DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).
CHAPTER 22
Her Soap
REAL WORLD
Stevens and Flynn Residence
22:01 JST
4th July 2010
Mari breathed a sigh of relaxation as she settled back down in the bath, the water splashing about gently, the white bubbles stretched along with it, although none of the liquid going over the sides. She closed her eyes, wiping a loose wet clump of auburn hair strands away from her eyes before opening them again.
She leaned her head back onto the white plastic sloped end of the bath, closing her eyes and enjoying the peace and quiet. Well, all apart from the sound of a television, albeit a quiet one impossible to hear unless one was silent, from the living room.
She wasn't concerned: after seeing the redhead yawn, Mari had invited Rey to stay at her place again, an offer she accepted gratefully. Mari had assumed that Rey would simply skip forward to the next day, but the girl had told her that she wanted to sleep, which was understandable since she had woken up early that morning.
'Then again, she did sleep when she fainted…' Mari noted. She didn't mind, it was becoming clearer that Rey wasn't staying out of tiredness but more out of simply wanting to relax and have someone to talk to (besides Realmon), and also to be able to help Mari. Plus, Realmon seemed to be interested in stretching her legs, and the sounds of a short-lasted pillow fight demonstrated this, stopped when Rey decided that it wasn't exactly the best time.
Rey was a quirky girl; there was no doubt about that. Then again, could anyone with Rika and Takato as their parents ever be normal? One, a determined, passionate redhead with a temper, and the other a nervous, kind Gogglehead with a dreamer personality.
Mari chuckled, it was odd, but, they fitted each other perfectly, each complimenting the others weaknesses. Then again, she was applying logic to Love, the one topic beyond any logical reasoning.
'Other than our lives, of course…' she corrected herself.
She knew she was right though, both their lives and love seemed to defy explanation. The events of that day were a clear indication.
The image of Ryder suddenly gasping for breath once again two minutes after completely dying flashed through her mind, and she felt the same chills she had felt back then. She'd at first assumed that it was a fault with the heart rate machine, but then Harmony had confirmed that he had been dead. Even if the machines had been at fault, the unnecessary defibrillation would've killed him anyway.
So what was going on? How did Ryder survive death?
Mari shook her head, that wasn't what was going on here.
How did Ryder die, and then be revived?
The boy was a continual source of mystery for her, and it seemed that he found new ways to bewilder her all the time, be it muttering an old crush's name while in a coma, or dying and then returning from the dead, an impossible feat.
Of course, once Harmony had confirmed he had actually died, and yet came back, Mari had attributed it to the fact he was an Angel, but this wasn't the case, as Rey confirmed. Their chat had answered a lot of her questions about the Angels, and cleared her mind of plenty of misconceptions.
A thump resounded through the floor, and Mari rolled her eyes, calling out through the door. "What happened?" she asked, somewhat peeved by what had become a regular occurrence.
"MiniDonmon fell asleep and fell off the sofa again!" Rey called back.
"Fine" Mari groaned, settling back down again.
MiniDonmon had been tired out continually since Ryder had gone into his coma, the severed link draining the bat. Mari frowned, it was sad to see the normally cheerful creature depressed.
'Please get better Ryder…' she thought, glancing around the room lazily, noting her D-Vice left on the side, although she had a hunch that it was waterproof. Testing it wouldn't have been a smart move however, she knew, so she had taken it off. She hoped that Ryder's was still working, and hoped that he was recovering. The D-Vice seemed able to withstand damage without showing any marks (a property held by all Digivices). In fact, the only way it seemed possible to destroy or deactivate them was via the death of the user, the partner, extreme emotional stress (normally anger), or, in the case of the D-Vice exclusively, removing them from the wrist.
Well, they weren't completely deactivated even them, the time shown on the device in a digital watch-style way, an amusing, if possibly unintentional, method of camouflage.
Who designed the mysterious devices anyway? Did previous incarnations have them? She couldn't help but think that would be a mistake back in Roman times, or particularly during the days when someone would be burnt at the stake for being a witch for having such a device.
Mari then recalled what Rey had said about Angels awakening, and that this was the first time they had ever become self-aware. In which case, maybe they'd never had partners before, and hence no need for digivices.
Chaos and Harmony, however, were always conscious of who they were, so surely they would have digivices, particularly if they had fought alongside Guilmon and Renamon before?
This mysterious new world, a literal thing for Ryder, and a metaphorical thing for her, had plenty of secrets that she hoped to learn the answer to.
The lukewarm nature of the water made her begin to move her foot to turn the hot tap on, before a thought occurred to her. Moving her foot back, she picked up the bar of soap behind her, holding it on its side in her index and middle fingers. She felt her power as an Angel in her hand again as it glowed, soon moving upwards to her fingers. She moved her fingers forward sharply, propelling the object through the air.
Unfortunately, despite the coincidences in play, the projectile missed its intended target, instead slipping around the side of the bath, into the air and hitting the D-Vice on the side, which promptly fell into the toilet with a plop.
Mari groaned, slipping back down in the bath. She'd need to work on this.
Katou Residence
22:23 JST
Pen furiously went to paper before being dropped aside as Jeri finished her homework and breathed a sigh of relief, looking up at the ceiling of her bedroom in exhaustion. She'd been on her feet for most of the day, and it had been an emotionally tiring day as well. Be it Rika's revelation, Ryder's revival or Realmon's reality, today had been full of surprises. She never normally ended up doing her homework so late, but today had left her with no other chances to do it in, and Mrs Asagi had set three pieces of homework due in the next day as well, both of which sat neatly on the top.
"Done?" asked a voice, and Jeri turned to her partner, who sat on the bed, nodding.
"Finally…" she said in relief, standing up from her chair and beginning to sort out her bag for the next day of school. It'd be a very strange day after all they had learnt, Ryder certainly would be absent, and she had bets on that Mari would take the day off as well. Mrs Asagi would probably sympathise with the later, and not go too hard on the catch up homework on either.
Then again, she did insist on them completing two weeks worth of work after their first visit to the Digital World and the D-Reaper incident.
Summer was near, however, and a well deserved rest would be in order. She looked forward to the familiar routine being broken, being able to wake up whenever she wanted and do whatever she wanted. And then there was the holiday, a subject that hadn't really been discussed much so far. They were heading out to Okinawa, where Takato's cousin Kai lived, for a week, as a whole group once again. Although she enjoyed going on holiday as a family, it always seemed more fun going on holiday as a group of Tamers, along with a few of the ex-Digidestined who had decided to come along this time. Sure, it could get aggravating being stuck with the likes of Kazu for too long (although Rika was the most vocal in expressing this displeasure, which could only be enhanced by her mood swings this time around), but it was still fun.
Thoughts of holidays and destinations made her mind wander back to the previous holiday (although at the time it had been strictly referred to as a business trip, and later it would become obvious that it wasn't a holiday in terms of the relaxation they got) they had had, and the events set in motion from it. Be it Ryder finding Mari, Mari finding DarkRenamon or Takato finding…well…details on that were probably best left unclear in Jeri's mind, she felt uneasy picturing her friends in that way. It surprised her enough that Rika and Takato had decided to do what they did, even if they had been together for three years.
She gestured to Elecmon, who, blushing slightly in memory of his previous mistake, quickly exited the room, as Jeri began to change into her pyjamas.
Rika was going to have a lot of explaining to do when it came to telling her parents, as would Takato with his. She couldn't even begin to imagine how her parents would react. She counted herself lucky not to be in that position, but also knew that Rika clearly needed Takato by her side, which was probably the most vulnerable Jeri had ever seen the redhead. His visible pain at how tightly she gripped his hand earlier on the rooftop was worth a giggle, and was far more obvious than he'd have wanted it to be.
At the same time, she had no doubts that Takato would be there for Rika, and vice versa. They seemed to rely on each other so much that it had become second nature to them, sure, the love between them was supported by their status as Tamers, Incarnates, and classmates, but Jeri knew that truthfully, none of that mattered to the pair. They'd fallen in love for their love of each other, not because of some higher power (and she also doubted that Chaos and Harmony would ever have wanted them to fall in love in the first place).
She pondered how they would get along once the baby, identified as Rey, was born. She couldn't imagine Rika with a child, as a mother, but at the same time, having seen her relationship with Kristy (somewhat of a half-sister to the redhead), she doubted that Rika could do that badly. It was odd, while showing virtually no maternal instincts most of the time, Rika occasionally showed bouts of caring well beyond what most of them felt, be it for a friend, a relative, or an entire Digital World.
Rey herself was an enigma, it seemed they had learnt everything they had to learn about her, but still so many deeper mysteries remained about her. Why did she come to the past in the first place? Why did Ryder invent a time machine? What was this 'War'? Who is this 'Lord and Master' that she spoke of in such despicable terms?
Jeri sat back on her bed, her pyjamas now worn, and sighed, falling back diagonally onto the pillow, staring up at the second bunk above, once used by her younger brother but since vacated. Her mind reflected back to the events of that day, in particular the one that had left them all dumbfounded to the highest degree, not least Chaos, Harmony, and Rey, normally geniuses on such topics.
'How did he survive death itself?' she wondered, also contemplating whether he was awake yet all those miles away in the hospital, or whether his condition had worsened. Would he survive if he were to die again, or was it merely a one-off fluke?
Something felt very strange here, something that she couldn't quite put her finger on. Of all the people in her life, Ryder was probably the biggest mystery now, beyond even Rey herself. She wasn't even sure why either, Ryder just acted in a way that seemed…off. When they had first met, Ryder seemed to accept her name without even needing to let it sink in, a situation later explained by his viewing of their lives as a TV series. She had wondered countless times what the TV series had shown, what they would learn from it if they were to watch it.
Some things were better left unknown. She knew herself that some things she had done, in particular during the D-Reaper, she wouldn't want anyone to know of. She'd contemplated suicide when she was in there, it had crossed her mind many times before she finally pushed herself back from the brink with the help of Impmon, Calumon, Takato and of course, her memories of Leomon.
At the time, she'd believed that she would never see Leomon again, that she'd never get past that episode in her life. But she and her now smaller partner had been given a second chance at happiness, and she was glad for it. The concept of losing him again filled her with dread. During the battle against the Demon Lords when he had dedigivolved into his rookie form, she had been horrified at this concept becoming a reality. Perhaps she'd been overprotective of him since that event. Maybe the vice versa was true as well.
She cringed, recalling the defeat of Gaiomon and the subsequent death of Taiki. Seeing the explosions run across the armour of the samurai-like dragon in her mind, she recalled the explosion of data, and the collapsing of a ball with Taiki in it to the ground. She'd been horrified enough at that point by the fact that BlackRyudamon had been destroyed, but the second death was far more significant.
She ran her hand through her hair, asking herself why. Why was human life for some reason far more valuable than that of Digimon? They'd accepted so many digital deaths at their hands as routine, but the first sign of a human death filled them with disgust. If it had been her killed by Beelzemon rather than Leomon, would they have mourned more?
She cringed at the thought, but knew at the same time it was true.
Ryder had done wrong by killing Taiki, she had no doubt about it, but, at the same time, it seemed somewhat necessary. The concept of further spilling of blood, in particular, that of innocents, in a jail, or court, or police custody, and then those he would go onto kill, seemed worse. She knew, however, that she couldn't carry out the same task Ryder had done.
And now Ryder was on the brink of death himself, having gone beyond it once. She hoped he survived, whatever he had done, he was still a friend in need. Seeing it in Rika's eyes, in Takato's eyes, in Rey and Mari's eyes, she saw the same feeling of helplessness she had felt in her soul. A feeling that she couldn't do anything to prevent what was going on.
"Are you done yet?" a nervous voice asked through the door.
"Yeah…" Jeri replied, noting Elecmon re-enter the room, leaping onto the foot of her bed as she leaned over to the light switch. "Good night…" she said, flicking the room into darkness.
Wong Residence
22:43 JST
"Terriermon, aren't you done on that PC yet?" Henry asked in a nagging tone, walking into his room, already wearing his pyjamas. Terriermon currently balanced on the edge of the desk, moving the mouse with his ear and typing with his hands, currently surfing some unknown website. His eyes filled with fury as he began to type away, Henry walking over to him and getting his attention. "Terriermon?" he asked.
"What?!" came the annoyed reply, as Terriermon hit the enter key.
"What are you doing?"
"61K4 N0N4KA called me a moronic useless Digimon…" he answered, turning and typing away again.
"You know that's not actually her, right?"
"Of course I know that Henry!" he insisted. "But that makes it all the more fun to argue with her, without the risk of frying pans!" he said in a mix of anger and enthusiasm, typing away again.
"Hmm…" the blue haired boy pondered, a small tone of concern in his voice as Terriermon continued to type. Henry watched what he typed.
Yeah, well you were stupid enough to get preg
Henry pushed Terriermon aside, the bunny falling aside as Henry hit the backspace key, erasing the text from the post being prepared. The rabbit stood up, looking up to an answered Henry.
"What the hell did you think you were doing?" he asked, glaring at the digimon.
"Sorry…my mind got away from me…" Terriermon said, laughing at what he had nearly done.
"It's not a joke!" Henry insisted. "The last thing Rika wants right now is everyone hearing about this…" he added, his voice quietening so no-one else heard.
"Uh-huh…"
"We have to keep this under wraps Terriermon...seriously…you may find her annoying, but you can't tell anyone…got that?"
"But…"
"Terriermon…" Henry said in a scolding voice, frowning.
"Okay…" Terriermon resigned, the boy breathing a sigh of relief and the digimon a sigh of annoyance.
Henry walked over to his bed, sighing as he fell back onto it, Terriermon turning off the computer and leaping across the room, winding him in the stomach. Henry groaned, as Terriermon moved aside, Henry's expression turning to one of thought as he looked up at the ceiling, a look tinged with concern and saddened thought.
'What happens if we lose Ryder?' he thought, considering Ryder's position within the group. He was the leader of the Angels, although the group currently only seemed to have two permanent members, as well as acting as support for Rika, and having an integral knowledge of their universe from the TV series, as well as knowledge of items outside the series. Beyond that, he was a powerful fighter, and a good friend, despite his lack of belonging in this universe.
Henry then moved onto another issue, namely that of what would happen to Rey if Ryder died. She seemed to begin vanishing after his death, and he couldn't help but consider what would've happened had Ryder died permanently. He was still amazed that he had somehow survived death, always in the past a terminal thing for humans.
'It's impossible…isn't it?'
"Henry, what's on your mind?" his partner inquired, Henry glancing to where the bunny now sat on his bed, frowning at him and receiving a curious glance back.
"Everything…from Ryder's death to Rika's…you know…"
The rabbit nodded knowledgeably, tilting his head. "What's bugging you the most?"
Henry sighed, looking up and facing once again the problem that had bothered him more than any other. "Ryder, and how he managed to survive death of all things" he answered.
"No idea, pretty cool though…" Terriermon answered. "Don'tcha wish you could do that?"
"Well yeah, but I'm not trying to kill myself just to find out if I can."
"Well of course Henry, I'm not suggesting that."
Henry chuckled at the somewhat morbid joke, before returning to a more serious tone of conversation. "The thing is, Terriermon, when human's die, we're dead…and…Ryder just broke one of the oldest rules in the book…even Harmony said he was dead, and I don't doubt her abilities…"
"Then throw the rule book out the window!" Terriermon mooted. "So long as you look at this from that mindset, we'll never find out what really happened."
"Ryder might know?"
"He's been unconscious, like he's going to know anything!"
Somewhere
Every colour could be seen, but it was not bright and rainbow like, nor psychedelic. The colours dotted the darkness, almost like oddly coloured stars, except these moved, phased around briefly making vague shapes, the shapes of cubes, spheres, polygonal shapes with seemingly no pattern other than that. They occasionally appeared to resemble numbers, but there was no pattern.
A shadow floated in the darkness, glancing about occasionally at where he had ended up.
"This is brighter than that darkness from earlier I guess…" he muttered, a strange breeze of wind uttering through the space-like area, as he glanced around curiously. "Huh?" he pondered, as suddenly the 'stars' flew together to make a new image, an image far larger than their sizes combined. The boy covered his eyes with his arm, peeking out slightly to see what appeared. This had happened three times before, and each time it brought a new location, a new image. And oddly, in the past, he felt like himself, he always seemed to have his own point of view, and speak like he always did in the past.
But this time, he felt disembodied, as he looked out on the familiar schoolyard, a square terrace with bench seats, one of which his 'vision' had concentrated on. A girl, and two boys, as well as a small pink and green seed-like Digimon, the boy identifying it as a Lalamon, sat on or floated around the bench. Two other shadows hid in the darkness nearby, the boy noting their presence, one bear like, one tiger like.
"Hey…" a female voice said glumly, its owner joining the other three sitting on the bench, who nodded in greeting.
"Hello…" greeted a second voice from the girl's shoulder, the disembodied boy watching noting the Digimon as a Lunamon. The boy frowned, his visions all seemed to be of before he came to his new world, excepting one that went beyond it all the way to when he met Mari.
"Any news?" the shortest boy of the group asked the girl, who sat down, frowning.
"No…nothing…" she answered, supporting her chin with her hands as her blonde hair ran down.
"I'm sure he'll be back…" the Lalamon reassured, the first girl frowning.
"I hope…"
"Is there anywhere else we could look?" the other girl asked.
A familiar beeping sounded from several devices, as wrists with watches on them were held out, touched and expanded to their full D-Vice glory. The brunette watching smiled as the second girl and the taller boy stood up. The boy noted the lack of his own upon looking to his wrist. He looked up again, seeing a blue bear-like Digimon with red boxing gloves on his hands, a Gaomon, and a yellow lion cub-like Digimon with a tuft of red hair and a gold ring around his neck, a Leormon, who had moved from their hiding places and were tensed ready for battle.
"We have an enemy Digimon…" the Leormon reported, growling slightly at the prospect. The boy he spoke to nodded, looking aside to the others.
"Who'd have thought we would miss the days when Ryder would always be first on the scene?" the Gaomon noted, the taller boy nodding.
The blonde nodded sadly, glancing to her rabbit-like partner, who smiled bravely, trying to reassure her. "Cheer up Ivy; I'm sure he'll turn up someday…" she said.
"Yeah…he…he's got a lot to answer to…" the blonde now identified as Ivy noted, nodding.
"Maybe I shouldn't have told you…" the shorter boy noted.
Ivy frowned. "Maybe…"
The world suddenly flew away from the boy in the darkness, as the children began to move, heading to whatever prospect beckoned for them. The darkness returned as the picture split into coloured particles once again, the boy frowning.
"So was that real or what?" he asked, receiving no reply, as he looked around the deep blackness. Despite being dark, it was still nowhere near as dark as what he had seen before, when the world had been swallowed up by something, even darker than what he was in now, as everything faded into nothing. Except one thing stopped it. The world had warped, and reversed, dim swirling light running around and reversing things.
Something very strange was going on, and he only hoped he could escape this place and find out.
TO BE CONTINUED…
You can probably guess who the boy is in the last part. A nice reflective chapter this time around on the events before, as well as some things to get a particular character back in the plot who has been absent for the last few chapters.
Next time…
Will Ryder ever wake up? How will Rika and Takato tell their parents? Will Mari ever manage to harness her powers?
Find out in 'Their Insomnia', Chapter Twenty-Three of Dimensions Book Five: Demons.
