Thunders rumbled softly. Rain drizzled against the glass window, but Gayathri paid no heed to it. Her wet eyes were solely fixed on a framed picture of her and her two best friends.
It was by far her favorite photo of the three of them. Hiccupping, she realized that no other picture of the three of them could beat the one that was framed and placed on her study table. Especially, she sobbed, when they were no longer three.
She picked up the picture and found her own tears dripping on the glass surface of the photo. The drops came in solitary drop at first, but soon more ensued and a wave of sorrow invaded her whole being once again, as it had been for the past three days. She clutched the photo against her chest and slumped down, back sliding down the wall, not caring that the fabric of her dress would be ruined by her action, and tearfully crying again. Her formerly subdued sobs became louder and more frequent, her hiccups intensified.
The door creaked open, and another tearful face appeared by the opening. "Gaya…?"
The voice caused her to look up, and Gayathri gazed at Dina's face as the other girl allowed herself to enter Gayathri's room. Similar to Gayathri, Dina was also in dark colors, her choice of dress was a plain dark gray pair of baju kurung, and a semi-transparent black scarf hung loosely on her shoulders. Her hair was left hanging down an inch past her shoulders. Her eyes were puffy and red, pretty much the same as Gayathri's.
Seeing her in her breakdown, again, Dina quickly rushed towards Gayathri. No words were exchanged – both knew exactly what the other was feeling. The rumbling thunder didn't faze them as they stared towards the picture – mainly towards a short-haired girl standing towards the left side of the picture's profile. The said girl had a playful grin etched on her boyish, yet pretty, face. What saddened them the most was that there was no other face of Belinda Foo in real life for them to compare with now. The thought instantly ignited a chain reaction; memories of their happy times soon were made apparent and the emotions that they had barely kept in check for today's occasion crumbled once again. Tears flowed freely once more, despite having flowed so much. Their throats were sore, yet they couldn't stop.
"I should've been able to stop Astamon," Gayathri choked out, finally, when her sobs lessened. "It's my fault…"
Dina's expression was forlorn. "It's not your fault, Gaya. You did what you could've done," she whispered, and gazed at the picture. "It was me the monster targeted….but Bel jumped in the way, to save me…" This made her shiver so violently that she hugged her best friend, crying again. "Oh, Gaya…what are we going to do? We lost her…we lost Bel…"
Floramon walked in, and stopped by the doorway. Lalamon floated above her, and a soft sigh escaped her mouth as a tear escaped her eyes again as she watched her new human partner – Dina Fadlullah – huddled against Gayathri, as they cried mournfully for the tragic loss of their best friend. Her anguish returned, remembering that her own friend had been killed by the same monster that had taken away the life of the human girl partnered to D'Arcmon. 'Partner…' she thought sadly, her eyes went to her own partner.
A partnership with a human was perhaps the most fulfilling role a Digimon could ever have, but Lalamon sadly thought that perhaps she would never experience that happiness, for that day was marred horribly. She had mourned the loss of D'Arcmon properly, her heart pained upon thinking that until the Majin General – the one who had deleted her – was destroyed, there was no chance that D'Arcmon would be reconfigured. Astamon had absorbed D'Arcmon's data particles, rendering reconfiguration impossible. Although reconfigured Digimon would lose their memories, but she had seen cases where this theory would prove to be otherwise. Patamon, Adam's partner, had been one. The Saintly Siblings too regained their memories after they found their human partners.
'I'll avenge you, my friend…' Lalamon vowed.
The door was pushed wider and Liu Ying walked in, stopping short when her eyes took in the mournful girls. She was dressed in a white blouse and long black pants. The three boys behind her all donned dark colors as well – this would be the day Bel would be buried at the closest Christian cemetery to the town, after the postmortem diagnosis and some cleaning up on her body these past two days. The DigiWira and the honoraries would all go, although Manny would be the only one who would enter while the others, having different religious beliefs, would wait outside the cemetery's courtyard where they could watch the burial ceremony from afar.
"Gayathri, Dina…" Liu Ying entered the room and knelt by the two girls, placing a hand on each girl's shoulder gently. "The car is outside, waiting. You two should go first. We'll come along with Dr. Abu and Jackie's cars." Understanding their grief, she helped both girls up and took out a tissue to wipe their tears before guiding them towards the door. The girls walked past Adam, Manny and JD who stood by the banister, all identically dressed in gray or white button-down shirts and black pants. For a very long one second, their eyes met, and memories of what had taken place three days ago came to their minds.
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WIRA DIGITAL
Chapter 58 – With a Little Help from Your Friends
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(Flashback)
The battle between Satriamon and Samudramon against Valkyrimon didn't seem to favor their side. The warrior in white was extremely strong, and he wielded the elements of light, wind, thunder and ice against them, rendering their flames and waters useless. A mere slash of his sword would freeze everything that was upon his path. Their powered up attacks couldn't match the avian warrior's prowess, and that showed by chunks of ice that littered the battlefield – Valkyrimon had easily encased their flames and waters with his ice power. Several houses and the park below had also suffered the same fate, transformed into what seemed to look like ice statues of houses and trees. Such was the power wielded by his Feral Sword, which according to the analyzer they had, could even freeze the heaviest of waters and the focused of flames. Thunder attacks didn't work on him as well – if he didn't defend himself with the simple, yet potent shield of his, he would ward of the thunderbolts easily with his Lightning Arrows.
"Damn it!" Satriamon shouted in frustration. His hand was clutched on his chest; the beginnings of the pain induced by the tattoo began to take effect. "How the hell are we going to take him down?!"
Samudramon saw that his flaming friend was beginning to be fatigued. It had dawned upon him that while in Ultimate forms, they couldn't beat this avian warrior. He would have to come up with a combined attack, and hope for the best. If this didn't work, he didn't know what else could.
"Divine Rain!" A draining rain showered over Valkyrimon, who snorted in annoyance. Samudramon waved his trident, and called out, "Cosmic Thunderstrike!"
Azure thunderbolts shot down from the sky, but with a laugh Valkyrimon raised one hand to intercept the attack while the other hand took out his black crossbow. His hand crackled with white lightning and he aimed the crossbow towards the two Wira Digital, smirking. Crackles of electricity became more intense as it began to reshape itself into a raging arrow of light, the size almost twice as big as the crossbow. He didn't say a word at all towards the Wira Digital, merely declaring his attack as he let go of the arrow. "Lightning Arrow!"
"Radiant Star Hunter!"
From the sides, another silvery white arrow intercepted Valkyrimon's Lightning Arrow and sent it off-course, both arrows pierced through several trees, leaving gaping holes with white flames dancing around the borders. Both arrows combusted into data particles soon after, and a fourth battle-player stepped in. "Sorry I'm late…" The angelic knight flew towards Satriamon first and gave him a thorough one look before his attention went to Samudramon.
"Better late than never," Satriamon said with his patented lopsided smirk, his hand shot back towards his side.
"A Mega Digimon…" Valkyrimon muttered, and his sword reappeared within his hand. He made a slash towards the air, sending a freezing ice blue wave of energy. "Finally, the one I've been instructed to beat! This should be interesting. Feral Sword!"
Aldiyamon Juara Mode spun around and retaliated, "Heavenstar Slasher!"
The two attacks collided and exploded into data particles. Smokes erupted, and when it ceased it became evident that both Aldiyamon Juara Mode and Valkyrimon were hovering in midair, unmoved from their spot, unscathed by their attacks. The sword attacks they exchanged had ended with a stalemate.
"You're stronger than I've expected," said Valkyrimon with a grim tone. "The generals definitely weren't joking."
"Oh, I pack quite a few punches myself," Aldiyamon returned, unsmiling as he readied for another attack.
Satriamon and Samudramon exchanged glances. So seldom they had heard Aldiyamon, or Adam, speaking in such a confident tone. Samudramon thought that due to being with JD, some of the blonde's qualities had rubbed off on Adam. Satriamon knew better; Adam was at his happiest with his sister recovered, and the unofficial engagement of Alisha and Abu had just made things better. Despite feeling a bit let down of being parted with his cousin, Satriamon smiled.
Aldiyamon attacked again, with his Radiant Star triple combo – the Hunter, the Shower and the Blaster attacks – with rapid ease, now in-tune with his Mega level power. Streaks of light arrows were fired towards Valkyrimon, and when the avian warrior attempted to counter the arrows he was lambasted by the showers of light from the fireworks of the second attack. And as Valkyrimon became flustered a thin stream of focused light pushed him away. He cursed angrily and looked up, barely recovering. The light attacks didn't injure him severely – were he a creature of darkness he would have suffered, but since he was a being of light the attacks didn't harm him so much. Still, that didn't mean that he wasn't hurt.
"Definitely not joking, indeed," Valkyrimon said offhandedly. Just because he was hurt, didn't mean that Aldiyamon needed to know about it. Sometimes, mind games worked just as efficiently, if not more, than battle prowess. By showing his adversary that he didn't care much of their attacks on him, it would make them wonder.
Aldiyamon frowned. My attacks didn't faze him…?
"Now it's time for me to take things up a notch," said Valkyrimon, sword ready in his right hand, while his shielded left arm was drawn close to his body. "Your friends weren't worth my time, but you, Aldiyamon, are a worthy challenger!"
"Bastard," Satriamon swore from the ground. His fist was clenched tight, trembling in fury because of Valkyrimon's offhanded remark.
"He's distracting Aldiyamon," said Samudramon, seeing through Valkyrimon's tactic instantly. "Look at how he's having his shield close to his body. He didn't do this when he was battling us. He's wary of Aldiyamon – Aldiyamon's attacks did hurt him, but he's feigning not being hurt."
Satriamon followed Samudramon's gaze, and a small grin appeared. "Well, what do you know…"
With a smirk, Valkyrimon slashed the air before him again. The freezing wave was nullified by Aldiyamon's sword technique again, but Valkyrimon didn't stop there. He continued firing off the subzero waves from his sword, and waited. Soon Aldiyamon would be too fatigued to fight him and he would be able to destroy the angelic knight. Fending off his Feral Sword was a daunting task for Aldiyamon now; Valkyrimon was sure that he would eventually be able to overpower him. His sharp sense soon saw that Aldiyamon, despite wielding great powers, was less battle-experienced than he, an Avian Shine who had been around during the great battle between SkullSatamon and Grademon. He wondered how the angelic knight would fare in close combat.
High time to find out! He streaked down towards Aldiyamon, who was taken aback at the suddenness of the change of attack. Grinning, he slashed his sword, and as expected Aldiyamon countered it with his silver sword. The two of them, standing almost at equal height, began pushing each other off, pitting their strength against each other.
Satriamon swore and charged towards the dueling warriors, but the golden falcon that was constantly orbiting around Valkyrimon fired two streams of icy beams against Satriamon's chest, causing the warrior of flames to stumble on his back. The armor on his chest was now encased in ice, which caused his chest to turn numb. He swore again, but at the very least, the pain from the tattoo was numbed too, but he was now at the risk of getting a severe frostbite if he didn't melt this ice soon. Deploying his flames he melted the ice quickly and stood up, wanting to charge again but was hampered by more lasers generated by the golden falcon.
"Excellent, Freja!" Valkyrimon said loudly, and delivered a surprise kick towards Aldiyamon as he said that, gutting the other warrior of light.
A loud thud ensued, but Aldiyamon looked at his abdomen, then at Valkyrimon. "Seriously….I'm armored over there too! If you're thinking of a surprise attack, then here! Transcendent Purification!" The blast of pure light sent Valkyrimon stumbling onto the ice-coated road, but did little to harm the light-affinity villain, much to Aldiyamon's dismay.
"That's just for starters! Laser Javelin!" Valkyrimon pointed the arm where his golden shield was latched on, and a long streak of blue light blasted out from the pointed tip of the shield.
Aldiyamon brought the Heavenstar Gladius before him just in time as the laser was deflected by his blade, and to his surprise, struck the golden falcon. With a defeated screech, the falcon was instantly destroyed, to everyone's surprise.
"Freja!" Valkyrimon gasped, watching the falcon's data particles swept away by the winds. He growled. "You'll pay for that, Aldiyamon!"
"Your attack destroyed that falcon, not mine!" Aldiyamon shot back.
Valkyrimon screamed as he shot towards Aldiyamon, murderous glint sparked from the falcon helmet he donned. He lashed out his sword, which was countered by Aldiyamon's silver sword. He attempted to gut Aldiyamon again, but this time around Aldiyamon's leg shot up to intercept his incoming leg, before from the angel's very being a blast of pure white light was shot towards him. It wasn't an entirely focused attack, but it was enough to push Valkyrimon away.
With the falcon gone, nothing was going to keep Satriamon and Samudramon from interfering. Seeing that Aldiyamon couldn't beat an opponent of his own element, Satriamon realized that perhaps he could utilize Aldiyamon's power to charge up his own attack. He'd require something more powerful than the Dragonforce Striker, and one particular silver sword was all he needed for it. He'd even destroyed Z'dGarurumon – an iced-based Digimon – with it. A wild grin graced his face, offsetting the mild pain shooting up from his heart – Satriamon knew that his plan would work.
"Cuz, let me use your sword! I have a score to settle with this birdbrain!"
"Got it!" Aldiyamon threw the sword towards Satriamon, who caught it with ease as he advanced towards Valkyrimon. The Heavenstar Gladius emitted reddish orange and white flames simultaneously as Satriamon roared. A pillar of red light engulfed the fire dragon warrior and Valkyrimon quickly attempted to raise his shield, but a bolt of thunder struck his arm and throwing the shield off his arm. Samudramon pointed his trident, ready to attack as well.
Curse it! I have to flee! Valkyrimon soared quickly, but his path was blocked by Aldiyamon. He cursed quietly; how did the angel move so fast? Teleportation… He was instantly reminded, his face turned sour as Aldiyamon produced a bow and arrow of light from out of nowhere.
"FIRESTORM SLASHER!"
A blazing heat grazed his back and Valkyrimon shrieked as he was engulfed by the furious waves of flames. He summoned the power to freeze the flames, but to his shock the ice melted against the supercharged flames which snaked around him viciously. He saw Aldiyamon teleporting out of his way, presumably to get out of the flames' way. He quickly took towards the skies but water pillars hampered his escape, the heat gaining upon him from the back. He heard a crackling sound and looked up. Samudramon was approaching, his trident spun with electricity crackling about them.
"Double-Edged Thunderblades!"
Valkyrimon coughed out blood. The Firestorm Slasher was surprisingly powerful, even for him. What could this merman do to him now? He didn't want to find out. "Out of my way!"
Using his sword Valkyrimon warded off Samudramon by slashing at his spinning weapon, causing a deafening clang as the force of the collision caused Samudramon to attain internal injuries, evident when the merman spat out blood. With a sound flying kick, Valkyrimon sent Samudramon plummeting down, paving way for him to escape. Yet, his victory against Samudramon was short-lived, as his momentary pause in order to attack Samudramon caused the fires to gain back on him. He was blasted by the sheer ferocity of the flames and once more regurgitated blood out of his mouth. Another blast of power struck him from the back, affecting him lesser than the Firestorm Purification, but adding to his injury nonetheless.
"Satriamon, attack him again," said Aldiyamon hurriedly. "He's weak against fire!"
Satriamon smirked, his eyes murderous. "With pleasure. FIRESTORM SLASHER!"
Aldiyamon made a circular motion in front of him by his hands, creating a sphere of silvery white light. He brought it sideways, the sphere shone brilliantly as he thrust it forward, where it exploded upon the command of "Transcendent Purification!"
The Wira Digital watched the combined attacks from Aldiyamon and Satriamon pushed Valkyrimon away towards the sky before an explosion of flames and light ensued. They heard Valkyrimon screamed in agony as smoke erupted from the explosion. The scream died down and the smokes subsided.
"Well, that takes care of him," Aldiyamon said, and Satriamon nodded.
"Hey, you okay?" The dragon knight observed the merman, whose mouth was trickling out with blood.
"I don't know…but I think I'm injured a bit," Samudramon informed. "But it's nothing to worry about, I'm sure. I hope."
"Well, we better get you looked up when GuardiAngemon's back from helping Xianamon," Aldiyamon said as he inspected the bruise on Samudramon's abdomen, resulted from the kick he'd gotten from Valkyrimon. "Just to be safe. The siblings cured me and Kak Lisha easily."
Samudramon blinked. "There's another attack also?"
Aldiyamon nodded. Satriamon cursed irritably. Aldiyamon laid a placating hand on his fiery comrade's shoulder. "At least we've taken cared of one threat. Maybe we ought to go to Xianamon to see whether she needs our help?"
"Sure," Satriamon agreed. "Let's…"
They were interrupted by a loud, piercing feminine scream that echoed all over the neighborhood. It had come from a distance quite far from where they were at, but the intensity of the sound made it seemed as if the screamer was only nearby. It was an anguished scream, a sorrowful one too. Then a flash of pink light exploded from the same direction where the scream had originated, intense and bright, and Aldiyamon let out a gasp as he recognized this power. He had experienced the same thing before. His skin tingled in anticipation as he felt a wave of sorrow in his mind. He looked around wildly, unable to discern this powerful emotion, but he could pinpoint who exactly was feeling this…
"Gayathri!" Samudramon exclaimed worriedly. "And that light…looks like it comes from the places where we're staying. Something's up!"
"If it's at your place, then hang on." Aldiyamon held on to Satriamon and Samudramon, using the sorrowful emotion that he now was able to discern as Gayathri's to pinpoint the location. In a shower of white and gold orbs of light, the three of them vanished.
---
Alone, she was nowhere a challenge for Valdurmon, but now with her clone at her side the two sorceresses could at least stand a chance. They double-teamed against the giant six-winged Mega, firing magical waves of energy one after another, alternately and simultaneously, yet the attacks didn't do much harm against the Mega. Changing strategy, they fired their poisonous needles, but with a mere flap of his wings Valdurmon generated streams of fiery light that combusted the needles upon contact, as well as blasting them squarely, pushing both sorceresses away from him as he let out a victorious squawk. Such was the power of his Purge Shine; Xianamon felt as if her windpipe had tightened and pain coursed through her veins.
Against Doumon, they were powerful. And against many other enemies they could very well stand their ground. But Valdurmon was clearly superior to any, or both of them. Briefly Xianamon wondered how on earth the Darkshadow Brethren, Ultimates level all, could have garnered the alliance of this powerful bird. But then again, the Darkshadows also had the ability to digivolve into Mega, thus having Mega-level allies wasn't really that strange.
"Diamond Matrix Mandala!"
Observing the incoming waves of magical power, in golden, sapphire and violet energy waves intertwined together flanked by streams of diamond and ruby shards, Valdurmon snorted. "This attack is indeed powerful, but pitifully, not as powerful as what I can create!" His six wings glowed with pinkish-white light, looking as if he was going to deploy his Purge Shine technique again. However, there was a difference when the pink lights turned gold as with a deafening squawk, Valdurmon flapped all his wings once, firing a gigantic wave of white and gold, with a cry of "Aurora Undulation!"
Valdurmon's kill-technique drowned the Diamond Matrix Mandala and even blasted the sorceresses towards the nearby row of houses, against the roofs. It was merely because of the sorceresses' flight and telekinetic abilities that they managed to halt their plunge. Valdurmon fired again with the Purge Shine, and the Xianamon immediately raised a telekinetic barrier to protect the houses from being leveled by the powerful bird's attack. The first wave of the attack was resisted, but then Valdurmon attacked again and again, unrelenting. The barrier began to shook, the Xianamon gasped in horror as the light attacks began to penetrate the barrier…
…before GuardiAngemon entered the scene, and swung his metallic sword towards Valdurmon. A beam of light was projected by the broad sword and it slammed upon Valdurmon's helmeted head, causing the avian to squawk in anger.
"Ah," Valdurmon said, satisfied upon seeing the intruder. "The generals have mentioned you. You're the one I'm here to fight!"
"Is that so?" replied the dual voices of the Saintly Siblings, laced with venom. Without wasting time he sprung forward and held his sword up. "So let's not waste time. Heaven's Ripper!"
The light-metal projectiles rained upon Valdurmon, who shook the attacks off by flapping his wings, releasing rays of light to counter GuardiAngemon's attacks. The lights destroyed the Mega angel's projectiles, to his surprise. A dual growl escaped his mouth before he charged again, joining his bladed arms together to recreate the metallic Chrome Digizoid broadsword which he had used in his grand entrance against Valdurmon.
"Using that sword again?" inquired Valdurmon, sounding uninterested.
GuardiAngemon smirked, and slashed the sword forward. "My favorite technique, actually. Holy Espada!"
"Really? Well, here's my favorite. Aurora Undulation!"
The showers of bright light slammed upon the broadsword and were strong enough to cause GuardiAngemon to drop it. Seeing GuardiAngemon gasped in shock of losing what he'd claimed as his favorite technique, Valdurmon squawked and he flew towards GuardiAngemon, intending to strike the steel saint with his talons. But, to his surprise GuardiAngemon was wholly protected by Chrome Digizoid steel, his talons couldn't injure the angel.
"That actually tickles," mocked the DNA Digivolved Mega. Raising his wings, he wielded them so that they slashed the bird's talons, effectively removing the talons from his body. Mercury-like liquid flowed out from the wounds on Valdurmon's talons, and GuardiAngemon smirked in satisfaction. He spread his arms wide, taking in the power of light from around him before a pillar of rainbow erupted about him. The power focused in his hands, concentrated, as he brought them together in front of him. "Here's Angewomon's favorite – Heaven's Charm!"
Valdurmon looked up and saw a glowing bladed energy wave coming at him. It slammed upon his body and shook him for a while. Then, summoning his own power of light, he shook it off by launching his Purge Shine, and the Heaven's Charm combusted into data particles.
GuardiAngemon raised one hand up, index finger extended towards the sky while the others closed in his palm. "Soul Banishment!"
White lightning bolt shot down from the sky and zapped Valdurmon. Yet, by launching his Aurora Undulation he managed to shake off the attack as well, but the attack GuardiAngemon had just used on him was something he hadn't expected. But soon he found that GuardiAngemon was joined by the two Xianamon, who began launching attacks on him one after another.
From a distance, an explosion suddenly took place, attracting Valdurmon's attention. He stared towards a distance, his eyes shot up upon seeing streams of firestorm and a shining white energy beam dissipating slowly. Flames, Valdurmon thought uneasily. Those are intense flames, one that he might not able to resist. He's always the weaker Avian Shine… His thought was rudely cut in by a shriek, long and sorrowful, before another explosion ensued from another site, and this time around it was followed by a flash of pink light. The generals…they've left the human world!
Valdurmon stared towards GuardiAngemon and the two Xianamon. There'll be time to settle this. If the generals have left, the plan obviously has failed. No point in sticking around. For now, I have to ascertain of Valkyrimon's fate. Either he's deleted or… With that, he turned away and with amazing speed he streaked off to a distance unknown.
(End Flashback)
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Nobody knew what exactly had happened that day prior to the explosion of pink lights, but what they could gather from Anding was that Astamon had delivered a fatal shot towards Belinda, who had moved to protect Dina who was the one Astamon intended to shoot. This had caused Puspamon to snap in sorrow, and Anding claimed that there was a ghostly apparition who hovered over Puspamon as she screamed, and it was it that had attacked Astamon and Shawujinmon to a point where they were forced to retreat. Neither Gayathri nor Dina was able to give the others the real story, too overwhelmed by sorrow.
It took a great effort on Jackie's part to alter the memory of many people in regards to Gayathri's involvement with the battle, and while people knew that the accident took place at the household it had been established that Gayathri and Puspamon were two different people. The memory-altering charm had been very potent; it had worked for all the people within a 500-meter radius from Gayathri's house at the time the charm was cast. That was one problem that managed to be taken care of, but one far greater remained, and it was something that would scar the DigiWira team, Gayathri and Dina in particular.
Casualties had been high during the battle at the KLCC Park, but it was people the DigiWira didn't know or involved with personally. And it had been concluded that it wasn't their fault that those people died, they had done their best. They did feel sorry for the losses; it was just that they weren't too affected by them.
However this time, the loss was too great for Gayathri and Dina, for Bel was their best friend. They had watched their friend died in front of their eyes.
And on that rainy Saturday afternoon, the two best friends shared an umbrella as they watched from the distance, the black long casket with the body of Bel being lowered into the ground. The weather that day only mirrored their grievances for the death of their friend. A group of people had gathered there, most of them were Bel's family members and friends of the family. Manny and his mother were inside as well while his father stayed home to take care of Debbie. Beside them, Liu Ying stood guardedly, and behind her the cousins Adam and JD shared one umbrella, looking on towards the mourning girls. By the cars parked along the road near them, three adults stood – the couple Alisha and Abu sharing one umbrella, and Gayathri's driver Anding, alone.
"Everything's going to be so different from now on," Dina said brokenly, as the casket with Bel's body was finally placed inside the hole that would be her grave. The memory of Bel jumping in her way to block Astamon's attack only caused her to sob harder. It had given her nightmares ever since, and that had taken the toll on her. Her eyes were puffy, dark eye-bags were visible under her reddening eyes. She hadn't eaten well, and it showed too, for she looked so weak and frail. In her mind, five words continued to echo, never leaving her alone. Bel's dead to save me…
"I don't know how we'll go on without Bel," Gayathri whispered, tears flowing freely, as people attending the burial started to walk out of the cemetery. Some remained to offer condolences to Bel's family, and Gayathri could see Manny and his mom talking with Bel's mother, who looked utterly devastated. Bel's older sister was comforted by her father, who was no better off than his wife and remaining daughter. Seeing that, she choked a sob and cried again. It's my fault…I should've been able to stop Astamon.
The rain became harder, and people poured out from the gate. They saw the girls and offered their sympathy, assuming that they too were there for the burial as well, fully understanding when the girls merely continued to cry as they rushed towards their cars to escape the heavy rain. Manny and his mother reached the place where they were standing, and a brief word between them was exchanged before Manny's mother walked away towards their car, while Manny quickly went under the umbrella Liu Ying was holding up for him.
"They're still crying," he noted.
Liu Ying sighed. She knew, from experience, that no words could be said to calm the grieving people. She had learned from past experience – when her father was shot in line of duty – that the wound would take time to heal. It was a terrible time for her, but she was able to persevere, thanks to the support she had from her mother and grandfather, as well as many friends. She'd moved on. How long it would take depended on the one who was affected. She had taken almost a month to finally readjust to the fact that she was now without a father.
"It's going to be hard for them from now on," she replied to Manny. "The only thing we can do is to lend our support to them…the same way how you all comforted me when I was about to trash that Riley Lau…"
"And how we all were there for Adam," Manny added, casting a look towards the cousins.
Adam looked down on the ground, sorely reminded of his own losses, yet he was now better in dealing with it. JD squeezed his shoulder, and he looked up at his cousin's face. The blond wasn't smiling, and it was so rare to see that he looked that serious, for Adam was always accustomed to see the devil-may-care expression on his cousin's face. Yet, he was comforted still, when JD gave him a small, gentle smile.
"You should talk to them," JD said softly, eyes beckoning towards Dina and Gayathri. The rains had drowned some of his voice. Adam could hear him, but the girls couldn't.
"Talk?"
JD nodded. "You're the best man for the job. You have the experience. They didn't. It's hard for them, but maybe…if you talk to them, maybe it'll be easier for them."
Adam thought about it, and realized that JD was right. He nodded. "This is all scaring me," he said. "First Ophanimon…then Bel and D'Arcmon…"
"Yeah, me too," said JD, patting his cousin's shoulder absently.
"I don't know what I'd do if we lose another one of us…"
JD's hand froze on Adam's shoulder. The soft remark instantly jolted him back to the fact that he now had only two weeks left, before Persiamon's tattoo would take effect on him. The only clues he had about the tattoo was the ones Manny had told him, and that didn't help him at all. D'Arcmon's premonition mentioned about Manny and Adam being by his side when the tattoo would kill him, and that was the only other thing that he managed to know about the Blight of Bastet – not exactly helpful either.
"You'll move on," he said intensely, before realizing it a bit too late. Adam tilted his head up to gaze at him curiously, and he jerked his eyebrows up. "As you've done before, right?"
"I…I suppose…" Adam said, noticing JD acting strange. But then he was distracted by the sounds of the crowd that was pulling out, missing the relieved look on his cousin's face.
Bel's parents and older sister stopped by them, and a long look was exchanged between the Bel's family and Bel's best friends. Gayathri and Dina looked up at Bel's family, before Bel's mother – a stout woman with curly hair, reached out and embraced the two girls. The action only caused Gayathri and Dina to cry even harder.
"Aunty, uncle…I'm so sorry," Gayathri choked out tearfully. "I should…"
"We don't blame you, Gayathri, Dina," Bel's father, a tall bespectacled man with a receding hairline, said softly. He gazed at the two girls with pity; being best friends with his daughter, he knew that their devastation upon Bel's death matched his and his family. "You three have been best friends for so long. Bel wouldn't want us to alienate her best friends in times like this."
Jackie had offered to alter the memories of Bel's family as well – but out of respect for her deceased best friend, Gayathri had strongly resisted this idea. Instead, she had chosen to reveal the truth, even though that had meant that she had to disclose her dual identity. She didn't care about the risk. She couldn't bear with the thought of having to lie to Bel's parents about Bel's death. It wouldn't be right. They deserved to know the truth about their daughter's death; Gayathri didn't want them to be in the dark about Bel's untimely passing.
"Gayathri, Dina…" Bel's mother said, and kissed them both on the cheeks. "Even though that Bel…Bel's gone, don't stop visiting us like you've done all these times. When…when we've managed to sort some things out, we'll call you…for an afternoon tea, like you three used to do." Having uttered the last three words, Bel's mother cried again, and her husband quickly comforted her as they bid the two girls farewell.
Bel's older sister remained. Her expression was tearful but otherwise unreadable. Her mouth was set thin. She was glaring at them, or more specifically, towards Gayathri.
"How come you've granted the power to protect the innocents, but you couldn't save Bel?" she hissed. "Some best friend you are!"
Gayathri and Dina froze. Liu Ying immediately stepped in.
"That was uncalled for, Miss Foo. She did her best to save Bel."
Miranda Foo snorted. "Right. Tell me if I'm wrong, but according to the news I've read earlier, Puspamon was able to beat her demonic enemy back during the attack at the hospital. Why couldn't she do it three days ago?" Her tone became higher, and Gayathri and Dina both cowered. Tears poured out, and the young woman shivered in anger as she pointed a finger towards them. "If you've done these vigilante works of yours properly, we wouldn't all be here! It's all YOUR FAULT!"
"What the hell?" JD barked, as Gayathri's sobs intensified. "Don't go blaming Gayathri for this!"
Miranda Foo glared towards JD. "And where were you all when those monsters attacked my sister?"
"Some bastards attacked us at other places! If we didn't stop 'em, more people would be killed!" JD returned the young woman's glare, and his taller stature made him look even more impressive than the young woman. He didn't care that the woman was older than him. "We've told your folks that, they took it. They trusted us. Why can't you trust us that we've done what we could?"
"Oh, it's easy for you to say!" Miranda shouted, her eyes watered. Her tone attracted her parents, who whirled around, shocked upon seeing their eldest, now only, daughter's outburst.
"MIRANDA! Don't make a scene here!" Mrs. Foo said. Some people had stopped out of curiosity to look at the verbal fight, but one glare from Mrs. Foo had sent them away.
Miranda ignored her mother. She pointed her wavering index finger towards them. "How easy for you to say, because you don't know what I'm feeling! How many of you have lost your family member like me!"
"I have," answered Adam's soft, solemn voice. Everyone turned at him, Miranda's eyes widened in shock. "I've lost my older brother and my parents in a car accident three years ago. It was horrible. I understand completely what you're feeling. And she…" Adam beckoned towards Liu Ying. "She's lost her father in line of duty; her father stood in line for the Deputy Prime Minister, when a criminal attempted to murder him. That was also three years ago." He gave the woman an empathic look. "We do know how you feel, and we're very sorry for your loss, which is also our loss. Had Bel still be alive right now, she'd be fighting the bad guys with us, as an Honorary DigiWira. Her untimely death…" Adam lowered his gaze, staring at Bel's grave from the distance, continuing softly, "is very unfortunate, and a terrible loss. May she rest in peace."
Hearing such empathic words coming from a boy who looked so young struck the older Miranda Foo. She didn't know about her sister's destiny as an Honorary DigiWira, if she was given the chance to live after the unfortunate encounter with the demons. Her anger evaporated, but the sorrow remained. Sobs and hiccups began to prevail, and not knowing what to do, she quickly turned and ran as fast as she could towards her mother, crying all the way. She cried so hard that her father had to support her back towards their car.
Mrs. Foo returned towards the DigiWira, and gave them a sad look, "I'm sorry for Miranda's outburst. She and Bel aren't really the closest of sisters, but really she dotes on Bel. It hurts her that she didn't have the chance to show Bel how much she really adores her."
"We understand," said Adam, offering the older woman a pained smile. Hearing Mrs. Foo's explanation reminded Adam about the fight he and his brother had prior to the fatal accident.
"I'm sorry for your loss," said Mrs. Foo, and her gaze fell on Liu Ying. "You too, dear. I've read about it in the papers."
"Thank you," Liu Ying said softly. A sorrowful feeling grew within her, having reminded verbally of her father, but with long deep breaths she managed to keep her feelings in check.
Mrs. Foo gazed at Gayathri and Dina, before hugging them one by one briefly. "Take care, dears." She then walked away, joining her husband and her remaining daughter.
With the family of the deceased gone and no one else remained, the other DigiWira saw how Gayathri and Dina cast a long, forlorn look towards the grave that now housed the body of their best friend. Their cries subsided as the drizzle stopped. The clouds remained, but traces of sunlight began to peek out from them as soft winds blew against their hairs. Sounds of umbrellas being closed ensued, before Adam appeared before Gayathri and Dina, eyeing the flower held on each of their hands. With a nod, white orbs spiraled around the flowers, soared towards the sky briefly before they vanished.
And from the distance they could see the flowers reappeared, right by the tombstone. A tulip from Gayathri, and a rose from Dina.
Hand-in-hand, the two girls gazed at the grave again, looked at each other as tears flowed down their faces.
"Bel…rest in peace."
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Doumon walked past the private chamber of Astamon's, and knocked on the brass door. Seconds later, a bandage-laden Astamon opened the door, seemingly in a somewhat drunken haze. The priest fox saw that Astamon and Shawujinmon were both in the chamber, and smiled stiffly.
"Good, you're both here," he said, allowing himself to enter the room. A strong stench caught his nose and his face wrinkled. "I suppose you're still celebrating?"
"Nothing goes past you eh old fox?" Astamon slurred. "Tell me again, how impressed are you when I came back with news that I've killed both a human and a partner."
Doumon snorted. "The ones you have killed were not actual DigiWira, might I remind you. This leaves us nothing much to celebrate upon. The Wira Digital are still five, and still a threat."
Astamon merely laughed and slung an arm around the priest, much to the latter's dismay. "Ah, no worries. Their deaths have pretty much destroyed Puspamon. I killed the girl's best friend."
Disgustedly, Doumon pushed Astamon's arm away. "But…"
"We'll get to it, after you've finished healing us," Shawujinmon interrupted curtly. Compared to Astamon, he sounded a whole lot sober, and much more miffed. "That Puspamon had somehow become so strong after Astamon dealt with that human girl…though she didn't actually become Mega, she's a great threat. We'll focus our next attack on her, without relying on the remaining Avian Shine."
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He was lost.
That much he knew when he woke up. He'd found himself in a bush, and what woke him up was the rains from the sky and the sound of thunder. The first thing he noticed was how sore his whole body was. Pain erupted with every move he made. He was very much wounded, and very weak. The weirdest thing was, he couldn't recall how he'd ended up with such conditions.
Everything looked a lot bigger now, he realized. The rows of building fazed him – he'd never seen anything like it. The creatures that dwelled in this world scared him – he'd come to realize that he was now at the human's world. How did he end up here?
Come to think of it, he realized that he didn't remember anything much either. How did he get these wounds? How did he end up in this strange world? Who is he, or who was he? These questions echoed in his mind continuously as he observed this strange, raining world. It was cold, and he was drenched. Being feathery didn't help him much in this situation – it made his body heavier, and it was harder to walk. He was already stout enough, he noticed, yet that didn't seem to match the pang of hunger he was experiencing.
He'd been awake for hours, exploring this new world. He'd stayed away from sight, avoiding humans and the various moving machines.
His vision blurred. Something funny was happening in his head, he noticed. It made the whole world spinning. His stomach rumbled even louder and his short legs grew weak as the pain from the wounds intensified. He collapsed, and the last thing he saw was a small human girl running towards him, with a taller man following from behind.
Everything went black.
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Ever since their return from Bel's grave, Gayathri hadn't stopped crying, and she had kept herself locked inside her room, keeping even Floramon out. Her parents, her house maid, even her driver, had tried coaxing her to come out from her room, but to no avail. Though they had the key to the room, but none wanted to use it, knowing how grieved she was.
Immediately after returning from the burial, she did something that she hadn't thought of doing for the past three days. She'd dug out all the photos she had of the three of them, and spent hours looking through the albums, showing the pictures of Bel, Dina and herself from their earliest day of friendship – when they were ten – up to the point of Bel's untimely demise. Sometimes she'd smile wistfully as she came across some of the funnier photos, but most of the times she'd cry again as she reminisced the memories she had with her best friend.
She had first met Bel during her earliest week of Standard Four, after moving from the heart of Kuala Lumpur to a more suburban place of Subang Jaya. She was constantly being made fun of for being plump and for coming from a very rich family. And those were the times when she constantly donned her hair in plaits, and some of the meaner kids would sometimes pull them. Then one day, a girl had stepped in when two boys were teasing her relentlessly – she'd been crying then, and this girl had come from out of nowhere. The girl, short-haired, athletic – totally the opposite of her – had warned the boys to leave her alone. The boys had laughed her attempt, until this boyish girl proved what she'd said, by delivering one mean kick on one boy's gut before proceeding to slap the second boy twice. The boys had run off, and Gayathri found a new friend at this new school, who had made school seemed more enjoyable with her antics. They were a total opposite, but they got along just fine. Thru Bel, the girl who had saved her, Gayathri had come to know another good friend of Bel's, a demure sweet girl – Dina. They clicked instantly, and became best friends not long thereafter.
A soft knock invaded her thoughts. "Gayathri…?"
Liu Ying? Gayathri thought strangely, wiping her tears. What's she doing here?
"I'm not going anywhere until you open this door." It sounded like a threat, but it lacked malice. Liu Ying's tone was somewhat pleading, even. "Gayathri, take it from someone who's been there. You're doing no good in keeping yourself in like that. Believe me, I know."
Liu Ying's words melted Gayathri's former intention of keeping herself locked up in her room. Liu Ying had lost her father; surely her fellow DigiWira understood what she was now feeling? She forced herself to get up from her bed, wiping her tears again before moving on to open her bedroom door.
Liu Ying looked very relieved when Gayathri opened her door. She also seemed concerned, after taking in Gayathri's tearful face. "Can I come in?"
Nodding, the curly-haired girl moved from the door, allowing her friend to enter her room. Her eyes fell on an old-looking journal which Liu Ying was holding.
"Remember when Adam was so grieved when Kak Lisha was involved in an accident, after the whole ordeal with the Puaka Generals?" Liu Ying began, deciding to get straight to the point. "That battle with Gulfmon," she amended.
Gayathri was surprised; most people would start by asking her whether she was alright. She'd feel like screaming every time people asked her that; of course she was not alright. Her best friend had died. Bel had left her forever, never returning. Liu Ying's approach was entirely different. She nodded quietly.
"We all knew that night, after the battle, that Adam had trouble moving on," Liu Ying continued. "For three years, he'd never moved on completely. He just kept it buried, and for a while…it seemed to work." She gazed at Gayathri's eyes, knowing that the girl might be wondering of where she was getting at. "But then, as you know…it backfired completely. The Puaka Generals' trick had caused him to be fully consumed by grief, sadness…anger, hate…and, the dark Aldiyamon was born."
"I remember," Gayathri said softly.
"We just…don't want it to happen to you, too," Liu Ying said. "Let us help you. Isn't that what you've told Adam that night?"
Gayathri broke down again. "Every time, for the past three days, when I open my eyes from sleep, I kept hoping that it was all a bad dream. A nightmare. That Bel's still alive. I always hope…that somehow, this is all not real."
"I used to feel the same way when my Papa died," Liu Ying admitted softly.
"Was it…hard…for you?" Gayathri knew it was hard for Liu Ying, having seen her uncharacteristic reaction towards Riley Lau, the one who'd kidnapped her. That night, she had been the one who'd comforted Liu Ying. Now, it seemed that the situation had been reversed.
"Very hard," said Liu Ying. "It still is, actually. But, in time, it gets easier. Trust me."
Gayathri nodded. "I miss her so much…" She hugged Liu Ying, and sobbed on her shoulders, words failed her instantly.
"Shhh…let it out," Liu Ying said comfortingly, patting her friend's back. "Let it out."
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Adam pulled his knees close to his body as he leaned against the sofa, idly watching the television. Patamon was engrossed with another episode of the soap opera he used to be following, and Salamon and Gatomon both kept shooting him the evil-eye upon having to watch the soap opera – Patamon had won the remote for the television, hence soap opera instead of Cartoon Network.
At the two-sitter sofa adjacent to the three-sitter where Adam was occupying, Abu was reading the newspaper. The doctor's presence in their household was becoming rather commonplace nowadays since Alisha was healed and Adam was back, although by nine or ten o'clock at night he'd take his leave back to the house he shared with his friends, but Salamon would stay with Adam and Alisha since Abu's housemates were in the dark about Abu's involvement with the Digimon.
An aromatic smell came from the kitchen, followed by the sound of something being fried inside the cooking wok. That Saturday's late lunch would be Alisha's homemade nasi lemak, and it was the only meal, Alisha had claimed, that she'd managed to perfect. Adam thought that the prospect of getting married had gotten his sister to improve her culinary skills, starting from the all-around favorite meal of the nation, before proceeding to other dishes. Besides, it had been a rather sad day, and Alisha had thought that they would need some good meal for comfort.
The doorbell rang, and Adam curiously gazed at the door. Abu put his newspaper down.
"Expecting anyone else?" he asked.
Adam shook his head. "No…" Nevertheless, he stood up and walked towards the door and peeked through the peek-hole. What he saw made him open the door promptly – it was Dina, still clad in the dark gray baju kurung she'd worn at Bel's burial earlier that morning. He gazed at the girl questioningly; his senses seemed to have frozen momentarily.
"Who is it?" Alisha came by the door. A knowing look crossed her face. "Oh…"
"I'm sorry for coming unannounced. Is this a bad time?" Dina asked with a small, shy voice. Her eyes were no longer red, but still as puffy as Adam had seen earlier this morning. Yet it was evident that she was still mourning.
The inquiry snapped Adam instantly out of his stupor. "No, not at all!" He then looked at his sister for confirmation.
"Of course not. Please, come in. I'm just about done cooking; I hope you'll stay over for lunch. There's plenty for everybody," Alisha said kindly, and guided the confused Dina in. Adam blinked once, before closing the door and following them back inside. "Your partner's with you, I presume?"
Dina nodded, and released Lalamon from her D4 Digivice, which was soft pink with crimson lining.
"Good," Alisha nodded. "Meal's ready in ten to fifteen minutes, I think. Make yourself at home, Dina." She then proceeded by going to the two-sitter sofa, peeled Abu from it and pulled him towards the kitchen. Getting the hint, the doctor scooped both Salamon and Gatomon, who didn't seem to mind at all since they couldn't watch their favorite shows. All of them then disappeared into the kitchen, and Alisha's voice could be heard instructing Abu and the Digimon of what to do.
Adam sweatdropped. Oh, that's so smooth… he thought sarcastically.
"I was just thinking," she said, her tone so quiet that it was hard to make out what she was saying, but as the whole apartment had become quiet it was still discernable. Dina looked up, and gazed at Adam, "what you mentioned to Bel's sister this morning…." Her voice trailed off.
Thinking of what JD had just told him this morning; Adam instantly got what Dina was trying to say. "Do you want to talk about it? About Bel's de--…about Bel?" he amended, thinking that Dina might not want to hear the word death or passing. He didn't like it either when mentioning about his late brother and parents. "Why don't we sit?" He gestured towards the sofa.
Dina nodded slowly, and sadly as she followed Adam, Lalamon hovered behind her. "I just," she said, and sat down, "want to know…how did you move on?"
Adam absently took the remote from Patamon and switched the TV off, much to the Digimon's dismay. Patamon huffed and decided to join the others at the kitchen, and flew away before pausing to meet Lalamon's gaze. A brief silence ensued, before Patamon beckoned Lalamon towards the kitchen. Out of curiosity, the vegetation Digimon complied.
Super smooth… Adam thought again, before meeting Dina's questioning eyes once more. He thought about her question, remembering how the DigiWira were there for him when he was grieving for his fate. A warm, comforting feeling emanated from him, it was a day Adam was so fond of remembering, and he realized now that he now had a friend in need of the same warmth and comfort.
"With a little help from my friends," Adam answered, smiling softly. And for the first time since Bel's death, Adam noted, that Dina smiled again.
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Author's Notes:
A somewhat sad chapter at the beginning, but towards the end we know that it's going to be okay with the team. I think the title is too long, but I kind of like it, and Adam's last words in this chapter seems so appropriate to end this chapter, so I decided to leave it as it is.