Okay, I had some difficulty with this chapter. But that's okay because I did get it eventually. I don't know why I had difficulty however. I hope you enjoy it. It is a little short though.
Ryo watched the cloaked figure return from her conversation with DemiDevimon. The bat had seemed uneasy at first around her, but not enough not to listen. In fact, the mysterious person caused him to follow her because of one word. There was no way to judge her expression because of her hood and she did not choose to share her thoughts. She merely gestured for the boy to join her.
Monodramon looked uncomfortable at the tamer leaving his sight. Ryo smiled in a reassuring fashion to the purple reptilian digimon. He didn't remember her or anything like that. The human just felt he should hear her.
"Ryo Akiyama, Legendary Tamer, Digimon King," she greeted. The names, all of them, echoed in his mind. In his lost memories. "I know that your past is shrouded in mystery and all you want are answers. But beware false thoughts you may hold. Not everything is as it seems."
"Please, who are you?" he interrupted anxiously. "What do you know of who I am?"
"You may call me Destiny, but that is unimportant," answered the cloaked shape. "I am here to deliver a message and a gift." She held out a necklace with a white rectangle attached. The rectangle looked like a blank digimon card, unadorned by pictures or writing. Ryo took it and placed around his neck. "When the time comes, the power within you shall be unleashed. This crest will unlock and harness that strength. Both that power and your memories wait within yourself."
He nodded slowly, studying the rectangle. He tried to slide it through his D-arc experimentally, but it wouldn't work. The boy turned his attention back to Destiny. Her name seemed important. Not only did he feel he'd heard it before, but the concept of destiny and fate seemed important to him.
"Now take heed of what I say, Ryo, 'Foes may wear the guise of friends and blind the eyes from knowing the truth. Lies and deceit spin a web, but Loyalty can make one see true allies. The past seems lost, but memories are closer than they seem.'"
Turning the words over in his head, the boy considered their meaning. Someone was going to try to trick him by pretending to be a friend, but if he remained loyal he'd know his real ones. Monodramon had to be a real friend, but DemiDevimon…
"Who's 'Devimon' and what does he have to do with him?" Ryo asked, pointing back in the direction of the bat rookie.
"Devimon was a murderous monster," answered Destiny. "DemiDevimon knew him before his destruction. He just wishes to keep his past to himself for his own reasons."
The tamer frowned at her excuse, but nodded slowly. He didn't know why someone would want to hide their past, but he couldn't even remember most of his. Maybe secrets and things like that were just part of having a history. After all, Floramon didn't tell him he was human. Who knows what other secrets she hid.
"If you say so," sighed the boy.
"Don't worry, though," she added. "In the end, what must happen shall happen. You cannot escape it."
"I never could escape my fate," muttered Ryo, unsure why these words came to him.
"You're worried about him, aren't you?" Mrs. Olkowski remarked.
Riley jerked in surprise and glanced around. No one else was in hearing range. They were on computers or in conversations of their own. Even Tally had vanished somewhere. The parent stared at the technician expectantly.
"I don't know what…" the brown-haired woman began.
"Mitsuo Yamaki," she interrupted. "You're worried about him and not just as your boss or friend. Don't deny it, Ms. Ootori. I can always see things like this more clearly than others. I may not have known you long, but I am not blind to what is perfectly clear on your face when someone speaks his name."
Riley blushed. She didn't think that her feelings for him were that obvious. They tried to keep everything professional at Hypnos and in public. The only one who seemed to have a clue, except for Tally's occasional looks of "If you two don't hurry up, I'm going to take action by trapping you together until he proposes," was Calumon. He'd once asked her if she was married to Yamaki since she was always at his house and she would stare at him like she wanted to swallow his head (a little questioning clarified he was referring to when he saw a couple making out). The technician solved that problem by explaining that they weren't married, she was just nice to him, and she distracted him away by asking the small digimon to draw a picture. Calumon instantly forgot his question as he babbled about his drawing. Yamaki's fridge now bore various crayon doodles courtesy of the hyper digimon.
"I do like him" she admitted slowly, "and I am worried. I don't know if I'll ever see him again."
Mrs. Olkowski sighed, "I understand what it's like to not know if someone you love is alive or dead. To sit at home feeling helpless. To worry that you may never hold them again."
Now the woman felt guilty. Most of the people here seemed to be in the same boat with people they care about missing. This mother didn't even know if her twin four year olds would ever come home.
"I'm sorry," she tried to apologize, but one more the parent interrupted.
"Don't be. I have faith that Impmon will bring my children home. Just as I have faith your loved one will return. But I think you need to consider what you will do then."
Riley blinked, "What do you mean?"
"Do you love him? And he, you?"
After a few moments, she nodded, "I think so, yes."
"Do you think that will ever change?"
"I…" Riley frowned. "No… I don't think I'd ever leave him. Even after everything that's happened, I still stand with him."
"If you both love each other and desire no one else," commented Mrs. Olkowski, "why do you not make it official?"
"He's never asked," she muttered.
"And let me guess," sighed the married woman. "He always wants to be in control of everything. He doesn't like not having that control." When Riley nodded, she explained to the technician, "That's the problem. Love is uncontrollable, indescribable, and unbelievable. It takes faith rather than logic and planning to handle. He's afraid of it because it is out of his hands. Men fear commitment. Goodness knows I had my problems with Hisao in the early days."
She smiled," He is uncomfortable with the unpredictable. But having Calumon around is helping with that."
"Impmon has mentioned the 'creampuff' to me before. The important thing is that you help him to see what is right in front of him. If he doesn't take the initative himself, you should confront him. Ask him yourself rather than waiting for Yamaki to work up the nerve."
"I don't know," muttered Riley.
"Oh come on," shouted Tally abruptly. "You two belong together."
Glancing over, the brown-haired technician noticed not only had her friend rejoined them, but that the conversation with Mrs. Olkowski was now the center of attention. All the Monster Makers stared at them with a goofy smile on each of their faces. Riley glared at them.
"None of you have heard of a private conversation before, have you?"
"Riley, we've been waiting for you guys to stop dancing around each other for ages," remarked Tally. "Listen to what she says. If Yamaki won't propose to you, then you should propose to him."
The third member of the group concerned her the most. But Destiny tried to hide it. She led Ryo back to his partner, the look on his face demonstrating that the tamer was still suspicious of her and now DemiDevimon. If he viewed the bat as being less than trustworthy, she saw no problem.
"Ryo, I will now speak with your friend privately. When he returns, he may look and act differently," she informed him. "But your partner is still inside him even through the change."
"He's digivolved before. From Hopmon and Ketomon before that," the boy glared. "I'm not stupid."
"The change will be greater this time," explained the hooded figure, knowing the change in personality would be far stranger than could be expected.
"I can hear you guys, you know," grumbled Monodramon.
The cloaked figure stepped over and placed her fabric-covered arm on the purple rookie. Silently, she led him away from the boy. DemiDevimon flapped his way to the child, likely wanting to question the tamer about the conversation with Destiny. She put the pair out of her mind. She needed to remain focused.
She stopped a decent distance from the cave entrance where Ryo and the virus waited. Destiny palmed her crystalline D-arc I her hand. Even without a partner, the device could be used in a variety of ways. But it wouldn't be able to completely stop the power she would be about to unleash if needed. All she could hope is her assumptions were correct and that he was in a good mood.
"I'm sorry for what I'm about to do to you," she sighed, pulling out her D-arc and bathing him in light.
The small, purple, reptilian digimon vanished, leaving a metal covered, predator creature. His eyes were hidden, but the sense of a hungry glare remained. The digimon's name was Cyberdramon, but that wasn't who she addressed.
"Welcome back to awareness, Thousand Year Monster," she remarked respectfully. "I assume that as a manipulator of space and time, you know who I am."
The voice that emerged from the ultimate was not his usual one. This one was silken and cultured, rather than blood-thirsty. But he still bore a hint of cruelty.
"I do, child. A tool for prophecies and no will of your own. I've heard hints of your existence. And unlike Monodramon and my partner, I do not forget. Your meddling led to their deaths."
"Not yet. I have not in my memory committed such an act," she reminded.
"Details, mere details. But I recall. Ryo may not wish to acknowledge our partnership, but I am still his partner. Monodramon is just a mere substitute. The tamer wished to play the part of a 'normal' person and that digimon is far less noticeable than I."
"But neither remember you currently," glared the girl. "You could try to influence them or gain the sympathy of Ryo without having your history to work against you. And considering whom you are, I know you shall."
The grin aimed at her was neither friendly nor comforting. The mouth possessed far too many teeth to pull that off. The voice did not deny her words.
"What I chose to do is not your concern, girl. Even if you may be knowledgeable of prophecies and have a few parlor tricks, I am beyond your power to stop. Only Ryo could ever turn me from my aims. Not even the Four Harmonious Ones or Sovereigns can defeat my power."
"I would not dare try to defeat you through brute force on my own," Destiny admitted. "I would be easily destroyed in the attempt. But I have given Ryo the tools to quiet you. His crest is not only his greatest strength, but also the trait that allowed him to keep facing the same powerful being. Because if he did not hold that power in his heart, he would not intrigue you nearly as much. Isn't that right, Milleniummon?"
"Crests are simply a name and physical manifestation for a power a handful of children hold. They are nothing but toys of the digidestined children who don't know how to use them to their full potential," he scoffed. "I am 'intrigued,' as you put it, because he is my partner."
"But his strength of character is why you want him as a partner," suggested the cloaked girl. She knew arguing with a powerful digimon, even one in another's body, was stupid. But she'd done it before (she thought…) and lived. "Even if you and Ryo are like yin and yang, light and dark, or the classic good and evil, he can only handle your influence properly if he knows who he is dealing with. The crest will keep your personality dormant unless he wishes to communicate with you. It can affect you because it is his power."
"But his crest is not active," reminded the creature lurking in Cyberdramon's mind. "If it was, we wouldn't be having this conversation, child."
"No, but I have a theory," she smirked. "You have been respecting Ryo's wishes to have Monodramon as his partner and for you to leave him alone. Other than having a less socially acceptable personality as Cyberdramon, your influence on their lives has been minimal lately. You even stood by as Justimon sacrificed himself because you knew that was the boy's choice. That and it wouldn't kill him permanently. You believe that if you act this way and do not influence him, he will someday willing accept you as a partner. Correct?"
The soft chuckling that came from his mouth sent chills up her spine, "Clever little girl, aren't we? Yes, I have hope that Ryo will in time realize that I am his true partner and will cease this foolish attempt to deny that. But until he is ready, I am willing to wait. I have time."
"Would it not be encouraging to him to learn that you did not try to take advantage of him while his memories are gone? He may actually begin to trust you somewhat," she suggested.
"Unlikely," he snorted. "That boy is very stubborn. But I see no harm in leaving him alone for now. Ryo will eventually accept that he and I are fated together."
Releasing a sigh of relief, the girl nodded, "While I can neither confirm nor deny that this shall come to pass, I know that your discretion is best for all. I take it you shall go back to this digimon subconscious."
"Of course, girl," he agreed. "But before I leave you, I want to wish you the best of luck spending eternity in solitude."
Destiny stiffened. She knew he was referring to Fate, but she refused to respond to his words. A moment later, a more guttural growl came from the digimon. Cyberdramon had regained control of his body with no memory of the conversation between her and the powerful creature. Taking a deep breath to calm herself after the last comment, she glanced at the ultimate.
"Cyberdramon, listen carefully," she ordered. "Things may seem different now. Unlike as a rookie, your personality is more aggressive. I cannot explain why that change is so great right now, but trust me that you will be more dangerous to those around you. The most important thing to remember is to listen to Ryo instead of your new killer instincts."
He kept growling threateningly, but nodded after a moment, "Ryo."
"I spy with my little eye," recited Kazu boredly, "something black."
"Might I remind you approximately half of this town is black while the rest is white?" his partner remarked. "If I recall the rules of the particular game, the hints are supposed to eliminate the majority of the options. Could you have chosen a more precise clue?"
"Nope," he grinned. "Guess."
"That cobblestone," suggested the robotic digimon.
The tamer shook his head sharply. They ended up wandering the monochromatic town, hoping to encounter someone besides the creepy Knightmon up at the castle. In order to pass the time, the boy had suggested a game. "I Spy" worked best when they took a break from walking while "Name that Song" went better while moving. Guardromon wasn't as good at recognizing songs before Kazu introduced him to his unnatural wide selection back home. He still thought the tamers should have a karaoke party sometime (though Rika had threatened to kill him if he tried it).
"Very well, is it that cobblestone?" Guardromon guessed.
"This could take a while," Kazu sighed.
Shorter than usual, but I wrote it out now. I imagined Milleniummon's voice as similar to one I'd imagine for Dracula: cultured, charming, and deadly. And next time, it will be back at the Digidestined universe. Feedback is always appreciated and wanted.