A/N: Back to Kouichi. Then back to Takuya. Then…idk. We'll see.
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Wish Journeys 1.1
Three Brothers
Chapter 5/Kouichi
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They saw the smoke easily.
They'd lost the sphere at the Flame Terminal but that was okay. There were plenty of other ones. There had to be, so every Chosen could get their wish fulfilled if they found them and claimed them as their own.
It was surprising that there were a few Chosen who, still, couldn't find their five.
'Some Chosen don't want others to get their wishes.' Lopmon chewed at his lower ear. 'And then there are other wishes that contradict each others.'
Kouichi understood the second, but not the first. Why would mutually exclusive wishes matter to another person? If there was a conflict, then there was potential – but if they had nothing to do with each other than the only thing gained from hindering the other was causing pain to the other.
He laughed. 'Even in a world like this, where we've got more power than the natural inhabitants…'
Lopmon let go of his ear. 'That's why I like your wish. It'll change things for everyone.'
They looked at the smoke again.
'That must be someone who doesn't care what they cost for their wish.'
Because it seemed only the humans, the Chosen, were capable of things so big.
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They teleported across and found forest creatures fleeing and the smoke a thick shroud over the centre. Lopmon immediately covered his eyes and coughed. Kouichi used the cloth of the jacket he wore to cover his mouth and nose.
His mind raced: two thoughts at its forefront. How someone could burn those trees and chase creatures, of whatever sort, out of their homes, just for a sphere.
Though maybe he shouldn't think "just" when they needed it so badly for a wish.
But if it stops all this in the end, maybe the method doesn't matter…
It was a tiny inkling of doubt, of justification. He pushed it aside. Peace couldn't be brought by blood, they always said. And it was the same here.
The rest of his mind was trying to think of a spell that could remove both the fire and the smoke.
Clouds… He remembered finally. And rain…
He raised his staff, hoping he had enough aptitude for that spell.
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'I do wish you'd given me a little warning,' Lopmon grumbled, but good-naturedly as he shook himself almost like a dog. 'You may have overdone it.'
They'd both gotten soaked by the sudden torrent of rain.
'Sorry,' Kouichi apologised. Part of him wanted to shake himself as well, but the rest of him felt ridiculous for the very thought. 'I was just trying to stop the fire and smoke.'
There were some small creatures, almost blob-like in appearance, splashing in the puddles left behind by the rain. They were the only happy faces around.
'At least you got it to stop quickly enough.' Lopmon considered the sky, back to its normal blue state, than his companion. 'Or did to collapse from exhaustion instead?'
'I'm sitting down, not unconscious.' Kouichi rolled his eyes. Familiar, comforting, light banter after seeing that horrific scene.
And they hadn't even seen the start of the fire.
His mood darkened immediately.
'We can try and find them,' Lopmon suggested. 'If it bothers you that much. But you should probably get another sphere first. You'll be exhausted for days otherwise.'
'I'm not exhausted.' But his head spun when he tried to stand. Lopmon gave him an appraising look. 'I don't think I'm up for another spell right now,' he amended.
Lopmon crept closer and curled his ears around the other. 'I don't want to see another scene like this.'
Kouichi picked him up and hugged him close. He didn't want to see anything like that again either.
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Lopmon argued, but the sooner they found another sphere, the better. For two reasons: it might save an area housing one, and it'd make his magic more sustainable.
'Because you Chosen aren't actually a part of this world,' Lopmon explained. 'Most don't know this, but there's a time limit in which to find the spheres. The gate might be open for ninety days, but you can't spend ninety days in this world unless you find all five spheres in time. They're like the grounding force – that and the weapon given to you when you pass the test.'
Lopmon certainly knew a lot about the Chosen, and about the legends.
'Why did it start?' Kouichi asked. They paused longer than usual between teleportations. Just enough to break the flow and give him a little breather. It allowed for more storytelling. More explanations. More information. And more distractions as well.
'The calls for Chosen?' Lopmon shrugged. 'It has something to do with the Tower, but I don't know what. We can't get there without accompanying a Chosen.'
They teleported again.
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The nearest sphere happened to be in the ocean: the water sphere.
It was an ongoing drain on his energy to keep them all above the water.
And just how were they supposed to find it?
'I wouldn't worry about that,' Lopmon said, pointing. There was a shadow beneath the water. 'Spheres spawn monsters.'
But, under the water, it really didn't look like a monster.
As soon as they touched the water though, the shadow reared.
It looked like a sea dragon. Angry, firing ice. But when they stood on the air it ducked beneath the water and swam silently.
'It's waiting,' Lopmon whispered.
Kouichi gripped his staff tightly for support. If they didn't do something soon they'd fall into the water and, by that hostile show, it would be the end of them.
He ran through the possibilities in his head. Attack. Defend. Distract. All of them had pros and cons, but the most important one –
He gasped. There were smaller creatures in the water. Looking like tadpoles. Frogs. Dolphins. Normal fish. The giant serpent was doing nothing to them. It wasn't like in the forests at all, where first the monster had driven them out, then the flames that destroyed the monster.
Maybe it wasn't even right to call this one a monster. It seemed to be protecting the smaller ones from outsiders. From them.
Distraction then…
'What's a quick and harmless distraction?' he asked aloud.
Lopmon looked blank, but something else tickled from the back of his mind.
His staff lit up on his own. As did the screen behind his eyes.
Lots of lights, firing into the air.
The water thinning. The creatures moving away. A voice saying something. Falling, into the water.
Different colours. Tiny little lights growing, spreading, bursting in the sky.
Going deeper. Following blindly, unfocused.
A different sort of light. Sort of yellow. A pair.
Something a slightly different blue from the water. His hand nudged out. To reach.
Stretching his hand to something else as that yellow light sweeps him off his feet.
Loud sounds. Pain. Sirens. Screaming.
'Teleport! Teleport!'
The other voices were quieter, so he obeyed the loudest of them.
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He heard voices again. They sounded different. More calm. They slowly pulled him back.
He opened his eyes. Lopmon he knew, he expected – and it was comforting to know that chocolate-covered bunny was still there. He smiled.
Lopmon smiled back.
The other three were less familiar. One he did recognise: the Chosen from Flame Terminal. The other two he didn't. Companions like Lopmon, perhaps. He could have picked them up from anywhere, but he hadn't met them.
And they looked worried about him too.
That was awfully…kind of them.
'I'm okay,' he said to the room at large, sitting up.
'You two looked like you brought half the ocean with you,' the boy retorted.
He'd mentioned his name before. Kouichi searched his mind. Tatsuya? No…Takuya..? Yep, that sounded about right.
'I am fine,' he repeated. 'Lopmon?'
'I'm fine too,' Lopmon said. 'You were the one who used too much magic.'
'Right.' Kouichi rubbed his head. It didn't hurt so much as it felt uncomfortable, like a bit of skin had knotted up there. Or like he'd remembered something and was forgetting it again. Or he'd had a dream that was slipping out of mind and sight.
He felt something cold suddenly and blinked. He was holding a sphere: the water sphere. 'How..?'
'You got it out of the water,' Lopmon explained, 'after setting off these big flashing colourful lights over the ocean.' He had a silly grin on his face, surprisingly. 'How'd you know to do that? It was beautiful!'
'I…don't know.' He remembered doing something, but not what he'd done. But Lopmon's words had him thinking, digging around in his mind.
Then it clicked. 'Fireworks.'
'Fireworks?' Takuya repeated incredulously. 'You set fireworks up over an ocean.' Then he quietened, appearing despondent. 'That would've been a sight to see.'
'It was,' Lopmon agreed. 'Everyone there was staring at it. It was a piece of pie swooping in to grab the sphere – except for that little fainting spell. And that was probably the raincloud spell.'
'You caused it to rain?' the yellow creature asked.
'Don't be ridiculous.' The white one snapped the other's waistband, and the yellow one recoiled in pain.
Kouichi hissed. 'Don't do that!'
The white one blinked.
Everyone else had just winced at the sight, and now they stared at him.