Doumon watched as the glow emitted by the red crystal ball that hovered before him diminished. Wisps of green smoke appeared out of nowhere and a ghastly skull appeared, with its mouth opened as it solidified. The crystal ball hovered into the opened mouth and affixed itself there.
Then a wooden shaft materialized under the skull, forming a staff. The Shaman General grabbed it, and felt power coursing through his arm.
It's enough to maintain my Mega form, far longer than it would have on Beelzemon, Leviamon, Belphemon, Daemon and Lilithmon. That wretched girl might have broken the charm, but with the power I've gotten from her…I could last a full day as Barbamon.
He glared towards the barrier sphere before him. Labramon was in there in suspended animation. He saw her twitch before her eyes opened again.
"It seems that your attempt to astral project into your partner's subconscious mind works," said Doumon lightly. "And here I thought that you could only do so if you're in your Champion form."
Labramon was impassive to his question, but was glaring at him.
Doumon shrugged. "Well, it was nice while it lasted. I have to admit, the Dream Manipulation Charm worked splendidly. A human's life force is an abundant supply of power," he said, noting Labramon's impassiveness wavering with concern, "and with the power I've gotten from your precious partner, it would only be a miracle if she's still alive!"
"Ying is still alive!" snapped Labramon. "If she is dead I would not even be here!"
Labramon suddenly shimmered with pale golden light, and devolved into Shaomon. This confirmed Doumon's suspicion; Labramon might have gotten through Liu Ying's mind, and have broken the charm, but the question that remained was whether she had done so in time, or whether Liu Ying was beginning to slip away. The torments he had given the Rookie were simply to his amusement; it would not cause a strong Rookie such as Labramon to dedigivolve so easily. Yet she had regressed to In-training, which could only mean one thing.
He raised an amused eyebrow. "You were saying?"
xxx
xxx
Her eyes snapped open, and she was going to inhale a sharp amount of air before realizing that she couldn't do so. A mop of dirty blond hair greeted her sight.
JD! She thought, not able to say it out loud, for JD had his mouth tightly pressed on hers. Then a rush of air was forced into her mouth.
That caused her to cough. JD instantly looked up, and relief crossed his rugged face.
"Liu Ying! You're awake!"
"What…are you doing?" If she hadn't been mistaken, had the boy just kissed her? She would have blushed furiously if she wasn't too weak, too cold, and too confused.
"CPR. You weren't breathing, so I…oh…" He must have realized what she was thinking, for he began to look a bit sheepish. "No…I wouldn't do that! Not without…"
She coughed and wheezed, effectively stopping JD's rambling. What was going on here? She remembered falling from the stairs of her house, and suddenly she woke up here, at this dark, cold place. She could hear the rippling sound of water nearby, faintly echoing all over the constricted dark area. A cave, she realized. Faint trail of light seemed to come from above, and it was so quiet that she could even count the sounds of water droplets. She was somewhat drenched, which would have explained why she was so cold to the bone.
She tried to sit up, but her body wouldn't cooperate.
"Hey, take it easy," said JD gently.
"Why am I so cold…so weak…?" she whispered, scared.
He gave her a look-over before sliding an arm under her supine back. Then with his arm he slowly pushed her body up, and positioned her so that she was leaning against his body.
"What are you doing?"
"Hang on. I'll take care of the cold," murmured JD, as his fingers interlocked with hers. "Doumon had thrown us over the cliff. We fell into that ice cold water. You weren't conscious when I got both of us out…" He stopped, and Liu Ying relaxed upon realizing what he was trying to do. Too weak to resist, she settled her head just at the corner of JD's neck.
Looking at their joined hands, she saw JD's hands began to emit flames, and would have retracted her hands away for fear of being burned. However the flames didn't harm her, rather it was giving off a pleasantly warm aura. The flames vanished but JD's hands continued radiating a reddish-orange aura, which began to disperse towards her hands. The cold slowly diminished as comforting warmth spread all over her body. Her outfit began to dry. She sighed; she was beginning to feel better already.
"Feel better?" asked JD.
Liu Ying could only nod, as she felt her eyes getting heavier.
"Liu Ying?" JD asked tentatively. "You're asleep?"
"No," she whispered back. "Not yet. Why?"
"Good," he said, "Because you mustn't. That's what Doumon wants you to do. So whatever you do, don't fall asleep."
There was urgency in his tone which made her curious. "Why can't I sleep?"
"Because…when he grabbed your hand and you were knocked out cold," explained JD, leaning the side of his face over her head lightly, "Doumon mentioned something about getting your life-force. He had this crystal ball with him, and with it he said something about a dream charm. It would suck your life-force out of you while you were asleep. So stay with me, ok?"
So that's what happened, she realized. Tears stood at the brim of her eyes as she recollected of the near-perfect world she was at. It was a world where her father was alive, and JD wouldn't be dead because of a curse. It was all a dream...but it felt so real…
"Liu Ying?" He had straightened up, alerted by her body's shivering.
"Awake," she choked out, and the tears fell from her eyes.
"Hey…what's the matter?" asked JD. "Are you ok? Why are you crying?"
"I'm…"
She wanted to say fine, but she couldn't because what Doumon had done. If she had succumbed to it; if she had stayed behind…what would have happened to her?
Against her wishes, she broke down. And thankfully, JD didn't ask any question. From their meditative-like position he had shifted his arms so that they were closed against her body. She would have protested, but JD obviously bore no ill intention. The contact between them willed the cold away, and for that she was grateful. It also gave her a sense of comfort, which was that she profoundly needed at this time.
So she cried, for the wound that had been reopened once more, for the wound that would come, and for the possibilities that she couldn't possibly have.
xxx
xxx
WIRA DIGITAL
Chapter 68 – Just a Feeling
xxx
xxx
Puspamon Juara Mode led Rosemon and Valkyrimon to battle Ravemon. When she analyzed his data, she had come to know that this particular Ravemon was not a regular form of its species, but rather a rare super-evolved variant which was far stronger and speedier. She was fast, but Ravemon had surpassed her in terms of speed. Her Pushpa Vimana technique was countered by a somewhat similar technique which he had not uttered out loud.
And there was another peculiar aspect about Ravemon. He didn't speak at all, and that made his attacks even more unpredictable.
"Lightning Arrow!" shouted Valkyrimon, firing a crackling arrow of light towards Ravemon.
The birdman simply zipped away, and the way he executed it made it seemed as if he was teleporting away.
"Aguichant Lèvres!"
Rosemon's hearts were destroyed by a spiraling lightning bolt Ravemon released from his body. Rosemon proceeded by attempting to whip their opponent, but Ravemon was far too fast for that.
Puspamon eyed her surrounding. Manny, Debbie and Dina were nowhere in sight.Good, she thought. Manny must have been able to convince Dina not to stick around as well. Rosemon and Valkyrimon could fight without worrying over their partners.
Ravemon soared towards the sky, while Rosemon and Valkyrimon gave chase. Puspamon's eyes widened; Ravemon was only going to attack them! Her suspicion was proven true when Ravemon halted, and sped towards his incoming foes with lightning speed. He shot towards Rosemon and kicked her on the stomach, before streaking towards Valkyrimon with a speed so profound that an afterimage of himself was still present by Rosemon by the time he struck Valkyrimon's shield with his clawed hand. The claw went right through the shield, but Puspamon was surprised to hear Valkyrimon chuckling, before realizing that Ravemon's claw was stuck when the shield regenerated itself.
"Rosemon! NOW!"
"Right! Charitè!" Rosemon's whip turned blood red and she swung it towards Ravemon. It wrapped around his body tight; Ravemon was seized and Valkyrimon released his shield.
Ravemon snarled and struggled to break free. Being larger than any of them, it didn't require him much effort to do so. But just as he was able to break free from the vines, Valkyrimon's sword slammed against his chest.
"Feral Sword!"
Ice began to encase Ravemon's chest armor, but lightning spiraled around him.
"Raikou Issen no Tsuki!!" he shouted for the first time.
The lightning bolts destroyed the ice before blasting towards Valkyrimon in a blink of the eye.
"Opie! Look out!" Puspamon shouted, but it was too late. Valkyrimon had been too close to Ravemon and had received the attack point blank. He'd instantly devolved into Muchomon.
Recognizing a weakened enemy, Ravemon made his way towards the fallen Opie, claw ready for a strike, but Puspamon immediately sailed towards Opie and whisked him away before Ravemon could do harm on any of them. Disgruntled, Ravemon surprisingly turned away instead of giving chase, fixing his attention towards Rosemon.
Rosemon generated a massive energy rose over her body. As Ravemon sped towards her, she brought the rose down and summoned, "Rosen Blood!"
A horrifying banshee shriek ensued, even louder than Puspamon's supersonic scream, as the rose spewed out blood red energy blast towards the incoming Ravemon. Ravemon however didn't make any attempt to go away; he merely spread his winged arms wide and they shimmered with dark purple lights. Then he crossed those arms forward and the glow intensified at the point where his arms crossed.
"Musou Tenshou Yoku no Jin!!"
A massive energy blade was released from the point of crossing between Ravemon's two arms. It sliced through the Rosen Blood and struck Rosemon hard.
Puspamon sped towards Rosemon and grabbed her arm, her hold slipping when Rosemon devolved to Lalamon. She had her hands full; both Opie and Lalamon were not going to be able to help her stop Ravemon. They glimmered in pink lights before vanishing out of sight, taken in by her Juara Digivice where they would be safe.
Ravemon turned to face her. Puspamon produced her diamond staff and prepared to receive his attack.
Ravemon released another bladed energy towards her, the same attack that had devolved Rosemon. Puspamon parried the attack by calling out the first variant of her Viveka Chudamani technique. She had come to realize that similar to Aldiyamon's Radiant Star attacks, she too possessed an attack with multiple variants.
"Viveka Chudamani…VENUS ROSE!"
She pointed her staff towards the incoming energy blade and released a burst of energy flower petals towards it along with a strong gust of wind. The petals spiraled around the energy blade before transforming it into harmless flowers. That gave her the chance to proceed with the second variant; the rose jewel on her staff rapid-fired laser beams which forced Ravemon to halt in midair. The birdman was forced to use his metallic wings as shield from her attacks. Doing so made him unable to fly towards her, which was her intention all along.
"Viveka Chudamani… SKY CUTTER!"
Seeing her chance, Puspamon sailed forward, never halting with the lasers. Most of the lasers were deflected by Ravemon's strong armor, but she noted that several had managed to inflict bodily harm on him. Not allowing Ravemon any chance to attack, a new knowledge flowed in her mind – the third variant of the Viveka Chudamani, one that she had never used before. She stopped firing lasers and spun her staff in a circular motion, like the blades of a helicopter. Strong winds were released from the spinning staff as she drew nearer. The staff turned bright pink and strands of pink energy began to generate before it, along with bursts of energy flowers before the strands swirled into a ferocious pink tornado.
"Viveka Chudamani… HAILSTORM!"
Ravemon snarled; the tornado was slowly pushing him back. Then the flowers were lambasted against him and they combusted upon contact, actually making some damages to his sleek armor. He tried attacking but the tornado flailed his wings haphazardly, making him lose control.
Puspamon allowed herself to smile; without control over his winged arms Ravemon wouldn't be able to execute the bladed energy attack. He also wouldn't have time to generate his lightning power with the tornado continuously sent his way. She was able to fend him off for now, but she knew that it would take more than just her in order to defeat Ravemon, especially when Ravemon – despite her attacks – didn't seem hurt at all while she had lost Rosemon and Valkyrimon.
Suddenly Ravemon let out a shriek and his image became a blur. Puspamon blinked, before realizing her folly.
"Dotou Yami Kumo no Mai!!"
xxx
xxx
"Just stay here, alright?" said Manny, once they materialized in his room. "Rosemon and Opie would fight better if they don't have to look out for you two."
Dina nodded, while looking around Manny's room awkwardly. "What would I say if your parents walk in here or something?"
"Just say the truth," said Manny. "They know about us. I think no one's home for now; my parents were both out doing groceries when we went to the Digital World. I don't think they're back yet." He noticed Dina's uneasiness and shifted his gaze to Debbie. "Debbie, why don't you show Kak Dina around the house?"
"Can we make mushroom soup while waiting for Opie to come home?" asked Debbie.
"Mummy's not here, and you can't do it on your own," reminded Manny.
"Oh yes I can," huffed Debbie.
"I can help her do it," offered Dina. "It's no problem."
"Don't forget a bowl for me!" Penguinmon requested.
"If it's no trouble to you," said Manny.
Dina shook her head. "It's no trouble. Just make sure Rosemon's safe, ok?"
"Ok." Manny patted the back of his partner's head once. "We better get going. Digiport Open!"
Dina and Debbie watched as Manny and Penguinmon dematerialized before the computer screen. Sighing, Dina took out her Digivice and pressed the buttons.
"Nothing," she murmured. "No sign of Adam yet…"
"Kak Dina?" Debbie held her hand, looking at her inquiringly.
Dina pushed her thoughts back and smiled at the girl. No point worrying her, she thought. "How about we get started with the soup?"
xxx
xxx
A person's ability to read other people's emotions is like looking out through a closed glass window. One sees the scenery outside without actually experiencing it. Only the sense of sight is utilized; other senses are compromised due to the glass barrier that closes the window. It is the same when one looks at a troubled person's face; one can perceive the other as being troubled but will not know what is actually troubling them, or what is on their mind. The 'window' is closed, and to open it the troubled person will have to open up for the other to be able to read their emotion. From there, one can take action in order to change it, for the better or for the worse.
When the glass window is pulled up just one bit, one is able to perceive various sensations that accompanied the sight from outside. One can really feel whether it is warm or cold, peaceful or chaotic, still or windy, fragrant or pungent…the list could go on and on.
Adam's empathic power, Lucemon decided, was like a glass window partially opened. He was beginning to perceive the emotions from the people around him because his empathic window was starting to open. Foreign emotions were able to flow through the open window. Those without the power of an empath would always have their empathic window closed; Adam's was partially opened, and this made him an empath.
He was now in an astral plane created by his psychic power and Adam's. It was like floating in the cosmos, and before him was Adam's empathic window. The window stood tall and sturdy, with white frames and the glass pulled up slightly. The amount of space opened by the window would determine just how much emotions Adam would be able to perceive.
The wonders of being psychics, smiled Lucemon, We can create worlds of our own in our minds.
Suddenly the connection between their minds was disrupted. The astral world vanished, and Lucemon saw Adam opening his eyes. his face stricken.
xxx
xxx
"I have to go," Adam said. SkullSatamon and Lucemon had told him that his friends would be attacked by Doumon today. And now he somehow had sensed that something was wrong.
"What is the matter?" asked SkullSatamon with mild interest.
"Something's wrong," said Adam. He frowned. "I can feel it."
"What makes you think that something is wrong?" asked Lucemon silkily. "Perhaps it's only your imagination?"
Adam frowned. He didn't know why, but he had a peculiar feeling that his cousin was in trouble. He didn't know about the other DigiWira, but somehow he knew that JD was in a fix.
He cast a look across his shoulders and held out his hand towards the duo that stood by the farthest, fixing his gaze upon a crystal ball that was hovering before the one in red. Without saying out loud, the crystal ball appeared on his hand in swirls of light orbs. He brought it forward and wondered on how to make it work; he knew that Mystimon used it to observe events that transpired around the Digital World.
"Show me my friends!" he ordered.
The crystal ball flickered, before showing Puspamon Juara Mode fighting a massive avian humanoid. She was alone.
The image shifted, and Adam saw Manny, Penguinmon, Debbie and Dina retreating via a television set.
"What about Josh? Where is he?"
The crystal ball displayed JD and Liu Ying together in a dark area with stone walls and a black lake before them. He blushed lightly; the two seemed somewhat more intimate than he had expected, although at closer inspection he could see why JD was embracing Liu Ying. The girl was deathly pale, and JD apparently was transferring the heat from his fire power into Liu Ying.
"Ah…how romantic the two of them are," said Lucemon snidely.
Adam ignored him. "Where are they?"
The scene panned out, revealing that they were inside an abyss which was impossible to get out from without flight capability or teleportation. The abyss was simply too deep and too steep for them to climb out. Over the abyss was a valley of flowers surrounded by mountains, and there was a large temple towards the end of the valley. The temple looked abandoned, but the crystal ball focused on the temple's gate. Adam felt as if he was navigating his way into the temple, somewhat like a video game where he was a player on a quest. Upon entering the temple's main common chamber he saw Doumon and a trapped Shaomon. Shaomon? Why did Labramon dedigivolve?
The view then panned out and Adam saw a familiar sight of beautiful mountains, pine trees and beautiful lake. The breathtaking view however began to hold an aura of heavy mystery when purple mists appeared from the mountains and hovered by the lake.
"That's the place where I…" Adam tried shutting out that painful memory of him and the disguised Puaka Generals having a picnic there.
Unexpectedly, the crystal ball was enveloped with bluish white light before it exploded. Adam gasped in shock.
"Hey! That's the best crystal ball I had!" Mystimon protested.
Adam took a deep breath. He was beginning to feel scared. Something was happening to him, and he couldn't control it. He saw Lucemon's mocking smile and the look he exchanged with SkullSatamon, and wanted to demand an explanation before SkullSatamon beat him to it.
"If you go, then consider our training session void," the demon warned.
"But…"
"No buts," said SkullSatamon. "We've made a deal, remember? And you're showing progress. Stay another two hours as we have agreed and then you're free to help your friends."
That is, if they're still alive, added Lucemon telepathically.
Adam grunted; his temples throbbed again. "Stay…out…of my head!" he hissed.
A sphere of light involuntarily emerged from his hand, sent towards Lucemon. The angel-demon tried swatting it away, but upon contact the light sphere exploded, earning a surprised look from the usually impassive Hellion General. And to Adam's surprise, Lucemon merely smirked. The explosion didn't seem to have injured him.
What are they doing to me? Adam thought despairingly. All these new powers, what are they doing? Why? These can't help Josh…
Wait. Explosions…destroyers…can it actually destroy the cursed tattoo completely?
His thoughts went to the day when JD revealed to him about the curse. He had tried 'summoning' the tattoo away from JD, for lack of other method to do so. A phantom cat had emerged from the tattoo and had struck his hand before it disappeared. He also seemed to recall Xianamon's attempt to heal Satriamon's strange bouts of heart pain; the phantom cat had appeared then, too.
What would happen if he try summoning out the tattoo and destroy the phantom cat when it emerges from the tattoo? Could that work?
Neither Lucemon nor SkullSatamon had bothered to inform him the true nature of their training, but Adam thought that this must be it. To think they're actually keeping their words…
He sighed. He mustn't act rashly. JD's life was at stake.
For his sake, Adam had to be absolutely sure of the nature of his new powers. And to be sure, he had to train those powers.
A chill invaded him. If they're keeping their words, what would they get in return? They can't be helping me for free.
But if it'll save Josh…I'll do anything. There's nothing I won't try or do…
xxx
xxx
I can never understand these feelings, thought Lucemon upon reading Adam's mind. He resisted the urge to smile; Adam's dawning assumption of their intention to 'help' him was beginning to blind his better judgments. The boy would do anything, he realized, if it meant saving his cousin's doomed life.
The Blight of Bastet has no other cure. I have lived long enough to be sure of that. And the Master also knows that there's no other cure, other than the sacrifice made out of profound, unconditional love. Nobody's able to provide such love. The blight is infused with so much pure hatred. It is even listed as one of the Nine Negations Dark Arts, created by the first Persiamon scorned by her traitorous lover, and is passed down to all the other Persiamon that would appear after her, dear Virago General included.
That JD boy is doomed. Adam's struggle to find an alternate cure is futile.
Lucemon smirked. But it'll be fun toying around with him and his growing empathic power. The boy's so young…if his empathic power spirals out of control he might actually die. The onslaught of emotions that are not his would kill him. If things get out of hand with the training we might just have to resort to…
His thoughts returned to the empathic window he had envisioned. The glass had been opened only so slightly, and Adam had shown remarkable progress. The power of combustion, thought to be lost along with Aldiyamon Fury Mode, had revealed itself twice. Both occurred when Adam was angry.
SkullSatamon had confided to him – and Lucemon took great pride for it – about his suspicion of the true nature of Adam's power. Teleportation was a relatively harmless power and pretty much a method of transportation. According to the Master, Grademon had never mastered the power past its most basic manipulations, and that was teleporting and summoning. Grademon had also been noted to only be able to teleport within limited distance, and was only able to teleport alone. However to date, Adam and Aldiyamon had both showed more progress, included but not limited to inter-dimensional teleportation and multiple passenger teleportation, applied separately or together. The latter was used frequently while the former was only seen once, when Adam escaped the Dark Ocean dimension along with JD and their partners. He also have shown signs of mastery for teleportation at a finer level – with teleportation being dispersing and reassembling one's molecules; Adam and Aldiyamon Fury Mode had both shown the ability to rapidly disperse molecules to the point of combustion, while Aldiyamon Juara Mode had shown the ability to reassemble destroyed molecules when he reconfigured the deleted data of the corrupted Agumon/ChaosGallantmon back into a DigiEgg.
And now it was discovered recently that Adam also had the power of empathy. The origin of the power was unknown, as Grademon had never shown signs of being an empath. But then again Grademon had never shown the ability to produce lightning bolts, supersonic scream, telekinetic barrier or psionic energy blast as the other four DigiWira had as well.
It was only after Adam was aware of his status as an empath that he became an even potent enemy. SkullSatamon had said that he suspected that the strength of the DigiWira's powers depended greatly on their emotions. And out of all people it was Adam who was given the gift of sensing the emotions of other people, making their emotions his own. If only Adam knew how to manipulate this power…
Lucemon was slightly worried at this – wouldn't that mean the stronger his empathic power grew the even more potent he would be with his teleportation power?
SkullSatamon had wanted him to train Adam so that he would achieve the power of combustion once again. With the power of combustion, Adam or Aldiyamon Juara Mode might just be able to obliterate the barrier that was surrounding the Horror Hall. The Master had never specifically said what would it take to actually destroy the barrier, but Lucemon could very well remember that one time when the Darkshadows were just released from their entombment – they had all been summoned to try destroy the barrier. The five Darkshadows had tried merging their powers but it had failed miserably, and SkullSatamon merely said that the barrier could only be destroyed by a single being with the power stronger than a boosted Mega Digimon. He also mentioned about Grademon surpassing the Mega level when the barrier was erected; it would take one with powers greater than the rare Burst Mode to successfully destroy the barrier.
Is there anyone who is that powerful? He thought, his gaze dropping on the boy before him. Could he be the one? The Master seems to believe that he could…but I don't think he can. The boy needs anger to trigger his combustion power, and when he does it's pretty harmless to me.
Lucemon wondered whether his Mega form would be able to destroy the barrier. He had attained the power of the dark angel along with the others, and it was common knowledge that all angel types possessed powers greater than their level had suggested. Lucemon had the power of a Mega Digimon in his current form; as Seraphimon he would possess the power greater than a Mega. He would be at the level of a Burst Mode, despite not being one.
"You're asking me to stay, but we're not doing anything," said Adam impatiently.
"Why don't you attempt on blowing things up again?" said Lucemon, smiling inwardly. His inner monologue had obviously been longer than he had intended.
"How?" demanded Adam. He flicked his hand; nothing happened. He closed his eyes and showers of light orbs washed over him. He vanished, and then reappeared at the same spot.
Lucemon smirked. Perhaps you need a little trigger?
The response was immediate. Adam shot an annoyed look at him and an orb of light skewered towards him from out of nowhere, exploding on his hand that attempted to intercept it.
"You should take caution, boy," he said. "If annoyance can trigger such a reaction from you, who knows what would happen back in your world when things don't go your way. As I understand, kids your age seem to always experience that?" He laughed when Adam scowled. "You don't really want to blow things up unnecessarily…or rather, blow people up?"
Lucemon thought that he might as well let Adam know of the true nature of his power. "Your real trigger is actually emotions, pretty much the same way JD charges up his new psionic blast. The more intense your emotion was, the more potent your power becomes, because by being an empath you can actually channel emotions as fuel for your power."
"How can I control it?" asked Adam for the first time.
"The same way you've always done," said Lucemon. "Have you ever taken notice that your evolutions into Aldiyamon Fury Mode and Juara Mode were both triggered by intense emotions? In Fury Mode, it was wild rage for the Puakas' deception. For Juara Mode it was grief and righteous anger for Ophanimon's deletion. See how much difference it makes?"
"I know, but I wasn't even an empath back then," said Adam.
"Oh, I'm not entirely sure of that, Adam," rumbled SkullSatamon, joining in the conversation. It surprised Lucemon; the Master seemed to be in an explaining mood towards their enemy. "For all we know, the power has always been there, dormant, waiting to be woken up. For some reason you're always the more susceptible one to be affected by emotions, rather than dark spells which your light power has given you immunity from. The first time you got your powers was because of JD threatening to incinerate you with his, am I wrong? Didn't you feel fear for your life then?"
"Liu Ying and Gayathri got their powers the same time as I got mine," Adam pointed out, although he didn't sound as skeptical as he had been.
"Yes. Everyone's powers are triggered in a way by their emotion, but you seem to be affected more from it. I suppose it's because of your past," said SkullSatamon bluntly. "Come now, everyone now knows that you had actually been suppressing your sadness and grief back then. You were inhibiting your emotion, which had compromised your teleportation power in return. You were always the weakest one back then, and you knew it then too. Now, you know why."
Adam frowned, but remained silent.
"I don't know what actually happened at the Dark Ocean, but I'm willing to hazard a guess," continued SkullSatamon. "Dragomon attempted on your life the same way I did, only in a much greater level. I'm guessing that that traitorous JD had placed his life on the line – perhaps in an attempt to seek your forgiveness. And you…of course you'd feel touched, which made you lower your defenses down. Your power was given the opportunity to grow, and something must have happened and you lashed out."
Hearing that, Adam made a sharp inhale of breath. Lucemon noted the boy looking visibly shocked.
SkullSatamon simpered. "Desperation, fear for your life and the lives of others, and perhaps even anger, those were pretty powerful emotions which must have energized your teleportation power to maximum capacity, and brought all of you back to this digital plane, despite your menial mastery of its power then."
"How do you know all these?" Adam sounded, no matter how much he was trying to hide it, fascinated. "TobuCatmon never could explain that to us."
Lucemon thought that the Master looked somewhat amused by the inquiry. If he hadn't known any better he would think that the Master had developed a soft spot for the boy.
"I'm an old dark master, dear boy. I have seen far more surprising things."
"Is that why you told the ShadoWira to take me here months ago?"
"I suppose so, but I have to admit that back then I only thought of your teleportation power as a way to transport me out of this wretched barrier. It wasn't possible though; each technique inscribed on the Nine Negations Dark Arts can only be nullified by only one specific method."
Lucemon twitched a bit. This information was new to him. "Master, did you mean that this barrier surrounding your Horror Hall is actually…"
"The Shield of Waja, yes," said SkullSatamon.
Adam blinked. "Indestructible shield?" he asked.
"Precisely translated, dear boy," said SkullSatamon with a nod. "Only there's nothing but one way to render it destructible."
"And that is for the shield to be destroyed by one single being stronger than the evoker," recited Lucemon, clearly remembering the entry from the ancient scroll he had found in the library of the Onyx Pyramid. "But Master, I thought that this technique can only be executed by evil Digimon for evil purposes? Grademon and his mentor were both good, and by evoking the Shield of Waja against you meant that they did it for the purpose of good."
"Which was why we've never seen or heard about Grademon again after the battle," said SkullSatamon with a sneer.
Lucemon saw Adam was about to say something before closing back his mouth. He wondered what the boy had wanted to say, but he had his own question to ask and thus he ignored the boy.
"How did Grademon and Wizardmon come to know about the method, Master?"
SkullSatamon snorted. "The Shield of Waja was crafted by one known as Ancient Wisemon. This means that all Ancient Wisemon that appears after the one crafting the art would be gifted with the knowledge of how to evoke it. Grademon's mentor was a Wizardmon whose digivolved forms included Wisemon and Ancient Wisemon. Unfortunately, he was at the side of light. And yet, he taught Grademon of how to use it on me, as a last resort matter."
"So that's how Grademon knew about it," Lucemon concluded. "I've always thought that the concept of this barrier is somewhat familiar, but I'd never have guessed that it's actually the Shield of Waja. I believe the Virago General is currently trying to master the art as well."
"Is she?" asked SkullSatamon with mild interest. "I wonder why she thinks that she needs to master it."
"Perhaps she is wary," said Lucemon, smirking towards Adam who was listening to their conversation. "After all, when JD dies the other Wira Digital will be out to have her head." He saw Adam's look darkening instantly at the statement he had made.
"Josh won't die!" snapped Adam. "That was our agreement."
"Of course," said Lucemon, "but the Virago General doesn't know that. It's our little secret, remember?"
Adam became quiet. He cast a look over the Horror Hall, as if pondering about something.
"You want to train me to become powerful enough so that I can destroy the Shield of Waja?" he asked finally.
"Smart boy," said SkullSatamon. "You have the potential. Your light powers have limitless possibilities. Today alone we have made a rediscovery of your latent combustion power and its trigger. If you can do it so can Aldiyamon, as proven by yourself once upon a time ago. We just need to harness its power so that you can be very specific of what to destroy and what's not. After all…" He leered down towards the boy, who didn't look daunted one bit. "We don't want you to accidentally destroy poor JD's heart when you try to destroy the curse, literally speaking?"
To say that Adam was becoming pale at the remark was an understatement, Lucemon thought. The boy looked very ill all of a sudden, and so white that one would have thought that he had just seen a ghost. In fact, he actually had; the Master was rather ghostly.
"You have less than a week to train, then," said SkullSatamon to Adam with a tone of absolute finality. "I suggest you train hard."
Lucemon smirked as Adam nodded his head weakly, ignoring Sagittarimon's silent furious growl.
xxx
xxx
Liu Ying's sobs subsided gradually. JD waited for a few minutes until they were gone completely. He felt Liu Ying's body relaxing and her breaths evening. Those were good signs.
"You ok?" he asked tentatively.
It took her another minute to answer. "I…I guess so. I'm sorry you have to see that."
"It's fine," he murmured. "Wanna talk about it?"
"It's…it's nothing," said Liu Ying with hesitation.
JD let out a dry chuckle. "So you're saying that you just spent about…twenty minutes or so, crying over nothing? I don't think so."
"Is this how you get your cousin to open up?" asked Liu Ying wryly, wiping her tears.
"I can be pretty persuasive if I want. Besides Kak Lisha wants me to get Adam to open up, so I did."
For the first time, he heard her laughing. It was a weak laugh, but it was a start.
"So…how was it?"
"I'm not going to get away with this, am I?" asked Liu Ying, although she didn't sound as evasive as her inquiry suggested.
"After crying your hearts out on my shoulder, I think I deserve at least some explanation," he returned, smiling at her gently to show that he was just teasing.
It was not until another ten minutes before Liu Ying finished her story. JD had a feeling that she had left some details out, but he let that slide. She sounded so anguished upon mentioning that her father was alive at her dream world, and that JD would not die because of the Blight of Bastet. He felt sorry for forcing her into telling him those, but at the same time he was glad. Hearing Liu Ying mentioning that she dreamed of him being her boyfriend and wouldn't die because of some stupid curse sent the butterflies in his stomach flying about.
Indirectly, he learned that his feelings for the girl were reciprocated. Hadn't Doumon mention that Liu Ying would see things that she wanted to see? Perhaps that was why he was so confident that Liu Ying would never wake up. And yet, she did wake up. Weakened, broken, but still very much alive. A CPR did it, he thought, or was it the kiss, like in those fairytales?
"I'm glad you came back," he said softly, after a minute of silence. "I was so worried."
"It was so hard," said Liu Ying, "I almost didn't want to. It was so good, so perfect there…"
"But it wasn't real," said JD. "You would've died if you stayed there any longer."
"I didn't know how to wake up. It was purely by accident that I fell, and…" She tilted her head up to look at him. JD inclined his head down, and felt his heart thumping faster. Their cheeks were almost touching each other, and their mouths were merely about a couple of inches away. "I woke up, your mouth on mine and all…" She blushed, biting her lip.
"It was CPR," said JD defensively. "You weren't breathing. Taking advantage of you is the last thing I'd have in my mind."
Liu Ying nodded, and looked back down. JD didn't know whether to feel relieved or disappointed. He settled for the first. "Thank you," she whispered. Silence ensued, before she asked, "I didn't know that you even know how to perform CPR."
"I did live with a first-aider once and my brother's a med student, go figure," said JD, amused.
Liu Ying responded with a soft chuckle as she shifted her head slightly so that she was facing forward. "Am I making you nervous?" she suddenly asked.
JD froze; he was indeed a bit nervous. "What makes you say that?"
"I can feel your heart beating at the back of my head."
He chuckled nervously. "Well what do you expect? I've got a girl I liked sitting before me, and I'm actually hugging her if we think about it…"
"I'm not that cold, actually…" She made a motion to free herself from his hold, but he didn't budge.
"Oh, yes you are. Your skin is still a bit like ice, you need me to heat you up…" JD stopped, and swore to himself. "I didn't mean it like that!" he said hastily.
Liu Ying was avoiding his desperate gaze, but she nodded. "I…I know. But do you have to do it like this? I mean…you don't have to hug me…"
"F-fine…" He could only curse himself again for the obvious disappointment that had sounded. He opened his arms and placed it on his sides, still sitting in an Indian position with Liu Ying sitting within the space formed by his folded legs, leaning against his body. To his surprise, she softly placed her hands on his.
"It's a good thing that you have the power of fire," she murmured, although JD had the distinct impression that wasn't what she wanted to say.
"Yeah, heh…lucky us," said JD, deciding to hold off his thoughts. He didn't know whether he could handle much more of this. For a brief moment, Adam's taunting 'hug-and-kiss' song that night when they made their blood oath echoed in his mind. He realized that he had done those, without actually intending to do so. Still, the accompanying feelings lingered.
Then he decided that it was best for them to change the topic of conversation to a serious one.
"Doumon's got our Digivices," he began.
"I know," said Liu Ying.
"You do? How?"
"I…kind of saw it when I was…well, dreaming. I kept seeing Labramon, although I didn't know why. And then I heard you. And Labramon too. And Doumon laughing as if he'd won."
"Well, now that you're back, we'll prove him wrong. But…" He tilted his head skyward, taking note of the near-straight stone walls that bordered the cliffs. He could see the sky, but that seemed so far away. The stone walls were just too steep for them to attempt to climb.
Liu Ying followed his gaze, he noted. "Can you give me a bit more time…for me to gather myself, and fully rid myself of the cold?"
"Sure. Got lots of flames to share among the two of us." He smiled lightly at her. "You have a plan or anything?"
"I hope so," Liu Ying replied. "I hope it'll work."
xxx
xxx
"Where is everyone?" Manny wondered, once he and Penguinmon arrived at the Green Meadow.
"Looks like the party's over," said Penguinmon.
"Still that doesn't explain Puspamon, Rosemon and Opie not being here…oh no!"
Manny saw something glimmering amidst the greenery of the meadow. He ran towards it, recognizing it but hoping that it wasn't so.
"Puspamon's staff," said Penguinmon, confirming his fear. "What's it doing here?"
"All three of them are Megas, they can't be beaten by another Mega," said Manny disbelievingly.
"I dunno, Manny. That Ravemon was bigger and looked way stronger. Didn't the analyzer mention it being a special kind of Ravemon or something?"
Manny nodded. He took out his Digivice and used its scanner to detect the signal from the other Digivices. Within a second the red and yellow dots blinked together, and a pink dot moving towards the other two. He frowned.
"Either she's heading for them or that Ravemon guy is taking her there," noted Penguinmon.
"Either way, we better go after her. Juara Access Digivolution, HAAA!!"
xxx
xxx
"I'm ready," said Liu Ying, glancing up towards the light source. It seemed so far up, it was a miracle that they had survived the fall. But then, JD had mentioned about them being trapped inside the bubble barriers, only released from the barriers once they were near the underground lake.
"You sure you know what you're trying to do?" asked JD, standing up and helped her with it.
"Actually I don't," she admitted, and saw JD's surprised look. "But I've done it on other objects; I just never thought of attempting it on myself."
She had a theory on how to get them out of the cliff. Her power was telekinesis, which enabled her to move objects with her mind. She was able to channel her power into her hands as well. Now she wondered whether she could take it up a notch.
She was going to attempt levitation. She could levitate objects, so why not herself and JD?
"Getting a bit daredevil here, don't you think?" said JD, apparently trying to soothe himself if not her.
"Well, it's either up or down, and frankly speaking," Liu Ying glanced at the dark water and made a face, "Even if there's a possibility that there's a way to escape there I'd rather not swim in waters that chilly ever again if I can help it."
"Same here."
Liu Ying tried to focus her power, willing it to lift her up. She then felt her feet slowly moving away from the stone floor, hovering till her feet was at JD's shoulder level. She looked down at JD, and made a slow flicking motion with both hands. JD yelped as he was slowly lifted from the ground.
And suddenly they swayed about in a haphazard manner. Liu Ying felt her power failing. JD was the first to fall on his back, and she followed, crashing onto his body.
"Ooh, that hurts."
"Sorry, JD," she said, quickly scampering up her feet. "It was fine and all when I did it separately, but when I tried lifting you up while levitating, something went wrong."
"You couldn't control it?" asked JD, rubbing the small of his back while frowning.
Liu Ying thought about it. "No, it's not that. It was more like I couldn't do two separate things with my power." She gave a laugh of irony. "I'd have thought, with a technique called 'Duo Focus' when I'm Xianamon, I could actually do it. Do two things at once."
"Hey, it's ok," assured JD. "Don't push yourself too hard. We'll figure out another way, or wait for the others to come."
"No, I'm done waiting. I saw Labramon, she was in danger. I've waited long enough." She looked at him, thinking of another way to do it. "There is one other way to get around this. I won't have to worry about levitating myself and you separately, but…" She stopped and glanced away from JD's gaze.
JD flicked his hand, generating a fireball enough to light their faces. "Ok, you're blushing," he noted. "Whatever the plan is, you don't like it."
"It's not that I don't like it," said Liu Ying hastily. "It's just that, we…gonna have to, kind of, er…"
"You're blushing and stammering," said JD. "C'mon. Don't you trust me by now? If you know of a surefire way that's gonna work, then by all means just do it if you don't feel like telling."
Liu Ying sighed. "Fine. Let's get this over with." She hesitated, before stepping right before JD and draping her arms around his waist. She then laid her head gently on JD's chest, and felt the taller teen stiffened in shock. "Don't get any ideas, but I need you to hold me the same way I'm holding you."
"You mean you want me to hug you back?"
"Yes. If we're close I can focus my power better. I don't have to split my attention. That way, it might work to get us both out of here."
"Oh. Alright." And Liu Ying felt her body stiffened when JD returned the embrace. Her cheeks grew hot, and JD made her feel safe with his arms around her, but she shook those thoughts away. Closing her eyes she willed her power to lift her and JD up. Slowly, they began to hover from the ground, and steadily levitated away from the cold abyss.
"Hey, it's working," JD whispered to her ears. "Open your eyes, Liu Ying. You need to look at this."
She opened her eyes and gave a sharp intake of how ethereally magical the surrounding was. Soft yellow mists with glittering stars swirled around them as an invisible force seemed to hoist them up towards the higher ground. They were spinning in slow motion; it was what she would have imagined to see in romantic fairy tales. JD let out an exhilarated chuckle and Liu Ying watched as how his eyes lit up and his hair flapped against his forehead. She was somewhat entranced; it was hard to believe that JD was cursed to die in less than a week should one look at him right now. For a brief few seconds, Liu Ying was glad to be able to make him happy.
They both practically flew up towards the late afternoon sky after passing the targeted higher ground. Quickly she willed her power to take them both towards the ground.
Her knees uncharacteristically wobbled once they touchdowned and she almost tumbled, if it weren't for JD's strong arms draped around her.
"Whoa, careful there," he said.
"Of all the times to get weak knees," she nervously said. She noticed that JD wasn't in the hurry to let her go.
That meant she had to take the initiative to break the contact. She was somewhat surprised to find herself almost sorry in doing so as JD slowly released her from his embrace. He looked like he was about to scowl in disappointment before the ever-familiar poker face graced his face.
"That was…well, amazing, right?" she asked, hoping to ease the tension between them.
"You're amazing," said JD with a lopsided grin.
Liu Ying found herself missing that: the mischievous lopsided grin. "Don't joke around," she chided.
JD chuckled. "Ok, ok. How about we go look for that sore loser priest and kick his butt?"
"Sure," she said, entertaining his enthusiasm, "but how? Our Digivices are with Doumon."
"Maybe I can help," said a new voice.
The two of them quickly looked sideway, and saw Manny and Penguinmon walking towards them. Manny was holding his Juara Digivice, and he had a mildly amused look on his face.
"Ok, that's just plain creepy," said JD, pointing an accusing finger towards Manny. "How long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough. By the way Liu Ying, I didn't know that you could fly?" said Manny in a perfectly composed tone.
She raised her eyebrow; Manny had just hinted that he had watched the whole exchange she and JD had after escaping the abyss. She chose to simply ignore Manny's knowing look and answer his question without missing a beat. "I didn't either, but what you've seen wasn't actually flying; it was still telekinesis. Anyway, what brings you here?"
"I was following your Digivices' signals actually…yours and Gayathri's." Manny looked at the Digivice, then back at them, frowning. "I thought I'd find Gayathri with you two…"
Liu Ying and JD exchanged glances.
"We don't have our Digivices. Doumon stole them and took Labramon as well," said Liu Ying.
"And threw us in there." JD gestured towards the abyss. "Can't complain though," he added, giving Liu Ying a lingering gaze.
Liu Ying felt a blush coming, and promptly changed the subject. "Why are you looking for Gayathri?" she asked Manny.
"She's missing," said Manny, downcast. "We were taking Debbie for a look around at the Green Meadow, and were joined by Dina. Then Ravemon came by, and I had to take Debbie and Dina back. Rosemon and Opie, as Valkyrimon, stayed behind with Puspamon to fend off Ravemon. I thought that three Megas could take care of Ravemon, but when I came back nobody was around. All I found was Puspamon's staff. And I found her Digivice signal along with yours, so we came here."
"Doumon must have had her captured too," deduced Liu Ying.
Manny grimaced. "I was hoping you wouldn't say that."
"Duh! Isn't that obvious already?" Penguinmon quipped.
"Adam's not around?" JD asked, peering over Manny's shoulder despite it was obvious that said boy was not there.
"He wasn't with us when that Ravemon attacked."
"You didn't call him?"
Manny looked somewhat troubled. "That's the curious part," he said. "Dina called Kak Lisha this morning and Kak Lisha told her that Adam's been at the Digital World. But we couldn't detect his Digivice signal anywhere. Strange, don't you think?" he asked JD.
JD's forehead creased. "Not this again…" he muttered.
"I've left him a message via the D-Terminal," said Manny. "Maybe when he gets it he'll join us."
"In the meantime," said Liu Ying, changing the topic to avoid JD's dark mood, and gazing towards Manny and Penguinmon, "we're going to need you two if we're going up against Doumon. For all we know he could be a Mega Digimon by now, and Samudramon is the only Mega we have."
Manny nodded. "Sure. Count us in."
Manny pressed a button on his Digivice, and a holographic map was projected out from the device's screen. He proceeded by pressing the buttons in a sequence, and the holographic map transformed into a scenery of valleys with beautiful shrubs. Hidden behind some of the taller weird shrubberies was a massive rectangular structure which looked like an old Buddhism temple, and there three Digivice signals were detected: red, yellow and pink.
Liu Ying nodded as the hologram vanished. "Let's do it."
xxx
xxx
"We seem to have a lot of visitors today," Doumon noted with a chuckle, as Gayathri was slowly waking up.
Gayathri's vision cleared, and she registered the presences of Floramon and Shaomon with her. Wait, she thought, eyes focusing on Shaomon. She took in the puppy's appearance; though uninjured Shaomon obviously was weakened enough. She then noticed that they were trapped inside a bubble-shaped barrier and scowled at Doumon. "All these kidnappings are getting real old."
"Your confidence is admirable," said Doumon, and took out a pink and gold device that caused Gayathri to gasp. "There. That's the reaction I'm waiting to hear."
"Give it back!" Gayathri demanded, as Doumon levitated her Digivice to join two other Juara Digivices: JD's and Liu Ying's. She then saw Ravemon, who slinked in from the shadows, and was surprised to see that Ravemon was no longer as large as he was previously. Ravemon was now more or less the same height as the human-sized Doumon.
"You should be careful in battle, girl." Doumon raised his eyebrows and looked at her mockingly. "You'll know better next time, except there won't be a next time."
"Our friends will rescue us, Doumon!"
"I'm counting on that," said Doumon, and Gayathri instantly realized that it was a trap, and she was the bait. "Ravemon, you will wait outside to greet them."
Ravemon nodded once before exiting the hall through the front door.
Doumon waved his paw and transformed into a bearded demonic man, with long white hair and a face so ugly that it could be a mask. His nose was pointed like a bird's beak, and a constant sneer was present under the beak-nose. He was wearing an elaborate crimson wizardry robe, with a poncho with large beads of various shapes, sizes and colors draped over his body. Scarlet red demonic wings sprouted from his back, and a wooden staff with a gleaming skull appeared on his right clawed hand.
"Who…who are you?" demanded Gayathri, despite the fear that was beginning to creep into her heart upon the sight of the demonic being.
"Barbamon," said the newly-digivolved Shaman General. "And I have the power of both my own Demon Lord form's and of Xianamon's!"