Series: Division of Destiny||Story: Reign of the Undead King||Chapter: The Wait
Characters: Piemon, Vamdemon, Chosen Children, others||Pairings: Ken x Daisuke/Daisuke x Ken, Mimi x Sora/Sora x Mimi
Chapters: 33-40||Words: 2,696||Total: 67,541
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.

LadyDevimon never let her attention stray from Hikari for more than a few moments. She still had to watch out for any kind of attack, or even roaming humans or Digimon, but she watched over the young human regardless. Hikari looked the same as she always had, at least where her looks and tattered outfit were concerned.

Her attitude was where a real change had occurred. Instead of spending her time staring up into the nothingness of her cell or the back of her closed eyelids, now Hikari looked around everywhere, skittering here and there as she explored the outside. There wasn't much to see, in LadyDevimon's opinion, but Hikari stared at it all as if she'd never seen much magnificence in her entire life and wasn't sure if she'd ever see it again.

She picked up small rocks and turned them over in her hands, brushed her fingers across pale, half-dead grass, stared at small birds as they flittered around, stealing what nourishment they could get from the few bugs that could be found.

Voices gusted by on the wind, and LadyDevimon gestured quickly to her charge. Hikari bit her lip but came over to her without question, her voice as soft as a whisper, as if to avoid being heard by the Veggimon.

"What is it?"

"Someone's coming. I don't know who." It could be Wizarmon or someone that he sent, but LadyDevimon wasn't going to take the chance. She glanced around; there wasn't much to hide behind here and her only option seemed to be a small derelict building. It was too small to hold more than the two of them, which suited LadyDevimon perfectly at the moment as she drew Hikari into it, keeping one hand free to unleash her attack if it became necessary.

"Do you really think those kids can help us, Hiroaki?" That was a woman's voice, and she sounded quite tired. LadyDevimon listened, hoping that Hikari would remain quiet this time. Some part of her did not protest that whoever it was that passed by wasn't that Ken. Hikari wouldn't have kept quiet in that case, and LadyDevimon wasn't entirely ready to share with anyone else.

"I don't think we have any other options." Hiroaki sounded every bit as tired as the woman. "What I don't trust is that Digimon they keep wanting to talk to."

LadyDevimon tensed, trying not to tighten the hand that rested on Hikari's shoulder. What Digimon could they speak of? Had someone else dared to stand up against Vamdemon? Or could they speak of Wizarmon?

Regardless it seemed that these particular humans weren't very fond of this Digimon, and she decided it was better to stay out of sight. She was hardly the most trustworthy Digimon for most to see.

I used to be. She didn't often think about those long ago days, but it had been so much easier to be Tailmon then. Though she didn't deny that being LadyDevimon gave her more than enough power to defeat virtually anyone that raised a hand against Hikari.

"We'll have to take the chance," the woman said, and sighed. "I hope they don't take too long."

LadyDevimon watched as they moved on out of sight. Perhaps they could've helped, telling her where the portal was, but she wasn't going to take a chance. Wizarmon was still out there somewhere, and he hadn't been gone so long that she wanted to jump out asking for help from anyone who passed by.

She did give a look or two as they passed, wondering if they could've helped in other ways. Getting to the Digital World could take longer than she'd thought, especially with all the hustle and bustle going on at the castle now. She craned her head around until she could get a look back that way.

They'd come reasonably far from the castle, perhaps not as far as they'd gone on that day trip, but enough so that she could see Digimon moving here and there, trying to deal with the chaos their escape had caused. Whatever else was going on she couldn't tell; only flickers of flame that water-bearing types were busy trying to control, and movements that could have been anything from people searching for them to troops on maneuvers.

She wanted Wizarmon back, for what information he could give them if nothing else. He hadn't mentioned what it was he wanted to get, and she couldn't imagine it would be all that important. He thought it would be, so perhaps it would have something to do with defeating Vamdemon? Spellbooks? Spell components? Perhaps even an ally of some kind?

All that either of them could do was wait and see. LadyDevimon was not very good at waiting. She'd done so long enough, and the desire for action stirred through her.

"He'll be back." Hikari's quiet voice broke through her thoughts and the Digimon looked down at her in surprise. "I'm sure he will."

Her smile was clearly meant to cheer LadyDevimon up, and the Virus-type could not help but return it. Hikari's smile was too bright for anyone short of Vamdemon to resist.

Maybe he thinks he wouldn't be able to, and that's why he never wanted her to have anything to smile about.

It was an amusing enough thought, and gave her something to consider as the skies darkened with the coming of night, and Wizarmon failed to return.

Hikari shivered; she couldn't recall having been actually cold. Her dungeon hadn't been blessed with summer's warmth, but it hadn't been frozen either, and the longer they stayed out here, the more she began to think just a little fondly of those stone walls and the blanket she'd wrapped herself up in over the years. She knew every inch of it, exactly where all the holes were, and how much she needed to cover herself in order to sleep well. The blanket hadn't survived the escape. She missed it.

But she didn't think she wanted to go back. Going back meant no longer having a name, and worse, it would mean no longer having LadyDevimon with her. There wasn't any way that Vamdemon would allow her guardian to watch over her further, not after all of this.

And if there was one thing that Hikari knew, it was that she and LadyDevimon were meant to be with one another. No one else made her feel this safe. Wizarmon came close, but Hikari thought his full attention was reserved for someone else. Who, she didn't know. But it wasn't her. And she was just fine like that.

But she still clung closer to LadyDevimon and hoped that it would warm up soon. Her stomach rumbled a little as well, and she wondered where the food would come from for her from now on. It was rather obvious that the Veggimon wouldn't stroll in with bowls of gruel or whatever else they'd decided to make for her.

She tried to look on the bright side. She wouldn't have to have gruel. There could be other foods. Ones that actually had taste to them. The very idea set her mouth watering. Any kind of taste would do, so long as it was something.

"You don't think they're going to be out here, do you?" It wasn't a voice she knew, but it was a voice all the same, and it wasn't a human one. She leaned closer to LadyDevimon, who had her head up and was looking around in an attempt to see wherever the speaker came from.

"I hope not." A second voice, a little more gravelly than the first, spoke up. "I want to get this over with and get back home."

A long sigh from the first. "I wish we were home. I don't like this world. It used to be fun, but not anymore."

Hikari started to stir, a deep-born instinct within her wanting to defend her world. She couldn't disagree very much about how Earth wasn't that much fun, though. It was true. She just didn't want them hating it.

LadyDevimon's hand rested on her shoulder again, tightening just enough to get her attention. Hikari glanced up in time to see the other shaking her head. Going out was not a good idea right now.

She looked out anyway, wishing that Wizarmon would come back so they could get moving again. Maybe these two knew where he was?

Again she started to say something, and again LadyDevimon's hand advised her not to. Hikari bit back a word that her mother might not have been happy to hear her say. She didn't want to stay cooped up in here any more than she'd ever wanted to stay in the dungeon. She'd had to stay there, but here was different, wasn't it?

Whoever they were, they were coming closer, and LadyDevimon held her more tightly. Hikari could hear her heart beating faster and faster with worry. This is silly. They're not going to hurt us.

She could not have said how she knew. She only knew.

Quicker than one might've thought, she wrenched herself away from her guardian and stumbled out to where the two Digimon had almost walked completely by them.

"Hi!" She raised one hand as they turned in unison toward her. "I'm Hikari!" She could hardly believe it still that she had a real name, a name all of her own, and that she knew it. That she could tell it to other people, and they would know that it meant her. Not just Vamdemon's prisoner or the one that LadyDevimon guarded, but her.

The two Digimon looked at each other, then at her. One of them looked like a little kid in a sack of some kind, with an orange...thing on his head, and … was that an ax in his...orange thing? Head? Was the orange thing his head? Hikari regretted those ten years of isolation more than ever now.

The other one resembled nothing more nor less than a pile of rocks stuck together into a somewhat human form. His eyes were large and confused as he looked at her, then over at his friend again.

"Hi?" He sounded as if he'd never greeted another person before. "Are you...the one we're looking for?"

His friend smacked him on the arm. "You can't ask her like that! It's rude!"

Hikari giggled at that. "It's okay. I don't know who you're looking for, so I don't know if I'm that one or not." But she kind of thought she was. Who else would a pair of Digimon be looking for?

"We're looking for someone that Vamdemon-sama told us to find. A human girl with a -" The sack-bodied Digimon's voice trailed off as he stared at something behind Hikari. She glanced back only for a second.

"It's just LadyDevimon. She's not going to hurt you. Now what were you saying?" She knew that LadyDevimon could hurt them, but since they hadn't done anything to her, then she wouldn't, not yet, at least.

"Pumpmon." LadyDevimon turned her attention from one of them to the other. Hikari glanced up to see which one she named what. "Gotsumon. What are you two doing here?"

Both of them fidgeted even more. "Nothing...just... kinda..." Pumpmon, the one in the sack outfit, muttered, looking around without actually making eye contact with anyone.

"Just looking for Hikari because Vamdemon told you to." LadyDevimon stared them both down, and both of them stared more at the gray earth and stones beneath them than anything else.

"We're not going to hurt her," Gotsumon said, rubbing one leg against the back of the other. "We won't even tell him that we saw anything. He's got lots of Digimon out looking. Even some humans, I think. He'll never know."

LadyDevimon moved closer, eyes narrowed and wary. "What about the pack?"

"Them?" Pumpmon shook his head. "Not them. They're doing something else for him. Don't know what, though."

"There was some kind of thing going on up there tonight," Gotsumon said, jerking his head toward the castle still dimly visible. "Don't know what, but everyone was running around like they'd lost their heads. And then Vamdemon-sama called everyone together who wasn't busy and told them to go look for this human kid and the Digimon with her."

Something in what Gotsumon said made LadyDevimon far more uncomfortable than the simple words should have. Everything that happened was how she would've predicted Vamdemon would react. Find out as much as possible about what was going on, and then send everyone available to go hunt down his most prized captive.

But she didn't trust it. Something else danced out of reach and it made her want to gather Hikari up and fly out of there, to wait for Wizarmon somewhere else, somewhere not in view of the castle. That was probably the better idea anyway. The gateway to the Digital World was somewhere in the area, but she'd be more than willing to make up the lost distance and time if it contributed to Hikari's safety.

Hikari took a step closer to Pumpmon and Gotsumon. "Are you sure you wouldn't get into any trouble not telling about us?"

"I don't think he really expected us to find you anyway," Pumpmon said, rubbing the side of his head. "I know I didn't. I was figuring we'd just run around for a while and then go on back."

"Yeah! Besides - " Gotsumon cast a quick glance at LadyDevimon, "you're a lot scarier than we thought you'd be."

Hikari stifled a giggle, though not by very much. The idea of LadyDevimon being all that scary just didn't make sense to her. But if it helped them not get in trouble, she wasn't going to argue about it.

"You should probably wander around until it gets lighter. Really make it look like you put in the effort," she suggested. "In fact, you probably would want to forget that we saw each other at all."

Honestly, Hikari didn't think they should forget, but she knew better than most how Vamdemon could be if he were in the mood to hurt someone. If they somehow let it slip that they had seen her and LadyDevimon, then it would be a nightmare for all of them. She'd fled one such horror already. She wasn't going to go back to it.

The two of them exchanged another look, then Pumpmon nodded. "Yeah, that's a really good idea. It was nice not meeting you!"

"I wish we could have! I bet we'd be friends if we did!" Gotsumon added in, grinning. Hikari grinned back at them.

"Maybe the next time we don't run across each other, we can be friends then?" She really did hope that they would somehow meet again, and this time they would be able to really get to know each other. The more Digimon that she met, the more she liked them, and the more she wanted to help them get back to their own world. Most of them liked it there, and didn't want to stay in this place.

It's all because of Vamdemon. He's the one who started all of this. Hikari turned her attention to the castle, absently waving as Gotsumon and Pumpmon headed down a different trail, chatting animatedly to one another about anything and everything except the targets they didn't want to find and had most certainly never seen, not at all.

"I think we should leave here," LadyDevimon said, her voice quiet and firm. "Those two may mean well enough, but if Vamdemon frowns at them the wrong way, then they could spill everything and not even be aware of it."

Hikari still watched the castle. She couldn't tell what was going on from there, but it made her nervous. She almost didn't hear LadyDevimon, until her partner nudged against her and repeated herself.

"You're right." For all of her lack of experience in the way people or Digimon worked, she knew how Vamdemon worked. "Let's go."

Wizarmon would have to work to find them, but they both had faith that he would do so. They could have nothing else.

To Be Continued