Chapter Fourteen: Fallen Angels Part 1
Demi-Devimon fluttered into the room panting and out of breath. The tiny winged demon landed on a stone stool desperately trying to catch his breath. His beady eyes looked over to the shadowed figure of the one he called Master. The Rookie dare not even look at his Master for fear of retribution. He had called for an audience without the approval of his authorities and now was standing, without the support of his superiors, before the Master himself. He fixed his feathers with one of his talons and cleared his "throat". His eyes went to the corner where to his surprise and horror his superior, Devimon, stood.
"Well," his impatient Master demanded tapping his digits against the stone throne, "Why have you called for this meeting?
"I barely beat them here… a group of children sir!"
"Children? What concern are young Digimon to me?"
"No, milord, not Digimon children. HUMAN! Human children. It was a whole group of humans with Digimon traveling with them."
"Humans? In the Digital World!"
"Yes Lord, they purchased a map, they are going to the Celestial Palace."
"Human beings are in the Digital World for the first time in more than a century and you've directed them right to the Celestial Palace!"
"Not exactly," the cowering Demi-Devimon replied, "The Map shows the wrong location."
"Really? Do you know what location it does show?"
"Better, I know the entire route they must take."
"Good," the Master cooed wickedly, "Devimon, assemble your forces."
The group set out at the first light of dawn heading back toward the Palmon village. They reached the village when it was still morning entering to cheers from the villagers. Already many of the Palmon were busy repairing the homes lost during the Jakimon attack. Ayden approached the Elder who had told him of the Temple's existence and location, there was a grin on the old Digimon's face.
"I found it," Ayden said, "I found the Beast Spirit."
"I know, I can see it in your eyes young warrior," the Palmon replied, "but you mustn't use it in anger young one. The Beast Spirit is very powerful. Do not call upon it unless you need it."
"I understand," Ayden replied patting the little Digimon on the shoulder out of respect, "Thank you."
"Thank you, Warrior of Fire, for saving our village."
Thompson watched the display of mutual appreciation and for the first time he saw in Ayden a maturity that the rest of them seemed lack. Ayden was, of course, eighteen, older than all of them by at least a year but there was something more to it than that. Perhaps what had happened in the Temple had changed him more than they had yet realized. He had little time to dwell on it, the group needed to move on. They had time to stop to defend the village and the Temple hadn't been too far out of their way but now they had a mission to complete. The Celestial Palace was calling, so were the answers to their own presence here in the Digital World. The winds of the Digital World seemed to pull them down the road as they departed from the Palmon village, an ever blowing breeze beckoning them toward adventure.
They started down the road in high spirits, the morning sun beaming down happily and lazy white clouds drifting across the Digital Sky. Xander was the only one of the group complaining, his feet hurting before they had even lost sight of the Palmon village on the road behind them. Xander soon realized that the others weren't paying any attention to his griping. Even Bogmon had rolled his eyes when Xander had complained to him about his feet. Xander gave a sigh of defeat and continued walking silently, his efforts to get attention foiled. Once he had shut his mouth he began to see the beauty of the Digital World unfold before him. They were traveling down a forest trail but the woods were not densely packed along the road, they were sparsely spaced and arranged in what seemed like neat rows.
Jonathan scratched his chin recalling something Leomon had told them about a time when the forests of the Digital World had been harvested nearly to the point of total destruction. He was curious if this oddly ordered forest was the result of replanting trees after the deforestation but he wasn't prepared to cut down a tree to count the rings and prove his point. He found himself wondering if trees in the Digital World even had rings like those back home. He could see that Dyrasmon was very at home here, she buzzed lightly between the trunks of the trees pressing her palms to them as if conveying thoughts or feelings back and forth. On Earth such abilities were the topics of pseudoscience and myth but the Digital World didn't seem tethered to most principles the Earth followed. John was almost certain they were in an entirely separate dimension or at the very least a place where the natural laws worked differently than in Earth's neighborhood in space.
While Jonathan was concerned with the trees Thompson was, as ever, concerned by Solara. He wanted to like Ayden and allow Solara to be with whoever made her happy but at the same time he was infatuated with her. Her fiery eyes, vibrant and strong and her beautiful face that framed them so well were irresistible to him. He had to admit, however, that it was her personality, as fiery as her igneous eyes that had caused the attraction to her. Pretty girls were a dime a dozen but finding one so brave and fierce was truly rare. Thompson himself was inwardly her opposite, at least until Adlimon showed up, cautious and introverted. He knew that if he hoped to win her over that he would need to make a move, one far more indicative of fire than ice.
Solara walked ahead of the group striding forward and scouting the area. She was surprised that today Anselm walked beside her while Ayden actually brought up the rear. Patamon fluttered by her humming a strange tune while Anselm skipped merrily in an attempt to keep up. She felt a smile come to her lips. As grown-up as they all tried to be most of them were still truly children on some level. This was only confirmed when Vera too came skipping along. She had tried to persuade Haomon to join in the frolicking but the proud warrior refused with arms crossed over his chest and a sour expression.
"Come on sour puss," Vera said sticking her tongue out at him.
"Absolutely not," Haomon protested, "A fighter doesn't skip and a fighter is never giddy."
"Suit yourself," Vera said though Haomon's confused expression told him that the Digimon had never heard that figure of speech before. She shrugged and skipped along humming to Patamon's tune stride for stride beside Anselm.
Ayden watched from the back of the group. His mind had dwelled on his experiences in the Temple since he had emerged from it the night before. The events down there were more than a little strange. Now he was in possession of the Beast Spirit. Or was it the Beast Spirit that would have possession of him? The Palmon at the village had confirmed his suspicions, the Beast Spirit was indeed very powerful and not something to be trifled with. He resolved not to use it unless absolutely necessary. Only if one of them were in grave danger would he even dare summoning its strength for fear it might consume him. Such power brought with it responsibility and the events within the Temple of Flame told him that there was a lineage of honorable Warriors of Flame before him that also held the Spirits he now possessed.
Thompson moved slowly toward Solara desperately trying to summon the courage to speak to her. It was no easy task and as the minutes moved by he began to feel his knees grow more and more weak at the very thought of trying to flirt with her. His nervousness was only compounded when Ayden moved up beside him and Adlimon.
"So you're Thompson right?" Ayden asked with a friendly smile.
"Yeah, that's me," Thompson replied quietly.
"And your Digimon is Adlimon right?" Ayden asked nodding toward the icy lizard who walked a few stride ahead of them.
"Yep," Thompson answered.
"Look I know I'm new to the group and everything but I want you to know I'm here for the good of the group and the mission… don't hesitate to talk to me or ask for help."
Thompson nearly froze in place, his mind swirled with thoughts. He didn't want to end up enemies with Ayden and yet he was desperate for advice on how to win Solara's heart. John might have been able to help, and Vera had offered her advice while aboard the ship. Xander, at least romantically, was a lost cause, although back on Earth he had had several girlfriends, all of them cheerleaders from different sports, he could hardly have been said to have had healthy steady relationships with any of them. On the one level he needed the assistance of someone with charisma and courage on how to win Solara's heart but he couldn't ask Ayden. Thompson's blood boiled just hearing Ayden offer him help as if he was a helpless child being beaten up by bullies.
Ayden walked away from Thompson with a perplexed expression. He was truly unsure what to make of the young man he'd only met a few days earlier. He'd been part of the group for less than a week and already become fast friends with Solara and the others but Thompson remained indifferent and even distant whenever he spoke to him. Ayden stepped up toward the front of the group taking up position beside Solara. She looked over at him with nervous eyes glimmering in the late afternoon sun. Ayden wasn't one for nervousness, at least not typically, and yet his knees went weak whenever she cast a glance his way. He stifled his attraction and cleared his throat.
"Quite a group you've got here," Ayden said, gesturing to the two frolicking humans and the winged ball of orange fuzz that followed after them humming his tune.
"We've been here less than a month, they've adapted very well to a life of poverty."
"What about you?" Ayden asked.
"Well, back home I was kind of… an orphan," she admitted with great embarrassment, "Sorry I didn't tell you, its just that it didn't come up when we talked before and I was kind of embarrassed and-"
"Relax, its fine," Ayden said lifting her chin, "I understand."
"You do?"
"Yeah, though I can hardly imagine what it is like to be an orphan, I can understand why you wouldn't bring it up," Ayden replied though he could see she was still embarrassed by the whole thing, "So what's the deal with Thompson?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well," Ayden elaborated quietly enough that Thompson couldn't hear, "He seems distant, sort of quiet."
"He's a bit of an introvert," Solara explained, "But when the time comes he's as brave as the rest of them."
The group continued along carrying on light conversations as night drew near. Evening set in and with it eerie clouds and flashes of thunder. No rain fell but the overcast sky and howling wind were only made more eerie by the mist that permeated through the trees to cover the road. The Destined walked slowly as they made their way down the road and were sure to check every landmark they came across. There were no road signs out here in the boondocks of the Digital World and with only their map and the light of a lit torch to guide them their journey through the fog was a slow one. There were still four or so hours of daylight left but each of them was hoping they might find a village or a calm place free of the mist where they could spend the night.
They continued on and the fog dissipated slowly. Before any of them could breathe a sigh of relief the gray skies opened up and rain began to fall. They continued on searching for any place where they might be able to pitch their tents but the rain was becoming heavy and the howling autumn wind pulled it at an angle that would have made pitching the tents almost pointless. With their torch out Ayden found himself forced to Digivolve. Agunimon's flames could not be extinguished by a simple storm and they all felt far safer proceeding with Agunimon taking point. It didn't take long for the fiery Digimon to sense danger and he gestured back for the others to be still.
"What is it?" Solara asked above the din of the storm.
"Sounds like a fight somewhere down the road," Ayden answered, "It's barely audible above the storm."
"Finally, some action," Haomon said and Adlimon offered him an eager look as the group moved forward.
Their gray evening surroundings were not yet devoid of light and in the distance they caught sight of the source of the sounds. They saw a Digimon dressed in white and immediately it became apparent this was no ordinary Digimon. This Digimon had wings, magnificent feathered appendages that stemmed from an otherwise humanoid figure. Nearly eight feet tall the being emanated a powerful glow and carried a golden staff. Surprisingly it was a human, and not a Digimon, who was first to identify the strange being.
"An angel!" Anselm exclaimed.
"Judging by the pink sash and the style of the staff I would say that it's Piddomon," Haomon explained, "but it could be an Angemon."
"Angemon!" Patamon said suddenly, "Angemon is supposed to be part of my evolutionary lineage."
"Those are big words for a ball of fuzz," Xander said with a snicker.
"Looks like he's in trouble," Agunimon noted, "Jakimon are all over him. We better help."
"Must we always?" Xander asked but Bogmon appeared before him with a gleam in his eye, "Right, saving innocent Digimon time."
The twelve of them cut through the storm to the angel's side and immediately began trying to dispel the Jakimon. Agunimon moved in first throwing shards of fire in all directions. Many of the fiery projectiles never hit their targets as the rain came down to extinguish them. It seemed his fire wasn't without its limits. Once it left his body it could succumb to the same weaknesses of an ordinary fire. Though his Spirit could summon flames on his body that were indestructible they became susceptible when beyond his immediate physical area. Ayden had no time to worry about such things. He summoned fire around his fists and began pummeling the swarming Jakimon who cried out with angry lifting spears. Those that Agunimon could not knock away glanced off his crimson armor. There were a great many of them and the other Rookie Digimon were soon involved.
Adlimon formed a whip of ice, or tried to, the rain quickly melting away the shards. A group of Jakimon surrounded him now and if it wasn't for the intervention of Haomon, who's lightning seemed only strengthened by the storm, he might well have been skewered by a spear. The lizard looked for a place to rejoin the battle and noticed Dyrasmon and Patamon were struggling to hold their own against a small crowd of the tribal Digimon. He was about to stride in and lay down the law but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"Perhaps we should bring a little more firepower to this fight," Thompson said with a grin, "Or ice power, you get the idea."
"Right," Adlimon said feeling his entire body being devoured by the energy emanating from Thompson's Digivice, "Adlimon Digivolve to: Glacadlimon."
The crocodilian Champion roared into the crowd snapping up Jakimon in his jaws lightly enough to not kill them entirely. He thrashed his head to and fro sending those not already in his maw racing away in fear. Vera watched the fight from a distance. She was still not used to the chaos of battle. She was worried more for Haomon than for herself as the fierce feline leapt from enemy to enemy with lightning bolts arcing off his claws to shock the Jakimon into submission. She turned her attention to Piddomon, the strange angelic Digimon they had raced in to help. He seemed uninjured though his motions as he fought the Jakimon beside his new allies were slow as if the fight had raged on for a long time. Something else became visible then, as a flash of lightning brought new brightness to the forest around them, a shadowy figure behind the trees. Vera felt a chill up her spine, wondering if the frightening figure was just a figment of her imagination. She shivered as the autumn rain fell and another flash revealed that the figure was gone.
"Thank you for your help," Piddomon said with a bow as the last Jakimon scurried off into the woods, "I have been tracking that tribe for days, they have been trying to rob the good Digimon who travel along this road."
"It's not problem at all," Agunimon said with a toothy grin.
"In fact it's just the sort of thing we're used to doing," Haomon said punching one of his Jakimon victims, who was regaining consciousness, as a less than subtle reminder to stay down.
"We need to get out of this storm," Solara said and she watched the angel's eyes grow wide.
"A human being! Can it be!" Piddomon exclaimed, going to one knee so that he could be at eye level with her, "I have lived my life to see this day, the return of the Destined."
"Yeah, we're humans, you can pretty much worship us," Xander said wanting to milk the adoration for all it was worth.
"We're on our way to the Celestial Palace," Solara explained elbowing Alexander out of the way.
"You are?" Piddomon asked, "Do you know how to get there? Because this road isn't exactly along the right route if that is where you are headed."
"I knew that Demi-Devimon wasn't to be trusted," Haomon said shaking his head, "Damn devil must have given us a bad map."
"Come," Piddomon said, "I think I saw an old building nearby, we should take shelter there for the night… I have a great many questions for you."