A Digimon Frontier Fanfic
By Sakura Martinez

Author's Notes:

Ah, yes. I remember promising a new chapter before the week ends. Well, here is that chapter. Took me a while to type it down since my free time was torn between reading books, drawing my 'Thank you for the 5000 views" for DeviantArt, and playing Tales of Vesperia (Gods, I love Yuri and Estelle, XD).

Well, anywho... I hope you enjoy the final chapter in the 'Dark Takuya' Arc.

End of Author's Notes

The Rabbit on the Moon

The Savior's Determination

There are times when one has to sacrifice in order to achieve something greater.

Their sacrifice can be a personal one or not.

Some sacrifices are bigger than others. Some sacrifices bear fruit and are remembered throughout history. But, there are some sacrifices which lay forgotten in the sands of time and unheard of by people.

No matter the cause of the sacrifice, to give ones life to save the life of the one you love - that is, and will forever be, the greatest and noblest of sacrifices.

No one could move. They were all surprised and were unable to take in what has happened. Even Takuya, as confused as he is as to why his heart felt like it was ripped apart, was wide-eyed with surprise.

When all that has happened finally registered itself on Shinya's mind, he quickly ran to where Izumi lay dying. It was the first time in a very long time that he felt tears welling up in his eyes.

"Izumi!" He said, his voice strained and choking. "No, this can't be happening."

Takuya was still shocked. He can't help but wonder, as he touched his cheek, where a splatter of Izumi's blood had found its way, why she would go and shield him. He was their enemy, was he not? His death would mean that they would be that much closer to their goal. If so, then why?

Shinya looked angrily at Kaien, who looked as if nothing has happened and was instead staring at Takuya.

"Why the hell didn't you stop?" Shinya demanded to know. "You could have stopped. You were very capable at stopping your attack! I know that much!"

Kaien looked at him, closed his eyes and said, "Somethings had to be done to serve a better purpose."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? What purpose?" Shinya asked as he took the sword out of Izumi and pressed his hand on her wound to stop the bleeding. "She's dying! Do something!"

The silver light surrounding Kaien began to flicker. It was quick but Shinya caught sight of it.

"I can't do that." Kaien replied, there was a hint of sadness in his voice. "What remains of what I can do is reserved for him."

Shinya looked over at Takuya who was still in a disbelief. He wasn't moving. He was simply breathing but his eyes were not blinking. It was as if he was in a trance.

Whatever Shinya could have said to Kaien however, was lost for his mind was suddenly torn between saving Izumi and wondering what was going on with Takuya this time.

Nothing is more memorable than a smell.

One scent can be unexpected, momentary, and fleeting, yet conjure up a childhood summer beside a lake in the mountains; another, a moonlit beach; a third, a family dinner of pot roast and sweet potatoes.

Smells detonate softly in our memory like poignant land mines hidden under the weedy mass of years. Hit a tripwire of smell and memories explode all at once. A complex vision leaps out of the undergrowth.

Takuya found himself in a place surrounded by complete darkness. How he got there, wherever "there" was, was a mystery to him.

He looked around but he did not see anything. He forced his ears to hear, but he did not hear anything.

The place certainly felt familiar. It was like he had been there before. Truth was, he had been there before. In a nightmare that had haunted him for a while.

How much darkness covered the whole area however, did not matter much for Takuya. He could see, albeit dimly, for whatever the reason was. Under normal circumstances, it would be impossible, under this veil of darkness, for one to be able to see one's hands in front of one's face. And yet, here he was staring at his blood-soaked hands.

He knew it was not his blood. And that thought made him tremble.

"Why?" He asked, his voice echoed as he did so. "Why am I trembling? I should be used to seeing blood. I should be used to the fact that my hands have ended many lives. And yet...why?"

In the midst of the silence, he finally heard something - a rhythmic, dripping sound, and suddenly he could smell something. It was the smell of human blood.

So strong was the smell that he had to move back.

Takuya knew that the smell could not be from his hands. There was blood there but it wasn't enough to make this strong of a smell.

As he was backing away, limping in the process, his foot stuck something that clanked. Whirling around, Takuya saw his sword sticking on the ground, blood trickling down it's blade.

Takuya starred at it before cautiously taking the sword.

Suddenly, he felt relieved and safe. It was as if he need not fear anything now that he has his weapon with him. It was, of course, a false sense of security.

As he took the sword, a gust of wind blew and a shadow appeared before him.

The shadow was of a human figure but Takuya knew that this one was not human. He had met this shadow once, after all.

"You did well, Takuya." The voice boomed. It was an eerie sort of voice that even made Takuya cringe. "Although indirectly, you have managed to kill one of the Chosen Ones."

The thought of that woman. The one they called 'Izumi' crossed his mind and the pain that had been throbbing in his heart for a while now, pierced his heart yet again.

"She's dead?" He asked.

"Yes. Now, only seven of them remain." Chaos replied. The shadow then curled itself around Takuya. The smell of blood and the feeling of infinite power burned itself unto him. "They have no hope in winning now, even with that Guardian's interference, we have succeeded. However, I want you to finish the task that you, Chiaki and Terrou have been given. Kill all the Chosen Ones. Leave none of them alive."

Takuya gripped his sword.

He was about to reaffirm his acceptance of his mission when suddenly, an even stronger wind blew.

As the wind blew, it carried with it a familiar yet distant scent. And for some reason or another, Takuya felt something he hadn't felt in a very long time.

This, of course, baffled the young man. He knew what the feeling was but it would appear that he could not remember why he knows of it or what it was called.

"What is this?" Bellowed the shadow that was Chaos. "What is the meaning of this?"

The eternal darkness that once enveloped the room began to lose its power and intensity as light slowly crept into it.

Apart from that scent that Takuya and the feeling, the wind also carried with it a scenery that slowly transformed the darkness-infested place and turned it into a lush, green island with a giant tree in the middle of a hill.

"This is-!" Chaos was to say, but a blinding flash of light caught him off guard and caused his shadow to dissipate leaving Takuya by himself underneath the giant tree in the middle of the small hill.

"Where am I?" Takuya found himself asking.

He then circled around the giant tree, looking at the vast scenery before him. He found nothing worth noting except for the giant tree itself. And, as curiosity bid him to, he touched the tree's bark.

The moment his hands touched it, the tree's bark began to shine and from it, it spewed a human that Takuya managed to catch, and which forced him to drop his weapon which disintegrated into sand.

"It's you..." Takuya said, surprised at how a tree could possibly do that.

"What are you doing?" Shinya demanded to know, as Izumi, whom he was holding while trying to stop the bleeding, started to shine the same way that Kaien had when he first appeared. "What's happening to Izumi?"

"It has begun." Kaien replied. "Izumi is communing with Takuya. She is trying to save him with what remains of her power and her being."

"Is that why you are not doing anything to save her?" Shinya asked although he knew the answer to that question already.

Kaien nodded and replied, "She has what it takes to become the Guardian of the World Tree. In the midst of death she is stronger and more than capable of talking with Takuya. Thus, she is more able than us to bring him back to his senses."

Just then, Shinya remembered what Kaien had told him before:

"...It won't be long now 'til my mission is complete and I shall finally be able to meet with them." He had told him. "Soon a new Guardian will be born from a choice that will be made."

"This was what you were talking about, wasn't it? You were talking about Izumi being your replacement..." Shinya said, he could not believe it. "She wasn't even given the same choice that you were given!"

Kaien was silent, watching as Izumi began to glow brighter. Finally, after a short while, he spoke.

"She was given a choice." He said, solemnly. "And she choose to sacrifice everything in order to bring Takuya back. Having personally been chosen by Milanai makes her that much stronger as a Guardian..."

"But...why Izumi?" Shinya asked as he looked down on the blond-haired young woman. "When Takuya comes to and returns...he will not like this one bit."

It was her. The familiar smell was her.

Takuya was unable to move as Izumi merely hugged him. He was frozen in place with her in his arms.

"Please...remember." Izumi whispered meekly, her face buried in his chest.

It was as if the giant tree was in accordance to what Izumi was asking of him, for as soon as those words escaped her lips did the leaves of the giant tree rustle without the aid of the wind.

The leaves that fell from the giant tree began to shimmer in the same fashion that Izumi was shimmering. And suddenly, Takuya could hear voices and see visions that were more vivid and clear than the previous ones he had.

"Is the tree causing this visions or is it her?" He wondered but suddenly, knowing the answer to that question wasn't that much important.

As he watched, without much of a choice, the visions unfold before him one by one, he felt something inside him stir. As he continued to watch more and more of the scene, from when he was younger making a promise to a girl that closely resembled the young woman who was embracing him to the scenes of him protecting her and fighting with those people he had tried to kill earlier, he felt within him a battle of two forces.

It was hard to describe but, it feels as though his inner consciousness was fighting against the memories he have that were trying to disprove these visions that were being shown to him.

Suddenly, he remembered Chiaki. And, as if she was the binding force keeping him from believing, Takuya regained his "false" self as he pushed Izumi away and took a couple of steps back, almost stumbling.

"No. These visions are not true." Takuya said, it was as if he was being forced to say those words. "You are trying to deceive me!"

Izumi looked hurt and for the first time since they met in this mysterious place, she spoke.

"Why do you keep on thinking that I am the one trying to deceive you, Takuya?" She asked, her voice sounded different, almost ethereal-like. "We've been through so much together, Takuya. You should know by now that I won't do anything that would end up hurting you..."

"Stop it!" Takuya shouted as he pressed the palm of his hands to his ears, and he shut his eyes. Sweat began to trickle down his forehead and he began to pant heavily, as if he had walked a thousand miles carrying a heavy burden in his back.

"I know that I am getting through you, Takuya." Izumi went on. "I know the real you is trying to fight to come back and that you are fighting to break free of whatever spell or curse Chiaki and Chaos placed on you."

"N-no!" Shouted Takuya once more. However, he didn't sound as sure of it as he was before, and Izumi made note of that. She really was getting through to him. Just a little more and she was sure she would be able to bring him back to his senses.

"Takuya... please." Izumi continued to beg. For some reason, her voice sounded soothing to Takuya. Part of him wants to finish what Chaos has tasked of him to do, kill the Chosen Ones like her and yet, there was also the part of him who wants to return to her and help her. It was the latter that was starting to dominate. However, there was someone who does not want to lose their grip on him - Chaos.

Even as his physical form has vanished from this mysterious dream-like place, Chaos was still very much around, and he made sure Izumi realizes that as he materialized as an aura around Takuya who could not help but cry out in pain.

Chaos laughed as the aura around Takuya began to grow and his eyes, which had then started to regain some emotion into them, began to return to their expressionless state.

Izumi took notice of this. She knew that she cannot allow Takuya to succumb into Chaos' will once again and that she has to stop this "transformation" no matter what. She could feel that the giant tree, the World Tree, believes in the same thing as she does. Why she could feel and understand the World Tree's concerns, she doesn't really know. No, it wasn't that she didn't know, it was that she was afraid to know.

The wind then blew around her and she could hear the thoughts of the spirit of the tree. It was telling her to use her power to free Takuya.

"My power? But all I am capable of now are mere healing arts." Izumi spoke to the spirit through her mind.

The spirit gave her one word for an answer: "Trust.".

They could feel an immense amount of energy emanating from both Takuya and Izumi, pushing anyone away from where they were. Both energies were familiar to Shinya and Kaien, having both felt them before.

One was the energy synonymous to life and order. The other was of chaos and death.

It was as if, without their two hosts moving, the energies themselves were at a battle with each other in that hall causing the ground to shake and the walls to tremble.

"This is bad..." Shinya muttered as he looked around the room and saw small debris falling from the ceiling. "If this keeps up, we might see ourselves flattened."

"Don't worry." Kaien said. His tone was assuring, as if he knew something that no one else knew or foresaw. "It will all come to an end soon."

"I sure hope you aren't talking about our lives." Shinya found himself thinking as he forced himself to be grounded on the ground and not blown away.

Just then, Izumi began to glow in a brilliant shade of silver and white. It was so bright that Shinya was forced to shut his eyes tight so as to not get blinded.

Takuya was also having his own "transmogrification". However, unlike Izumi's which was a dazzling light, he was being covered by chaotic darkness - a color of black and crimson-red that were swirling on his body, like animated tattoos.

"Wha-what's going on?" Shinya asked, while his eyes were still shut.

Kaien, however, chose not to speak. Whatever he was thinking during that time, no one could really know or guess.

"I will not lose you like this, Takuya!" Izumi shouted, full of conviction as she tried to force herself past the swirling dark energy that served as Chaos's shield while he continued to brainwash Takuya once more. "Fight it, Takuya! You have to fight it! Don't let Chaos take control of you further!"

However, despite her cries, it would appear that the darkness around Takuya was blocking any sounds from reaching his ears. And soon, the dark energies dissipated and Takuya was once again holding a sword ready to attack Izumi.

He looked at her with that steel gaze of his and at once Izumi knew that he was once again Taken.

"But not for long." The voice of the spirit spoke. "You know now what you must do, don't you? You understand..."

Izumi nodded. She did know what must be done. Her sacrifice was not yet over.

Trust.

It was what the spirit had told her before and she knew what the spirit meant. It would be a lie, however, to say that she wasn't the least bit scared, for she was. She didn't know how far Takuya had lost in his battle with himself but, she was out of options.

It was time to go to the 'extreme'.

Takuya pointed the sword at her and spoke, "I have enough of you. Release me from this place!"

"Do you really intend to fight and kill me with that sword, Takuya?" Izumi asked, she forced herself to sound brave despite knowing what she had to do.

"I don't 'intend to'." Takuyra replied as he poised himself for an attack. "I will kill you."

Then Izumi said something that no sane person would have said: "Then do it."

That was also something that Takuya nor Chaos had expected her to say. They had thought she would fight fiercely, she had Milanai's help after all. It was then that another wind blew sending another round of falling leaves from Milanai with it. And once again, memories began to slowly return to Takuya. Chaos had, without knowing it, let his guard down. But, it was still not enough to completely turn Takuya.

Takuya walked cautiously, his sword still in hand but Izumi did not move nor did she look away. She was looking at him, not with eyes filled with hate and resentment but with eyes that somehow managed to convey to Takuya not to worry and that everything will be alright. This sent another round of confusion to the already baffled and unstable-minded young man.

When he was within striking distance, Takuya pointed his sword at Izumi's throat, ready to slit it at any moment he wished to do so.

It was then that Takuya asked, in a voice that contained curiosity: "Are you not afraid of dying? Why are you willing to risk so much for a hopeless cause?"

"Because I believe that you will choose the right thing, Takuya." Izumi replied. Her reply sounded as if she was sure of it. Her voice didn't betray the fact that she was scared to die but, even with that fear, she chose to trust him. And she did not fail to tell him that. "I trust you."

It was the only word needed to be said. It was more powerful than having said that she loved him, which she did, and which he had heard so many times from Chiaki and even from the vague memory of the past he could scarcely remember.

Those words seemed to penetrate through whatever magic or curse Chaos and Chiaki had placed on him. It was with those words that he suddenly felt the veil in his mind, that cursed sealed that was blocking his memories, lifted.

The sword fell to the ground with another loud clang and disappeared like smoke being blown by the wind. The darkness governing Takuya also disappeared and Izumi could have sword Chaos swore while being pulled away from the place with a magical force. The heterochromic eyes returned to Takuya and his complexion returned to normal.

As soon as Takuya returned to normal did he fall to his knees, sobbing like a little child, not wishing to look at Izumi.

"I'm sorry." He repeatedly said. "I could see what was happening... I was easily manipulated by Chaos and the darkness in my heart..."

Izumi knelt down beside him and touched his face, gently forcing him to look her in the eyes. Her eyes didn't hold any pity in them, only understanding.

Izumi shook her head and said, "It's alright now, Takuya. I knew you would come back. But, we don't have time to rejoice on that. The others are waiting for you. You are needed to fight against Chaos."

"You're kidding, right?" Takuya said. He could not believe anyone would be willing to wait for him after all that he has done. "I know they will be waiting for me but, I doubt that's to join forces with them. Kouji will probably kill me and..."

Suddenly, he remembered. Chaos had told him that the others would fall soon.

"They're in trouble." Takuya realized. "Chiaki and Terrou! They're fighting with them now. You're right, Izumi. We have to go back and help them."

Izumi shook her head once more, and the smile on her face was one filled with sadness.

"You're right, Takuya. Time is of the essence. However, you have to go back and help them. I can't leave this place any longer." Izumi said.

Her words surprised and confused Takuya. "You can't leave? What do you mean?"

Izumi looked at the giant Tree and placed the palm of her hands on its bark. "I need to stay here, Takuya. I have been...given a task and a role I need to fulfill. My role is here while yours..."

"Wait, I don't understand, what do you mean? Your Role?"

"I have been chosen to become the Guardian of the World Tree." Izumi replied.

The battling forces in the hall disappeared, and with it the light from Izumi and the darkness from Takuya. What's more, Takuya seemed to have fallen unconscious as well, while Izumi's life was slowly fading. Her breathing was becoming less frequent until she finally breathe her last.

Kaien breathe a sigh of relief, "It is finished. She had won."

"Won?" Shinya asked. "What the hell are you talking about? How can this be winning? Izumi's dead!"

"She is still alive with Milanai." Kaien said, his voice was starting to sound distant. "She was chosen to become the Guardian, Shinya, and she has accepted the role. However, she is not yet chained to that role. There is still another Guardian whom Milanai has chosen, a guardian who can take her place."

"What am I supposed to tell Takuya about Izumi? I am certain he would not accept this." Shinya asked. He could almost imagine his younger brother running rampant.

"Tell him..they will see each other again." Kaien replied. "Milanai awaits you at the dawn of the new age."

Kaien closed his eyes, suddenly he looked older and his form began to flicker as if he was some holographic projection. Before Shinya could ask what Kaien had meant, Kaien had disappeared with a content smile on his face and Shinya knew that the time when Kaien finally rejoins his friends has finally come. Kaien could finally have his much-deserved rest.

It was at that point that Takuya began to stir and Shinya knew that Takuya would not like what awaits him.

To be continued...

Post Author's Note:

And that, my friends is how I chose to end this story arc. A bit dark but, as I they say, some sacrifices have to be made. However, all hope is not lost as Kaien had spoken.

This also marks as the final time Kaien will appear on the whole story. Also, if you haven't figured it out, the "Savior" being mentioned in the title is Izumi. XD

And now, we have to wait and see how Takuya would react once he learns that Izumi is "dead". In the next chapter, we'll also get a look on what has been happening to the others. Takuya had already said it, they are fighting against Terrou and Chiaki. But, how do you guys think they are faring? And what would Chiaki's reaction be once word reaches her that Takuya had been freed from her grasp?

Well, that's what awaits the next chapter which would probably be released next week provided my work doesn't get the better of me.

Having said that, I hope you guys review this story and tell me what you think about this recent chapter. Until the next time we meet, Ja ne!

End of Post Author's Note