Chapter 6: The curse
Koushiro contemplated in silence the code he'd just draw around the pillar. It was not too long, which had allowed the boy to memorize it without difficulty. Moving the ring among the finger of his right hand, he managed to make the sequence of moves required to remove the knife from inside the hidden dimension in the jewelry.
I just need to put this ring on top of the statue and get out of here. He thought to himself, trying to calm down. The truth is that it was very difficult to keep calm in that situation. So many things could go wrong, he tried not to think about them. Of all the things that he did in life, that would be most unwise. He needed all the luck he had.
Luck.
To think that not long before that word was what bothered him most. The comment he had heard from Yamato that night seemed now terribly credible. In the end, his plans were not so intelligent, but naive, that depended more on luck than anything else.
What could he expect? Who did he think he was? He was a ten years old child betting the lives of his friends in his strategies. Koushiro did not want to act irresponsibly anymore. He would not put his friends in danger again. In what situation was he now? He had left the group behind to search for Gennai, thinking that by going alone he would be putting only himself in danger. However, Tentomon ended up going with him... and almost died because of it.
Tentomon. It was for him that Koushiro needed to do that. It was the price set by the Merchant to save the life of the small insect digimon. What would happen to him if Koushiro did not obey? The merchant could take back the life that was saved? Tentomon would die before the eyes of his human partner?
The boy shook his head violently, as if trying to expel those thoughts by force. He had no time to think about it. Holding the knife firmly in one hand and the ring in the other, he approached the pillar.
Stretching his arm, Koushiro put the ring on top of the statue. The ring glowed slightly and sucked the figure of the Shinigami to its interior. Soon after that, the world went dark.
Meanwhile
"...Where are we?" Yamato asked, rubbing his head. He, Takeru, Patamon, Tsunomon, Tentomon and Impmon had fallen into a great saloon, after crossing the gate opened by Impmon. In front of them, there was a giant door sealed with chains and without being connected to anywhere.
"Is Barbamon behind this door?" Impmon asked, looking at the door and the circles on the floor, "Apparently, that redheaded kid haven't released the demon lord yet."
"Don't talk nonsense! As if Koushiro-han was going to do something like that!" Tentomon protested angrily, needing to be restrained by Takeru and Yamato.
"Tentomon, we should focus on searching for Koushiro now, understand? Let this guy go." Yamato said, trying to calm the insect. Suddenly, they heard the sound of someone falling and having difficulty in breathing in a corridor connected to the saloon. Fearing that it could be their friend, Yamato, Takeru, Tentomon and the others rushed to the scene. However, what they found was a Digimon with tentacles and a large brain gasping on the ground. On his chest there was a drawing of a figure covered by a black cloak, which Impmon recognized in horror.
"The mark of the Shinigami." The small black Digimon whispered; his large eyes were glazed and he remembered a dark piece of his past.
"That boy... with red hair... what did he do?" Vademon was questioning, full of hate, trying in vain to get up.
"Red hair?" Tentomon asked, "Are you talking about Koushiro-han? Where is he?"
Vademon indicated the end of the corridor with one hand. Yamato put the fallen Digimon on his shoulders before they went to the indicated place. Down the hallway there was a library.
It hurts so much...so... much… Koushiro realized he was lying with the face down on the floor. Something was burning in his chest, which made his eyes water. Few inches in front of him, he saw the ring and the knife. With difficulty, he stretched his left hand to reach the knife, held it up and stuck it on the ground. A strong glow emanated from the code he had written, however, instead of him, Koushiro, be taken to another place, it was the Merchant who came to where he was.
Entering the library, Tentomon and the others saw the eerie glow and went to the place where it came from. There, they found Koushiro on the floor, near a pillar and what seemed to be a grown man.
The newcomer had his face covered by a mask and was wearing a long black robe with a hood covering his head, and he was also wearing gloves of the same color on his hands.
"Merchant," Vademon was the first to speak, pushing Yamato away and walking toward the being dressed in black, "What are you planning?"
"Vademon, how are you?" The Merchant greeted cheerfully, "Long time no see."
Surprisingly, Vademon started laughing hysterically, "Ha ha ha, I knew something was wrong with your sudden desire to free master Barbamon. What do you want? Where is the statue of the Shinigami?"
"Here." The Merchant said, picking up the ring from the ground, "Very good job, Koushiro. Now that you did everything that I said, consider the debt of I saving the life of your friend Tentomon duly paid."
Debt for saving my life? What is he talking about? Tentomon asked himself. He wanted to help Koushiro as quickly as possible, but something was causing in him fear of approaching the Merchant. The man in black smashed the ring in his clenched fist, leaving the silver powder fall from his hand then.
"It's the end of the statue of the Shinigami." He said happily.
"What... did you do? "Vademon desperately asked, "Without that statue... the curse will kill me and the boy in 48 hours!"
Shock went through the hearts of everyone present there. Koushiro did not believe that.
"Hey, Merchant," the redhead said with a trembling voice, "What is he saying? You told me that everything would be fine if the statue was destroyed."
Vademon launched a furious glance to Koushiro, "So you knew he'd do THAT?"
"Fu fu fu fu, what is that look of astonishment, Koushiro?" The Merchant questioned, laughing, "The statue will not make any more victims, that's what I meant when I said that everything would be fine. Do not tell me you understood something else. Didn't you stop to think about your situation? If it was to pay for the life of your friend, it was obvious that you should lose yours."
Koushiro paled deadly. Suddenly it was as if the world was no longer real and he was plunging into a nightmare. I will die...within 48 hours...I will die...
"Onii-chan... what he said... Koushiro-san will...?" Takeru asked, startled. Yamato could not answer anything. This is not really happening, is it?Koushiro can't die...this can't happen...I have to do something...I need to do something...
Tentomon was static, in a complete state of shock. His thoughts were confused. Koushiro-han is going to die because of me? This is happening because he saved my life?
"You really are a disgraceful thief, Merchant." Impmon said dryly.
"I did not realize you were there, Impmon. Are you still mad at me for what I have taken of your master? It was a commercial exchange, I did not steal anything." The Merchant said, without changing the tone of his voice.
"How dare you say that you did not steal anything?" Impmon inquired with anger, "You took away all the knowledge that she had... everything she had researched during her lifetime... AND SHE DIED ANYWAY!"
"Apparently you are another one that can't interpret things right." The Merchant said, "The desire of your master was not to survive the curse. She had a wise and noble soul, something that someone like you are not able to have. Someone whose digitama was hidden in this mountain for so long, would be able to understand something so complex?"
"The digitama hidden in this mountain?" Vademon was surprised to hear that, looking at Impmon with bewilderment, "then... he is... Bel-"
A round black stone of the size of a chewing gum hit Vademon in the chest, right in the place where the curse mark was. The one who had thrown the stone, the Merchant, spoke after that:
"Passage of accelerated time: 48 hours."
Vademon felt a monstrously burning pain in his body, which made him fall to the ground, writhe and scream in agony. Black flames began to wrap his body as the shouting increased. Yamato hugged Takeru against his body, preventing him from seeing that. All the others who were at the scene witnessed his death helplessly. After a few seconds, the fire was gone along with the body of Vademon.
"The curse should to do that to him only 48 hours from now, but I had to speed up his time. Vademon almost said something that Impmon could never know." The Merchant explained, as if he was finding the situation amusing, looking at Impmon then, "I should charge a price, but I feel generous today, so I'll give this information to you without requiring payment: What your Master asked to me, in exchange for her knowledge, was that you should never find out who you really are."
"What?" Impmon was speechless. The Merchant picked up the knife from the ground and kicked out Koushiro from the area where the code was drawn on the floor. Yamato and Takeru ran to the redhead to see if he was okay.
"I'm leaving now, you know how to get back, right?" The Merchant was about to throw the knife down and teleport when Tentomon shouted:
"WAIT!"
Silence filled the room. Trembling, the insect continued: "Merchant, I want you to kill me."
"What?" Patamon and Gabumon spoke at once.
"Tentomon," Koushiro protested, "don't talk such nonsense!"
"I'm not talking nonsense!" Tentomon cried. "Koushiro-han is going to die to pay for my life, so if I die..."
"NO! I WILL NOT LET YOU DO THAT, TENTOMON!" Koushiro shouted in despair, relying on Yamato to stand up. The Merchant began to laugh.
"WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT, BASTARD?" This time it was Yamato who cried.
"Even in this situation, Koushiro still wants to protect his friends. What a noble heart he has. Unfortunately, Tentomon, your death will not prevent your friend's. The only way he can save himself is by breaking the code sealing the door at the saloon and defeating Barbamon." The Merchant said cheerfully, "Of course, there is a chance he fails and releases one of the beings that almost destroyed this world in the past. But perhaps Koushiro is a lucky boy. Now I'm really leaving. Bye!"
The Merchant threw the knife on the floor, the code shone and he disappeared.
Among those remaining in the library, several minutes passed before anyone spoke again. Impmon suggested that they should return to the hut.