A/N Sorry this chapter…along with the last…took so long to come up. Fanfiction.net has been giving me some serious login problems for ages!! Every time I try to login, it freezes or takes ages and then when I'm finally able to upload my Docs it says there were internal errors!!! Dammit it's irritating!!!
Anyway…for future reference, the name Koronamon is pronounced core-on-a-mon.
So, down to business…
PS- The song is 'Hello' by Evanescence.
PPS- If there ids anyone who has copied this onto a Word Document, please could you send the names of the few Devas I mentioned in the mini conversation between Zihuralamon and the Devas. I lost my entire story and I can't remember what I said!!! Please, I need those names!!
Chapter 8 Calm before the Diamond StormRyo stepped out of Rika's front door and glanced back inside before shutting it. He had let himself out after taking Rika home and as he looked back at the heart-wrenching scene before him, he almost cried himself. Rika was trying to console her weeping mother in a warm embrace.
The news was out…Seiko was dead.
*********
Playground school bell rings again
Rain clouds come to play again
Has no one told you she's not breathing?
Hello I'm your mind giving you
Someone to talk to
Hello
*********
Rain was falling heavily from the sky, as if the heavens themselves were weeping for them. Ryo made his way slowly back home, feeling confused and tired.
Rika…all this was happening to and because of her. No, not because of her, because someone out there wanted her dead…just like Seiko.
The image of Seiko's cold, lifeless body flashed in front of Ryo's eyes. Then suddenly, it was Rika lying there on the rough, icy tar. Pale, cold and…dead. Ryo shuddered and shook his head.
*********
If I smile and don't believe
Soon I know I'll wake from this dream
Don't try to fix me I'm not broken
Hello I'm the lie living for you so you can hide
Don't cry
*********
The streets were quiet; the only sound that of the persistent rain. Had he been crying now, no one would have ever known…but he wasn't. He had to stay strong for Rika. He had to, now more than ever, be there to protect her. It was all so unfair. But it had happened and the sooner they accepted it, the easier it would be to recover.
He knew Rika would be fine. She was strong and used to pain.
But still…he would be there.
*********
Suddenly I know I'm not sleeping
Hello I'm still here
All that's left of yesterday.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Rika sat at her desk in school. She was staring at the exam before her with unfocused eyes. How was she supposed to concentrate on her Math paper?
Shaking her head slightly to get rid of the daze, she blinked and picked up her calculator. Just a few more meaningless calculations and equations and she could go home to prepare for her journey.
Tapping softly on the keys of her calculator, she tried desperately to keep her mind on the sum she was doing. Her hand ached with the speed at which she wrote down the final answer to the last question.
There, she was done. Packing away her calculator and her stationary, Rika stood up, handed her paper to her teacher and left the class. She strolled silently to the fountain and sat down on the benches around it. She had been first to leave the class and wanted to go home, but she had promised Ryo she would wait for him. So, taking out a small black notebook and her blue Parker, she started making the list of things she would need.
She was going shopping today with Ryo, which was why she had said she would wait for him. Looking down at the list she had been making, she realized just how many things they would need.
It hadn't been an easy task, but she had persuaded…or more appropriately, forced Renamon to take her back to the Digital world. The Devas needed to be stopped and that meant going right to the root of the problem…the Sovereign.
A soft noise snapped Rika out of her thoughts. She looked up to see what it was and saw Ryo walking towards her. He had an almost apprehensive look on his face. He stopped in front of her and she looked back down with a small sigh.
"Don't worry Akiyama," she said softly as she scribbled more things onto her list. "I'm not gonna break down on you again." Ryo sat down on the bench and looked at the list Rika had been making. It was getting pretty long.
Deciding that she needed a little cheering up (a lot's more like it), Ryo took the list from her and smiled at it.
"This is getting quite long, Rika. How do you plan on paying for all of this?" He asked. Rika looked up at him and with a small smirk, snatched back her list.
"Need I remind you that my mother is an internationally famous super model?" She said. Ryo chuckled lightly.
"How could I forget? I saw her picture on the side of a bus a couple of days ago." He smirked at the disgusted look on Rika's face and stood up. Offering her his hand, Ryo gently pulled Rika to her feet and smiled at her.
"Come on," he said, leading her out of the school grounds. "By the looks of it, we have a lot to buy, so we better get started."
*~*~*~*~*~*
Rika walked up and down the long aisles of a store devoted totally to camping equipment. Flashlights, water canteens, backpacks (big and small)…anything you needed to survive in the outdoors.
Rika looked over a small tent that was just big enough for two people to sleep in. It folded up into a very small package that could easily fit into the bottom of a backpack. Lifting it off the shelf, Rika placed it in the basket of things she was buying. Then she made her way over to a stand that was piled with binoculars and telescopes. She picked out the best set of Binoculars she could find and added them to her basket.
Ryo was scanning the shelves just a few aisles away from Rika.
He looked at a display of very beautifully crafted compasses, but grinned and shook his head, moving away. A compass would be totally useless in the Digital World.
His eyes fell on a mini gas stove. Perfect. He lifted the box off the shelf and moved on, adding several boxes of matches to his collection of things.
Rika came around the corner and looked up at Ryo. He was looking at a rack strung with backpacks the perfect size for hiking. Rika looked at them as well and picked out one that she liked. She needed a new one considering her only other one had been eaten by the D-Reaper's Chaos.
Ryo took the list from Rika's, now very overcrowded, hands and checked it. They had almost everything they needed but the last thing wouldn't be found here.
"Alright," he said to Rika, relieving her of some of the things she was carrying. "We have everything we need from here, let's go." They walked up to the counter and paid for their items before leaving the shop.
The last place they needed to visit was a Toyshop down the road.
They stepped into the cool, air-conditioned building and Rika breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness," she said. "Another minute in that heat wave outside and I would've had a stroke!" Ryo chuckled lightly, happy that Rika was joking around again. She had been very distant and unhappy ever since her Grandmother had died…but it had only happened three days ago and Ryo knew that the pain was still fresh.
He followed her over to a small stand in the back of the store that sold what they needed.
Digimon Cards.
It had actually been Ryo's idea for them to stock up on some new cards. If they planned on beating the Devas and the Sovereign, then they were going to need all the tricks in the book.
Rika asked the lady working there for four packs of cards and looked through them as Ryo got himself some as well.
"Get anything worthwhile?" Ryo asked as they walked out of the shop.
"Yeah," Rika nodded. "I got a Goliath card and a few good attack cards. I haven't looked at all of them yet though." Ryo looked up and watched the passing cars. It was getting late and the traffic would be at its peak soon.
"Hey," Ryo suddenly said.
"Hmm?"
"Does everyone know when to meet us?" He asked.
"Yeah, I told Jeri to tell everyone. I know how much that girl loves to use her phone." Ryo grinned at this.
"Have you told your mom yet?" He asked. Rika sighed and shook her head.
"And I'm not planning to either. If I did, she would probably lock me in my room just to stop me. No, I'm sneaking out around half-past eleven, that should give me enough time to get to Guilmon's hideout by twelve."
"But I thought that entrance was buried," Ryo said. He had thought they were just meeting in the park and that they were going to find another way through.
"Well, let's just say…Guilmon unburied it for us," Rika chuckled.
"I see," Ryo said with a small smile. "Well then, shall I walk you home your Highness?" Rika sighed and shook her head in mock irritation.
"You really know how to get on a person's nerves don't you Akiyama. Tell me, do you purposefully irritate me or are you like this around everyone?" She said, glaring at him playfully.
"Don't worry my liege," Ryo grinned, happy to have cheered her up more. "I save my charming wit for you and you alone. You know how much I love you." Rika raised a delicate eyebrow at him.
"Thanks…I think."
*~*~*~*~*~*
Rika snuck around the back of her house and carefully opened her window. Being as quiet as she could, she slipped her shopping bags into her room and shut the window again. If her mother saw the things she had bought, it would be a sure fire give away.
Making her way back to the front of the house, she picked the best ways of getting out without being noticed. Getting away from her mother would be easy enough, but to get to the park without being seen would be a lot harder.
She stepped into the house and kicked off her shoes.
"Mom! I'm home!" She called.
"There you are, Rika. I've been trying to get a hold of you all day. Why don't you have your cell-phone with you?" Rumiko came out of the kitchen and smiled at Rika weakly.
"I…I was out mom. I…" A thought suddenly struck her, an idea that would get her mother off her back without any questions.
"I was on a date and I didn't think it would be appropriate to have my ear stuck to my phone the whole time," she lied. Rumiko's face lit up.
"You…you were on a date?" She cried happily. "Why didn't you tell me you had a boyfriend?"
Oh great, Rika thought bitterly. So much for the no questions idea. She smiled up at her mother, hoping this would end the conversation.
"Who ever said it was a boy?" She asked and then quickly hurried away before her mother could catch on.
She slipped into her room and shut the door. With a quick turn of the key, her door was locked and she was safe.
Right, she thought. Time to get started. She moved over to her window and picked up her bags. Tipping them over, she dumped the contents onto her mattress and sorted through them.
Renamon suddenly appeared beside her.
"Have you got everything?" She asked. Rika nodded as she carefully opened her new backpack, praying that her mother wouldn't hear the zip.
"Yeah, all I need know is something warm to wear and I'll be ready."
"Rika, are you sure you want to do this? The Digital World is very different to what you experienced before. Everything has changed…are you positive you're up to it?" Renamon asked. Rika looked up at her seriously.
"I don't care how much it's changed, Renamon," she said fiercely, tossing things into the open backpack. "The Devas have to be stopped. It would be just as dangerous for me to stay here, as it would if I went to the Digital World. At least this way, I'll be doing something about it, instead of sitting on my ass like some helpless two year old!" Renamon sighed and disappeared. Rika turned back to the blanket she was folding up and made it as small as she could before putting it on top of the mini tent that was resting on the bottom. She didn't have to worry about food since you didn't need to eat in the Digital World, but she would be taking her water canteen…just in case.
The last time she had gone there, she hadn't been properly prepared, but this time, she wasn't leaving anything to chance.
Once she was packed, she double-checked that she had everything and then slipped her bag into her cupboard. Looking up and down the rows of clothing she had, she picked out her warmest jacket. It was black with white lining the hems. The zip was white too and there was a small logo over the place where a pocket would have been. It had deep pockets near the bottom that were also lined with white.
She pulled this off the rack and folded it up, resting it neatly on her backpack.
Now she was ready…well, almost.
Sighing lightly, Rika walked back into her room and sat down on her traditional mattress. She pulled a piece of paper out of her bag along with her parker pen.
Her hand traced slowly across the page, etching small neat little words onto the glaring white of the paper. Her hand was shaking slightly, but her handwriting was so strange that no body would have noticed.
The letters looped and crossed in a sort of cryptic hieroglyphic type of script. It looked as if she should have been a writer in the olden days.
When she had finally finished, Rika looked over the letter she had written. It was short but sweet:
Dear MomI've gone to the Digital World. Please don't worry; I'll be with Renamon and Ryo for sure. I'm not entirely certain that the others are coming but I'll be safe.
I'll be home soon, so don't fret too much, okay?
Remember what Grandma always said, excess worrying leads to premature wrinkles and I'm sure Cocoa would hate that.
Take care of yourself and don't do anything stupid.
I'll see you soon.
Rika
Rika carefully folded the note up and put it on her pillow. Now she was completely ready. Sighing softly, she picked up her art notes and pretended to learn for the exam she wouldn't be writing tomorrow.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Rika lay on her mattress, staring at the ceiling. She glanced at the digital clock next to her bed.
11: 22pm
All right, she thought. Time to go. She got up and, as quietly as she could, opened her cupboard and pulled out her backpack. Making sure she had everything, she grabbed her jacket and headed for the door that led onto her own little porch. She slipped her D-Power onto her belt and her cards into their holder.
The door slid open without resistance, the only sound being that of polished wood sliding effortlessly over polished wood.
Rika crept out of the door and carefully knelt down to pick up her sneakers.
She paused for a moment to listen. All clear.
She took her first step and the wooden patio creaked loudly. She froze immediately, silently cursing her luck.
Everything was quiet so, breathing a soft sigh of relief, she moved on. She slid her feet across the wooden surface to prevent any more noise and was thoroughly relieved when she put her feet down on the warm, sweet grass. She sat down and pulled on her sneakers, then paused again.
The only noise was that of the small waterfall at the head of the water feature in her yard…all-else was hushed. Looking around, Rika felt satisfied that there was no one else there so she relaxed.
"Renamon?" She called softly. A yellow figure appeared beside her.
"Are you ready?" Renamon asked.
"As I'll ever be. Come on, let's go."
They hurried across the grass, two silent shadows in the darkness of the night. Renamon ran ahead and checked for any signs of waking life, but there was none.
When Rika arrived at the park, it was midnight exactly. She moved quietly to Guilmon's hideout and crept inside. There was a freshly dug patch of earth and Rika could see the glow of the Digital gate from where she was sitting.
There was no one here.
Rika leant back against the wall of the small building and shut her eyes. She was tired. She sighed and made a mental not to find a place to sleep as soon as the got to the Digital World.
Renamon was suddenly beside her.
"Rika, someone's coming," she said. Rika opened her eyes and sat up.
"Who is it?" She asked.
"I think its Ryo."
"Oh," Rika said softly. Well obviously he would be there. He had promised her he would come.
Just as Renamon had said, Ryo came around the corner and ducked into the little building.
"Hey Wildcat. You okay?" He asked as he sat down beside her and looked her over carefully. The faint pink light coming from the gate was lightly visible on her face. Her skin was glowing the soft pink and it made her look so calm and…magnificently beautiful.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, leaning back into the wall. "I hope everyone comes." Ryo looked at her sadly. He didn't have the heart to tell her that he hadn't seen anyone else.
Cyberdramon stuck his head into the door.
"There are more Tamers coming," he growled. Ryo looked out the door and smiled. Takato and Jeri were walking up the path towards the hideout.
Ryo and Rika got up and went out to meet them.
"Thanks for coming guys," Rika said happily. She was glad that at least somebody had come.
"We weren't gonna leave you to fight them on your own, Rika," Takato said as he dumped his bag next to hers and Ryo's inside the hideout. "What kind of friends would we be if we did?" Rika didn't say anything to this and just stood there in silence, waiting for the rest of the Tamers…if they were coming at all.
Two figures appeared at the end of the path and as they came closer Rika realized that one of them was Henry and the other, a person she hadn't expected to show up. In fact, she hadn't even thought about the possibility of this person wanting to come. But there she was.
Alice McCoy. She had her hair in her usual pigtail style, but instead of the black dress, she now wore a pair of black sweatpants and a black jacket, under which she wore a white shirt. She looked uncomfortably hot and Rika could understand why.
The heat wave hadn't gone, even after sunset. It was just a little less hot and a lot more humid.
"Nice to see you again," Alice said as she climbed the steps to the rest of the group. She looked back down the path and sighed in frustration.
"Are you two idiots coming or what?" She called.
"Yeah, yeah! We're coming!" Shouted Kenta's voice.
"Hold your horses!" Kazu called. "I swear," he muttered, not actually intending for them to hear. "That girl is almost as bad as Rika!" The result of this little comment was that when they came around the corner, Kazu and Kenta were met by the very angry glares of two very short-tempered girls.
They were both so scared that they toppled over backwards and fell down the short flight of stairs landing hard on their butts.
Rika smirked triumphantly and turned around. She looked over all her friends and smiled.
"Thanks guys," she said, slightly humbled by the friendship they were proving. The Tamers all looked at her as if to say, "you thought we weren't coming?" Rika blushed slightly at this and turned away again. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw three small figures running towards them. Seconds later, Ai, Mako and Suzy skidded to a halt in front of her.
"How come you left me behind, Henwy?" Suzy said indignantly. "I wanna come too!" Henry looked at her in frustration and was about to say something, but Rika held up her hand to stop him.
"Let her come, Henwy," she said, grinning slightly. "She's a Tamer too." Henry sighed in defeat, but hid his anger from both Rika and Suzy.
"We want to come too!" Ai said.
"Yeah! Us and Impmon wanna help!" Mako agreed. A small black Digimon hopped down from the trees and landed beside Ai.
"Hiya guys," he said in his oddball, to-cool-to-care-voice. "How's it hanging huh?"
"Impmon!?" Rika said in shock. "What…how did you get here?"
"I came to help you's guys and that's all you can say? Sheesh, you try te help someone and this is what ye get, baboom!" He folded his arms and huffed. Rika smiled at him and shook her head. Renamon stepped forward and looked down at Impmon.
"You really want to help us?" She asked.
"Sure I do. Ye didn't think I was gonna let you have all the fun did ya, Fox-face?" Renamon chuckled lightly and nodded.
Rika looked down at Ai and Mako's determined faces and sighed. There was no way she would be able to talk them out of it.
"Sure, you guys can come. Did you pack something warm?" She asked.
"Yeah," Ai said, showing Rika her jacket. "Impmon said it was really cold there so we took our winter things."
"How about you, Suzy?"
"I brought my jacket too," she said, presenting her full length pink jacket. Rika nodded and turned around.
"Okay, is everyone ready?" She asked.
"Wait!!!" The Tamers all spun around. A girl was hurtling up the path towards them, but she wasn't running.
She was riding a Digimon.
The Digimon stopped in front of them and the girl hopped off it's back. She landed gracefully on the ground and straightened up. Her hair was long and pulled back in a messy bun. She had strands hanging out at her ears, like Rika's, but she had no fringe. Evidently, it had been grown out and was now long enough to be pulled back as well. The color was just visible in the light form the park lamps. Brown with a coppery shade of red to it. She had blondish-red highlights that made her hair look like it was burning. Her eyes seemed to have no fixed color. They slipped and changed in between green and brown depending on how the light caught them.
She was tall and slender, her body flowing in graceful curves. She seemed oddly familiar to Rika as she stood there, watching her…but who she reminded her of, Rika couldn't tell.
"Who are you?" She asked, taking a step forward. The girl brushed herself off and looked up.
"My name's Alexandra…Alex for short." Her voice was soft and clear, but had the sort of tone that said 'mess with me and die'. She looked like the type of person that you stayed away from out of fear, but wanted to be friends with anyway.
"That's it?" Rika asked. "What about your last name?" Alex smiled lightly, although it was closer to a very familiar smirk.
"I don't have a last name. Its just Alex," she said simply. Rika narrowed her eyes and frowned suspiciously.
"Okay, then what do you want?" She asked.
"Well," Alex said leisurely. "I figured that since I was the one who so selflessly tried to save your Grandmother, you might want my help. Koronamon and I can do a substantial amount of damage to any Deva." Rika turned to look at the big Digimon Alex had ridden on.
It was tall and strong looking. Its legs curved slightly and it stood like Renamon did, making it look like it was standing on its toes. It had a long tail and long fingers that ended in sharp black claws. Its neck was long and graceful and the head almost dinosaur-like. It had a soft snout and ears similar to Guilmon's only they bordered closer to bird wings than bat wings. The eyes were a stunning shade of blue, so beautiful that you could stare at them and become captivated by their spell. A mark was formed around the snout and moved in towards the eyes, ending right underneath them. It was thick around the snout and thinned out to almost invisible until it thickened again under the eye, ending in a sharp, curving point. At the nose it was a lovely green and it faded to sapphire blue under the eye.
Shaking her head slightly, Rika listened as Ryo read the information on the Digimon.
"Koronamon. A Mystical Vaccine type Digimon. Its attacks are Ultima Flare, Spirit flush and Berserk Rush. Hang on, this can't be right…" Rika looked back at him.
"What is it?" She asked, walking over to him to read over his shoulder.
"It says that it's at Rookie level but…its power scale is higher than Cyberdramon's!" Rika's eyes widened and she looked up at Alex incredulously. Alex seemed to be getting a little irritated.
"Look, do you want my help or not, Rika?" She asked. Rika gave her a confused look.
"How did you know my name?" She asked.
"Easy. One, you're the Digimon Queen. Two, your mother is a famous model and my father runs a modeling agency. And three, you're one of the Saviors of the world. Just about everyone knows who you are." She turned suddenly to Koronamon, who had looked at her so sharply that you would think they were in danger.
"I felt it too," she said. "Go see what it is boy." Koronamon nodded and all of a sudden, he was gone.
"What…" Rika started.
"There's someone here," Alex said.
"How did you…"
"Koronamon and I have a sort of psychic thing going on between us. He can become invisible and warp from place to place at will…he found the person. It's a man…he works for the government."
Koronamon came around the corner, leading an unperturbed Yamachi to the Tamers.
"Hello," he said as he came up to them. "Nice of you to send me an escort." He smiled at the Tamers and stepped towards Rika.
"I thought you might try something so I organized you a little gift." He handed Rika what looked like a mini laptop. Intrigued, Rika flipped it open to reveal a small screen and a keypad. The screen was touch-sensitive.
"This is a visual data transporter," he explained. "A videophone in simpler terms. I have several others and I'll be sending them to your parents in the morning. This way, you can contact us whenever you need to." Rika looked down at the small machine and then up at Yamachi.
"Thank you," she said and put it away.
"I'll be going now," Yamachi said as he turned to leave. "You kids be careful in there." He left without another word and the Tamers watched him go.
Rika looked back at Alex.
"Do you really want to help us?" She asked. Alex just nodded. Rika turned and walked to the hideout. Terriermon, Guilmon and Calumon were playing inside it.
"Then I suppose you can come too, but if you cross me…" she turned to Alex and smirked. "Your fancy Dino won't be the only thing disappearing." Rika ducked inside, picked up her bag and, pausing slightly to wait for Ryo, she crawled into the portal.
*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N- Hi again. So, did you like it? I know there wasn't any action, but hey, you can't always just have blood and gore. Sometimes you got to get a little serious. Anywho, I'll be going now, my back is killing me and I'm tired so…toodles!!
PS- thanks for the reviews!!!