Sundays were days where the DigiWira stuck to their usual routines if there was nothing else that demanded their attentions.
Manny would spend the morning with his family attending the church at the city of Kuala Lumpur, as they would do every Sunday.
Liu Ying would help his mother out at their family's hair salon, for weekends were when business was the busiest and any extra hand there would be a great deal of help for her mother. When things were slow, she would use the time to either do her homework or studying for the upcoming topics that would be taught at school the next day.
Gayathri usually would spend the day with her girlfriends Dina and Belinda. It had been hard at first when they were not aware of her being DigiWira, but it got easier after the inadvertent revelation of truth when Astamon kidnapped all three of them, and brought them to the Digital World. This day however, the girls would come to her house instead, for she had two other guests staying at her house, both of them being grieving Digimon that she had welcomed to her house after the previous day's battle.
As for the cousins Adam and JD, their Sunday activities usually varied, but the mornings would always be spent visiting Alisha at the hospital, which was what they were doing at the moment as they walked the sterile aisles of the hospital corridors. Their presence was a normal occurrence to the regular staffs that had grown used to the pair of boys, but as for the boys the usual Sunday morning passed by with a slight blur, for both had their minds preoccupied.
For Adam, he was distracted mainly by the death statistics shown by the news pertaining to the previous day's battle at the KLCC Park against the Puaka Generals. He and the other Wira Digital might have won the battle, but not without loss. Apart from Ophanimon's death, Adam learned that there were a total death toll of fifty-five last night – the victims were mostly those who hadn't been able to escape the buildings quick enough. He was at first terrified, remembering that Aldiyamon had accidentally deflected the blasts from the Velgemon towards the buildings, but soon found out that the wreckage was fairly minimal at the time; nobody was killed then, though there were injuries, based on interviews conducted with the survivors of the battle. The deaths took place when the Puaka Generals sent various attacks towards the buildings, killing those who remained in the buildings which had caught the demons' attacks.
What hurt Adam the most was a statement from several civilians saying that hadn't the Wira Digital efficient enough to stop the demons, the deaths would not have happened. The fact that there were probably three times more people backing the Wira Digital up in ratio of the ones condemning them didn't make any different to him – until JD pulled the plugs for all the televisions, radios and computers in the house, as well as burning that day's newspapers.
"There'll be no more news for you today," JD had said. Adam didn't object to it at all – feeling depressed enough with Ophanimon's death, he didn't need to hear negative opinions thrown at the Wira Digital.
As for JD, he was also deeply disturbed, but not because of the deaths of the civilians or the wreckage the KLCC park had suffered from the battle. To him, they had done their best, and it would be a whole lot worse if they didn't stop the Puaka Generals when they did. He couldn't care less of what other people think about him and his friends, but unfortunately Adam was not like that. He had tried to make Adam view the aftermath from his perspective, but apparently Adam was still easily affected by deaths. JD understood the reason, and decided to give his cousin some space, which in turn gave him some time to think about the disturbing news Manny had relayed to him just the previous night, after the battle.
'The cure is as cruel as the curse...'
JD watched his cousin's back as they made the exit from the elevator to the floor where Alisha was warded. It was the only thing he could think about since the previous night. He even had nightmares about it; it was just lucky for him that he didn't say anything out loud for his cousin to hear.
'Three weeks left.'
He was reminded about it as they passed the ward's reception, where his eyes landed on the digital calendar there. That only made him glummer, but he kept his game face on, just as he intended to do. A plan was already formulated in his mind, but he had to make sure that there would be no interruption on behalf of the other DigiWira.
"Adam! Josh!"
The cousins whirled around, looking at Dr. Abu as he stepped out from a room. The doctor gave them a grin and beckoned them to come closer, and when the cousins were by him he immediately held Adam's arm, leaning down to the boy's ear as they walked towards Alisha's ward.
"Remember how your injured arm healing instantly?" the doctor asked, evidently excited.
"Yeah…" Adam nodded as the doctor opened the door, his other hand was pushing Adam to go in. "I don't know how that happened, though. At least, I'm not sure, although I have my suspicions…"
"Well, we know the answer for sure now." Dr. Abu gestured towards Alisha, who was sitting on the bed. He held the doctor open for JD, who stepped in with a nod, before entering the room himself and closed the door behind him.
Adam and JD both gaped; Alisha, upon seeing them, quickly stood up without much effort. She beamed at them; still sitting on the bed were Gatomon and Salamon, both looking extremely pleased with themselves. Alisha was dressed in a periwinkle blouse and a pair of white soft pants, her headscarf was also white. No traces of bandages. No awkward movements. It was as if she didn't get involved in an accident at all.
"Adam, Josh, surprise," Alisha grinned, and spun around slowly once, showing that she could perfectly orient herself. The grin nearly split her face in half when she took in her brother and cousin's astounded expressions.
"What…what happened…?" Wide-eyed Adam sputtered as he went to hug his sister. "You're healed completely!"
"I had the same miraculous experience as you did," Alisha answered with a warm smile, embracing her little brother. She then let go of her brother and looked at his inquiring face. "I woke up this morning and found all my injuries healed. It'd have taken another month or two for the broken bones in my legs to mend fully, but I suppose that's not the case now. With me at the time was these two," she ruffled both Gatomon and Salamon's heads.
Adam followed her sister's gaze towards the Rookies. "You two…?"
"We healed Kak Lisha completely!" Gatomon said proudly. "Thanks to my Holy Ring and Salamon's Holy Choker."
"We just remembered they have healing properties," Salamon clarified, and smiled at Adam. "It wasn't the first time we use it, apparently, but yesterday night was the first time we used it consciously."
Adam's mouth now formed a disbelieved 'o'; he still had trouble accepting how eloquent Salamon now sounded compared to the time before he regained his memory as MagnaAngemon. Now, he was made known that these two siblings had been the ones who had healed his injuries not too long ago. While still processing his thoughts, he glanced at JD, and his cousin gave him a casual shrug, but there was something in JD's eyes that seemed to be drifting elsewhere. For the briefest moment, he thought that they looked…sad? Distant? He wasn't sure, but before he could delve on this further…
"I knew it!" Patamon's voice rang out from Adam's Juara Digivice. A flash of light, and the Rookie bat-winged guinea pig was out of the Digivice. "I thought I was dreaming it that time."
Adam grinned happily, flexing and un-flexing his right arm which had been injured some time ago by accident caused by Persiamon. "So that's how it's healed. Thank you so much!"
"Our pleasure," Salamon nodded, while Gatomon – the prouder of the siblings – smiled in a haughty way, as if it wasn't a big deal at all.
"You two keep this up and I'll be out of work," Dr. Abu said with a mock-glum tone, yet a smile tugged the corner of his lips as he directed his next statement to Adam. "Then how am I supposed to marry your sister?"
A roundhouse of laughter emanated from the small family, which wasn't joined by JD.
The tall blonde was in deep thought. What Salamon and Gatomon had done to his cousins – could they do it to him to?
'Not even Ophanimon could heal me back then, and she's a Mega,' he thought ruefully. 'But I have to try everything. But again…how am I gonna get them to do it without alerting Adam or Kak Lisha? I can't let anyone else know about this curse…I can't let anyone else suffer because of this in my place.' What Alisha said next snapped him out of his reverie.
"So I suppose you'll come back to our apartment with me?" Alisha asked Adam tentatively, knowing how close his brother and their cousin had become these two months. Watching them together made her hesitate to break up the bond; she always had this deja-vu feeling whenever she looked at them – it was like watching Adam and the late Aizad again.
The inquiry surprised JD, and what was more surprising for the blonde was the fact that his heart felt heavy all of a sudden. He didn't say anything, merely looking at his cousin's back, waiting for his answer. As much as he liked and enjoyed having Adam over with him these past two months, the decision would be Adam's, not his.
"Of course!" Adam said gleefully without a moment of hesitation. "I really miss you! When are you going to be discharged?"
JD's silent sigh was unheard to everybody else. 'Perhaps it's for the best too…that way I won't have to worry of him accidentally finding out about the tattoo,' he thought resolutely, careful to throw Adam his patented lopsided grin when the boy gave him a fleeting glance. He saw how happy his cousin looked, and was immediately reassured, despite not liking it.
"Today," Dr. Abu answered Adam's query. "There's no reason to hold your sister back any longer, when she's already fully-healed. There's also no need for us to hire a physiotherapist to aid with the healing, which is actually good since we can cut back the whole total cost of the operation." He rubbed his mildly-bearded chin thoughtfully as his eyes fell on the wheelchair beside the bed. "The only thing that we should do is to pretend that you're still recovering as not to rouse suspicions from the other staffs; I've had quite a hard time explaining to them about Adam's unnatural immediate recovery."
"See? I told you this is a very good idea in the first place!" Gatomon said to Salamon. "You were the one hesitating last night; I was the one who was all over the idea!"
"I just don't think Abang Abu would like it – it's like we're stealing his job," Salamon countered his twin sister with a huff.
"Now, now, you two," Alisha said, amused. Having the Saintly Siblings as her and her beau's partners was like having two extra younger siblings to attend to, and she found out how much she enjoyed it.
Jackie had met up with both her and Abu the previous night to explain the concept of partners for the newly elected DigiDestined, or in Alisha's term, the Honorary DigiWira, for the codename DigiWira applied to the five core Malaysian DigiDestined wielding the DigiSpheres. Thus a new codename was coined that night, and the two adults became the first two Malaysians to be bestowed upon the codename.
For Alisha, having already known a good deal about Digimon due to her prior involvement in mentoring the team before her accident, she was already preconditioned to accept her new role. Her fiancé however required just a little bit more persuasion – it wasn't that he didn't want to become one, but rather, he barely knew anything about Digimon despite already knowing about the Digimon earlier. His initial hesitation however was quenched immediately when he was reminded of the damages inflicted by the Puaka Generals upon the Kuala Lumpur City Center. Jackie told them that the time would come when the five Wira Digital would need help, and the digital man had believed that the Honoraries would be a great help to theCores.
With Abu and Alisha's help, the Wira Digital would gain a powerful Mega Digimon ally in form of GuardiAngemon to strengthen their arsenal against the evils of the Darkshadow Brethren, especially when the Wira Digital had just lost a Mega ally called Ophanimon, purportedly more powerful than any Wira Digital or GuardiAngemon. Knowing this, Abu finally agreed – his only misgiving was the fact that he was a busy medical officer, how on earth could he manage saving the people with his job and the world with his new duty.
The Saintly Siblings had then assured their partners that they could pretty much fight independently; they would just be drawing their power from them via their partners D4 Digivices. Abu and Alisha need not have to take part in a battle directly if they were unable to do so.
"Anyway," Alisha said with a leveled tone towards her fiancé, "how long would it take to get everything settled before I can be discharge?"
"Well…" Abu made some mental calculations, before smiling at his fiancée with assurance. "Probably until evening."
Beep, Beep, Beep-beep, Beep, Beep
"A message in my D-Terminal." Adam took out the said device, flipped open the cover, and trained his eyes on the screen. "It's from TobuCatmon."
Greetings, Adam.
First of all, and again, my most cordial welcome to your sister and her friend for joining the team. I have sent them a message each earlier this morning, but did not receive reply from them, so I thought I'd send another through you. It's quite alright though. I just hope that the messages have reached them.
Anyway, Manny has informed me earlier this morning that he would like to seek audience with all of the other DigiWira at the Forest Sanctum this afternoon, after his church. I have sent similar messages to Liu Ying, JD and Gayathri. Manny has said that it is important, and the battle with the Puaka Generals yesterday has only confirmed his 'suspicions'. Do ask your sister and her friend whether they would like to join you, but it is not as pertinent to them for the time being as it is to you five as I believe as adults they have other duties to attend to. But they are most welcomed to come.
Sincerely, TobuCatmon
"I don't think we're able to make it," Abu said to Adam, his tone somewhat regretful. "There are lots of paperwork to be done, one of them concerning your sister's release from the hospital."
"It's ok," Adam said with a smile. "TobuCatmon says that this only requires the five of us."
JD looked up from his own D-Terminal, his forehead creasing. Manny obviously wanted to talk about his adventures at the alternate Digital World, which JD had been made known about just the previous night. While his adventures had hinted something ominous – Belphemon and Daemon's appearances yesterday proved it – JD hoped that Manny would hold on to his promise and would omit out everything about JD's current condition. He trusted Manny would do this – after all, Manny had promised – but hadn't Manny also disagreed with him from the start about keeping this a secret?
'I can't risk them knowing,' JD thought with worry, observing his cousin without really actually looking at him. 'Who knows what they'd do. I don't want to risk their lives just for me.'
"Josh?" Adam thought he saw his cousin spacing out, and wondered what could be wrong. "We should get going?" he continued in an inquiring-like manner, when JD seemed to have risen from his stupor.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, sure, sure," JD quickly said, mentally cursing himself for his blunder. He flashed his grin again. "And, uh…I'll tell Mom and Dad later about your recovery, Kak Lisha," he said and waved towards his elder cousin and the doctor, before they exited the room.
"If no one's there at my office, feel free to use my computer," Abu called out before the door closed completely.
The door was pushed back open, and Adam's and Patamon's heads poked through the opening. "Thanks!" The door was then closed.
The cousins walked in brisk pace towards Abu's office, before Adam halted abruptly. Patamon, who was cradled in his arms, looked up in wonder. JD looked back and saw Adam frowning at him, and wondered what could be wrong.
"Josh, is something wrong?" Adam asked slowly.
"Huh?" This caught JD off-guard. "Nope, nothing's wrong." He then realized that he had spoken this a little too quickly; anyone would know that what he had said was contrary to what he was actually feeling. It wouldn't take a genius to figure that out. "Why'd you think something's wrong?"
Adam tilted his head slightly, observing his tall cousin with wonder. "I don't know…but you looked a bit off. You're quieter too."
JD thought of a cover story quickly, before Adam could delve further in his suspicion. It wasn't the real truth, but a truth nonetheless. "Nah…" he said, looking directly into Adam's eyes. One couldn't doubt that he was speaking the truth if he looked at them in the eyes while talking. "I'm just wondering how it'll be when you're back home with your sis. It'll get lonely for me, I think." He smiled wistfully at the last comment, hoping that his cousin would buy it – but at the same time, he was also surprised that he'd actually meant what he had said. In a blink of the eye he cultivated a carefully-masked expression, and waited for Adam to response to the comment.
Adam blinked, realization dawned into him instantly. He too had thought about it since the previous day, when Dr. Abu declared that his sister was already fit to stay at home. He didn't know what to feel – he was so happy that his sister had recovered, thanks to the treatments as well as the Saintly Siblings' intervention. But he also realized that the happiness was slightly daunted by the fact that he'd have to move out from JD's house. They had grown so close these past two months, Adam had to admit that he had now become somewhat attached to his cousin.
"How time flies," he finally said softly.
"Hey, don't look so sad," JD said teasingly, feeling slightly guilty for bringing the topic up, but knowing at the same time that it was inevitable. "You should be happy now that Kak Lisha's up and about again. Isn't that what you've always wanted?"
"Yeah, but…I really like staying with you too. You're like a brother I have lost," Adam confessed slowly, looking down at the carpeted floor as his ears reddened.
The straightforwardness in Adam's statement caught JD off-guard, and his mind raced, thinking of the repercussion of the cursed tattoo when it would take effect on him in three weeks time. How would Adam feel then, when he'd lost a person whom he had thought as a brother? 'It's gonna be traumatizing for him,' JD thought, suddenly finding himself losing the ability to come up with a response. He then heard Adam chuckling.
"I suppose I'm being silly," Adam said with a smile, shrugging off his initial hesitance of having to part with his cousin. He rolled his eyes, thinking that he was being rather foolish about the matter. "It's not that you're staying that far from our apartment. I can always drop by in evenings, or you can do so, once Kak Lisha and I managed to get things settled at our home." He giggled again, the excited spark returned in his eyes. "Or better still, I can always teleport in and out, right?" he added with a lower tone, though nobody else was around.
"We should get going," JD said, changing the topic abruptly, gesturing towards Dr. Abu's office. His face suddenly looked moody. He resumed his walk towards it, no longer waiting for Adam.
Adam blinked again in surprise, noticing JD's moodiness, before deciding that his cousin was right. Quickly he leaped a few paces to catch up with JD. "Hey, wait for me!"
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WIRA DIGITAL
Chapter 56 – The Red Dilemma
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Persiamon watched the images conjured by Doumon's crystal ball carefully, wondering what the Shaman General had deemed as pertinent when he'd requested for her attention earlier. They were both watching the battle between the Puaka Generals and the Wira Digital, and all these while Persiamon had her eyes on Satriamon, watching the fire dragon man battled alongside his comrades. Something was definitely off, she decided, and it roused her curiosity. The way Satriamon fought…
"Why didn't my Blight of Bastet hinder his prowess?" she finally demanded after the crystal ball showed Aldiyamon Juara Mode destroying the Puaka Generals.
"That is what I'm wondering about," Doumon intoned. "I thought you've taken cared of him?"
Persiamon didn't seem to be listening to the priest fox. She leaped down from her divan and paced about in her room. "He couldn't have removed the tattoo. He certainly couldn't do it on his own…" Her eyes glinted amidst the scanty lighting of her private chamber as she turned to look at Doumon. "And who'd love him enough to stand in his stead? I certainly didn't see anyone dying on him!"
"I take it thatthat's the way for the Blight of Bastet to be nullified?" Doumon inquired with interest. Nobody other than Persiamon knew of the cure for the curse tattoo. Persiamon was rather cryptic with her statements, but Doumon could just as easily picked up the hints and worked on them to come up with the answer.
"That's the only way for it to be cured," Persiamon said in a deadly tone. "The human boy could find the greatest of healers, man and Digimon alike, and the tattoo would still remain etched on his body."
"Ah, but perhaps that's the answer," Doumon pointed out. "Who's to say that these greatest of healers, man and Digimon, could not inhibit the tattoo? You only said that the tattoo would remain etched on the body…but perhaps the human boy has found a way to at least eliminate the pain?"
Persiamon stopped pacing the room, standing very still at the center of the chamber. "Inhibit it?" She slowly turned around, and waltzed back to the divan she was previously lying on. "That's an idea. His days are still numbered, but he could have tried something that would not eliminate his usefulness for the rest of his remaining days." She sat down on the divan again. "How resilient the boy is…well, that's simply won't do. I can't have him be useful to the others, so…" She eyed a small cat statue which stood by the armrest of her divan, and smirked. "Ah…purr-fect!"
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Manny watched the expressions of his teammates with growing anticipation. He had just concluded recounting his adventures at the alternate Digital World, careful not to get too detailed with his descriptions about the evil DigiWira, knowing that his friends would be extremely disgusted should he told them everything about their evil counterparts. He'd focused more on the goodness of the Brightmoon Brethren, having felt that it was easier.
"I can't believe that there's a world where we're evil and the generals are good," Gayathri finally broke the silence.
Manny smiled, blinking back the mild fatigue he was having. He still hadn't got enough rest – it was almost three in the morning when he, JD and their partners decided to go back home, and it was a few minutes shy from seven in the morning when his mother came to wake him up to get ready to go to church. For a fourteen-year-old, four hours of sleep wasn't enough, especially after not one, but two titanic battles with the forces of evil, and not to mention inter-dimensional adventures too.
Still, he didn't mind meeting his friends. As long as he didn't have to battle rogue Digimon this day, he'd be fine.
"That was what the good Shawujinmon mentioned when I told him that," he told Gayathri.
"How evil exactly are we there?" Adam asked curiously.
Manny gazed at the youngest DigiWira, remembering how coldly vicious the gothic Adam was, and how he was killed by Shawujinmon at the expense of the Digimon's life. He had moderately summarized the evil DigiWira's appearances, but realized that his descriptions might have made them sounded rather…tame. Regardless, he didn't really feel like explaining more; he was actually trying to shake off their villainous personae from his mind.
"You…don't really want to know," he said. Adam looked like he was going to protest, and Manny quickly cut in, "Trust me. You don't."
"How would you know?" Adam insisted. "Just…try me."
Manny sized Adam up. It appeared that the boy was undaunted. Perhaps it was the fact that he and Patamon had unlocked the Juara Mode, now wielding the power of a full-fledged Mega Digimon? Or was it because of the fact that Adam looked somewhat happy this morning? He didn't know why yet; Adam and JD had arrived last, and the moment they both came to the sanctum Gayathri and Liu Ying had been ready to hear his story.
"Okay then," Manny said, smiling challengingly towards the leader. "I remember Lucemon there mentioning that you are, in his own words and I quote, scary as hell."
Adam blinked, before his cheeks reddened. The other DigiWira saw the humor to that and laughed.
"Imagine Lucemon saying that!" JD cackled and squeezed his cousin's shoulders. "Oh, come on Manny, tell us more about it."
Manny glanced at JD – the only person who knew the details. JD, once he had calmed down the previous night, had made an offhanded remark that he didn't have the same preference as the alternate JD, just so that Manny was clear on that. Right now, he was laughing, but Manny caught the look in his eyes, and saw that they were without the usual haughty, cocky spark. The burden of knowing about the so-called cure of the curse must have been hard for JD, and Manny was compelled to humor JD, just so that the blonde boy would not have to think of his numbered days.
But he had to be careful too in not letting whatever he was going to say to disturb their young leader.
"One look at the evil Adam," he began, and everyone paid attention to him, "and you'd immediately think of a…vampire."
"A vampire?" Adam's eyes widened so much that they looked almost like perfect circles. "Me? How's that possible?"
"Well…the evil Adam was very pale…almost white-skinned, and he had dyed his hair in a shade so black that it was even blacker than Liu Ying's hair right now. And he was dressed in black completely." Manny decided to stop there – he didn't need to explain how the evil Adam behaved. And he wondered whether anyone would notice his use of past tense when describing Adam – he hoped that no one would, or if one noticed, then they would not ask him about it. The real Adam also had several near-death experiences himself, he didn't want to instigate the bad memories. He also wisely kept out the fact that the evil Adam was partnered to Tsukaimon – something told him that both Adam and Patamon wouldn't like hearing it.
"If that's how the evil Adam was," Liu Ying said, making a face, "I don't think I want to know how the evil me was like."
"Me too," Gayathri murmured.
JD caught Manny's eyes and gave him a terse nod, imperceptible to the others. Having heard Manny's detailed description of the girls' evil counterparts the night before, he was trying hard not to grin. All he could imagine was them in Rosemon's outfits, and it was enough to make him slightly red on the face.
"So," Liu Ying said, her tone prim, "what did you actually find out there that you think might help us? You mentioned that it was important."
It wasn't that Liu Ying was not curious at all with how her counterpart was like, but if Manny was uncomfortable in divulging the whole nitty-gritty of the matter than she supposed that she was better off not knowing.
'Uh oh. This could get tricky.' JD waited for Manny to come up with an answer. Trust Liu Ying to come up with a challenging question.
"It's the evil DigiWira's weapons," Manny said, and everyone paid attention instantly, even JD. "It's their names that struck me as suspicious. You see, the weapons are called the Shield of Belphegor, the Demon Crossbow, the Trident of Leviathan, the Blade of Lucifer, the Lash of Beelzebub, the War Fan of Barbatos, and the Nunchucks of Lilith."
"And," TobuCatmon said, his tone adapting a really grave sound, "you have just faced Belphemon and Daemon yesterday. Belphemon – Shield of Belphegor. Daemon – Demon Crossbow." He looked nervous now. "Do you see what I'm trying to point out?"
"The names of the weapons the evil DigiWira have corresponded to the names of the Darkshadow Brethren's Mega form?" Adam inquired, seeing the connection.
"Correct." TobuCatmon nodded. "Belphemon and Daemon are two of the seven demonic Digimon that have once terrorized the Digital World – centuries before SkullSatamon came to power. They were known as the Seven Evils, or in the name they had coined for themselves – the Seven Great Demon Lords. Led by a Lucemon – not the same Lucemon, but a Lucemon nonetheless – the other Demon Lords included Belphemon and Daemon, as well as four others, known as Leviamon, Beelzemon, Barbamon and Lilithmon."
"Seven Great Demon Lords?" Manny was surprised of this revelation. He hadn't heard about this group of Digimon, but immediately saw the connection between the names of the Demon Lords and the weapons of the evil DigiWira. The names were all derived from demons from Christian and Jewish mythologies, and the fact that those demons had somehow manifested into Digimon forms disturbed him.
"What's so big about these names anyway?" JD asked, probably on behalf of the other DigiWira as well, since none of them looked that much disturbed. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against a marble pillar of the sanctum. "I get it that they sound so creepy and all, but what are they all about?"
Of course, the other DigiWira's beliefs didn't mention about the demons, Manny thought. It was the reason why they didn't seem to have a clue of what they were going to face.
"Belphegor, Demon, Lucifer, Leviathan, Beelzebub, Barbatos and Lilith – all of them are names of demons from Christian and Jewish myths," Manny explained, having just made some research on them earlier that day. He'd felt that it was better for him to know the facts. "I've crosschecked them with Wikipedia just this morning. I was tempted to ask anybody at the church about it, because maybe they know something about this, but decided against it. It would look odd if I were there asking about demons."
The other DigiWira, and their partners, all silently processed the information.
"And here I thought Lucifer is a name for that horrible cat in Disney's Cinderella," Gayathri finally said.
"Oh yeah, the evil stepmother's cat, right?" Adam piped up. "I love cats, but that one deserves to get kicked."
"Not to mention, he's one ugly cat too," Gayathri enthused.
The other three DigiWira sweatdropped upon hearing the exchange, while the Digimon had no clues at all to what Adam and Gayathri were talking about. However, it worked on diffusing the tenseness of the situation more or less, and soon it grew funnier too when Adam and Gayathri became more and more engrossed about the fictional cat while Manny, Liu Ying and JD, as well as the Digimon, looked on, not bothering to interrupt.
The brief moment of relaxation didn't last long though. The sun staff suddenly buzzed, signaling trouble which earned a few groans from the DigiWira and the Digimon, while also effectively stopped Adam and Gayathri's discussion. They gathered round the staff and saw trouble in form of one massive serpentine being, with pink furs, fearsome fangs lining its maw and long goat horns.
"A pink furry dragon?" Adam wondered. "Looks like that creature from The Neverending Story. I forgot the name…it's an old movie I saw when I was younger."
"You and your movie references," JD chuckled, frowning at the same time as he studied the dragon with some interest.
"That dragon is called Magnadramon, a Mega-level Digimon," TobuCatmon supplied.
"We just can't seem to take a break," Penguinmon muttered. He sounded tired, which was understandable since both he and Manny hadn't got the chance to really unwind after their adventures at the alternate dimension and the battle with the Puaka Generals, both had taken place the previous day. "I'm so tired that my wings aren't gonna make me fly."
"I thought you can't fly?" Labramon wondered, earning a loud hmmph from the avian Rookie.
"Mega Digimon…" Adam and Patamon exchanged looks. "Looks like its Juara Mode time again for us."
TobuCatmon looked very worried as he studied the furry dragon, before intoning, "The Magnadramon species are very powerful, with flame and holy based affinities. They are hailed as one of the four great dragons of the Digital World. All of you should be careful; Magnadramon can be stronger than an average Mega."
JD raised a fist, and flashed his trademark lopsided grin. With his current grave situation, he was really in the mood of doing some pounding, just to vent off some steam. It had kept him sane, in check; how many people who knew that they were going to die, and still able to pretend as if nothing was going on? In the movies, perhaps, but this was in real life. "Flame and holy, eh?" He shot a look at his cousin. "Sounds like our kind of thing, eh cuz?"
Adam smiled back.
"Can I just sit this one out?" Penguinmon said, and slumped onto the floor. "I'm really dead tired! I'd have gotten enough rest if we didn't come…OWWW!"
Agumon had quickly elbowed Penguinmon on the gut to stop the bird from talking; Penguinmon was about to reveal stuffs that JD was so intent on keeping. Although he didn't agree on it, Agumon didn't want to disobey his partner. Penguinmon almost cried out at the dinosaur before catching on Agumon's intention.
"Don't worry about it. We'll handle it!" JD instantly said before anyone else could question Agumon's action. He shot a grateful look at his partner and looked round to his fellow DigiWira. "Manny can come when we really need his help, right guys?"
Liu Ying and Gayathri looked at each other; both seemed to have no objection to it. They would have disagreed hadn't Adam and Patamon couldn't become Mega, but one Mega Digimon against a Mega and three Ultimates sounded good enough for them. Besides, Manny and Penguinmon did evidently look tired, further proved when Manny let out a yawn which he quickly tried to stifle, but to no avail.
"Then it's settled."
xxx
xxx
The other four DigiWira and partners stepped out from the sanctum and into the Green Meadow, where they saw Magnadramon approaching from the distance. Against the clear sky, it was absolutely a sight to behold. The dragon, radiating with light pink aura with small angelic wings jutting out from its back, didn't appear to be evil at all. But of course, looks could be misleading.
And to prove that it was indeed dangerous, Magnadramon let out a thunderous roar as it increased its speed.
"Do all that roaring really necessary?" Adam grumbled as he took out his Digivice.
Juara Access Digivolution, HAAA!!
The new call of evolution propelled Adam and Patamon into a large shining white sphere of light, before it burst forth and Aldiyamon first emerged. Then with a spun he was coated by another ray of light which transformed his light armor into battle armors. His dark hair glimmered with white radiance before they stood up in spikes; one thick bang stylishly fell over the side of his face. White feathers spiraled around his silver wings, transforming them into heavenly white wings as he grew two feet higher. Finally, with a slash of his sword, Aldiyamon Juara Mode declared his name, armed and ready.
JD whistled. The girls blinked in awe. They then took out their own Digivices and called out their regular evolution cries.
Digital Access Digivolution, HAAA!!
In a spectrum of crimson, yellow and pink, Satriamon, Xianamon and Puspamon joined their Mega-level leader. Satriamon and Aldiyamon now stood in equal heights, and the slightly smaller Xianamon and Puspamon hovered by their male counterparts. Everyone had their primary weapons ready at their disposal.
"Mishtress Pershiamon shaysh to attack the red one…" Magnadramon lisped, its voice indicating that it was actually a she.
"Persiamon, huh?" Satriamon snarled, flexing his gauntlet. The name didn't bode well with him. His temper rose to a volcanic level instantly. "Bring it on, then!"
"No, wait," Aldiyamon said, but Satriamon had already blasted off towards the pink dragon, ready to strike with his signature attack.
"Dragonforce Striker!"
Magnadramon retreated several meters backward before opening her lion-like muzzle, a flaming ball was formed within it. "Fire Tornado!"
Spiraling orange flames was unleashed towards the incoming Satriamon, who thrust his fiery gauntlet forward to stop the fiery attack with his own fire technique. The flames from the Mega Digimon were evidently more powerful as they engulfed Satriamon wholly. In a split second, Satriamon was drowned with the flames while Magnadramon relentlessly fired her attack.
Waves of magical energy with diamond projectiles and laser-spewing tulips shot against Magnadramon's muzzle, causing the dragon to divert a little. The stream of flames deviated from Satriamon, who was relatively unharmed due to his flame affinity; Magnadramon's attack had only made him angrier. But before he could attack Magnadramon, a shining wave of light slammed upon Magnadramon, steadily pushing her away – Aldiyamon's Transcendent Purification looked potent enough against the Mega Digimon, before the sky thundered and lightning bolts struck Aldiyamon, forcing the angelic knight to stop his attack.
"Mishtressh shaysh to only attack Shatriamon…give him back what he should have!" Magnadramon moved forward to strike Satriamon with her claws.
The dragon's words caused Satriamon to halt in midair. His flames died out and he lost his flight momentum, forced to fall back onto the ground. "What the hell does that mean, goat face?"
Magnadramon merely replied by spraying Satriamon with green mist from her maw. "Hermit Fog!"
Satriamon attempted to protect himself by crossing his arms over his face. His gauntlet could double-up as a shield when needed. He felt nothing as the green mists were blasted upon him, and only moved his arms down when he sensed that Magnadramon had stopped attacking, particularly because Xianamon and Puspamon were already engaging her in a fight. He snorted as the green mists seemed to have formed a thin coat on his red armor. "That the best you can do, goatie? I'd have thought…AAAGH!"
The thin green coat of mist began to let out green vapor and small bubbles began to appear all over the armor, and worse, the black suit Satriamon wore underneath the armors. The dragon-man began to realize the deadliness of Magnadramon's mists – those were actually acidic mists, and they were now corroding his armors and gauntlet.
"Satriamon!" Xianamon stopped attacking Magnadramon, seeing what was going on. Her dark eyes widened and she quickly rushed towards her comrade. "Hang on! Diamond World Mandala!"
The magical waves engulfed Satriamon, but the Ultimate-level attack couldn't match the strength of the Mega-level technique. The healing factor in the attack did so little, only able to wipe out some of the mists, but not all. Satriamon trashed about on the ground, agonized as the mists began to reach his skin.
"Transcendent Purification!"
Aldiyamon Juara Mode's light technique bathed Satriamon in pure white light, and only then did the dragon-man stopped trashing about. But his armors had been damaged; corroded marks were visible all over, and where he was unarmored the mists had totaled the black outfit he wore underneath – ugly lacerations were seen on his abdomen. Satriamon clutched his stomach in pain and staggered back up on his feet, swearing vehemently towards the dragon.
Seeing her primary target up, Magnadramon roared and shrugged Puspamon away by whipping the fairy with her tail, and knocked away Aldiyamon by her claws before spitting spiraling flames towards Xianamon. The dragon seemed to be driven by something as she loomed upon Satriamon. Yet when she struck out with her claws, Satriamon was teleported away, causing Magnadramon to slash the air.
Satriamon reappeared right beside Aldiyamon; the angelic knight's arm was draped around his waist for support, and his own arm was slung on the angel's shoulder, secured with Aldiyamon's own hand which held on to him tight. The light sparkles from the angel soothed his pain a little, but didn't actually cure it.
"You alright?" Aldiyamon asked, concerned.
"Seen better days," Satriamon grunted, wincing at the pain on his abdomen. "Can you do something about this wound? The pain's killing me!"
"I'm sorry…I don't have healing powers."
Satriamon made a rude comment not directed towards Aldiyamon, before sighing, "I'll live."
Xianamon withdrew from the battle after sending out her doppelganger to battle in her stead alongside Puspamon, while she went towards Satriamon and Aldiyamon. She saw that Satriamon was still hurt, and gestured for Aldiyamon to join the battle. With her telekinetic power she balanced Satriamon in midair, and after Aldiyamon rushed away to assist Puspamon and the Xianamon clone she lowered the dragon-man towards the ground and knelt beside him.
"Diamond World Mandala."
Slowly, but surely, the laceration began to vanish. Satriamon saw this and contemplated something; could Xianamon heal the cursed tattoo too with her power? He waited until the lacerations were completely healed, before stopping Xianamon from withdrawing her hands. This earned him a suspicious look from the sorceress, as he was clutching her hands close to his chest.
"Wait. There's…pain, on my chest," he managed to blurt out. He moved Xianamon's hands slowly over his heart, over the curse tattoo, thankful that his armor wasn't completely destroyed. "Right here."
Despite the golden fox mask she was wearing, from the way she looked at him, Satriamon could have sworn that Xianamon was raising an eyebrow skeptically. At the same time he also detected rosy tints on her pale cheeks, and suppressed the urge to smirk at this.
If Xianamon suspected anything from this gesture, she didn't say it. With a stiff nod, she uttered the magical incantations and watched as golden and indigo magical waves with golden stars radiated from her hand, now placed on Satriamon's chest and held there by Satriamon's own hand. Amidst the battle in the background, the two didn't move at all – Xianamon continued to transfer her magical healing power as long as Satriamon kept her hand glued on his chest.
"Aww…look at that," Puspamon said, gesturing towards the two Wira Digital. "Is that not the most romantic thing you've ever seen, Aldiyamon?"
"Hmm…" Aldiyamon smiled, and summoned his bow and arrow, aiming for the sky. "Radiant Star Shower!"
The resulting attack was brilliant fireworks of pure white light, which while injuring Magnadramon despite her attempts to retreat, also proved to enhance the setting for Xianamon and Satriamon, both seemingly oblivious to the Juara Digital's stunt.
Then…something unexpected happened.
A loud feline snarl appeared from out of nowhere before an apparition of a black cat materialized, and struck Xianamon's hands with its claws, snarling viciously. The claws, while made out of energy, were so solid and sharp that they actually scratched Xianamon's hands, causing the sorceress to yelp in pain.
"Xianamon!" Satriamon immediately shot up in a sitting position as Xianamon recoiled in surprised pain. He swore inwardly, seeing that the black cat apparition was now spiraling around him before dissipating into black data particles. The data bytes coalesced into one concentrated black orb and slammed onto Satriamon's chest, on the heart. Immediately Satriamon felt a burning, clutching pain on his heart, one that he hadn't felt for a week thanks to Hang Tuah's intervention. The pain was so intense and unexpected that Satriamon clutched on his chest, let out a piercing yell before trashing about once again.
"Satriamon!" Xianamon rushed towards Satriamon to see what was happening to the dragon-man. Was it something that she had caused, she wondered.
From the sky, everyone saw what was happening to Satriamon. Magnadramon let out a triumphant laugh.
"Magnadramon hash shuccesshfully done what her mishtresh ordered her to do!" she declared, swiping away poisonous needles shot by the Xianamon clone with one clean swipe of her claws.
"What did you do to him?!" Aldiyamon demanded, brandishing his sword towards the dragon. To prove his point, he made one slash of the sword horizontally, and a white bladed wave of light was conjured by the trails of the sword, slamming towards Magnadramon who grunted in pain upon being blasted by the attack. "Speak!" Aldiyamon demanded harshly, the intensity of his voice surprised Puspamon who was by him. "I'm warning you! If you know what's best for you…"
"Can't shay! Mishtresh doeshn't want Magnadramon to shay anything! Fire Tornado!"
"Heavenstar Slasher!"
Another bladed energy wave was released by Aldiyamon, and it actually cut through the flaming firestorm and struck Magnadramon's wide-opened maw, causing the dragon to yelp in pain. The flames that were approaching Aldiyamon were nullified by a strong blast of the Transcendent Purification; the attack subsequently slammed against the dragon as well, further flustering her.
"I'm warning you, Magnadramon! If you hurt my cousin…!" Aldiyamon sent another bladed energy wave, striking the dragon on its serpentine body.
"Magnadramon can't shay!" the dragon insisted angrily, her eyes turned crimson. She made an attempt to flee, but was intercepted by the Xianamon clone.
"Soul Freezing Needles!" The needles rained upon Magnadramon's head, two of then piercing her eyes as the sorceress had intended. This caused Magnadramon to shriek in agony, and she was further struck by Aldiyamon's Heavenstar Slasher – the upgraded form of the Heavenstar Gladius technique – and Puspamon's Jelita Shocker.
The three attacks pushed the great dragon away, and Magnadramon retaliated by unleashing her Dragon Fire technique, which in spite of its name was actually a thunder-based attack. Thunderbolts rained upon the Wira Digital, striking the Xianamon clone first, deleting her, before moving on Aldiyamon and Puspamon. Puspamon shrieked, but Aldiyamon held his Heavenstar Gladius diagonally as one raging thunderbolt made its way towards them. The thunderbolt struck the blade of Aldiyamon's sword, and was deflected towards Magnadramon.
The dragon didn't see it coming – she was severely electrocuted by her own attack. Her Mega form was the only reason why she could withstand the attack, but she had left herself open for her foes to strike. A glowing pink sprite coursed through her body, causing her body to burn with hot pink lasers. A white firebird then struck at her squarely on her muzzle, and another slammed on her chest, pushing her away.
"This is the last time I'm gonna say it, Magnadramon!" Aldiyamon said, while securing his sword at his light-generated bow. "What did you do to Satriamon?"
Magnadramon snorted. "Magnadramon hash done what her mishtresh told her to do! Magnadramon hash brought back…AAGHHH!!"
Aldiyamon and Puspamon blinked in surprise; thrust through Magnadramon's chest was Satriamon's golden gauntlet, engulfed with raging flames. A fiery dragon clawed all over the dragon and they heard Satriamon's roar of Dragonforce Striker, Powered Up Mode echoing the afternoon sky. With a defeated cry Magnadramon combusted into data particles, and Satriamon zoomed towards the ground, landing with one knee down touching the ground. He was still clutching his chest in pain before devolving back into JD and Agumon.
"Josh!" In a shower of light orbs, Aldiyamon vanished from the sky and reappeared before JD back in his composite forms.
"Heh. You took too long to take care of goat-face," JD said, his face sweaty and contorted.
"Josh…what did she do to you?" Adam asked worriedly, trying to look at the place where JD was clutching. "You were in pain…"
"Nothing." JD's tone was convincingly condescending enough, and he managed to stand up and smirk down at his shorter cousin. "She just caught me off-guard, that's all. Blasted dragon bitch…"
"Are you sure?" Adam didn't look like he was buying the story. "Magnadramon kept on telling something about her mistress telling her to do, apparently to you."
"And she said that she was successful," Patamon added, frowning as he observed Agumon. The dino Rookie looked like he was scared of something.
"That too, I…"
Adam was silenced effectively when JD loomed forward and pressed a couple of fingers on his mouth. "Just shut up, and stop worrying," JD said in a tone that had made him garner quite a dangerous reputation at school. Adam winced slightly at this before the fingers were let go. "I'm okay. Hell, I'm talking to you now, am I?" He wiped the sweat off his face; the pain from his heart was disappearing. "Let's…just go back, okay Adam? You have some packing to do."
Before Adam could protest anymore, JD effortlessly spun the smaller boy around, and gave him a slight shove on the back as they walked back towards the Forest Sanctum.
xxx
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Any of Adam's effort to make JD say something was pointedly ignored the rest of that Sunday, and the earlier half of the following Monday. By that time, Adam had given up on asking, which gave JD some space to think of the repercussion of Magnadramon's assault on him.
He had felt the pain again. And he had seen the tattoo; the protective barrier Hang Tuah had conjured to block the tattoo's effect was gone. Whatever Magnadramon had done, it had destroyed the only thing that was stopping JD from feeling the pain. Persiamon had obviously found out about him getting a temporary way to block out the pain.
'God, can't that bitch be any nastier? She's already winning; the tattoo will kill me in less than three weeks now. Can't she at least give me some peace while I wait for my own doomsday?'
He watched from his bed as Adam moved from one side of the room to another, trying to figure out what he had yet packed into his bulging traveler's luggage. Alisha was already discharged this morning and had returned to their apartment, and Adam, ecstatic that his sister had recovered, immediately wanted to join her. He felt a little tinge of regret for his behavior towards Adam – the boy was merely concerned of his wellbeing, but JD didn't receive it well. That, he suspected, had caused Adam to feel somewhat underappreciated. Though the boy didn't show it, JD knew Adam long enough to know what the boy was feeling.
"I think that's about it."
"Huh…what?" JD was snapped out of his thoughts, not even realizing that Adam was standing by his bed, looking at him strangely. "The packing, you mean?" He eyed the small paper bag Aldiyamon was holding, recognizing the name of a brand-clothing shop from Suria KLCC.
Adam nodded. "I…want you to have this. I bought it on Saturday, and had it customized, just before the whole fiasco with the Puaka Generals." He handed JD the paper bag.
Curious, JD took the bag and turned it upside down. A shirt fell out from the bag, made from smooth glistening material – it was a jersey. It was a crimson-colored sleeveless jersey to be precise, with lighter red patterns decorating the front side, black trimmings on the edges, and it sported the name of a sports brand that JD favored. On the back, to JD's surprise, was emblazoned in bold capitalized white letterings with gold trimmings – the letter J and D, in capital letters. It would be a perfect jersey for JD to wear for any kind of sport.
"Adam…"
"I figured," Adam immediately cut in, "since I'm going to move back with Kak Lisha, I'd get you something as…uhh….a parting gift, and to show how…" Adam lowered his gaze a bit, his ears reddening – a sign that he was somewhat embarrassed – as he continued, "how grateful I am, for what you've done when I'm here." He looked back up, the reddening lessened as a smile appeared. "That, and I haven't actually gotten you a proper birthday present. It's one of a kind, with the customized letterings…" He pointed at the white letterings on the back of the jersey. "I hope you like it."
"Like it? I love it!" In rapid succession of movement that caused Adam to blink in surprise, he stood up, turned around, took off the shirt he was wearing and pulled the jersey on before turning back around to meet Adam's astounded gaze. This way, he had easily avoided showing Adam the cursed tattoo on his chest and not rouse the boy's suspicion by not trying it on.
"Wow. It's a perfect fit!" he grinned, looking at his reflection at the mirror. Indeed, the jersey looked like it was made just for him. "Thanks, Adam. But…you didn't have to get me this."
Adam smiled back. "I know. But I wanted to."
JD's face turned wistful all of a sudden. Receiving the gift reminded him of his eventual fate, and it made him sad. But he quickly brushed it off, not wanting to ruin the occasion.
He brought his hands behind his neck and fiddled with the dog-tag pendant's lock before successfully unclasping it. Drawing the pendant out from the jersey, he let the rectangular tag touched the palm of his hand and slowly let the thin pendant chains fell on top of the tag. "Parting gift, eh? Then, Adam…I'd like you to keep this."
Adam's eyes widened, surprised. "But, I thought you loved this pendant? You bought it before you moved here…moved to Malaysia. And you told me you've never taken it off before."
"Until now," JD agreed. He decided to tease his cousin again so that he could coax Adam into keeping it. "Admit it, cuz. You're so gonna miss me once you're back at your apartment. Who's gonna tease you everyday? I doubt Kak Lisha or Patamon would." He chuckled mirthfully and placed the pendant on his cousin's palm (after forcing it open). "I know you don't wear this kind of thing, but keep it nonetheless. Something personal from your newfound cousin." He winked. "And don't forget your bike too, custom-modified by me."
"…Thanks…"
JD gave his cousin a long look, thinking of what Manny had said about the curse. "Adam, promise me something, will ya?"
Adam blinked; it was a rather odd request, coming from JD. "Sure, Josh."
After expelling a long breath, JD placed both hands firmly on Adam's shoulders. "Don't do anything foolish because of me, okay?" Thinking that it didn't come out right, JD decided to reiterate. "What I meant to say was… take good care of yourself, alright?"
Adam made a face. "Josh…I'm just gonna move practically next door," he pointed out.
"Just humor me." The promise was important for JD because he knew his cousin too well. When the time would come, he wanted Adam to hold on to this promise.
Adam didn't see any harm in agreeing, and nodded. "Okay, Josh. If you insist, I promise to do as you've told me." Then he gave his tall cousin a smile. "Haven't I always taken good care of myself?"
JD snorted. "Outwardly, yeah, maybe….but in here…" He tapped the dark-haired boy's temple gently. "Hate to say this, cuz, but you were a mess."
Adam chuckled. "I suppose I was. That's why," his face became solemn, "I have you to thank for. You helped a lot, you know, in ways that you might not have noticed." He sighed. "I don't know how I'd turn out if I were to live on my own before Kak Lisha recovered these past two months. I might have moved on, but…" He grew silent, searching for words as he gave the room a look-around, as if going to leave it forever. "But you've made the whole process a lot easier…and not to mention, enjoyable too. And I've been thinking…"
"Of what?"
"I don't know whether this'll come out right…but this has been in my mind a lot lately. I kept thinking, God might have taken away my older brother, but in return, I get you."
The comment made Adam's face reddened, and he saw that JD looked a bit stunned. This flustered the dark-haired boy and with a nervous chuckle he let himself go from his cousin and took his bag.
"Hang on. I'll help you carry the bigger bags down," JD finally said, feeling somewhat warm as well as forlorn. He stared at Adam's back for a moment, knowing that he should at least mention something about the comment Adam had just admitted. Adam had been so sincere when he said that, it touched him. 'You're not making this any easier, Adam, but…'
"Hey, cuz." Adam turned around, and JD grinned. "For what's worth, the feeling is mutual, lil' bro." The delighted look on the younger boy's face, to him, was priceless.
A couple of hours later, he waved goodbye as Dr. Abu's car drove away from his house. His parents had gone upstairs to get prepared for dinner, while JD remained at the door, mulling over the conversation he had with Adam, as well as what would happen in the not-so-distant future.
Truthfully, he was getting more scared. The conditions to cure the curse were becoming clearer and clearer to him now, more than ever. Despite being able to make Adam promise of not going to do anything for him, Adam's comments afterward made him thought of the possibility of Adam breaking the promise. Some parts in him did worry for Manny, Gayathri and Liu Ying, and of his own family members, but Adam had done something like this before – something stated in the conditions to alleviate the tattoo from him. And Adam's sincere admittance had fulfilled another requirement to get the tattoo removed from him…
"Something in your mind, Josh?"
JD turned to his side, finding the middle-aged Bibik standing beside him. He shrugged noncommittally, offering the woman a small smile.
"I think it's somewhat ironic," Bibik continued, "that you two eventually did think of each other as brothers."
"Oh, why's that?"
Bibik's wizened eyes gazed upon JD's hazel irises. "I doubt you remember this, Josh, but when you and your parents got back from your first visit to Malaysia years ago, when you were three…you couldn't seem to stop talking about one baby boy you've met there. For weeks, you kept on asking your parents whether you'd get a baby brother like the baby you've met."
JD looked amused at this revelation. "I did that?"
"Until something else caught your interest, at least. You were a growing boy; it was natural that you eventually forgot about the baby Adam after not meeting him again for weeks. That's why…it is somewhat fateful that you did eventually reunite with this baby, now a grown boy, and look on each other as real siblings. You've always wanted a younger sibling; it's just too bad that after having you, your mother can no longer become pregnant. And Adam, having lost his older brother in a dreadful accident, needs someone that he can look up as an older brother from time to time, someone that can become his rock in his time of need."
Bibik then left JD to ponder on his thoughts. JD exchanged looks with Agumon and sighed softly, watching as the sun set behind the houses. The moon would soon come, serving as a painful reminder for JD of his numbered days.
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Author's Notes:
This chapter serves as an intermission between the next intense saga which will focus on Gayathri and Manny. I couldn't just start it without making sure that the DigiWira know what they're up against, as well as Persiamon making sure that the curse she has bestowed upon JD would work 'properly'. Also, another three weeks is such a long period for JD to keep the tattoo as a secret from Adam, who's staying with him. I'll have to break them up, and by making Alisha healed instantaneously by the Saintly Siblings pave the way for this separation.
Clear hints have been thrown about the curse, this time from Persiamon. That particular hint shapes up the whole chapter in a way. I'm not really satisfied with the way this chapter turns out, but it has been quite a heavy week for me, and I really want to proceed with the next exciting sub-arc. My super-diluted mind can't seem to think of a way to redo this chapter, for it does convey what I've wanted to convey. I just have this kind of feeling – like you know something is missing from your meal but can't actually think of what is it. Ah, never mind…
The last bits of this chapter contain reference to Chapter 35: Silver Lining, if you're wondering.