25
Aftermath
"The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents." – H. P. Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu"
The day was wearing on. Takeru tensed when two objects broke the surface of the waves, then relaxed when he saw that it was Submarimon and one of the gray orca-like Digimon Iori had described. Submarimon's hatch rose, and Iori stood up.
"Takeru-san! Pegasmon! The fight's over. Could you come down here?"
The airborne pair descended, so that Pegasmon's hoofs hovered just above the water. As they drew closer, they could see that Submarimon wasn't looking too good. The surface of his body looked darker than usual, tarnished.
"Are you alright, Submarimon?" Pegasmon asked.
"I'm fine, dagyaa."
"We had to get through Octmon's ink to destroy the last Dark Tower," Iori explained. "By the way—" He turned to the gray sea Digimon bobbing next to them. "This is Orcamon. He lives in the town."
Orcamon turned his cloudy green eyes upwards to look at Pegasmon and his rider. He nodded slowly before speaking.
"The town is called Poseidonis," he said, then looked back down at the water for a moment, saying nothing. "It was called Poseidonis."
"I asked Orcamon to tell us what happened down there," Iori said. Turning again to the Digimon, "Do you know who attacked Poseidonis?"
"No," Orcamon answered, "but this isn't the first time. We've heard of other towns that they've attacked." He let out a heavy sigh. "It's always the same. The Dark Towers appear from nowhere, and those Digimon come with them." He blinked several times. "Most of my friends are gone… They took the little ones first. Like the Shakomon and the Ganimon."
"Orcamon…" There was compassion in Iori's tone. "Where did everyone go when the last Dark Tower was destroyed?"
Orcamon shook his head, a little violently. His eyes seemed clearer afterwards, and he spoke more quickly.
"There was a blue light from the tower. The enemies held on to those of us who were already beaten, and the light covered them…" Then, with awe in his voice, "And they were gone."
"The enemy… took your friends with them?" Takeru asked.
"Yes… If only Neptunemon…"
"Neptunemon?" Submarimon asked.
"Neptunemon rules this ocean," Orcamon answered. "But he hasn't done anything to help us."
Takeru and Iori looked at each other.
"I've never heard of him," Takeru said.
"Well, I guess we haven't done much in the ocean," Iori pointed out. "We just got the Digimental of Sincerity and tried to protect the Holy Stone that was underwater."
"Only ocean Digimon know about him," Orcamon said. "He stays in his palace in the deepest part of the ocean. We haven't seen him or heard from him in a long time, but we know he's still there. Maybe… maybe he forgot about us, or doesn't care."
"I don't understand what the enemy would want so many Digimon for," Iori said.
"Takeru," Pegasmon spoke up, "Do you remember Arkham and Kingsport? The Digimon there disappeared when the Dark Towers showed up. Do you think they were taken, too?"
Takeru thought about it. It was a plausible enough explanation. But why? As he had in Kingsport, Takeru thought back to his dream on the second night. Angemon tortured, unable to die. Was that what these Digimon were being used for? He told himself that the thought was ridiculous. His partner was safe; the nightmare had not come to pass. He shouldn't put too much stock in it. That's what he kept telling himself.
The evolution to Nefertimon had gone as planned. She carried both humans and the wounded Hawkmon on her back, out of the forest and out of reach of the flames which were consuming it. Hikari was worried at first that they might be too much of a burden, but the Fossil Wave did not seem to have had any lasting ill effects.
"I'm sure there is a Dark Tower inside that strange building," Hawkmon said.
"Yes," Nefertimon agreed. "We really should destroy it before going home."
"I think this should be our last one today," Miyako said. "The sun will be going down soon, and Hawkmon…"
"I'm fine, Miyako-san, really."
Anyone could see that it was a blatant misrepresentation, but Miyako admired him for it.
"Well, anyway, we should meet back up with the others soon. Oh! That reminds me. We should probably let them know we're alright."
By this time they had landed once more on one of the outcroppings.
"Can you walk, Hawkmon?" Miyako had been holding him in her arms as they flew, but now let him go. He landed on the stone platform, wincing as the pain flared up again in his side, and hoped that no one noticed.
"I'll be okay," he assured her. Nefertimon reverted to Tailmon, and the four of them walked once again into the shadowy tunnel.
"I hope there aren't any more Bakemon in here," said Miyako.
"I'm sure they've run off now that Coatlmon and Setmon are dead," Tailmon replied. For a while they walked on in silence. No matter how far into the structure they progressed, there always seemed to be enough light to see by, but the shadows were thick nonetheless. None of them were exactly relishing the experience, but Hikari liked it least. In the dark, one begins to think of unpleasant things. Since recovering from the paralysis, Hikari had been too caught up in the situation to do much reflecting, but not so, now.
Wanted alive. Coatlmon's words played themselves over and over again in her mind. He had uttered them as she lay on the forest floor, immobile, and for several minutes she had suffered all the torments of the nightmares until Holsmon had come to their rescue. Wanted alive.
Lying there, helpless, she had thought back to the first time she had entered the Dark World, in June of 2002. One the things that had looked like Hangyomon seized her arm, and had spoken to her. Only she had heard what it said; Angewomon was still aloft after destroying the Airdramon, and Takeru and Patamon were halfway across the beach. It was darkly ironic that she had been in fifth grade at the time, the school year they had taken sexual education classes.
Her friends and brother hadn't questioned her too closely concerning what had happened on the shores of the Dark Ocean. They could see that she didn't want to talk about it, and so left the subject alone after learning only the most general details. When asked what the things had wanted, she had falteringly made up a story, said that they wanted help overthrowing their ruler (or something like that, none of them had talked about it in a long time). She didn't tell them that the things had really wanted to – to –
Wanted alive. She didn't know what the fate of the others would be if any of them were ever captured, but she was sickeningly sure about what she was wanted for.
They continued walking, and as they progressed the floor sloped downwards, so gradually at first as to not be noticeable, but growing increasingly steep. Tailmon was the first to come to the end of the trail. The Dark Tower was there, as they had expected. It was standing in a cubical room whose ceiling was just high enough to leave room for it. The room was somewhat brighter than the rest of the structure, and they could see small square holes scattered about the ceiling, letting traces of sunlight in. Thanks to this faint luminance they could see that the room's walls were carved into a complex pattern, a confusing tangle of serpents and octopuses.
"I don't like this place," Miyako said. "Let's take care of this thing and get out of here."
"You've given up on the Digimentals, then?" the Dark Man asked.
"Not entirely," Sato Katsu said. "Knowing how to produce that kind of energy will be very useful to us. However, Setmon and Coatlmon fared much more poorly than I expected. They ran out of energy much too quickly, and their attack and defense weren't at the level we needed. Perhaps the power generated is not entirely independent of the Crests after all." He averted his face from the main screen and looked at the Dark Man.
"Where is Anubimon? We will need more Dark Towers to make up for those destroyed today. Lilithmon and her followers may have entered the human world, but it is still best to keep the barriers thin."
"I'll find him," the Dark Man said. "I'm glad you aren't feeling discouraged, Sato-kun. The day was certainly not a waste, with a troop of Digimon in the human world. And just how many generators are you up to now?"
"Almost nine full rows," Sato answered. He smiled for just a moment, long enough to add, "It won't be long now."
Indeed no, not long. The Dark Man had taken his leave of Sato, and put Anubimon back to work. Routine. But his visit to Wisemon was the high point of the evening. There was something special about that one. Every day he grew more powerful, more knowledgeable, absorbing all the arcana the Dark Man put before him with astonishing ease.
Standing on a rooftop, the Dark Man looked out over the wonderful city of Tokyo as the sun sank behind him in the west and the shadows that clung about his features grew darker still. He leaned over the rail of the roof and stretched a hand out over the pedestrian-filled streets below. He smiled as he felt each headache, chest pain, and sudden chill spring to life in the people who passed beneath his open palm.
The Dark Man laughed. Child's play! But Wisemon would provide the opportunity for some real entertainment. It wouldn't be long.