AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Happy new year! Hope 2023 is treating you well so far.
I just wanted to say thank you so much for the love on the last chapter! I haven't really had much energy yet, so I've not been able to reply to messages and reviews, but I will get to you I promise! Know that your love is very deeply heartfelt and it means the world to me.
Here's to 2023! May it be better and brighter for all of us.
ANOTHER SUNSET
Another spire. Another sunset. Another long trudge to find somewhere suitable for camp.
By the time Yamato and Taichi both agreed on a place to stay, the sun was already kissing the distant horizon. Daisuke set up his tent in the shelter of a great tree before collapsing in front of the fire with a heavy sigh. Veemon burrowed in to the sleeping bag and was out like a light.
Weeks of walking and fighting had left Daisuke tired right through to his bones, and too many nights on the cold, hard ground had left his muscles stiff and sore. What food they had brought with them had long since run out, and what little food they could forage from their surroundings went first to the digimon. The remainder might have fed Daisuke for a day, but when split with ten other people it did little more than provide a temporary relief from the cramps in his stomach.
Despite the Kaiser's defeat, his Dark Towers still survived as landmarks that loomed over deserts and village and colonies. Taichi had decided it was time they come down, and nobody had objected. It had felt exciting at first, tearing down the remains of the Kaiser's empire one tower at a time, but as each day drew to a close with them no closer to getting home, Daisuke had found his enthusiasm quickly waning.
By day they travelled from one tower to the next, here and there passing through villages of digimon who were more than happy to see the tower crumble to dust. Some of the larger villages were able to offer them a handful of food in exchange, but most barely had enough to feed themselves. The Kaiser's reign had left their supplies in ruins, and so Daisuke and the others were given little more than kind words and grateful smiles, neither of which would fill their empty bellies.
Each evening someone would check in with Mr Ishida, and tonight was Hikari's turn. She took Koushiro's laptop with a tired smile before taking herself away from the noise of the camp, settling beneath a distant tree just outside of their half-formed circle. Daisuke watched her greet Mr Ishida with a warm smile, but all too soon her expression tightened. The update from their side never changed (yes, everyone was still alive; no, Koushiro hadn't managed to figure out the gate issue yet), but the update from Mr Ishida changed regularly, and never for the better. More and more digimon were finding their way through to Earth, each seemingly more destructive than the last. Daisuke watched Hikari, trying to figure out just how bad the news was this time, but her poker face was too good; solemn enough for him to know that things hadn't suddenly taken a turn for the better, but no sign of just how much worse things had gotten since their last update. Eventually she bid Mr Ishida goodbye, her smile in place until the glow of the gate faded. She closed the laptop and set it aside before curling her legs in to her chest, resting her chin on her knees and staring out towards the horizon. In the shade of the broad tree behind, Daisuke couldn't help but think how small she looked.
He pushed himself up from the ground, biting back a groan at the ache in his legs as he made his way over. They didn't get many moments alone, but during the rare chances they did he felt like he was finally beginning to figure her out. How to cheer her up, how to make her laugh, topics best avoided… Sometimes, if they ever found themselves removed from the others, he liked to imagine that none of it was happening. That they were still at the lake by where he'd fallen off the cliff, and they were about to set off in search of more berries. Things had been easier then, if a little scarier (though, truth be told, it was a relief that his stomach no longer tied itself in knots around her).
Miyako dropped down beside Hikari with a heavy sigh. Daisuke blinked; his daydreaming had made him slow and he was still several paces away. He glanced at Miyako and gnawed the inside of his cheek. It wasn't so much the disappointment of losing out on some quiet chill time away from the others, it was that he had lost out to Miyako of all people.
(Okay, maybe he was mourning the loss of quiet chill time.)
Still, it was too late to turn back now – especially as Hikari had caught his eye and given him a small smile. So he grit his teeth and closed the distance between them, trying his best not to grimace as he sat down on Hikari's other side.
"How long has it been this time?" Miyako asked.
"A couple of hours." Miyako pursed her lips and sat back with a huff.
"Yesterday it was 30 minutes!" she moaned. "I wish it would make up its mind."
"So what's happening on the home front?" Daisuke asked.
"Nothing new since we last checked in," Hikari answered quietly, "but Ken thinks he might have found something useful. He said he'll be working for as long as he can before turning in if you want to contact him." She passed the laptop to Miyako who wasted no time in flicking open the lid and tapping away at the keyboard.
"Hi Ken!" She might as well have bellowed down a megaphone. Daisuke could almost feel his ears ringing and he grit his teeth to keep from snapping at her (although he noticed Hikari wince too, which suggested that he wasn't just being overly irritable).
"Good evening, Miyako."
Hikari didn't wince at that, and so Daisuke kept his mouth shut and ground his teeth together so hard he thought they might crack.
"Hikari's here too!" Miyako exclaimed, turning the laptop towards her. Hikari gave a small wave.
"It's good to see you again."
"You too," Ichijouji answered quietly.
"Daisuke's here too, but he's being a grump." Miyako span the laptop again and Daisuke stared at the screen, surprised by just how normal Ichijouji looked. Less 'evil mastermind' and more… nerd. He wore a thick-knit jumper broken by a band of diamonds around his chest and arms, and a well-pressed white collar was fastened tight around his neck. Daisuke couldn't think of a single person who would bring a shirt camping.
"Motomiya-san," said Ichijouji, bowing his head low. "I would like to apologise for my actions as the Kaiser. I understand more now than I did then, and I-"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Daisuke muttered, waving his hand at the screen. Ichiouji looked up in surprise and Daisuke turned away, glancing out towards the fading rays of sunset. "What's done is done. Words ain't gonna change that." He heard Miyako suck air through her teeth, but after a pause (and, probably, a silent intervention from Hikari), she huffed and turned her attention back to Ichijouji.
Daisuke was quick to zone them out. Even if he wanted to listen in, the stream of technobabble would sail clear over his head. And even if he could understand "geek-speak" (a phrase he was no longer allowed to say out loud after it had set Miyako in to one of her explosive rages), he didn't want discussion. He wanted action, and he knew there would be none until sunrise at the earliest. None of their partners were well-suited to fight at night, and so once they made camp it was a simple case of keeping their heads down until morning.
It was in these periods of tense quiet that patience wore thin and tempers tended to flair. Taichi and Yamato often found something to butt heads over, and when Sora intervened it was a coin toss whether she would be able to talk them down or ignite them further. Jou spent many nights sorting and re-sorting their packs and supplies, muttering about their lack of provisions – something Miyako seemed to take personally, seeing as her parents' store had provided most of their supplies. She had taken to sleeping as soon as their camp was set up, catching an hour or two of rest so she could work through the night with Koushiro and Ichijouji. Koushiro and Miyako had been fine in the early days, holding out hope for a simple fix, but now the persistent lack of a clear resolution was making them grim and grouchy.
(Daisuke didn't pretend to know enough about computers to have any idea of what was or wasn't working, but it was clear that Koushiro and Miyako had two very different approaches which usually left them shouting over the laptop. They had now taken to working separately, and somehow Ichijouji had become their mild-mannered middle-man.)
Daisuke envied the digimon then. They kept to their higher forms throughout the day, burning through their energy, and with food in limited supply they spent the nights sound asleep. Even from the other side of the camp, Daisuke could hear Veemon's breathy snoring.
"Oh no." Hikari's voice was barely above a whisper, and Daisuke glanced at her out of from the corner of his eye. She was staring at the fire, and when Daisuke followed her gaze he saw Taichi and Yamato hissing at each other through scowls. Sora sat to one side, arms folded and staring pointedly in the opposite direction whilst the others were quietly shuffling away from the feud. Yamato said something, too low for Daisuke to hear, and Taichi lunged for him. Yamato side-stepped, but Taichi's hands gripped his collar and the two went stumbling towards a nearby tent.
"Careful!"
"Watch out!"
"Look out for the-"
CRUNCH.
The camp fell silent as the tent collapsed, covering the pair in fabric and broken poles. For a moment nobody moved until there came a muffled squeak and a yell from within, and Taichi and Yamato untangled themselves from the mess. Patamon emerged, his short fur rumpled and a winged ear bent the wrong way, closely followed by Takeru, his hat crushed low over his head.
"What happened?" Ichijouji's tinny voice broke through the silence, and Daisuke heard Miyako frantically lowering the laptop's volume.
"Taichi and Yamato were fighting and-"
"Fighting?"
"Blowing off steam, no big deal," she answered, pushing her glasses back up her nose and glancing across the camp. "But it looks like… yeah, they broke a tent. Just great…" The others began crowding around the broken tent – Sora and Jou were inspecting the poles and canopy while Taichi and Yamato were murmuring quiet apologies to Takeru who was rolling his shoulder with a barely-smothered grimace. Daisuke heard a rustle at his side, but Hikari didn't move to join them.
"At least it's only a tent so it'll be easy to make a new one," said Ichijouji. Daisuke frowned, running the words through his head several times before tilting his head towards Miyako, who looked equally confused.
"Make a new one?" Ichijouji paused.
"You mean you can't… you've never made anything in the Digital World?"
"You can do that?!" Miyako gaped. Daisuke's curiosity got the better of him and he peered around the laptop.
"Just like… make stuff?" he asked. Ichijouji's shoulders crept up to his chin and his cheeks flushed.
"I thought… Well, I thought you would have… I mean, I knew, so I always assumed… You can't make things?" Miyako glanced up, frowning thoughtfully across the camp.
"I don't think so." She glanced to Daisuke and he shrugged. None of the others had ever mentioned making stuff, and surely if they knew how then Jou wouldn't have needed to ration their supplies. Ichijouji began typing, and a few seconds later a file appeared on the screen.
"I'm sending you the co-ordinates to my-" He stopped suddenly, the flush draining quickly from his face until he looked sick. He swallowed thickly and took an awkward, trembling breath, "To the Kaiser's base. Everything he… Everything Ihad in the Digital World, I created. You should be able to use the data in the systems to figure out how to do it."
"Do we have to go there?" Miyako asked quietly. "Why can't you just tell us how to do it."
"I… I can't really remember how." Daisuke narrowed his eyes and pulled back, disappearing from Ichijouji's view and turning back towards the fire as Ichijouji talked them through how to enter the base once they found it. It was all a little too convenient for Daisuke's liking that the former Kaiser just happened to forget what had apparently been the very key to his rule.
"It's a trap," he said bluntly when Miyako closed the laptop.
"I checked the area on Koushiro's map and it all looks clear-"
"Then something inside the base is a trap. We can't trust him." Miyako gave a furious huff.
"Why can't you accept that he's not the same person?"
"How can you forget everything he's done?" he retorted, pointing an accusatory finger at her. "Have you forgotten what he did to Hikari and Tailmon and Agumon and all the others? What he did to the Digital World?" She batted his hand away with a scowl.
"Is it really so hard for you to give him a second chance?"
"You wouldn't even be giving him a second chance if you didn't have the hots for him."
"I do not-"
"Then how come you spend more time talking to him than to any of us?"
"Because he's trying to help us!"
"He's trying to trap us-"
"I'm not the only one who thinks we should forgive him! Wormmon told me Ken never used to be like that – do you think he's got a crush on Ken too? Or what about Hikari?" Daisuke growled and turned towards Hikari-
He found himself staring at the tree. He frowned and looked around, finding himself alone with Miyako who was all to eager to continue her tirade.
"I think you're just jealous of Ken because-"
"Shh!"
"Do not shush me, Motomiya-"
"Miyako, shut up!" he hissed. "Where's Hikari?"
Hikari shivered, curling in to the roots of the tree and pressing the heels of her hands into her eyes until she saw stars. Hot tears blazed furious trails down her cheeks and she ground her teeth together, refusing to sob. Taichi wouldn't cry.
Then again, Taichi didn't feel the darkness all around them.
It tugged at her heart again and she buried her face into her knees. It was worse now, suddenly stronger, and she felt it pushing against her mind. She recoiled, gasping in wonder and horror as her skin began to glow, shielding her from the tendril of pressure pulsing against her thoughts.
"No – no – no!" she hissed, staring at her hands. "Stop it – please!" She flicked her hands, as though the light were water that she could shake off if she just tried hard enough, but the glow persisted. She hid her hands between her knees and pressed herself against the tree, eyes closed shut. The presence pressed against her mind, squeezing, and what little defence she'd scraped together quickly shattered. She clutched at her head.
"Leave me alone," she whimpered. "Please… Please just leave me alone-"
"Why are you afraid?"
The voice was all encompassing, wrapping itself around her in a gentle embrace and ringing with everything that was pure and bright and good. As Hikari opened herself towards it, she found the pressure in her head eased, and when she opened her eyes she found a gently-glowing orb dancing before her.
"Where have you been?" she whispered. "I needed you."
"Vamdemon's presence has made it somewhat difficult to communicate with you like this," the light replied. "Taking a physical form outside of a host requires great strength, but I have been watching. Your power grows stronger each day, and yet you do not use it. Why are you afraid?" Hikari shivered and dropped her gaze, staring down at her hands.
"Because all this is my fault."
Silence. Hikari's breath caught in her throat and she slowly glanced up, afraid the Light had abandoned her. It remained, hovering just above her.
"You really think so?" it finally asked.
"Vamdemon said… he said that his power grows when mine does. Every day that I get stronger so does he, and I can't stop it." The Light bobbed from side to side, and though it had no face Hikari could almost feel it smiling wryly at her.
"And have you never considered the reverse – that perhaps it is your power that is matching his?" She blinked. She hadn't; Taichi had certainly made it sound like Vamdemon's power was a reflection of hers, and not the other way around, but…
"How is that any better?" she asked quietly.
"It's not. It simply is." Hikari swallowed a frustrated scream. She curled her fingers in to her palms, feeling her fingernails biting at her skin. "You are two sides of a delicate balance that has existed since before the beginning, although this is the first time the balance has been so… focused."
"But how do we stop him?" she asked. There was a solemn pause as the Light flickered slightly, dipping slightly towards her.
"The brighter the light, the darker the shadows; there is no denying it. But there will come a day when the shadows are as dark as they can be, and only then can the light flourish." Hikari stared at the Light, repeating the words in her mind as an icy dread pooled in her stomach. She swallowed thickly.
"So we… we just let him get stronger?"
"You both must grow stronger."
"But for how long? Every day he could be hurting more and more innocent digimon, and now there are digimon back on Earth…" She thought of her parents and her words choked her. The Light didn't answer. Hikari wrapped her arms around her knees and took a deep shuddering breath, her thoughts spiralling around the idea of just sitting and letting Vamdemon's powers grow and grow.
And she would have to be stronger.
The thought made her shiver.
"It's only going to get worse, isn't it?"
"Many things get worse before they get better." Her stomach twisted. Today's check in with Mr Ishida had brought more reports of rogue digimon and, for the first time, casualties. Thirteen people hospitalised as a result of a collapsed bridge and another building being hastily evacuated, already on the risk of collapse. She closed her eyes, pressing her fingernails in to her palms.
"People are going to die," she whispered. "Not just digimon…" She blinked back burning tears and glanced up at the light.
"Too many," it agreed, its voice solemn and heavy, "and the longer you wait the more you will lose."
"We need to go home."
"I have been searching for a way, ever since you broke through Vamdemon's interference. But you should not waste this opportunity."
Opportunity? Hikari frowned. They were stuck in the Digital World with no idea of where Vamdemon was, or even which world he was in. They had been clearing up the Kaiser's mess, traipsing from tower to tower, which was good for the Digital World but it was hardly bringing them closer to defeating Vamdemon. The light bobbed lower, bringing itself into her vision.
"This is a chance for you all to grow. Vamdemon will not allow you to remain undisturbed forever; use this time to train, to work on your strengths and weaknesses. Learn. Grow." It pressed against her mind and Hikari's hands flared in response. She recoiled without thinking, blinking at the spots that danced in her vision. When the light spoke again, its voice was stern. "You must not be afraid."
"But I am," she said before she could stop herself. She tucked her fingers between her knees and shivered. "What if we can't do it? What if… what if I can't do it?" Last time it had taken a miracle to defeat Vamdemon, and even then it hadn't been enough to defeat him for good.
"You are not alone. Your light is not a single flame in the darkness; it is the focus of a thousand stars. Never forget."The orb flickered – once, and then again – and Hikari's heart lurched. "I am out of time. When I can help, I will find you again."
"Wait-"
But it was already gone. Hikari stared in to the darkness it left behind, her eyes slowly adjusting until she could make out the distant hills beyond the treeline. She sagged back against the tree, pulling out her D-3 and staring down at the screen. Off to the side, several dots floated around the screen, flitting this way and that before finally settling. The evening chill began to settle in around her; Hikari was dimly aware of its cool breath against her shoulders.
Tailmon joined her some time later, wordlessly curling herself into Hikari's lap and caressing Hikari's arm with her tail. Hikari held her paw tightly, grateful for her silent companionship. Her mind was racing, turning over the Light's words again and again. There was something there – a clue, a hint – if only she could figure out what.
The longer they waited, the more they would lose. They had to get stronger, the light and the darkness both, but she was not alone. A thousand stars. The longer they waited, the more they would lose, and with more and more digimon pouring into the human world every second was precious-
Hikari blinked, clutching her D-3 tighter. Every second was precious, and with the worlds no longer synchronised they had more seconds than ever; certainly more than the digimon rampaging through Odaiba, or Vamdemon if he had in fact found a way through to Earth. Knocking down the Dark Towers would not defeat Vamdemon, but it would strengthen their partners. Strengthen them. Already the long days had begun to change them. Taichi was returning to the leader she remembered, with Yamato playing it cool and level at his side and Sora ready to offer a voice of reason (or to intervene if tensions ran too high). Jou and Koushiro were once more their sources of caution and logic, with Gomamon helping to relieve Jou's constant state of tension and Tentomon reminding Koushiro that the Digital World didn't always behave rationally. A partner-less Palmon acted in Mimi's stead, flitting between each of them and doing her best to give to each what they needed; confidence to Jou, patience to Koushiro, a listening ear for Sora…
And Hikari couldn't ignore how Miyako's temper had been somewhat calmed by the long, hard hours (a fact that Hawkmon seemed endlessly proud), or how Daisuke and Veemon had hardened themselves to stand firmly in Taichi's shadow. Even proud, silent Iori had – as Armadimon so fittingly described it – come out of his shell; though still cloaked in quiet dignity, he was slowly beginning to say and do more within the group, acting with Daisuke as Jou and Koushiro did with Taichi. And as for Takeru… Hikari shook her head. She would think about Takeru when everything else wasn't quite so complicated.
Slowly, stiffly, quietly she rose to her feet, careful not to disturb Tailmon who had fallen into a heavy sleep. Her partner did little more than purr deeply as Hikari began making her way back towards the campfire, still wondering what exactly she was going to do with her conclusion. Every second was precious. They had to get stronger.
Yamato was sitting at the campfire, his head bowed as he stared down ad his hands. His digivice glinted as he looked up, his eyes meeting hers as though he expected to find her there.
"It's late," he murmured. Slowly he rose and he made his way towards her. "Are you okay?" She smiled and nodded.
"Much better." He smiled and reached out to ruffle her hair. She didn't try to avoid it.
"You should get some rest. Taichi's supposed to take next watch, but I didn't want to wake him until you were back." Hikari smoothed her hair.
"Let him sleep. I can take watch for a bit." As if on cue, a loud rumbling snore came from Taichi's nearby tent; loud enough to wake Gabumon who had been dozing by the fire. He blinked his bleary eyes, turning his head this way and that before spying them and giving a tired but contended smile.
"You sure?" Yamato asked. She nodded firmly.
"I dozed off for a while, so I probably won't sleep much more tonight. If I get tired, I'll let Taichi take over." Yamato's eyes narrowed a fraction, but he didn't challenge the lie. Instead he mussed her hair again before heading back to his tent, Gabumon walking slowly at his heels.
Hikari settled in beside the fire, setting Tailmon down in the nest of someone's blanket that Gabumon had just left. She listened as the rustling from within Yamato's tent slowly gave way to silence, and when the only sound left in the world was the distant rustle of leaves she glanced down at her hands.
You must not be afraid.
A flicker of light flared to life, dancing from one fingertip to the next. She swallowed her fear, silencing her uncertainty and allowing herself simply to feel. She thought about the last time she'd felt for her power – facing Dagomon alone in the Dark Ocean, desperate for anything that could help her fight. It had felt powerful then; dangerous and terrifying, strong enough to destroy a self-styled God and leave her feverish for days afterwards.
It didn't feel terrifying now. It didn't even feel dangerous. Now, as she watched the spark dance across her knuckles, she realised that it felt only warm. Hikari reached for it a little more, until her hands were covered in a gentle glow, and she let out a breath she didn't realise she'd been holding. It no longer felt ready to devour her – to encompass her so completely that she lost herself within it. Instead it felt comforting. Reassuring. Less an enveloping abyss and more a warm embrace. She relaxed in to it, opening herself up to the feeling, and as the light raced up her arms Tailmon gave a deep, contented purr.
Slowly Hikari looked up. Now that she had summoned this power, she would need to figure out what to do with it. She could remember the feeling of releasing it as an attack, but there was nothing nearby that could take the hit and the thought of releasing it into the sky made her uneasy. They had no guarantees that Vamdemon had eyes in the Digital World, but until they could prove that he didn't everyone had agreed it was safer to assume that he did. She tried to draw it back in but the light fought against her, simmering under her skin, almost pleading to be of use. But what use could it be if there was no enemy to fight?
Her hands flared and a surge of emotion rushed through her. An urge to… defend? No, not to defend. To protect. Yes, that was the right word for it; the light thrummed in response. But how? Something pulled at her – another urge – and she allowed it to press her fingers in to the ground. The light disappeared, rippling out beneath the surface of the soil. She felt it stretching out, passing underneath their circle of tents, and once everyone was safely inside its boundary the light shot up and over, closing in on itself like a dome.
At once Hikari understood, and she pressed more light into the earth until she felt dizzy. She felt the connection fade away and she rocked back heavily on to her heels, her skin damp with sweat. She felt lightheaded, like when Angewomon used to fly her too high up above the clouds, and she took several deep breaths to help the feeling along. When at last the world had stopped wobbling around her, she carefully rose to her feet.
There was no sign of the dome now but she could still feel it, and slowly she tip-toed out of the ring of tents. The barrier glistened as she approached, like a glimmer in the corner of her eye, and when she raised a hand to it it pushed back against her with a familiar warmth. It was firm and solid, though it didn't take much to push her hand all the way through. When she pulled her hand back in, the small hole slowly mended itself, and Hikari's heart soared. It wouldn't stand up to more than a child's attack, and even then for no more than a note or two, but it could get stronger. She could get stronger.
She took a deep breath, set her shoulders, and made a beeline for her brother's tent. They had wasted too much time already.
