Series: Division of Destiny||Story: Reign of the Undead King||Chapter: The Past
Characters: Piemon, Vamdemon, Chosen Children, others||Pairings: Ken x Daisuke/Daisuke x Ken, Mimi x Sora/Sora x Mimi
Chapters: 5-40||Words: 2,534||Total: 13,404
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.
Gennai closed down the communications device and leaned back in his chair, considering the conversation he'd just had. Trusting Wizarmon wasn't a mistake; he knew that down to his bones. The wizard Digimon was no more loyal to Vamdemon than Gennai himself was. But whether or not the humans of the resistance would see it that way was something else altogether. He couldn't predict their reactions. None of them had any real reasons to trust Digimon at all, and he couldn't blame them after the last decade.
But this was something that needed doing. Trust needed to be built and bonds forged between humans and Digimon. He'd hoped that the Chosen would be the ones to do that, bringing them all together. That was what he'd imagined for the future.
And then Vamdemon screwed it all up. Not that Piemon hadn't had a hand in it, but it had all begun with Vamdemon. In one moment, without even realizing it, he'd broken a prophecy that he likely hadn't even known existed, and set the course of two worlds skittering down the path to ultimate destruction.
Well, now Gennai would have to come along and put everything back together the best that he could. At least he had people who could help him, on both sides of the gateway.
Even if most of them weren't ones that should've had a hand in this. As much as he didn't like it, he had to work with what he'd been given.
He rose to his feet, wincing at the pains in his shoulders and sides. His injuries had mostly healed already, but the scars pained him still. He wasn't as young as he'd once been, and Piemon took great care to remind him of that fact whenever their paths crossed.
Those crossed more often than he would've liked anyway. At least it enabled him to keep an eye on Takeru, Yamato, and Koushirou as they grew up, even if he couldn't get them away from him. He'd tried. He'd lost count of how often he'd tried. Piemon remained three steps ahead of him from the beginning.
Now wasn't the time to reflect on that, though. He could handle them another time, when this monstrosity of a war had ended and Piemon couldn't remain three steps ahead of him because he wouldn't be there anymore.
He'd already contacted Osamu for the night, and if his judgment of the human cycles was correct, the young man would've already gone to bed. He would have to wait another day before letting him know what was going on. That was all to the good; he needed time to put all of this into a way that would encourage the resistance to accept what he offered anyway.
Every step wearier than he wanted, Gennai moved from the communications room to the main room of his underground home. Despite his best efforts, Piemon still couldn't find this place, and Gennai made certain of that by any number of ways. He didn't have much, but if this place was ever discovered, it would put paid to the slow growing rebellion in two worlds.
"Gennai?" He looked over to see Leomon there, having just entered from the training area side of the house. "You spoke with him?"
"Yes." Gennai nodded; Leomon knew most of his plans and had helped to forge almost all of them. He liked nothing at all about what had happened to those human children he called his friends, be it the ones Vamdemon mastered or the ones Piemon brought up in his own evil ways.
Leomon nodded; they'd discussed for days the chances of getting Wizarmon to work with the humans' resistance movement. "Do you think any of them could be suitable?"
"I don't know." Gennai glanced toward his research room; he'd spent most of his spare hours trying to find a way to bond humans and Digimon together in different ways from what he'd done before. "I don't even want to ask them about it." Not yet, anyway. There were too many ways that it could all go wrong. Let them get to know each other first. Let the bond grow, let friendship grow between them, and then work on something more.
"I saw Takeru while I was out." Leomon's deep blue eyes darkened as he spoke. "He was circling around the Village of Beginnings."
Gennai's head snapped up at that. "Did you inform Elecmon?" The last thing they needed right now was an attack on the village. Keeping those eggs safe lived at the top of their to-do list, with the only item over it being 'find a way to defeat Piemon and Vamdemon'.
"He knows." Leomon nodded, moving closer. "I sent Ogremon and Kentauromon to patrol the area." His lips twitched at the naming of his old enemy. The two of them hadn't had a chance to do much more than spar on occasion, not with the world being in the state that it was. Gennai had heard Ogremon mention more than once that he wanted them to defeat Piemon and Vamdemon just so he and Leomon could fight the way they had once upon a time.
Well, everyone did have their own reasons to join in this war. At least this time they could depend on Ogremon to help them.
"Good. Was there any sign of anyone else with Takeru?" Gennai's shoulders tensed at the question.
Leomon shook his head. "I couldn't see anyone. I think he was alone." Not that being alone would've made it easy, or even possible, for Leomon to take him down and bring him in. Not after ten years of Piemon's training.
"Could you track him back?" For all of his own efforts, Gennai found himself as unable to worm a spy into Piemon's headquarters as Piemon was to find Gennai's own base. Enough good Digimon had died trying to do so that he refused to ask anyone else to do the same.
"I tried, but I think he saw me." Leomon's whiskers twitched a fraction. He didn't like the idea of either losing his edge or one of Piemon's slaves being just that good. Gennai foresaw multiple extra hours being spent in the training room for that.
Gennai moved on toward the kitchen area, Leomon padding beside him. He wanted a cup of tea. He hadn't had a cup of tea all day and tea helped him focus and think.
"They need a place to meet Wizarmon." He didn't expect any kind of answer from Leomon; voicing his thoughts helped him to work through them. "And I haven't been able to get any maps of the area in years."
"Send someone through the portal?" Leomon suggested. "They wouldn't need to stay long."
Gennai considered that. It wasn't the worst idea that he'd ever heard. The problem was, as always, getting someone else to the portal in such a way that the guards wouldn't notice them. So far the few times he'd been able to send someone over, they hadn't been seen, but he knew better than to press his luck too far.
"Perhaps one of the Numemon would go." After all these years, they still adored Mimi, and every one of them longed for some way to help her. If he suggested this would do that, he would have a dozen volunteers before he could blink an eye.
He would prefer someone who could fly, though, in order to cover more ground efficiently. But there weren't many fliers who were also small enough to sneak through without alerting the gate guardians.
At least the Numemon were persistent, and loyal. They wanted their cute Mimi back, and hell itself wouldn't stop them from trying.
"I'll go ask one." Gennai decided. After he had his tea, of course.
Takeru strode through the palace gateways without so much as looking at the guards. They knew who he was. As one of Piemon's most loyal servants, he could come and go as he pleased, so long as Piemon knew what he had in mind.
And there came his master now. Takeru bent his head reverently. "I've just come from the Village of Beginnings, my lord."
Piemon threaded his hands through Takeru's hair in welcome. "What did you find out there?"
"They're still watching out for us." He reported all that he'd seen; the traps Elecmon had set up to warn him of any physical approaches, the wards that he suspected Gennai had woven to keep them at bay magically, and what he'd spied on his way out: the two new guards wandering the area.
"Good work." Piemon praised, and Takeru's heart beat faster at the seldom given words. "You should go rest. You've had a day of work."
That was true, though Takeru wasn't inclined to admit it. He'd spent most of the day traveling; unlike some of Piemon's servants, he wasn't gifted with the ability to fly. It would make life so much easier if he could. Perhaps Patamon would be able to help with that, sooner or later. They could only hope.
"As you wish, my lord." Takeru decided he would eat later, once he didn't feel so much like dropping into bed and not moving for a few hours.
Piemon nodded and headed off on his own business, perhaps to consult with the other Dark Masters. Takeru knew what wasn't his affair and headed through the twisting corridors until he found his own quarters.
He wasn't surprised to find Yamato waiting for him when he entered and wrapped his arms around his brother gratefully. "Is everything all right?"
"Yes." Yamato's mask was set to the side, something he usually only did when it was just the two of them. Takeru made a point of not mentioning it; he knew how Yamato hated being without it. If they weren't brothers, he wouldn't put it down even for Takeru. He certainly didn't for Koushirou, on those few occasions when the three of them crossed paths.
Takeru tilted his head back to look at the older man. "What happened?" He knew all of Yamato's tones, even now, and something really was wrong.
Yamato said nothing right away. When he did speak, he shook his head a tiny fraction first, then uttered one name. "Enshoumon."
"She came out on top?" Takeru knew of the battles that Piemon had planned out before he'd left. He trusted Enshoumon's loyalty as much as he trusted his own, his brother's, and Koushirou's, but Yamato had never clicked to her.
The taller blond nodded and Takeru squeezed his hand. "Don't worry about it. You know that Master trusts us more than anyone." He paused, considering that. "Well, anyone who isn't MetalSeaDramon, MugenDramon, Pinnochimon, or Black Rosemon." In fact, he was reasonably certain that Piemon trusted them more than he did Pinnochimon. It wasn't a question that one asked, though. Inquiring into someone else's loyalties could bring your own under suspicion on this castle.
Yamato sighed, and shrugged, reaching for his mask as he stood up. Takeru didn't try to stop him. Yamato's visits were never long, no matter what. He kept himself busy constantly, and with someone new rising in the hierarchy, he would do so more than ever.
Before he left, Yamato set a hand on Takeru's shoulder, squeezing it gently. Takeru smiled back at him, trying not to yawn in his big brother's face. He thought Yamato could see how tired he was, which was yet another reason he didn't stay long. That was confirmed by a flip of Yamato's hand toward the bedroom, a clear sign of 'get some rest, you idiot'. Yamato didn't talk much anymore, but he certainly got his point across when he wanted to.
Yamato closed the door behind him and headed down to his private training area. He'd worked himself to exhaustion once already today and stolen an hour's worth of sleep before he remembered when Takeru was likely to return from his scouting mission. There was no way that he wouldn't spend at least a few minutes making certain everything was all right with his little brother. The habits of years were hard to break, especially when he didn't really want to break them.
He passed a couple of guards on the way, and could not help a mental smile at how they flinched back from him. He didn't even need to do anything for them to do it. Just his presence sent chills down their spines. A thousand stories were whispered about why he wore his strange mask, covering his entire face and throat, and why he spoke only in the briefest of sentences, and never used two words when one would do the job.
None of them were true, of course, and he wasn't going to let on what had happened. It wasn't anyone's concern but his and his master's.
The door to the training area closed behind him and he strode out in the center of the room. He knew this place better than he'd ever known any other in his entire life. He'd spent the majority of his last decade here, sometimes sparring against Piemon, sometimes against some of the warrior Digimon who composed the army.
He pulled his sword from the sheath on his back and spun out into one of the first forms his master taught him. He'd only been allowed a wooden practice blade in those long ago days; now he trained with live steel. Some might claim it too dangerous, but Yamato knew other dangers that were far worse: such as displeasing Piemon.
Soon he would have to go out on a mission of his own. He didn't know what it would be yet, but it would have to be something that would make it clear he was still an effective warrior for Piemon. He knew Enshoumon wasn't as power hungry and greedy as some of the other Digimon were, but he still refused to take any chances. He'd made it to this position by not letting anyone else take it from him and there was no reason to stop now.
He recalled what Piemon and Vamdemon had discussed during the vampire's visit earlier. It was true that Gennai's home hadn't been found, but perhaps he could change that. If nothing else, searching around might make the old man nervous enough to move it, which would give them a chance to find him then. It was something to keep in mind.
That would be his mission, then. He would have to clear it with his master first, and let Gabumon know it was time to go out again, but that wouldn't take long.
He bared his teeth as he transitioned into a more complex sword form, imagining the blade slicing through Gennai. The level of hatred he held toward the old man knew no bounds. This was all his fault.
Why weren't you there? Why didn't you help us? Why didn't you help her? And him?
The day would come when he would hold Gennai at swordpoint and demand his answers in one way or another. And if he didn't get them, then there would be one less annoying person in the Digital World.
To Be Continued