Chapter 29: Sound of the Resistance

"Music in the air
Louder than any care,
Come along and sing with me.

By the storm's melody
The hidden again surge forward,
And a new game is born."

Year: August 16, 2308
Location: Royal Castle, Europis Machine

Vadeous stood at the eastern window of the massive metal palace, the rising sun hidden behind the distant skyscrapers for now as she listened to the lilting melody drifting in from the other counties. To be sought out by an elite was still a strange experience but she was glad she had recorded the song onto a more permanent device, the wing's sounds were not something to lose while trying to fight off the corrupt data still seeping from the digital world. It had slowed in recent years true, but it was still a danger not to overlook, the worlds depended on each other for survival.
"Gypsy, he is calling for you again…"
Vadeous turned to regard the speaker, the eldest of the princes and a charming child in his own right though she found most of his sisters distasteful. She smiled and nodded acknowledgement before waving him off, "Thank you, they are still in the study?"
He nodded and took off down the hall without another word, likely on more errands for his father as he disappeared around the first bend.
She turned then and headed the other way, Whiskers trotting at her heels as they crossed the foyer and wove up the back stairs to the upper level and the study. The royal guards grunted as she passed but made no move to stop her this time, they had learned their lesson for threatening her early in the week.
"Gypsy," King George rose stiffly as she entered the small study that served more as the queen's library than anything else, his eyes wary until they landed on her herbal bag, "I can't convince you to stay with her?"
"I am not going to miss this meeting sire, the faster we get the ban lifted the faster I can design her new heart…" Vadeous stepped past him and knelt beside Queen Elizabeth as she began running through the basic check-up procedures, "I understand your fear but I am leaving my best healers with her and your sons can easily help them…"
King George sighed as he dropped back into his seat, waving to one of his aides to fetch the appointment calendar, "You're sure we can get agreement to rectify the treaty? And that soon?"
"That is up to the other leaders but the meeting is now scheduled for the day after New Year's in Asiana neutral, there the fourteen heads will have the chance to fix or ignore the treaty as well as this digital war…"
"The digital war is hardly our concern, weren't the destined chosen to deal with that?"
"Would you hinder the destined then? Or would you grant them assistance, do not forget they are still children…"
"They're unwilling to accept aide, they work to undermine our society…"
"With some right, your society is not exactly welcoming of children… Do not forget I have seen how your daycares treat the young." Vadeous rose sharply, her inspection of the queen's condition finished now and her glare turned on the king, "If you were not so unwilling to see this problem perhaps pride would not have been born…"
"The packs created pride out of their own twisted views, we are not like them…" the king was flustered now as the aide finally returned with the calendar.
Vadeous regarded the small youth a moment before turning and heading for the door, her last words a quiet warning, "Perhaps you are more alike than you think, try listening to the music sire…it speaks a greater truth…"

Year: August 17, 2308
Location: Gulf Current, Ocean Trade-Lane

The ocean below churned violently as the shadow-port opened and released the two darkdestined. Chaos dropped into the water with a massive splash, his crest pulsing as it awakened and within moments he resurfaced as ChaosMetalSeadramon.
Greed shifted on the shadow-hawk's back to watch him approach the transport whale, too far away to hear what the destined said as they were greeted by Pride's latest game but soon four of them separated to fight off the crazed sea-dragon. He waited until they had put some distance between the battle and the transport before urging the hawk closer and scanning through those that remained. "Strike, I know you're still standing…it is time we had words."
An argument erupted below among the younger destined, apparently against the idea of speaking with the enemy, but soon Strike joined him in the air on firamon's back and tossed a nearly blank notepad at him.
"Almost forgot that…" Greed sighed and urged the hawk away from the destined and the battle so they wouldn't be interrupted, firamon following until they stopped over a safe patch near the current's edge, "Not that such things matter, we've spoken before have we not? And I'm only here today to observe…"
Strike grunted, pointing at the notepad before turning to watch the distant battle. 'Why speak after so long?'
"Lust insisted I reopen communication, you know how it is under Pride…" Greed shook his head and tossed the notepad back, his own eyes straying to the fierce fight, "She fears our time runs short…all our times run short the longer this drags on…"
'You want a way out? Wouldn't the packs be better?'
"Most of us are already outcasts of the packs, they care little if we live or die… What does it even matter? Our sin will haunt us whether we serve her or not…" His fingers curled deep into the shadow-hawk's feathers, the claws of the bear faintly visible, "No, all I need to know is what you'll do if you even survive her poison… Even now you are their leader…"
Strike turned back to regard him, his green eyes brighter than they had been in weeks as he tossed the notepad back. 'Pride is our only enemy in this war…she and Chaos must fall to restore the digital world.'
"And how many will die before then? She merely toys with you at present…can you really outlast her games?" Greed shook his head, a low growl punctuating the statement as he glared down at the violent waters below, "Hope was the first to die…the very day I stepped into that cursed cave… Do you think you're greater than them?"
'They had no time to learn of Pride… Hope has been reborn; the rumors speak as much…'
"But you can't find her…it's probably for the best though, that is one Pride will not let live… It is enough though, if you live through the winter we will speak again…" The shadow-hawk shifted under him, growing in size as he swooped down to retrieve Chaos before disappearing through a new shadow-port.

Location: Dusk River, Asiana Machine-Neutral Border

Holly landed quietly onto the neutral bank of the river that separated Asiana from the feline controlled Africaus, her partner Griffo by her side as they warily watched the recently opened shadow-port. The darkness here was thick, the corruption from the fallen digital world seeping through the portal Pride was using for her latest 'experiment'.
She ducked out of sight as Pride appeared through the portal with the monstrosity, a cruel imitation made from many different digimon and fueled by the shadow crest embedded in its forehead.
"We must retrieve that crest if the wolf is to survive…" Griffo's voice was a hushed whisper in her ear as they watched Pride command the beast.
"I know that but that thing has mega data…we can't rely on that crest anymore…" Holly ducked back as Pride disappeared back through the portal, leaving her pet to have fun as the shadow crest flashed to life, "We have to find a way to bring the destined into this…before Pride causes any more damage…"
"Sara is not marked as we are…perhaps it is time we reconnected with the other outcasts…"
"The cursed ones have split again…and Fang has gone ahead… We are too few to hold at the present…"
"But if the others join us?"
"Then blood will be spilled…come and let's be gone from this cursed shore…" Holly took to the sky again as the beast suddenly roared, spotting them and raising its terrible eyes to follow their escape.
"That creature is unnatural, a merging of both worlds only designed to torment the destined…"