"I believe if you keep your faith, you keep your trust, you keep the right attitude, if you're grateful, you'll see God open up new doors."
~Joel Osteen~
Shadows clung to cold stone walls until the corridors held an eerie and claustrophobic feel to them. To most, it felt as if the darkness could lunge from their ever consistent posts and suffocate any passerby, no matter their strength. The dark, after all, is not a foe to be fought with muscle, but with heart and soul. It was rare to encounter anyone who wasn't weak in terms of the latter. Physical strength can be achieved by just about anyone, but internal strength was a precious gem owned by so few.
He was guilty of it himself, he admitted. He had never reached the light, and it haunted his every step. But because of that, he had grown accustomed to the pitch blackness, both its state in reality in the form of shadows, and in its mental state. Those, of course, were in the form of negativity, distrust, and sins.
The sudden voice behind him didn't startle him in the least.
"Tactimon has demanded your presence." The Troopmon said, turning and leaving back the way he had come from without waiting for an answer.
Mildly intrigued and having nothing better to do, Reapmon followed the soldier, though he took his time. He was in no rush, and he knew how impatient the Generals could be. It was always entertaining to rile them up every chance he had. Dangerous, but entertaining none the less.
Once he reached the Generals' meeting room, he immediately received glares from the three visible occupants, all of which he ignored.
"About time you showed up.." Blastmon growled, obviously the most annoyed of the group.
Reapmon waved the hostility off casually. "Oh, calm down Blastmon. I'm here now, aren't I? Wouldn't want you throw a fit..."
"For once I agree with the ghoul.." Laylamon sniffed indignantly.
"Enough, all of you! I've had enough of your constant bickering..."
The assassin suppressed a shudder at the commanding tone in the deep rumbling voice, and the other two Generals instantly silenced themselves. Tactimon didn't seem bothered, not having been talking and therefor knowing the threatening scold hadn't been directed at him.
"Now.. Reapmon, has Deckerdramon been dealt with?"
Reapmon dipped his head slightly in a respectful motion, though there was no sincerity in the action. "I'm afraid not, Lord Bagra. I wasn't able to get passed the barrier into Sanctuary. My apologies.."
"Is that so? Did you encounter any resistance during your time in the Zone?"
"No, my lord." He kept a blank expression during the entire lie. He felt oddly calm despite lying directly to the most powerful known being in the Digital World; his pulse was only slightly faster than normal. Most likely it was due to the fact he had done it too many times.
Just another lie to add to the ever expanding web.. One day I'll get myself caught, I'm sure.. Oh well.
"So, at least they're still unsuspecting of an attack." Tactimon summed up.
"What's the point of attacking if you can't get into Sanctuary to get the Code Crown? Or do you have some plan we don't know about?" Laylamon asked, shooting the swordsman an expectant look.
Tactimon replied without hesitation, "That's simple... Crush all resistance until they surrender and hand it over to spare their pathetic little peasant lives... And if they won't, kill them all and then with the Zone under our control, we'll have all the time we need to figure out how to get inside."
"Very well.. You're all dismissed. Tactimon, continue to make necessary actions to move out to the Jungle Zone and get it done with as soon as possible. Blastmon and Laylamon, be ready on standby for further instructions."
"As you wish, Lord Bagra. I should only need 3 or 4 more days to prepare my soldiers, and then the Zone will fall easily enough." Tactimon replied, bowing as the others had upon receiving their orders and leaving the room.
The sun was finally fully above the horizon after what felt like an eternity before Lilamon came to relieve Mervamon from her sentry duty. The warrior was a bit surprised to see the plant Digimon instead of Stingmon.
"Well hun, that's all for today. Someone else will be here shortly to watch. You can go on home to your brother and I'll wait here for the next guard." Lilamon said in her usually cheery voice, smiling kindly. "It really was so thoughtful of you to take up the post. Really helped put Stingmon's mind at ease for not being able to do it himself."
"Is he alright? He said he'd be the one to let me know when my shift is done.." Mervamon asked, concerned for his absence.
Lilamon smiled, though there was a hint of sadness. "Oh, don't worry about that. He's just real tired from overworkin' himself lately, and I thought it'd be best not to wake him for something as simple as walkin' over here. He needs to learn not to take all the burdens and dangerous jobs for himself for once.."
"Yeah, he should try to let others help him out more often.. I know he has the best intentions, but it isn't healthy for him. After all, this really isn't a good time for him to be suddenly crashing..." Mervamon shook her head. "Well, I should get going now. You take care of yourself and Stingmon for me, alright?"
The plant Digimon brightened up at that and nodded. "No problem hun~ Oh!" She suddenly exclaimed. "I almost forgot to ask; for Stingmon of course. Nothin' suspicious turned up last night, did it?"
Mervamon despised the thought of lying, especially to her friends no less, but she wasn't sure telling the truth about Reapmon's appearance was a good idea. Stingmon was stressed enough as it was without needing to know a Bagra elite had showed up last night. But if she didn't mention it, everyone else would be unaware and could be in potential danger.
Will he really return? He seemed to have lost all interest in the Sanctuary... But it could have easily been a trick to have me lower my guard.
Deciding on something in the middle, Mervamon said, "Yeah, there was some movement in the bushes and it felt like someone might have been watching me. I couldn't see anything, and it was probably just a Troopmon scout, but you should tell the other guards to be wary just in case."
"Oh my... I'll be sure to do that." Lilamon agreed.
"And one last thing. I want guard duty again tonight."
"Hun, that's really not necessary if you don't want-"
"No, I want to. It's the least I can do. If Stingmon really has that much faith in me that my being on duty helps with his stress, then I'm glad to help. I owe him for all the protecting he's offered the Jungle Zone over the years."
And I need to know if that assassin will come back... I won't forgive myself if someone else gets hurts because I wasn't honest about his appearance. And at least this time I'll be ready if I need to fight him..
"You're a real thoughtful gal Mervamon. I really appreciate what you're doin' for us. and I'm positive Stingmon does too. You take care of yourself too, you hear me?"
"Of course, you don't need to worry about me Lilamon." She replied reassuringly, then finally turned and began making the long walk through the undergrowth toward her home where Ignitemon was definitely waiting for her.
"Hey sis! You're finally back."
"Hey Ignitemon. Yeah, I am. But I'll be on sentry duty again tonight."
He had perked up so much at seeing her return, but now he deflated again quite a bit. "Oh.."
Mervamon smiled faintly and put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about it, alright? Everything's going to be fine soon and I won't have to guard Sanctuary anymore."
He smiled a little and nodded. "Alright, if you're sure."
I wish I was...
"Of course I'm sure. In a week, everything should be back to normal."
Ignitemon stared at her for a moment in heistation, then nodded again. "Okay sis, I trust you."
He's smart, he knows something's up..
Mervamon shoved the thought away.
That may be true.. But the less he knows, the safer he'll be.. I'll just keep as much of this from him as I can... I can protect him... I know it.. I don't have any other choice...
