Series: Division of Destiny||Story: Reign of the Undead King||Chapter: The Spy
Characters: Piemon, Vamdemon, Chosen Children, others||Pairings: Ken x Daisuke/Daisuke x Ken, Mimi x Sora/Sora x Mimi
Chapters: 4-40||Words: 2,791||Total: 10,879
Genre: Romance, Drama||Rated: PG-13
Summary: Vamdemon and Piemon rule supreme. Only now, ten years after their victory, are things about to change. For good or for ill.
Wind tugged at his clothes as he soared through the air, his attention kept sharp and alert for any sort of danger. Human or Digimon, he wasn't very particular about which type, so long as he avoided it. For all of his caution, he didn't feel he had much to worry about; humans tended to avoid Digimon, treating them all as enemies, and there wasn't a Digimon there who didn't know who he was.
Sometimes having the reputation that he did didn't set well with him, but his options were limited. He wouldn't go back to the Digital World, no matter how often Gennai wished him to. He had to keep a watch out for her.
For them, really, now, and it hurt to know how close they were and yet didn't know each other. Not the way that he felt they should have.
Wizarmon landed on a tree branch and looked out over the city. When they'd first arrived in this world ten years earlier, the same view had been bright with lights and alive with people moving all over, no matter the hour. Now only a few select areas, those where Vamdemon's servants and slaves ruled supreme, had the benefits of electricity, and humans who dared to move around did so with the greatest of caution.
Somehow, this all had to end. He'd spent most of the last decade searching for some way to bring that end about and for all of his efforts, almost nothing had changed.
He closed his eyes for a few moments, wondering yet again how all of this happened. He couldn't help but feel it was wrong on some level, but for all of his efforts, he still didn't know how to fix it. He didn't know if it could be fixed.
Standing around here wouldn't do anything, though. He leaped back into the air, eager to continue his patrol. He wasn't searching for anything or anyone in particular at the moment; simply checking to see if everything remained as it should. At least, those were his standard orders from Vamdemon.
Wizarmon liked to interpret them a little differently. If he found something or someone who needed help, he would find a way to give them that help without them realizing that he'd done it. Humans wouldn't want to know that he'd helped him, nor did he want them to know. They needed to fear Digimon, at least for now. It would help them survive if they didn't treat the invaders as potential friends.
One day, he hoped, humans and Digimon could learn to live in peace with one another. But for that to happen, Vamdemon and the Dark Masters would have to be defeated. And for that, they needed…
Well, he didn't know what they needed, only that right now, they didn't have it. He'd thought they needed Chosen Children once upon a time, and had positioned himself in Vamdemon's army in order to help at the right moment. That moment hadn't ever come. Disaster had instead.
Never, ever would he forget the moment when Vamdemon and PicoDevimon, as he'd been then, returned to the castle from some trip or other with a fresh captive in tow. The raw, bloody wound on her neck spoke of what had already happened to her, as did the terror on her unconscious features.
He'd often thought about what might've happened if he'd followed his instincts and rescued her, taking her to Gennai instead of leaving her to rise up again as Vamdemon's follower. Could Gennai have changed her so that she wasn't…like she was now? Vamdemon's obedient and eager servant…
Wizarmon pulled in air through his nose and shoved the thought away as he had countless times before. What was past was past and he needed to focus on how to fix what had happened already, not trying to undo events that happened ten years earlier.
He would need to contact Gennai soon and see if the other had any new information from his side of the gate to report. So far, he himself didn't, and that worried him more than he wanted to admit. He expected the humans to do something more than cower in the shadows. He wanted them to do something more than that. The Chosen – such as they'd been – hadn't been a rare breed, had they?
Perhaps if he tried to communicate more with humans, he could find some willing to do something about Vamdemon. It wouldn't be easy; there were plenty of them who served their new masters without question, and if he revealed his true allegiance, he would be finished in a matter of moments. It was hard enough keeping his loyalties safe from Vamdemon as it was.
But perhaps Gennai could give him a hand there. He'd mentioned a few times that there were 'those he was in contact with', but he'd never specified whether they were human or Digimon. It wouldn't hurt to press a little, especially since he gathered Gennai wanted him to do just that. Exactly why he didn't know. But it wouldn't hurt at all to find out.
"Wizarmon?" He knew that voice and came to a rest on top of the nearest unbroken building as he turned to the speaker.
"Yes?" He didn't like addressing Vamdemon's vampire servants by their names. It reminded him too much of the people they'd once been, especially since none of them had aged since the day of their turning. To see the face of someone who might once have been a friend and who was instead wholly committed to Vamdemon nursed a deep pain in the wizard. "Can I help you?"
The one who'd once borne the Crest of Courage landed next to him, arms folded over his chest. "Have you seen any good prey in the area? I need to eat."
He didn't want to be asked that. "I haven't seen any humans in the area, I'm afraid. They seem to all be under cover tonight."
Yagami Taichi frowned, drumming the fingers of his right hand on his left arm. Wizarmon could still see the ghostly echoes of the boy who'd once led the Chosen in his eyes. He'd never met this one until after he was turned, but he'd heard descriptions, and he knew how the change could alter a person. That boy would hate what he'd become. Wizarmon was certain of it. "I'm hungry."
As if that would somehow conjure up someone for him to sink those fangs into. Wizarmon held himself back from saying that, though. He didn't like this at all, but he did what he had to do in order to protect himself, as always.
"As I said, I haven't seen any, but I think you could find some over in the fourth area." Humans used other names for the dividing of the city, once upon a time, but with Vamdemon's arrival and the subsequent battles and raging Digimon attacks, the invaders took to calling districts by names of their own choosing. The fourth area had once been a vast entertainment district, or so Wizarmon guessed from the broken remains of buildings that littered the area. Humans did indeed live there, though few moved around this time of night.
Taichi licked his lips. "I hope so. Master claimed the prize of the hunt tonight."
As if that was anything unusual. Vamdemon had several thousand years on his progeny.
"Good hunting." Wizarmon prepared to take off again, assuming the 'interview', such as it was, was at an end. Taichi shook his head, and Wizarmon brought himself back down. "Yes?"
"There's a hunter out there somewhere." Taichi gestured toward the second area, which encompassed a huge park, or what had once been a park. Without the sun to keep it going, the plants were dying off. "He almost hit me. I think he had a crossbow."
Wizarmon blessed his years of experience in hiding his true emotions. Someone had actually attacked Vamdemon's most trusted vampire servant? The most famous of the Chosen vampires? Someone was actually fighting back? Every dream he'd thought dead only minutes earlier sprang up fresh and new in his heart.
"Are you certain it wasn't just an accident?" He did his best to look deeply concerned. After all, if someone were to attack a vampire, they might well try to attack him. They both flew around, and humans couldn't see in the darkness as well as Digimon could. Mistakes could happen.
"I doubt it. Not with a crossbow." Taichi rolled his eyes. "I'm going to tell the Master about this when I get home, but I thought you should get a heads-up too."
"Of course, of course. I would have done the same thing." How convenient it was that vampires couldn't read minds. And that he'd learned to lie with a straight face years ago.
Taichi nodded; like everyone else, he completely believed in Wizarmon's loyalty to Vamdemon. He leaped up into the air, hovering for a few moments. "If you see anyone with a crossbow, make sure to take them alive. I could always use a fresh meal and I'm sure Master would have a few questions for them." He flashed his fangs in something that might've been a smile, once up on a time, and soared away.
Wizarmon fought back every scrap of reaction he wanted to have. He knew far too well how sensitive a vampire's hearing could be, and he refused to let even the slightest sound of a sigh escape where the other stood a chance of hearing him.
Yet that hope burned brighter within him, and he took off himself, circling around to the castle. For all intents and purposes he'd finished his patrol already and he looked forward to having a little down time.
At least, after he talked to Gennai and found out what, if anything, the other knew about this sudden appearance of a human with a crossbow.
Contacting Gennai wasn't always an easy matter, especially since Wizarmon needed to make certain that no one found out he was doing so. He'd only been in touch with the old man for a couple of years, and he knew quite well both of them hadn't told each other everything about what their plans and goals were. He didn't fully trust Gennai and he didn't expect Gennai to trust him. After all, he was one of Vamdemon's warriors, for all intents and purposes.
That didn't stop him from passing along what bits of information he could, and taking what Gennai could give to him. There wasn't much that he could do with said information, but he tucked it all away in hopes that he could one of these days.
Perhaps now I can. He let the hope burn bright, but he tried his best to keep it reasonable. For all he knew, Taichi would arrive back at the castle any moment with the crossbow user's head and the whole concept of a resistance would collapse.
He moved his hands quickly over the communicator's controls, sending out the message to Gennai. He couldn't be certain the other would respond right away; he had a lot of his own work to do that wasn't just talking to Wizarmon.
Today luck seemed to be with him, however, as after only a few minutes, the static on the screen resolved into Gennai's ancient features.
"Greetings, Wizarmon." Gennai nodded slightly, his voice pitched low to avoid being overheard by anyone in the area. Wizarmon's quarters were set a little away from everyone else's in the castle, ostensibly because of his need to experiment with magic now and then. No one wanted to interrupt him and suddenly become a talking slime mold that had nothing to do with Raremon.
Even though that had only happened once, and he'd managed to change PicoDevimon back. The little creature – not so little these days, really – hadn't ever forgiven him for that. Wizarmon didn't care; if he could, he would've done it all over again.
"Gennai." Wizarmon nodded back at him, keeping his own voice low. Despite people keeping away from his quarters, he still preferred not to take any chances.
"How are matters on your side?" Gennai got right to the point, something Wizarmon approved of.
"Very little has changed…except one thing, tonight." Wizarmon told him in as few words as possible of what Taichi had told him of the crossbow wielder. "Is this anything that you know about?"
Gennai didn't answer right away, a thoughtful look to his eyes. "Perhaps. I would have to speak to others to be certain. But this could be a very good sign indeed."
Wizarmon made himself fight back the thrill that shot through him. As much as the hope lived, he wanted to keep it under control and not hope too much. He didn't want it to shatter, or worse, fade away because nothing more happened.
"What else can you tell me?" As always he chose his words carefully when he asked questions. Sometimes Gennai would answer more fully to some phrasings than to others.
"That I've been in touch with people who have been working to build a resistance network on Earth that will work in tandem with the Digimon I'm organizing here." Gennai met Wizarmon's eyes directly. "They will need a great deal of help that can best come from someone inside Vamdemon's fortress."
And there would likely be help needed from within Piemon's as well, but Wizarmon knew better than to ask about that. On the off-chance that anyone uncovered him, the less that he could tell, the better.
And he would tell, if he were caught. Vamdemon would take pleasure in making certain that he did. Which was why he went out of his way to make certain that he didn't give himself away, no matter what he had to do in order to protect his secret.
"What do you expect me to do?"
"It will take some time, but I can set up a meeting between you and…one of the others. You can work out the details between you then. They'll know better than I what you can do together."
For the life of him, Wizarmon couldn't remember ever having met any actual human beings. He didn't count the members of Vamdemon's pack. The thought of doing so sent odd little chills all through him. He'd never felt as if he were missing someone or waiting for someone, but to actually meet a human, and speak to them as an equal, not as a member of an invading army…
He hoped he didn't make too much of a fool of himself.
"Very well." Perhaps, he felt, he should think about this more, but he knew that his decision now would be the same as his decision in a week or a month. They needed to fight against Vamdemon and his allies, and the delay in doing so had only let the vampire and the clown's forces get so firmly entrenched that two worlds would never be the same again.
Gennai nodded in approval. "I'll make certain they know and contact you when we have a specific time and place."
Wizarmon suspected that might take longer than either side agreeing to meet in the first place. Finding a location where everyone could be assured that Vamdemon's forces wouldn't find them could take days, if not weeks. He would have to look up a few places and see what he could suggest. Though with any luck, the humans wouldn't accept wherever he ended up having in mind. Without knowing him, they would be smart to be paranoid.
Not that he wouldn't give whatever locations they suggested a few wary looks of his own, for exactly the same reasons. He had only Gennai's word that these people were working against Vamdemon.
Gennai wasted no more words, but closed off his end of the transmission. Wizarmon slid the device out of sight and crossed over to the small window cut into the wall. It was a sign of his rank that he had such an opening at all, or that it even existed in a vampire's castle, even with the land enshrouded in darkness.
He would have to keep himself occupied until he knew more about this meeting with this possible resistance. Perhaps he could visit…her.
She looked nothing like she once had, and at times he wondered if she even remembered him properly. But it had been quite some time since he'd seen his best friend, and he didn't want to lose track of her entirely.
Besides, if this resistance could accomplish anything, he might end up needing her help as well. Assuming anything remained of his friend to want to help him.
To Be Continued