Chapter 1 Recap
"Go get some sleep Zoe, I'll take watch the rest of the night." I yawned and shivered, just now realizing how tired I am, and how chilly the night air is. I sluggishly moved towards the pile of leaves, and fell haphazardly next to Kouji, laying close enough next to him that I could feel his body heat, but not to where I could touch him or wake him with my presence. As it is, Kouji shifted closer in his sleep, the back of his hand, brushed up my arm and stopped to rest at the back of my neck, where his fingers wove into my blonde hair. My face and neck heated up with a furious blush at his subconscious actions. Eventually I fell asleep to the soothing actions of his fingers in my hair.
"They love each other so much, it's obvious for everyone to see but themselves. So why can't they just admit it?"
Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon
CHAPTER 2
- Next Morning -
"Rise and Shine!" Kouichie cheerfully exclaimed from his spot by the breakfast fire.
I moaned and buried my head into my pillow, trying to block out the sun and his voice. I love Kouichie, I really do, but why is his voice and general presence so annoying in the morning when I'm trying to sleep? As I laid their burrowing into my pillow, I heard a low grumbling noise near my ear, and then felt my pillow twitch a bit.
Wait a minute…pillows don't twitch, they don't move at all…so what's…
I quickly snapped my eyes open in time to see a pair of midnight blue eyes open as well in front of my face. I blinked a few times in confusion, and so did the other set of eyes. If I really paid attention, I could hear that annoying Kouichie laughing in the background. As it is, I was still ignoring him, and instead chose to avert my eyes from the dark blue pair so close in front of me, and looked down to investigate my…pillow? Which did not look like a pillow, but an arm instead, a muscular arm at that. With pale skin, and a sleeve rolled up to the elbow. And then I felt the hand in my hair. I looked back up to connect with the midnight blue eyes, which were wide with shock and realization, and framed by dark blue hair…and that's when it dawned on me…my pillow was actually an arm that belongs to the owner of the midnight blue eyes and dark blue hair…Kouji. That was also the exact moment that Kouichies incessant laughing made its presence known to my foggy, sleep-ridden mind. Damn him.
"Oh gosh! I'm so sorry Kouji!" I exclaimed jumping back from his arm and scurrying away from him to the furthest edge of the leaf bed, blushing fiercely.
"It's okay Zoe, you aren't completely at fault, I probably moved too." He tried to reason, a slight blush marring his cheeks. At that moment I was reminded of his hand skimming my arm and neck last night and tangling into my hair, to which, my blush heated up some more.
"Um, yeah." I mumbled embarrassedly. Kouichie at this point was still laughing, but now he was rolling all over the ground. Kouji glanced over at his brother in annoyance, then looked back at me and mumbled an apology, which I returned.
Eventually Kouichie got over his laughing fit, and Kouji and I got over our awkward embarrassment and joined him at the breakfast fire where meat apples were already cooking. As we ate, we made plans to head towards Breezy Village which was a day's hike by foot, or a couple hours digivolved to KendoGarurumon and JagerLowemon, to which we agreed was the better idea. As soon as we finished breakfast and cleaned up camp, the twins beast spirit evolved, and Kouichie went on ahead to scout out the area, since I was riding on KendoGarurumon, making it harder for him if a fight were to break out.
"So, I noticed you never woke me for my shift last night. Not too happy about it either."
"Sorry, I had a lot on my mind and lost track of time." I apologized with a slight blush.
"Oh? Like what?" my grip on his armor tightened.
"A lot of things, mostly, if the others are here and if they're safe, and how were going to get home, and stuff like that." I offered vaguely.
"If they are here, they'll be fine." He stated in confidence.
"How can you be so sure?" I asked curiously.
"Because Takuya will be with them, and despite his immaturity and goggle-headed, short tempered, fiery personality, he's a good leader and he won't let anything happen to them if he can help it." He admitted.
"But if you tell him I said any of that, I will never forgive you." He joked.
"You're right, Takuya won't let anything happen to them."
"And I won't let anything happen to you, this I promise you." He swore, a very serious tone in his voice.
"I know, you've never let anything happen to me before, and I know now isn't any different." She whispered.
"If anything, I'm more invested to protecting you now than before." He mumbled under his breath, obviously not meant for me to hear, though I did, but I said nothing.
We spent the next hour in comfortable silence, Kouji running in his beast spirit with me on his back, while I absentmindedly rubbed the back of his neck and upper back armor, lost in thought. Or I was until I heard him growl low in his throat. Shocked out of my stupor, I immediately stopped rubbing him.
"If you keep doing that, we may not make it to Breezy Village today." He growled in a deep, husky voice. I blushed brightly at his insinuation, and mumbled a quiet apology.
"Don't be, it's not like it felt bad, just, distracting. And inappropriate for our current situation."
If I didn't know him like I do, I would have thought he sounded cold and unemotional. As it is, I know him well enough to know he was simply trying to regain control of his emotions. Being the close friends that we are, it isn't unusual for us to sit close together while watching movies or just hanging out. This of course occasionally leads to a mild form of cuddling, and neither of us are strangers to caressing the other's neck, shoulders, arms or back, knees and stomachs on occasion as well.
"How close are we to the Breezy Village?" I asked, leaning against his neck to put my face near his. He glanced out of the corner of his eye at me.
"Pretty close, I can smell JagerLowemon stronger now, so either he stopped just before the village, or he's in the village waiting for us." I hummed my delight at being so close to my spirits, and wrapped my arms around his neck.
"Thank you" I whispered into his ear.
We continued the rest of the way in silence, save for the few times I hummed one of the songs I learned in Italy and taught to Kouji. Eventually he slowed his pace, and came to a complete stop. He nudged my arm with his nuzzle and I kissed his cheek before climbing off of his back. He promptly de-digivolved.
"He's waiting for us just past those trees on the outskirts of the village." I nodded and turned to walk before he grabbed my arm and turned me back around.
"Yes?" I implored impatiently, excited to see the patrons of Breezy Village and get my spirits.
"There's something else you need to know….I couldn't…hear, anyone in the village when we got here." Kouji said slowly, looking me in the eyes as he spoke.
"What do you mean by that?" I asked cautiously.
"I couldn't hear any of the normal 'hustle and bustle' so to speak of a village, you know, digimon going about their normal daily routine and such. It was quiet, and the air was still, as if no one was there. I know you want to see the Floramon and Mushroommon, but I need you to be prepared to not find anyone in this village." he said softly, in a concerned manner.
"Ok." I spoke softly, swallowing the beginnings of a lump in my throat.
Upon entering the village, I understood what Kouji meant when he said he couldn't hear anyone in the village. I noticed the total lack of Floramon and Mushroommon in the streets instantly, and it didn't settle well with my gut instincts. I frowned worriedly, what could have possibly happened to make them hide or leave the village?
"Odd." I mumbled confused and worried.
"It is, isn't it?" Kouji asked me quietly, grasping my hand in his and giving it a light squeeze.
"There aren't any Floramon or Mushroommon out in the village streets, and it's quiet, way too quiet, to be the happy little village I remember it to be. Even when JP, Bokomon, Neemon and I were here the last time, and the Woodmon terrorized them, they were still out and about" The twins exchanged worried glances.
"Perhaps they're just busy at the moment Zoe, I'm sure it can't be anything terrible." Kouichie said reassuringly. I continued to look around, searching for any signs of the digimon, when I saw movement in the corner of my eye. I turned to see a Floramon motioning us towards where she stood in the doorway of the main hut we stayed in the last time. I motioned the twins to follow me, and we quickly followed the Floramon into the hut, where the other Floramon and Mushroommon were waiting.
"Floramon, Mushroommon! What's going on? Why is everyone inside?" I asked as soon as we got in the room.
"Zoe," the leader of the Floramon addressed me, "We are so glad you have returned! The Digital World needs your help!"
"What's wrong?" Kouichie asked.
"The 7 Demon Lords are back, and they're trying to take over the Digital World, and even worse than that, one of their henchmen has been terrorizing our village, looking for the Wind Spirits" one of the Mushroommon exclaimed.
"Who are the 7 Demon Lords?"
"My spirits are here?" Kouji and I asked simultaneously.
"Yes of course they are! The Celestial Angels left both of your spirits under our protection!" One of the Floramon chirped, but was shushed by the leader.
"hush now, we shouldn't speak of the spirits so callously, They may be watching."
"Who are the Demon Lords?" Kouji demanded.
"The Demon Lords are ruthless, evil digimon hell-bent on taking over the Digital World and destroying the Legendary Warriors, Celestial Angels and the Human World." A mushroommon gravely answered.
"There are 7 Demon Lords, and you've defeated one already, Lucemon, the Demon Lord of Pride."
We were shocked to silence. It took the power of all 10 Legendary Warriors combined as Susanoomon to defeat Lucemon, and even then we struggled greatly. If one of the Demon Lords is that strong, then how can we ever hope to defeat all 7 of them?
"Who are the others?" Kouichie asked.
"You already know about Lucemon, but there's also Leviamon, the Demon Lord of Envy. Belphemon of Sloth, Barbamon of Greed, Beezlemon of Gluttony, Lillithmon of Lust, and their leader, Daemon of Wrath. They are all very powerful and dangerous to come by, and they shouldn't be taken lightly." The Floramon told us.
"It's a good thing we already found the spirits of Light and Darkness then." Kouichie mumbled. Kouji and I nodded.
"You said a digimon was terrorizing your village, who is it?" I asked the digimon.
"IceDevimon." They spoke gravely.
"He wants your spirits Zoe, but we refused to give them to him."
"Yeah, he can't have your spirits Zoe, because they belong to you, and we know that you and your friends will defeat the evil again and save our world like you did before!" A chorus of 'Yeahs' and other various affirmative notions and cheers broke out amongst the present digimon, all of them supporting us and our past and future endeavors against evil digimon. The twins exchanged looks of awe and disbelief as I smiled serenely at the unwavering loyalty, trust and belief that these small digimon hold for us
"Thank you, all of you, so much, for your loyalty and belief in the others and myself. You're support really does mean a lot to all of us, much more than you will ever know." I meant every word I said, their support does mean a lot to all of us. All of the digimon smiled at us with hope and gratitude in their eyes. I turned to the twins.
"We need to stop IceDevimon, we can't just let him terrorize this village." I pleaded with them.
"Of course we will, but first we need to find your spirits. Our weapons may have been successful against Cerberumon, but they won't be enough to stop IceDevimon, and Kouichie's spirits and mine and only do so much against him, remember the last time we fought him?" Kouji placated me. I nodded my consent.
"Do any of you know where Zoe's spirits are hidden?" Kouichie asked the group. One Floramon raised her hand in response.
"I do, I know where the spirits are located, Ophanimon entrusted me alone with their location." She stated proudly.
"Molto Bene! Can you please lead us to them?" I asked excitedly.
"Of course! If you don't mind, we should leave now before IceDevimon comes back." The three of us nodded our consent and, along with a group of three mushroommon and another Floramon, followed the first Floramon out of the safety of the hut, and into the surrounding forest.
We trekked back through the forest for a half hour at least, heading towards the location of the Fire Terminal actually, and ironically enough, we ran right into Takuya, Tommy, and JP. All three guys were successful in obtaining their spirits, deciding it would be better to get JP's spirit before coming to Breezy Village just in case we were headed here as well.
The guys had changed a lot in the past 6 years or so. Takuya is about 5' 10", brown messy hair, with an athletic build akin to a soccer player, and wearing stressed blue Jeans, a red V-neck t-shirt, black leather jacket, his famous goggles, a pair of fingerless gloves, and black combat boots on his feet. JP is the tallest at 6' 3", short reddish brown hair, and a bigger build, wearing dark wash jeans, yellow V-neck t-shirt, blue unbuttoned short-sleeve shirt, jean jacket, a messenger bag, and headphones around his neck. Last but not least is Tommy, a surprising 6' 1" for his age of 14, light brown shaggy hair, and a tall lanky soccer's physique. He's wearing tan cargo Shorts, green suspenders hanging from waistband, white shirt with elbow-length sleeves, orange open-zipper vest, green sweatbands on wrists, baseball cap sideways, and a pair of high tops.
We updated each other with our current predicaments, including our new weapons, how the spirits had been obtained and how we arrived in this world without a way to leave. We shared what information we each had on the current condition of the Digital World, what with the Demon Lords and all of that.
While we continued to chat and catch up, we finally came across a stone archway in the side of a cliff face, the entrance to a tomb, with a staircase leading down into an underground cavern. The walls of the tomb had ancient characters and symbols carved into the walls, and as I brushed my hand against them, the second Floramon to join us noticed my ministrations.
"Would you like to know what they mean?" He asked me, to which I nodded enthusiastically.
"We have an ancient legend in our village that tells of this tomb that was made by AncientKazemon, the protector of our village. It also tells of a story wherein AncientKazemon fell in love with another warrior, but the two were unable to be together because of their responsibilities to the Digital World and in the events of the human type-beast type war and the defeat of Lucemon. Thus, this crypt was made so that the two warriors could meet together in secret, and eventually in spirit long after they died. Legend states that once a year, when all three digital moons have reached the full moon phase, the two spirits would meet in this crypt and bask in their love for each other under the soft glow of the moons. Their love was so pure, that it glowed brighter than all three moons and the stars combined. It was so bright and so pure, that the symbols and figures on the walls would glow with an ethereal indigo light, which would light the way to a secret chamber hidden deep inside the tomb that could only be seen by AncientKazemon and her lover or their descendants."
"Wow…is this really true?" I asked in awe, completely enraptured by my spirit's legend.
"It's as true as legend passed by mouth from elder to elder of our village can be. Our village was gifted the task of protecting AncientKazemon's tomb until the day that she and her beloved could physically return, not just in spirit. We believe, that when AncientKazemon and her lover or their descendants return to the crypt, and find that hidden chamber, they will acquire a gift of power so great, that no evil can withstand, and an eternal peace will befall the Digital World which will allow AncientKazemon and her beloved to bask in their love for all eternity."
"That's amazing, do you really think they've hidden a power that can truly purge all evil from this world?" JP genuinely asked.
"I do believe AncientKazemon has hidden a power that great all this time, because she knew it would be needed someday."
"But if they had this great power back then, why didn't they use it when Lucemon first rose to power to prevent everything else from ever happening." Tommy asked.
"Because the world wasn't ready, the greatest evil hadn't shown its face, and AncientKazemon and her beloved were not strong enough to use it. They need us, their descendants, to be able to use the secret power they've kept hidden for so long, otherwise, it will become useless, because they do not have a physical existence for which they can meet." I surmised.
I could tell the exact moment understanding and realization dawned on Kouji's face, because it went through a series of drastic changes in facial expressions, from confusion to the 'aha' lightbulb moment, to shocked bewilderment, from repressed fury, to soul-wrenching grief, and finally ended at surrendered hopelessness before he schooled his face into his typical sarcastic smirk, that was weighted down by utter grief. Kouichie too had a look of remorseful empathy behind his usual smile. Takuya was clueless as usual, JP looked uncomfortable, and Tommy was naively ignorant.
"So basically," Kouji started in a harsh sarcastic tone, "Zoe gets to play host for her spirit's wayward tragic love tryst. And not only Zoe, but one of us lucky guys, gets to play the Romeo to her Juliet, and all of this, just for a so-called legendary power that may or may not exist, that should be able to defeat any and all evil, but even that is a big if because again, we don't even know if it exists, so the whole thing could be widely made up." He finished in a tone that was incredibly harsh, even for him.
"Kouji," I whispered, placing my hand on his upper arm, trying to calm him down. "Just because we don't know if it exists, doesn't mean we shouldn't try. What if it does exist, and it can do what the legend claims, and can purge this world of all evil. We need to at least try."
"Yeah, and what if it doesn't, what then? You and whoever else was casted as the tragic lovers are led on a wild goose chase through a giant underground maze, and we waste time looking for a non-existent power when we should put our efforts towards defeating the Demon Lords. And you could get hurt Zoe, not physically, but emotionally. And I don't want that to happen to you, not now, not ever." By the time he finished, his speech had tapered off into a soft soothing quality that made my heart jolt, then jump into my throat, while my stomach that was full of butterflies, rose into my chest. I smiled softly and serenely at him.
"It's a risk I have to take Kouji, you know that. We all take risks every day to defeat the evil and save both the Digital World and our world, and this is no different." I told him softly, rubbing circles on his arm with my thumb.
"I just don't want to see you hurt." He murmured.
"I know."
"Were there any clues left behind as to who the other warrior was?" Takuya asked the Floramon.
"Oh yes, plenty, both in the legend and this tomb, it's just a matter of you finding them." It smiled knowingly at us, taking a particularly long look at Kouji and me.
"Well that should be easy enough! Come on guys, I'm sure we can figure this out if we think it through!" Takuya continued in his upbeat leader voice, Tommy and JP chiming in behind him. Kouichie looked at Kouji and me with concern, then smiled knowingly at us, which really irked us both.
"This is great and all…but I still need to get my spirits." I reminded everyone, to which Takuya, JP and Tommy froze in their ridiculous positions of excitement, then fell over before they quickly regained themselves and their composure.
"Right! To the spirits!" Takuya continued. The twins and I just stared in amusement, as Tommy and JP followed him with blind faith, just like the good old times.
"Excuse me, Floramon, where are my spirits located?" I asked the one who had led us thus far already.
"At the end of the hall is a shrine to AncientKazemon, it contains two pedestals, one for both her human and beast spirit. The spirits however, are protected by a special dome that prevents imposters from claiming the spirits, so you will have to find a way to lower the dome first if you want the spirits."
"The room also holds a secret to finding the warrior that AncientKazemon loved!" one of the Mushroommon spoke up.
"Unfortunately, only the bearer of the spirits of wind and the Floramon entrusted with the location of the spirits may enter the chamber, everyone else must stay out here." Another Mushroommon told the group.
"Oh. Only I can go in?" I asked uneasily. The others looked concerned with the situation, especially Kouji, who was frowning and his brow was knitted with worry.
"Afraid so, but I'll be with you the whole time." Floramon smiled encouragingly at me. I smiled back without my trepidation.
"Alright, let's get going then, I need my spirits so we can defeat IceDevimon and save your village." I smiled at the others, lightly squeezed Kouji's arm in reassurance and followed Floramon down the hallway to the chamber holding my spirits.