming to rest gently on Mickey's shoulder.
Matty nodded in agreement, and although he looked a bit uneasy, he managed a nervous smile and stubbornly refused to leave his brother's side.
"You don't think anyone saw the light coming from Gabrielmon's attack, do you?" Takara gasped, gazing anxiously down the stone corridor. It was empty.
Dai snorted and shook his head. "No. If anything Ishida was the one who almost gave us away!"
Ryoko felt his face turn red, and he quickly looked at the ground. Dai was right, for once, but there was no way he was going to admit it!
"We'd better get out of here and quick," Ken interrupted, gazing anxiously down the stairs. "Someone might have heard all the commotion, and I don't want to be standing here when they come to investigate."
"Me either!" Luciamon giggled. The angel digimon had not even blinked when Gabrielmon had destroyed Harpymon.
Maybe she's used to seeing digimon get turned into data. After all, she does live in the Western Hemisphere, and I bet she's seen Vampiramon and her buddies hurting a lot of innocent digimon.
"I couldn't agree more. Let's go," Palmon whispered.
They turned right and quickly started down the hallway towards the four way intersection Izzy had mentioned. They made it there without encountering any evil digimon and turned left down the corridor that led to the weak point. Ryoko was the last one to step through the wall, and he had just entered the stairwell when he heard a voice coming from the hallway where he had been standing only a few seconds ago. He gazed in horror at the weak point and spotted a large, slimy looking digimon standing on the other side of the wall.
"That's a Raremon," Angemon informed them.
"That has got to be one of the ugliest digimon I've ever seen!" Takara muttered, wrinkling her nose. "He makes Ogremon look like you, Angemon!"
"And he doesn't exactly smell very good either," Angelicmon complained.
"Who's he talking to?" Embermon asked.
Another figure suddenly stepped into the torchlight, and Ryoko let out a gasp. "That digimon looks like Gatomon, but there's something different about her. She looks...evil..."
"My D-Coder says that's BlackGatomon. She's a champion level virus type digimon," Dai whispered.
T.K. nodded and glared silently at the cat digimon. "She becomes LadyDevimon."
What? Is my uncle serious? But...if that's the case then does that mean LadyDevimon is an...angel? A...fallen angel?
Mickey's mouth dropped open, and he stared at his father in horror. "Is...is she the same LadyDevimon Agumon and Veemon mentioned earlier?"
T.K. held both of his sons protectively against his chest and slowly shook his head. "I don't know, and I don't want to know."
"What do you think this is, break time?" BlackGatomon snapped, crossing her arms. "Don't just stand there like a big hunk of sewer sludge! Start patrolling your area! Honestly, sometimes I think I'm the only digimon who does any work around here!"
"Alright, I'm going," Raremon grumbled, moving off down the hallway and disappearing from sight.
BlackGatomon glared after him and turned up her nose. "I should report him to the master."
She bounded off down the hallway, muttering to herself, and once again the place was silent.
"That's one nasty kitty!" Luciamon snorted.
"No kidding," Dai whispered. "Come on, and be careful climbing the stairs. There might be another digimon waiting for us on the third floor."
"I hate this place!" Sam moaned, his whole body trembling with fear. "I want to go home."
Ken's whole face crumpled into a look of despair, and he pulled Sam into his arms. "I know, Sam. I don't like it here either, but we have to find the crests."
"No, Dad! I can't take it anymore! There's evil all around us, and it keeps trying to get inside me!"
"Sam, are you okay?" Glowmon cried, fluttering anxiously around his partner's head.
Sam buried his face against his father's chest and did not reply.
"What do you mean?" Takara squeaked, glancing at the stairs as if she expected to see some dark figure hovering over them.
Mickey sighed and gently placed his hand on Sam's shoulder. "The darkness around us has a life of its own. It keeps pressing closer, as if it's trying to get inside our hearts. It's hard to explain, but I think I finally know exactly what Agumon and the others meant by the 'Powers of Darkness'."
"How come you're not as scared as Sam is?" Dai asked curiously.
Mickey pressed Angemon's feather against his heart and smiled up at his father. "Sam was right, you know. The darkness can't harm me or Matty if I don't let it."
"And the same goes for Sam, as well," Angemon said quietly.
T.K. did not bother to respond. He just beamed at his son and gave the darkness around them a triumphant smile.
Matty suddenly scrambled forward and threw his arms around his brother's neck. He buried his face against the older twin's shoulder and let out a soft sigh. "Mickey, I wish I could be more like you."
Mickey jumped, clearly startled by his brother's strange behaviour, and shrugged his shoulders. His face had turned a bright pink, and the look he gave Matty was filled with surprise.
"Sam, I know you're scared, but you have to be quiet otherwise we'll get caught," Ken whispered softly to his son.
"If I can do it then so can you," Mickey said quietly in his friend's ear.
Sam let out a whimper and did not reply.
Poor Sam. What are we going to do? He won't even listen to Mickey, and Mickey's the one person in our group everybody listens to! Even Matty listens to his brother...most of the time.
Ryoko certainly felt proud to have Mickey for a cousin. The older twin was one of the few people who could see past his cold exterior. He had seen his uncle give Mickey Angemon's feather, and for some reason that simple gesture seemed to have boosted the older twin's spirits more than anything else had so far.
"Are you guys sure you don't want to split up?" Luciamon asked hesitantly. "Some of us could head to the dungeons and get Gennai, and the rest of us could-"
"No," Davis interrupted, his dark eyes narrowing into a frown. "We're staying together, and that's final."
Luciamon gazed angrily at the former leader, but the frustration in her pale blue eyes quickly faded before Ryoko had a chance to figure out if he had just seen what he thought he had seen, and she smiled. "Alright. Well, what are you guys waiting for? Let's get to the third floor before someone spots us."
Ryoko watched the female angel flutter up the stairs, and an icy shiver raced down his spine. For some reason Luciamon kept insisting they split up, and he had no idea why.
Did I really just see what I thought I saw? Why would Luciamon want us to get separated, and why do I suddenly have the feeling she's hiding something from us?
He did not know why he felt so uneasy, but all of a sudden the darkness seemed to press even closer to him, and he placed a hand over his heart in an effort to keep the evil he felt from trying to enter his soul.