"What do we do Senpai? Shouldn't we tell my parents about this? I mean if this thing is after us and can hurt us, even as Astral Projections in our sleep, then that means it's really powerful and absolutely real" Kai asked. Koichi looked to the side, deep in thought. Lady Ophanimon never said anything about this evil being after him as well. And he didn't have his brother with him at the moment. The black-haired boy's eyes widened. Was that part of that beings plan all along? Separate him from his twin, his Light so that he couldn't resist the corruption of evil again? Did the enemy want to turn him back into Duskmon? And what about Kai? What did he have to do with this? Yes, he was a bearer of Darkness too, but having it only as his Trait, made him a lot weaker than he himself was as the Legendary Warrior of Darkness.
Maybe the enemy wanted Kai as some kind of battery for Duskmon? Urgh, no, no, no! That wouldn't be it. Maybe he wanted to steal the powers of Darkness from him? Make Kai the new Duskmon instead? After all, Koichi himself had already been shown to be able to break from evil's control and choose to stay good. Both Kai and MJ were younger and much weaker in their mental and spiritual strength. If the blond boy was possessed by Duskmon, he doubted that Misa would be strong enough to defeat and purify her twin. Koichi thought long and hard about the possibilities, but couldn't come up with a better answer. But that still didn't explain why their mysterious enemy would go to all the trouble of marking them both. Maybe as insurance? Or maybe he didn't know which was which, and so was just going after both wielders of Darkness. That made sense. "Senpai?" the voice of the younger boy broke him out of his thoughts.
Koichi looked up at Kai, who was trembling with pain again, his blue eyes wide and scared. The ten year old looked so small and helpless, his fear clearly visible, while he breathed deeply and raggedly, trying to hold back his sounds of agony. The black-haired Digimon Warrior closed his eyes, trying to come up with anything to help. A form began to solidify in his mind's eye. Lowermon stood before him, matching his stare with his reddish-brown eyes, "what do I do Lowermon? How do I help this boy?" Koichi asked desperately. This may have started out as simply a mission given to him by Lady Ophanimon, but despite it only having been a few days of knowing Kai, he could already say that he truly wanted to protect him and his family. He knew just how horrible it felt to be used by the forces of evil, to feel like you could never be good just because of his Element. Kai was a very gentle and kind boy, but also very shy and unsure of himself. Just like he himself often felt. But Koichi knew that he always had Koji by his side to help him.
Even if Koji wasn't really around at the moment. MJ may have also been Kai's Light, but even she didn't know how her twin brother felt very often. "It's true that Darkness is often prone to being corrupted by evil, as we were once. But as long as the people around those who bear Darkness are willing to protect their loved one no matter what, it is possible to fight evil without allowing Darkness to be corrupted. When I first lived, my own brother, AncientGarurumon kept me pure while I protected him. The relationship between yourself and your brother mirrors this. However, young Kai doesn't have the advantage of sharing a body with the Spirit of one of the Ancient's. His Darkness is much more raw than your own, with no Spirit to lend mental support. Kai may have his own twin who is a bearer of Light, but both children are so young and inexperienced. I do not believe that they would be strong enough alone to drive off any evil that went after Kai" Lowermon explained to his human host.
"That's why Koji and I were sent here by Lady Ophanimon. To keep Kai from becoming a new Duskmon, and help Misa keep her brother pure, right?" Koichi asked. Lowermon nodded, "that is correct" he replied. The black-haired boy sighed and began pacing, "if that's true, then I don't know what the Celestials think we can do. No offence to Lord Seraphimon, Lord Cherubimon or Lady Ophanimon, but I barely managed to get free of Duskmon last time, and that was only due to Koji's unwavering determination to save me from evil. Right now Koji's in a coma, some evil has marked both myself and Kai, and MJ isn't strong enough to protect both of us from whatever is coming!" he exclaimed agitatedly. "That is also true, but do not forget, Koji and Misa are not the only ones with the power of Light at their disposal" the Dark Digimon replied. Koichi stopped pacing and turned to face his Digimon Spirit, "you're talking about Hikari-San aren't you? You seriously think it's a good idea to tell them everything?" he asked hesitantly.
Lowermon shrugged, "I don't see any reason why not. You've already told them everything else, and besides, if there really is some evil Digimon, or entity after the two of you, don't you think Kai's parent deserve to know about it?" he replied. The Dark twin closed his eyes in thought. With their enemy's highly visible and straightforward move, it was true that he didn't have much of a choice anymore. Neither did Kai. Hiding the truth anymore would just be a horrible idea with the new information they'd gained. It would be better to talk to the two adults about this and get their support in watching for their enemy's next move than trying to keep everything a secret. Eventually Koichi nodded, "alright, I'll tell the adults and their partners, but I'm not sure about the children and theirs. They might be too young to handle all of this properly" he said. The Legendary Warrior of Darkness raised an eyebrow, "aren't they only two years younger than yourself and Koji?" he asked. "Yes, but the two of us had the experience of saving our Digital World once already, and everyone's grown up a lot because of that. These kids haven't been through anything nearly as dangerous, especially with the peace in their Digital World that Takashi-San told us about" the boy replied.
Lowermon shrugged again, "alright then, it's your choice, but just stick to the facts, okay? The Takashi's are bound to have questions, and that is the easiest way to give them the answers" the lion-like Digimon replied. Coming out of his Spiritual plain, Koichi found Kai and Tokomon to still be staring at him fearfully. Remembering the younger boy's question, the Kimura squared his shoulders in determination. He stared deep into blond boys eyes, trying to convey as much determination and courage as he could, "let's go talk to your parents Kai" he said seriously.
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Koichi, Kai, MJ, TK, Kari and the Digimon all sat in the living room. Kai looked very nervous and clutched Tokomon in his arms. "Alright, we're all here except for the obvious, what did you want to talk about Koichi-Kun?" Hikari-San asked. The dark-haired boy closed his eyes, "first, I want to tell you the truth about what my brother and I are doing here" he began. Takashi-San nodded seriously, "okay" he said calmly. While Kai was extremely nervous about how his Papa would react, his earlier reaction to finding out about Koichi-Senpai's Element gave him some hope that the man wouldn't start shouting at least. "We were sent here from our Human World by the Celestial Digimon from our Digital one, namely, Lady Ophanimon for an important mission," Koichi began. Hikari-San asked a question next, "may we ask what this mission is?" she inquired of the boy.
The Dark Warrior nodded, "Lady Ophanimon told us that there was another bearer of Darkness in this world, and that, if he didn't have things explained to him soon, he may end up like I was when I was corrupted and possessed by Duskmon," he explained. Hikari-San gasped with horror and stared at her son, who was holding Tokomon so tight that the little Digimon began to whimper. Thankfully, Kai noticed this and relaxed his hold quickly. Takashi-San said nothing, simply continued watching the boy in front of him. "It was the job of Koji and myself to teach Kai about the positive aspects of his Crest, and how MJ could help her brother keep his Darkness pure- however, Koji is now in the hospital in a coma, and something else has happened that has brought me to the conclusion that I can no longer continue my mission as this currently stand" the Kimura continued. Gatomon frowned, "what happened?" she asked. Koichi became utterly serious now, no trace of lightness in his tone or face at all.
This caused everyone present to grow concerned. "Last night I had a disturbingly realistic dream. I was walking along and beach, but everything was either black or grey and there was a distinctly evil feeling all around me," Koichi began, but before he could continue, Kari gasped with horror. He turned to the first bearer of the Crest of Light with a frown, "I take it you've heard of this place then?" he asked. Kari tried to compose herself, while TK gripped her hand and Gatomon climbed up on her partners lap. The woman's face was still a pale white colour, but she swallowed and compose herself enough to speak, "I've been their twice. It's called the Dark Ocean and it's a dimension that exists alongside the Digital World. Nothing good ever comes from that place. It's full of darkness that is pure evil and when people go there, more often than not they end up corrupted by it. Ken Ichijouji, another Digidestined was sent their as a child. He was normally a very sweet and kind boy, so much so that his Crest is that of Kindness" Kari shivered.
"Ken had an object called a Dark Spore inside of him, but it only began to influence him after he went to the Dark Ocean. He became cruel and twisted, did horrible things. We eventually managed to snap him out of it and he went back to being kind and caring. But the Dark Ocean is Kens worst nightmare, and he's always afraid that he'll go back to being the Digimon Emperor because that Dark Spore is still inside his body. The Dark Ocean did that to him, and if you had a dream of that place it can only be because it's calling to you. I once had dreams of the Dark Ocean as well and it eventually drew me there as well." The brown-haired woman explained. Koichi nodded, "I see, well I'm afraid that what I saw was more than just a dream," he began. Everyone looked up at him, except Kai, who'd begun shivering uncontrollably. "Kai had the same dream as me: we were walking alone along the shore of the Dark Ocean. We feel an evil presence behind us, but when we turn to look, there's nothing their" Koichi paused and took a breath, this had been really traumatizing for him, to be in such a position all alone.
"We keep feeling this presence but every time we look there is nothing behind us. As we keep walking a shadow slowly engulfs us from behind and we panic and start running." As Koichi continued explaining their shared dream, Takaru-San and Hikari-San are looking more and more worried. "We eventually have to stop for breath and the evil presence comes up behind us and we whirl around trying to find what or whoever is following us but there's nothing. The cold is so intense by this point that it begins hurting our throat and lungs just breathing. Suddenly something hard and sharp stabs us in the back right between our shoulder blades. It hurts so much. It's like acid is being poured into our bodies from the stab wounds, burning through us and making us scream uncontrollably. We can't move, can't do anything except scream as the pain spreads through our bodies. Then I woke up. But the pain was still there. I managed to stumble downstairs, somehow keep from screaming or falling or both before finally making it to the bathroom.
When I got inside I checked my back, but what I saw horrified me, and even now, I still can't explain how it's possible" Koichi clenched his teeth, fighting the pain again. It was starting to get worse the more he talked about it. "What did you see on your back?" MJ's Salamon whispered. In response the black-haired boy stood, turned around and pulled his jacket and shirt off, making everyone's eyes except for Kai's widen in horror. No one could speak for a long moment as their eyes examined the four puncture wounds on the boys back. Hikari-San covered her mouth with her hand, "oh god" she whispered. Koichi clenched his teeth, "that's not even the worst part" he muttered, loud enough for everyone to hear him. Looking over at Kai, the boy took that as his cue to stand and also remove his shirt. Kari began tear up and TK stood up quickly, walking over to his son and gently examining the boys back. "Kai" he whispered, voice strained. Tears began to stream from Kai's eyes, "it hurts Papa," he sobbed, turning back to face his father, face contorted in pain and body freely trembling now that he was no longer holding them back.
When he turned around his Crest of Darkness was clearly visible hanging around his neck, but TK didn't even care about that anymore. All that mattered was that his child was trembling and sobbing in pain, tears streaming down his face. His baby boy was suffering, all because of this evil being. TK held him close, stroking Kai's hair, since he didn't want to hurt the boys back anymore than it already was. MJ looked horrified for her brother and quickly took her twins hand, holding it tight in her own. Koichi smiled slightly, but it came out in a grimace due to the pain he was still in. Kari noticed the slightly older boy's situation and pulled him into a hug as well, while being mindful of his own injury, "I promise we'll do everything in our power to help you with your mission Koichi-Kun. Well all work together to stop this evil, whatever it is" she promised.
Koichi let out the breath of air he didn't even realise he was holding. Slowly he let tears of agony trail down his face, shaking due to the pain of the puncture wounds on his back. He was more relieved than he thought he would be. She wasn't his brother, and he was still worried about his twin. But he was no longer as scared as he had been. Even if she wasn't Koji, Hikari-San still held the Crest of Light. Even with the worry about the enemy they faced, the woman's Light still managed to balance and soothe his inner Darkness somewhat. Plus if they all worked together, he was sure they would win. They had to.
To Be Continued
