Chapter 40: Merciful Mimi
Babamon was sitting on the large armchair of the City Hall, waiting for the rebels to storm into her office. The painting from her time as Rosemon was hanging above the door. From the balcony behind her, she could hear the people from the Downtown celebrating.
Etemon entered alone, but Babamon could tell that he had dozens of companions waiting outside.
"I thought you had died of starvation. Weren't you doing a hunger strike in prison?" The old lady asked from across the table, which was covered by a green sheet embroidered with pink flowers.
The monkey paled and frowned at the mention of his strike, unconsciously touching his bruised belly. Many scars were visible on his body.
"Your guards surrendered to our numbers. The jail fell on our hands and all of the political prisoners still alive were released." Etemon informed her, looking around for an extra chair where he could sit, not finding any. Forced to stand up, he crossed his arms.
"Those men surrendered, huh…?" Babamon mumbled, interlacing her fingers on the table. "Despite all their talk, they lacked the conviction to die for their ideals."
"Yeah… about that…" Etemon said, taking a small round flask from a brown bag attached to his waist and placing it on the table. "Most of them chose to drink this. It's been handed to the other inhabitants of the Uppertown too."
"What is this?" Babamon asked, pointing to the black liquid inside the flask.
"It's an improved version of the poison Devimon used in his gears. But this one won't cause violent outbursts, just lead to a peaceful death." Etemon explained.
"I'm not going to drink poison." Babamon stated. "If you want me dead, you'll have to dirty your hands."
"It doesn't matter if you don't drink it." Etemon said. "Mama's plan will destroy the whole world soon, our data can still be converted during the cataclysm. The poison is merely a merciful way out for those who choose it."
"You talk about mercy and choices, but everybody is going to die anyway." Babamon smirked. "You can spit as many empty words as you want, but you'll still be a murderer."
Etemon punched the table.
"Mama's plan is the only way to save Seraphimon's victims!" He affirmed. "Temporary death for us is nothing if we can stop their suffering!"
"Why should I give a damn about the fallen of the Cloud Continent? What did they ever do for me to deserve such kindness?" She inquired. "I'm not some idiot willing to sacrifice my life for others! I will save myself!"
"Mama has looked for a solution that didn't involve our deaths for thousands of years, but couldn't find any. Such a solution doesn't exist." Etemon told her. "This plan is the only hope for those innocent digimon."
"Just because that queen of yours didn't find another way, it doesn't mean there isn't one." Babamon said. "It just means that Ofanimon is even more of a moron that I had thought."
Etemon grabbed Babamon by her pink collar and pulled her close to him. He was trembling with anger.
"Mama killed her own brother to save this city and the world!" He spoke in a deep and serious tone. "She picked up a starving brat like me from the dumpster and raised me with love, believing that I had inherent value while people like you thought I deserved nothing but a miserable death! Someone like you, raised in privilege, doesn't get to talk about Mama! Most of all, you don't get to call her by her name!"
"People like you don't have any worth." Babamon stated, smiling maliciously. "You only exist to serve better monsters, that's how the world is. Idiots that go against the natural laws of the world and fill the heads of lowlifes like you with stupid ideas are asking to have everything taken away from them as punishment. The first chosen children got to deliver that to Ofanimon. At least I had the pleasure of doing it to the dirty frog that dared to put his feet in the City Hall!"
"You really killed Tonosamageckomon…" Etemon spat. "He respected you… he invited you to be his vice-Mayor because he thought you would help him to bring the city together…"
"Why should an educated and sophisticated lady like me settle to be the vice of someone from the Downtown?" Babamon inquired. "I was more deserving of being Mayor!"
"Then you should've run in the election and earned the votes of the people!" Etemon roared. "Instead, you betrayed the elected Mayor and stole his position!"
"I did what I had to do to get what was rightfully mine!" Babamon shouted, letting vines out of her dress's sleeves to push Etemon away. "Nobody ever saw my value! Nobody ever listened to my ideas!" Standing on the table, she picked the flask up and glared at her painting above the door. "THEY ALL ONLY CARED FOR WHAT I LOOKED LIKE!"
She threw the flask at the painting, covering Rosemon's face in black. Less than one minute after doing that, regret hit her. Babamon jumped from the table and ran in the door's direction. To her horror, the work of art that represented her in her best years, the time of her life when she was no longer an ugly digimon that went unnoticed, had been ruined.
"If staying in this empty building is so important to you, you can have it." Etemon told her, getting up from the ground and heading to the door. "You have the rest of your life to enjoy your delusions of greatness."
"That's it? You're not even going to arrest me? You won't try to kill me?" Babamon inquired, offended.
"You're just an old lady! Alone, you're no threat to anyone!" Etemon affirmed.
"It's your mistake to underestimate me!" Babamon told him. "I'll show you how wrong you are! You all will regret not taking me seriously!"
She was left alone in the City Hall. Babamon wasn't worried at first, sure that she would soon find a way to save herself. She was more than intelligent and capable enough for that task. Or so she wanted to believe.
The sound of laughter and chatter came from above, waking Mimi up. She was in a comfortable futon, surrounded by closed cardboard boxes, old furniture and broken musical instruments. There were no windows in that place, having only one weak yellow ceiling light to illuminate it. Across from her, there were narrow stairs that led to a half opened wooden door.
Mimi sat up and looked for her pink hat and bag; she found them on the floor, close to her. When she picked the hat up, the girl noticed Picodevimon sleeping under it. Mimi gently poked him to wake the digimon up. When Picodevimon looked at her, he smiled.
"You're finally awake!" He said. "Palmon will be happy to know that."
"Palmon is here?" She asked, getting up and putting on her hat. "Is she upstairs? Are Sora-san and the others there too?"
"Palmon is. I don't know about the others, though." Picodevimon replied. "That dark storm scattered us."
Mimi gulped. The last thing she remembered before fainting was clutching Palmon tightly as the darkness approached Houomon, and then being thrown in high speed in many directions.
"I improvised a cushion spell just in time." Picodevimon said. "We were lucky in general, but to think we would fall in Aurora Town from all places…"
"Aurora Town?!" Mimi was astonished. The last time she had been to the city, she almost died due to a bomb under the stage where she gave a speech; then, Tonosamageckomon was murdered and Babamon put the blame on the chosen children. The possibility that she had been imprisoned because of that false accusation crossed the girl's mind. However, the basement where she was wasn't even locked, and Picodevimon seemed to be completely calm. Mimi didn't sense any danger in her situation.
She decided to go upstairs to look for Palmon, to which Picodevimon didn't protest. When the two of them got to the above floor, they saw what looked like a bar crowded with clients, who couldn't keep their voices down. The place was cold and had its windows and doors closed, as if to keep the warmth inside. The smell of alcohol filled the room. Waiters that looked like vegetables were serving drinks and food to the digimon at the tables. On the counter where a digimon that resembled an egg was taking requests, Palmon was standing. She was telling a story to a group of attentive monsters.
"That fierce battle lasted three days, but we finally won!" Palmon narrated. "The villagers threw a party for us afterwards. There was a gorgeous Harpymon that danced with me all night… I wonder what she's doing now…"
"We waited centuries for your arrival in Aurora Town, Banchou, hoping that you would liberate us as well." A monster that resembled a wolf wearing a tuxedo said. "But the Bloody Lord killed you before that."
"Yes… I'm really sorry for letting you down…" Palmon said, frowning. A mix of guilt and shame was visible in her eyes.
"But it's all in the past now! No need to worry!" Someone yelled from the back of the bar.
"That's right! We are free! That's all that matters!" A monster that looked like a pirate mermaid that stood on her tail shouted, being followed by a cheerful chorus.
Mimi approached her partner. When Palmon saw her, she jumped to the girl's arms and hugged her.
"Mimi, are you okay? You slept for hours!" The digimon said, fighting back tears.
"I'm fine, Palmon. Don't worry!" Mimi assured her. "It looked like you were having fun."
"Sorry, I got caught up in it." Palmon apologized. "Picodevimon was the one that brought up the subject of my past life in front of them. These digimon had many questions."
"You being like a folk heroine to them granted us shelter and food. I did the smart thing." Picodevimon spoke in a proud tone.
"Etemon would've taken us in anyway." Palmon contested.
"Is Etemon here?" Mimi asked, looking around to locate the monkey monster.
"So Etemon's friend really is your partner, Banchou?" A digimon that resembled a large spider asked.
"No wonder Tonosamageckomon saw something good in her." A black dinosaur commented.
"I remember her speech that day. It was beautiful!" A digimon that looked like a sunflower stated, being followed by many nods in agreement.
Mimi felt blood rushing to her face. It was weird for her to be praised for that speech considering everything that had happened afterwards.
"Babamon blamed my friends and I for what happened to Tonosamageckomon, but that wasn't true." Mimi told them.
"Kid, we knew from the start that Babamon was the true culprit." The mermaid digimon informed.
"The people from the Uppertown never accepted having one of us as their Mayor." The sunflower monster added.
"They used all their media outlets to convince us that you were the culprits, but we resisted." The spider digimon said. "We protested against Babamon and demanded an impartial investigation. She ordered the police to beat us up, shoot at us, throw bombs at us and put us in jail. The newspapers labeled us as criminals."
"That's awful!" Mimi exclaimed. "If only my friends and I hadn't gone back to our world, we-"
"Hey, we didn't need to be saved by some brats from other world!" The mermaid interrupted. "This is our town! We fought for our people and stopped Babamon!"
"Did you… kill her…?" Mimi asked, feeling a not in her throat.
"We wanted to, but Etemon insisted we treat her with fairness. As if her people ever did that for us!" The mermaid said, annoyed. "He let her stay in the City Hall, despite not having any political power anymore. The spoiled old woman even refused to drink the poison, shouting that she would find a way to save herself!"
"Mermaimon!" The spider monster whispered to her. "You shouldn't have brought the poison up! Etemon asked us to wait for him to tell this girl about the Queen's plan!"
"What are you talking about?" Mimi inquired. "What's the Queen's plan? What's this talk about poison?"
"Mimi, you should probably sit down before knowing." Palmon told her friend. The digimon's concerned expression worried the girl.
"It's not going to be easy to accept in the beginning." Picodevimon said.
"What does that mean? What are you hiding?" Mimi insisted, but nobody seemed eager to tell her anything.
Suddenly, someone came from the other side of the bar, pushing aside whoever was in the way, until finally being in front of Mimi.
Etemon pointed at her dramatically and shouted:
"YOU MADE ME THINK YOU HAD DIED, YOU BRAT! YOU BETTER APOLOGIZE FOR IT!"
Mimi smiled at him and said:
"It's good to see you too, Etemon!"
Mimi, Palmon, Etemon and Picodevimon had sat at a table to talk about the things that had happened since the last time they had met. The monkey treated them and himself to hot chocolate.
Etemon asked about the Academy, but Mimi couldn't answer. To think about how Tamaki and the other original chosen children had died still brought tears to her eyes. Her antecessor's crying face while he tried to smile and be strong for her continued to be the first thing that came to her mind when she thought about him. Tamaki was scared of death, why did he have to try to put up a front? It was too painful to remember that day.
Palmon and Picodevimon offered themselves to tell Etemon what had happened. It didn't seem like a hard chore for them. Palmon kept her cool as she narrated what had passed to the original chosen children and to Mimi and the others right after they had gotten to the human world. However, Palmon hesitated to talk about Fate. Picodevimon took over for her, telling everything he knew from before and after meeting the chosen children. Etemon paid close attention to all they said. After the bat monster finished, the monkey digimon massaged his temples and took a deep breath. Then, he asked:
"Do you expect me to believe that you fooled me to save this girl in the day of her speech?" Etemon laughed loudly. "Absurd! Nobody can play me! I'm too smart for that!"
"Then you think I just happened to be super incompetent for talking about Vamdemon's plan to blow up the stage nearby you?" Picodevimon sounded annoyed.
"Well, you're the one saying that." Etemon said, smirking.
"Say what?!" Picodevimon shouted.
"What are you going to do, you fur ball?" Etemon taunted. "I could kick you to the sky if I felt like it!"
Mimi giggled. She was pretty sure that Etemon had to be disturbed by what he had heard, but he was still trying to lighten the mood for them.
"So, what about Aurora Town? What happened here?" Mimi asked.
"Ah, you see…" Etemon hesitated, taking a sip of his chocolate and looking down. "We protested against Babamon's coup and demanded a serious investigation of Tonosamageckomon's murder, the media said awful things about us, we organized protests, the police became more violent, many of us were unfairly sent to jail or murdered…" He got tenser after looking at Mimi's pained expression. "We eventually had to fight, it was a matter of self-defense. The police was forced to lay down their weapons and we overthrew Babamon's illegitimate government. Well, she's still in the City Hall, but nobody obeys her anymore."
"Mermaimon mentioned poison." Mimi said, seriously. "What was that about?"
Palmon and Picodevimon exchanged concerned glances. Etemon lifted his gaze and met Mimi's intense look.
"The digimon that died when the Cloud Continent was destroyed…" Etemon began to say, "… their data was so corrupted that they could never be reborn. They were left in a state of never-ending agony. Mama looked for a cure for them for thousands of years. She kept looking for it even after being banished to another dimension with them. And then she found the solution: to reconfigure the data of the entire world and its inhabitants. And to do that… the world has to end and we need to die."
"What…?" Mimi asked in a weak voice. Etemon explained in more detail what the poison was and how the digimon had the choice to die quickly or wait for the end of the world, but the girl was barely paying attention. Her heart felt so heavy that she thought it would fall to her stomach. A cold sensation ran through her body as all air escaped her lungs.
"Say anything, Mimi…" Palmon asked by her side, worried. "Please..."
"You… chose death… you chose to sacrifice yourselves…" Mimi said in a terrified whisper, as if she could escape the horror of that statement if she didn't pronounce it loudly. But it was pointless. By letting those words out, her body began to shake and many tears accumulated in her eyes. She felt as if something was tearing her from the inside. "Many digimon drank the poison and the rest… the rest is waiting for the world to end… and you're all acting as if that's normal! What is the matter with you?!"
Her cry was heard by the entire bar.
"We're really sorry for not telling you right away!" Picodevimon hurried to apologize.
"I-It's not as bad as it sounds." Palmon said in a vacillating voice, placing a hand on her partner's shoulder. "It makes sense when you think about it. Death isn't permanent for digimon. And if it's the only way to save Seraphimon's victims from eternal torment-"
"Are you saying you want to die too?!" Mimi questioned her partner, disturbed.
"T-That's not what I'm saying!" Palmon stuttered. "My priority is you! I'm not going to leave you alone when you need me! But Etemon and the others made their choice and-"
"Why do Etemon and the others have to sacrifice their lives?! There has to be another solution!" Mimi protested. "Nobody should throw their lives away! It's wrong!"
"I don't want to die." Picodevimon told her. "But I lost everybody I cared about when my continent was destroyed. They've been suffering for all this time… I can't let them continue like that just because of my sense of self-preservation."
"It's a sacrifice to save those innocents…" Palmon said, sadly. "They died because I've failed to save them… but by letting the world end and begin again, everybody will be fine, right? It's the honorable choice to make, isn't it…?"
"This is madness! I can't accept this!" Mimi cried, getting up from her seat and heading towards the door of the bar. Once she opened it, cold air wrapped her, sending chills down her body. She trembled at the sight of the thunderous dark sky above the houses' roofs and the thin fog covering the deserted street. It felt as if she was trapped in a nightmare.
Massive desolation overtook her. How many digimon had died already? Mimi had not been there to stop them, to convince them otherwise, to seek for another way. Her heart was breaking in millions of pieces that could never fit together once more. The unbelievable resignation on the faces of Etemon, Picodevimon and even Palmon would forever haunt her, just like the faces of all those that had perished. The Kuwagamon, Mr. Raindrop, Elecmon, Angemon, Devimon, Tonosamageckomon, Homura, Kanda, Otae, Tamaki… Mimi wasn't able to stop any of those deaths. She stood powerless as they took place, wondering if there was something she could have done.
Palmon said she wouldn't leave her, but was that simply out of a duty for Mimi? Did Palmon wish she could die along with everybody else as a way to atone for not being able to save the digimon from that continent in her previous life? Picodevimon was from that place as well. Did he also wish for death so he wouldn't feel guilty to keep on living when his friends had perished? But Mimi knew that Picodevimon was scared of death since the day she met him. Palmon had already died once, she couldn't possibly be eager to go through that experience again.
Maybe none of them, not even Etemon, had truly accepted that destiny, but they were forcing themselves to go along with that misguided plan. They kept trying to convince themselves that it was the right thing, as if to escape from their own doubts. Why couldn't they accept how wrong that entire situation was? No matter how noble the reason, nothing justified the loss of their lives. Nothing justified so much pain.
"Hey, brat!" Etemon called her from behind. Mimi took a few steps into the street, but the monkey quickly outran her and put himself in her front.
"Come on, talk to me! This might be my last day alive." Etemon told her, forcing a smile. "You have no idea for how long I've wanted to see you again. If it weren't for your inspiration, I wouldn't have found the will to free the city."
"What was the point of freeing the city if you're all going to die?!" Mimi questioned, letting her anger out. "You're all going to die! And you're drinking in a bar as if it's a thing to celebrate!"
Etemon glanced down for a moment, but soon looked at the girl's distressed face once more.
"It's better to die in joy, in the company of people you care about." He said. "Those who die with negative emotions will only carry that burden to their next life and be unhappy again."
Mimi looked down, bracing herself. Considering what had happened to Palmon and Patamon, what Etemon said made sense. But she still wasn't going to agree with him.
"Where's that Gazimon that was always with you?" She asked.
"He wasn't into the idea of seeing the end of the world with me..." Etemon replied, scratching his neck while looking away. "He drank the poison… his passing was quick, he didn't suffer. His data is probably still around… Gazimon hasn't left me in a way…"
The girl received the news like a punch in the stomach.
"Did you not care for him at all?" Mimi inquired in a severe tone.
"Of course I cared for him!" Etemon protested, turning to face her again. "He was always by my side! He was one of the digimon I cared the most in my life!"
"Then why did you let him do that to himself?!" Mimi questioned, glaring at the monkey as righteous fury emerged from her heart. "How could you let him die?! He was your friend! And now you want to die too! You want everybody to die! How could you agree with such a twisted plan?!"
"Mama said it was the only way to save Seraphimon's victims!" Etemon replied. "She's been trapped with those suffering spirits for thousands of years in a pocket dimension and never stopped looking for a way to save them! If our sacrifice is the only solution, it'd be wrong to refuse to do it!"
"It can't be the only solution!" Mimi shouted. "You all should know that plan is wrong!"
"We all agreed to it!" Etemon protested.
"Really?! Did every single living digimon agree to die?!" Mimi asked, skeptical. "The only options given to them were to drink poison or to wait for the world to end! It doesn't sound like they had much choice!"
Etemon looked down, trembling.
"We convinced as many as we could that it was the right thing to do!" He said. "Even if not everybody agreed to it… everybody will be okay in the end! We're doing the right thing!"
"THE RIGHT THING TO DO WOULD HAVE BEEN TO FIND ANOTHER SOLUTION!" Mimi screamed, letting her frustration out of her chest. Nevertheless, that didn't ease the desperation overtaking her. "You all gave up! You just gave up! Y-You… cowards! You're all cowards!"
Her sobbing stopped her from forming coherent words.
Etemon studied Mimi for a couple of minutes.
"You don't know the hardships Mama has been through or how hard she worked to save them." He stated. "I can guarantee you that she tried her hardest. If this is the solution she found, it's because there wasn't a better one."
"I'll find a better solution!" Mimi vowed. "I'll stop her plan and save everybody without making any sacrifice!"
"Stop being childish! What do you think you can do by yourself?! What can a little girl like you possibly do that an old and wise digimon like Mama couldn't?!" He questioned.
Mimi looked at him with a heartbroken expression. What had happened to the admiration he used to nurture for her? Was it something so small and weak that it could end in the blink of an eye? Maybe she was the only one who thought they had a special bond; she was the only one that believed they were kindred spirits that could reach an understanding if they tried. But it was clear that the monkey wasn't willing to try anymore. The face that once showed a radiant and child-like smile had been replaced by a stern one, and his once open mind had been fiercely closed. Was that, perhaps, what growing up meant?
Etemon frowned and looked away. Maybe he had regretted his rudeness towards Mimi, but the girl didn't feel like she could understand what was going through his head any longer.
"I guess we can't change each other's mind in this subject." He spoke with sadness. "My loyalty is and will always be with Mama. If you insist on going against her wishes, then I won't have other choice but to consider you my enemy."
"I thought we were past that conversation…" Mimi lamented, looking at his serious expression. "I thought we were friends… I wanted to be your friend, Etemon…"
"Me too…" He muttered, going back to the bar, leaving Mimi alone.
The girl let her tears wash her face, leaning against a wall. That plan was wrong. Every part of her soul believed in that. It didn't matter if nobody else agreed with her. She had to find a different path, a way to save the fallen digimon without sacrificing the living ones. Mimi couldn't bear the thought of Etemon and the others dying. Maybe if she could find other digimon who hadn't given up, they could come up with a solution together.
She then remembered what Mermaimon had said about Babamon. The old digimon had refused to drink the poison and vowed to save herself. It made sense that Babamon wouldn't willingly die for the sake of others when she had put the citizens of the Downtown through so much pain. She wouldn't give up on everything she had conquered so easily. If Babamon was still in the City Hall looking for a way out, she could have found one already. If that was the case, maybe that solution could be used to save the other digimon as well.
"Mimi…" Palmon called her. The girl turned around and saw her partner and Picodevimon on the street, looking at her with concern. The plant digimon was carrying Mimi's bag, which had been retrieved from the basement.
"Are you going to try to change my mind?" The girl asked in low voice.
"Do you really think we can save our friends without sacrificing ourselves?" Picodevimon asked. "If such a thing is possible… even if it's a tiny chance, it could be worth a try…"
Mimi's eyes widened when she heard that. Palmon walked in her direction and handed her the bag.
"So, what are we going to do, Mimi?" The plant digimon asked.
"Are you going to support me in this?" Mimi asked, astonished.
"You've made your mind already. Nobody is going to dissuade you." Palmon said, glancing down.
"What about what you said before? About it being the honorable decision? About it being a way to save everybody?" Mimi inquired, trying to understand.
"To be honest, I do believe in that." Palmon told her. "As long as I got you out of this world safely, I wouldn't mind sacrificing myself for what I believed to be a greater cause. That's how I lived my past life."
"Then, why…?" Mimi asked.
"My life as the strongest fairy is long over." Palmon said, smiling sadly. "When I tried to hold onto it, I broke your heart and nearly killed Patamon. I don't want to keep on doing things because of duties from my past. I want to live this life as I should. Not as who I was, but as your partner. I want to be there for you until the end."
Fresh new tears burst out of Mimi's eyes as relief and gratefulness washed her soul. She put the bag's strip on her shoulder and pulled Palmon to a tight hug.
"Thank you!" Mimi said.
"So, what's your plan?" Picodevimon asked.
Mimi told them her idea. Palmon had accepted it without questioning. Picodevimon, on the other hand, was concerned.
"This plan is so bad! So bad!" He complained in their way to the City Hall. "We don't know if Babamon achieved anything! Even if she did, why would someone that conspired with Vamdemon and killed the Mayor want to help us? She could kill us instead!"
"I'm an experienced fighter. I can handle her in the worst case scenario." Palmon told the flying bat.
"But she's an ultimate digimon! She killed Tonosamageckomon!" Picodevimon protested.
"She's very old!" Palmon stated. "I doubt she beat him in a fair fight! Don't you agree, Mimi?"
Mimi wasn't listening to them, but paying attention to how the city around her had changed. Aurora Town was deserted and completely silent aside from the sound of thunder coming from the dark clouds. There wasn't anyone in the square where they had met Picodevimon for the first time, and Seraphimon's statue had been demolished. In the Uppertown, the beautiful trees that once had fruits had died, not having any leaves left. The Coliseum didn't seem to have changed, but the same couldn't be said about the City Hall.
The gate and metallic fence surrounding the mansion had been taken down, lying on the dried grass where there used to be a garden filled with colorful flowers. The walls of the building were dirty, the glass of the windows had been broken and the doors hanged poorly from their jambs.
Feeling her heart getting heavy, the girl entered the City Hall. The chandelier, the paintings and the expensive-looking furniture were all gone. A singing voice could be heard from upstairs; Mimi had the impression that it was an Italian opera.
"It doesn't look like anyone could still be living in this place." Picodevimon murmured.
"There's music, though." Palmon pointed out.
"It could be a broken record player." Picodevimon theorized.
"I want to take a look." Mimi said, climbing the stairs. Palmon and Picodevimon followed her.
They opened the door of the first room on the right. The Mayor's Office didn't have any furniture left, but piles of spell books were scattered around. On the floor, a woman wearing a long dark blue cloak that covered most of her body, except the rose shaped head, was drawing magical symbols while singing. Her body trembled and twitched.
"A Rosemon…?" Palmon asked, confused.
The woman stopped singing and looked up. A few glowing red veins were visible in her neck.
"You're the spoiled brat from that time…" She said, struggling to get to her feet without collapsing. Now that she was facing them, they could notice her irregular breathing and sickly pale skin covered in sweat. "So you didn't die… at least I can have the chance to kill you… like that ugly frog…"
Palmon put herself between her partner and Rosemon, assuming a fighting stance. The woman took a step forward, but began to cough. A bit of green liquid came from her mouth. She dried it with the cloak, under which more glowing red veins were visible for a second.
"You're… Babamon…?" Mimi asked, horrified. "What happened to you?"
"It can't be…" Picodevimon said by the girl's side. "I think she tried to create a spell to be young again that backfired. The strain she's putting in her body… I don't know how she's not screaming in pain…"
"Ladies don't scream, you idiot!" Rosemon scorned. "Ladies are supposed to be humble, gracious, polite… they must never raise their voices… that's not the behavior expected of us… I've always been an exemplar refined dame… perfectly able to sustain a smile no matter what the circumstance was…"
Mimi remembered hearing something similar from Babamon the last time she had seen her. The old lady was trying to force her to wear an ugly dress for the sake of modesty. Back then, Babamon had also said that speeches weren't meant to be delivered by little girls and that Mimi's behavior was disgraceful. The girl remembered finding it disturbing how a woman could view other women and girls with so much contempt.
However, seeing her in that state, Mimi couldn't bring herself to stay angry and disapproving of the woman. She couldn't even bring herself to question her about a way to save the digimon. All Mimi wanted in that instant was to ease the other's agony. She hadn't felt such a strong urge since her first day in the Digital World, when she saw that Kuwagamon hurt by the black gears.
"It doesn't seem like you regret your crimes at all." Palmon commented, glaring at Rosemon. "Anyway, we were told that you have been looking for a way to save your life and stop the end of the world. Have you found anything?"
Mimi was taken aback by her partner's coldness.
"Palmon, she's not well!" Mimi scolded. "We can't just ask her-"
"We came here with the only purpose of asking her that, Mimi!" Palmon protested. "You were the one who wanted to stop the sacrifice of Etemon and the others, wasn't that right?"
"I do want to do that!" Mimi affirmed. "But it's not right to interrogate someone who is sick! She needs medical assistance!"
"SHE THREATHENED TO KILL YOU A COUPLE OF MINUTES AGO!" Palmon shouted, staring at her partner in disbelief. "SHE KILLED TONOSAMAGECKOMON AND OTHER INNOCENTS! SHE THREW A COUP AND OPPRESSED THE DIGIMON FROM THE DOWNTOWN! SHE'S THE LAST CREATURE IN THE UNIVERSE YOU SHOULD FEEL BAD FOR!"
Picodevimon suddenly pulled Mimi in his direction to save her from being hit by Rosemon's whip, which pierced the door instead.
"Don't underestimate me!" Rosemon ordered, barely able to keep herself standing due to the shaking of her body. "Nobody should ignore me now… am I not what they wanted me to be…? They should pay attention to me now… they should respect me… didn't I do everything right…? Didn't I follow the rules…? Then, why won't they listen to me…? Why won't they take me seriously? I'll burn them to the crisp… I'll make them scream in agony… I'll show them… I'll show them all… they'll look up to me even if I have to snap their necks!"
Rosemon attacked Mimi with her other whip, but Palmon jumped on the girl to make her dodge it. The ultimate level digimon began to cough again, spitting more green liquid, which gave Palmon and Picodevimon an opportunity to flee the office. Mimi didn't want to leave, but was dragged away by her partner.
"Judging by the way her health has deteriorated, I think she has more 20 minutes of life at maximum." Picodevimon told them once they reached the dried garden.
"I guess it's safe to assume she didn't find anything that could save her life…" Palmon commented.
"I've seen the symbols she was drawing on the floor…" Picodevimon said. "I think she's trying to bring forth an event of mass extinction. She's not drawing them right, though, nor does she have enough energy to perform any spell…"
"Why would she do that when the world is already going to end?!" Palmon asked. "And why would she do that to her body just to be young again?! It makes no sense!"
"She's suffering so much…" Mimi muttered, sitting on the porch of the City Hall and hugging her knees against her body. The girl kept her eyes down, looking at the dead vegetation. A couple of tears formed in her eyes.
"I don't think there's anything left for us to do for her anymore." Picodevimon told her, sitting by the girl's side. "She's on the verge of death and she brought that on herself."
"We should leave." Palmon suggested, standing in front of Mimi. "She's not a threat to anyone, so we don't have to stop her. Besides, we won't find what we were looking for here."
Mimi lifted her head and showed Palmon a disappointed look.
"Etemon told me that digimon that die bearing negative emotions carry that unhappiness to their next lives." The girl informed her partner.
Palmon's eyes grew wide and she bit her lower lip.
"I-I'm not unhappy! Not anymore!" She spoke in a defensive tone. "It's true I died in a bad emotional place… and that I had a lot of guilt and anger towards Patamon… but I'm alright now!"
"I was talking about Rosemon, actually." Mimi said, pointing to the mansion at her back. "She's in a lot of pain, physical and emotional. Even if she's going to die no matter what we do…" The girl felt a sting in her heart as those words left her lips. "If we leave her to die like that, aren't we dooming her to be miserable in her next life?"
"That digimon is not our responsibility, Mimi!" Palmon stated.
"This isn't about responsibility! It's about kindness!" Mimi protested, rising to her feet. "It's unkind to leave her like that!"
"She doesn't deserve kindness!" Palmon shouted. "That Rosemon is a cruel murderer!"
"Rosemon didn't do anything worse than Patamon did, but you showed mercy to him!" Mimi pointed out.
Palmon frowned and had to look away for a few seconds.
"Patamon regretted what he had done!" Palmon said, giving Mimi an intense look. "Rosemon isn't sorry about any of her crimes! If we let her, she would kill you without hesitation! She doesn't deserve help!"
"Then people only deserve to be treated with kindness when they earn it? Is that what you think?" Mimi inquired, clenching her fists.
"Of course! That's common sense!" Palmon affirmed.
"By that way of thinking, we shouldn't have tried to help that Kuwagamon back on File Island!" Mimi shouted. "It attacked us and didn't show regret for it, after all!"
"That was different!" Palmon stated. "We didn't know anything about that Kuwagamon!"
"We knew that it was hurt and scared!" Mimi told her. "We knew that it needed our help! We couldn't save Kuwagamon, but at least…" The girl looked at her hand, remembering how she had put it on the dying monster's scissor while apologizing for not being able to save its life. "At least we tried to give that Kuwagamon some comfort! We tried to do good for him! We were kind!"
Picodevimon studied the girl and her partner in silence. He didn't feel like he was entitled to tell them anything. But, in that moment, he discovered that his admiration for Mimi had reached higher levels than he believed to exist. That human child wasn't afraid of being hurt nor did she show any doubt for what she believed to be right. She stated her ideals clearly and loudly, taking pride in them. For Mimi, kindness should be unconditional, detached from biases and supposed deservedness. She fiercely valued all life and was protective of it to such a degree that she wouldn't give up on anyone without fighting, no matter if it had been someone who had chosen death or someone who had brought death to others. In that moment, Picodevimon felt like an ant looking up to a giant.
"I know that you must think that I'm naïve." Mimi told Palmon. "To a warrior… a heroine like you… I know that I must sound like a child who knows nothing about the world. But I don't want to lose this part of myself. If growing up means to walk away from a suffering person, if it means to think of someone throwing their life away as something noble instead of tragic, then I never want to grow up. I'll stay as a naive kid forever!"
Mimi exhaled after saying that. She felt as if her body had become weightless. Not long before, her doubts and self-questioning would have paralyzed her. But this wasn't a day for her to overthink things. She knew from the bottom of her heart what was right and what she had to do. Mimi could only hope that Palmon would understand, but, if she didn't, the girl wouldn't betray her beliefs to appease her friend.
A tearful glow shone in Palmon's eyes. Nevertheless, she smiled.
"Before I got to meet you, Mimi, I could only fantasize about how you would be." Palmon said. "I had no idea about who I had been in my past life, but I hoped you would be brave and strong. That was probably the Banchou speaking in the back of my mind, trying to compensate my regrets through you. And then, the day I met you and that Kuwagamon attacked, the day I saw your mercy for the first time… I saw a special type of bravery and strength in you, even if you didn't see it immediately. You called Jyou out for his behavior, criticized Sora for how she treated Piyomon, stood up against Monzaemon, refused to abandon Koushiro… you always did what you thought was right, you were always true to yourself. But at times, like in our first time in Aurora Town, you didn't believe in your worth. You let grieving Takeru get to you. And Babamon attacked you in your insecurities. I could see you cracking that day and it hurt me so much. You didn't understand how amazing you were… but when I recovered my memories, it was as if I forgot how much I admired you…"
"Palmon…" Mimi muttered.
"Instead of continuing to see you through my young eyes, my vision was tainted by my old self. I got lost in my dark emotions and stopped seeing you…" Palmon spoke in an apologetic tone. "Despite my mistakes, you called out to me and forced me to see you again. Even if I keep falling on those old habits… in spite of vowing that I was only going to be your partner and no longer Banchou…" Palmon cried, "… you continue to remind me of who you are, Mimi. You never fail to remind me why I love you."
Mimi embraced Palmon, letting her tears wet her partner's shoulder.
"I love you too, Palmon!" She let her know.
"I'm sorry for failing to support you like I promised I would!" Palmon apologized. "Letting go of my past life is harder than I thought! I'm sorry…"
"You don't have to do that! I don't want you to sacrifice a part of who you are!" Mimi told her. "So what if we disagree sometimes? So what if we're different? I value you, Palmon. I'll always value you! I wouldn't have come this far, I wouldn't believe in myself and have confidence in my decisions, if it wasn't for you! I owe you so much! Please, don't put yourself down! I can't stand it…"
Palmon smiled after hearing that.
"Forever the easy-forgiver, huh?" The digimon asked.
Mimi thought about that sentence for a moment, remembering how many times she had been told that. Maybe in other occasions she could have thought of it as veiled criticism, but she knew it was not the case. Mimi understood how Palmon felt about her and why she had said that. The girl had no longer any doubt that she should be proud of being a person who forgave others easily.
"Always." Mimi replied.
Her digivice shone with a strong green glow. Mimi had to interrupt the hug and take a step back, watching as that intense green light wrapped her partner.
"Palmon warp evolves to… BANCHOULILYMON!"
The ultimate fairy digimon resembled a Lilymon, but had striking differences. Her disheveled hair made of thorny vines reached her waist. The petals on her head were black, like her nail polish, the fingerless gloves, the boots and the long shredded skirt she wore along with a large leather belt. Her shirt was white and had short sleeves and a black tie above it; her forearms were bandaged with pink tapes. In each hand, she had a green thorny yo-yo with a drawing of Togemon's face on it. Over her purple wings, she wore a red tokko-fuku, a large jacket-like cloth that had the words "The Strongest" written on it.
"Banchou… Lilymon…?" Mimi muttered, amazed at the sight of the ultimate form of her partner. She was pretty sure she had never seen someone that looked that cool before.
"This is how I looked like before I died." The fairy said, examining her body. "I used to be feared on the battlefield because of the great amount of digimon I could take down by myself."
"You brought hope to many of us! You were our heroine in the Cloud Continent!" Picodevimon told her. "There was no warrior like you!"
"I'm powered by Mimi's pure heart now. I don't intend to be a warrior like that again." Banchoulilymon said, showing her partner a dazzling smile. "But I can still be her heroine!"
"Of course you can!" Mimi agreed, feeling blood rushing to her face as her heart beat faster. The fairy headed to the front door of the City Hall.
"Then, let's go help that Rosemon!" Banchoulilymon announced, kicking the dangling door open and stepping into the mansion.
In her pursuit of Mimi, Rosemon fell to the floor. She tried to lift herself up, but the growing pain overtaking her body wouldn't allow it. All she wanted was to be her best self again, the one that people would at least look at. She took so long to gain that beauty and lost it so fast. With her wrinkly appearance, everybody took her for a pathetic old lady, so harmless that wasn't even entitled to be punished for what she had done. Hadn't she taken lives? Hadn't she tried to exterminate those delinquents from the Downtown? What had she done that paled in comparison to the deeds of male conquerors that had been acknowledged as threats and executed or imprisoned for that?
Not that she wanted to die, but to be the subject of those lowlifes' scorn felt worse than death. That dumb monkey, whom she had ordered her guards to beat up daily in jail but persisted on maintaining a hunger strike against her, walked into her office without any reverence or fear. He, a perfect level digimon, grabbed her, an ultimate, by the collar without any hesitation. He had actually expected her to drink poison, as if it was natural for a digimon from the Uppertown to listen to someone like him! Worse than all, he had deemed the City Hall a place not worthy of taking from her, as if it was nothing but a meaningless building instead of a symbol of power!
The Downtown people were disrespectful like that. Just like that fat frog that had sought her with a proposal to be his vice-Mayor. Tonosamageckomon treated her as his equal, not showing any reverence for her origins. She had been taken from the Village of the Beginnings as an egg and raised by the owners of the biggest newspaper in Aurora Town, the richest family in the city! She had been educated in arts and etiquette and secretly studied subjects that were deemed too masculine for a good lady like her! And still the dirty frog raised in the mud, the uneducated fool that would rather drink cheap beer instead of quality wine and listen to bad music instead of operas, talked to her as if she was an old friend of his.
He asked for her advice, he wanted her to help him to end the rift between the two parts of the town, hoping that he could make everybody's lives better. Why did the first man that ever wanted to listen to her opinion have to be someone from the Downtown? She believed there were rules in the world, and one of those rules was that men were usually more gifted than women. But another, more important rule was that there were digimon that, due to their attributes or social background, were naturally superior. She was a vaccine raised in the right environment and he was a virus that belonged to the dumpster. That man should've never run for Mayor, but she knew at the time that he had good chances of winning the election.
She knew the good citizens of the Uppertown would never accept that frog as their Mayor. But if she was his vice-Mayor, those good men would support her in the office if she could get rid of the intruder. She would get to be Mayor and follow their rules. Those men, some as old as she was, thought they could easily control an old lady who once was an object of their desire. But when she became Mayor and things didn't go as smoothly as she wanted, the good men of the Uppertown tried to take her power away. She had them exiled. Even if they disrespected her, they weren't deserving of the brutality aimed at the worms of the Downtown.
Those Downtown rats should've known their place. They should've known she was better than them. Babamon swore she would live and stop their plan to end the world, yet failed to find a solution. But if she had to die anyway, she would do it by robbing them of the chance of a peaceful death. She would make sure that their demise was slow and agonizing, and that she would be able to hear their desperate screams. Maybe they could even scream her name.
Rosemon should finish the spell, but getting rid of that human girl felt like a more urgent matter. That child was loud, impolite and inconsiderate. She did whatever she wanted and said whatever crossed her mind. How could that be tolerated? And yet Mimi got to make a speech to the entire town! The brat that couldn't be less feminine was heard while the woman that had always controlled her tone of voice to please others was ignored. No greater injustice could exist! That girl had to pay with her life!
Twitching in pain, Rosemon forced herself to stand up and get out of the office. After a few steps, she could see that child downstairs, accompanied by Vamdemon's former servant. Even that pitiful little bat had switched to her side? But there was another monster standing close to that child. Her heinous appearance was more fitting to a gang leader than to a woman. Rosemon had heard about that disgraceful fairy before, not knowing how unpleasant it would be to look at her in person.
"Are you perhaps… that infamous rogue fairy that disturbed the order and peace a long time ago?" Rosemon inquired in a weak voice.
Banchoulilymon smirked, proudly.
"Indeed, I am!" She replied.
"Of course you would be the partner of that troublemaker…" Rosemon said, turning to Mimi. "It's going to be a pleasure to kill you both."
She jumped from the top of the stairs, bringing up her whips to attack Banchoulilymon, but Mimi's partner used her yo-yos to crash Rosemon to the stair steps, by making the yo-yos hit the ceiling and ricochet on Rosemon's back. Lying down, Rosemon tried to hit the other fairy with the whips again, but Banchoulilymon grabbed them and torn them apart with her bare hands.
I can't lose to someone like her! I won't take this humiliation! Rosemon thought, struggling to stand up. Every part of her body hurt immensely and she couldn't avoid letting out a pained cry.
"Please, stop!" Mimi pleaded to Rosemon. "We don't want to fight you! We want to help!"
"I DON'T NEED HELP FROM THE LIKES OF YOU!" Rosemon roared, throwing a punch in Banchoulilymon's direction. However, Mimi's partner easily stopped it by holding her clenched fist with one hand. Rosemon tried to kick her on the side, but Banchoulilymon defended from the attack with her forearm.
"NO! NO!" Rosemon shouted, continuing to kick the other's forearm, without any indication that Banchoulilymon even flinched to her efforts. "YOU CAN'T BE STRONGER THAN ME! YOU CAN'T BE! YOU FILTHY-!"
Before she could finish her sentence, Banchoulilymon kicked her on the stomach, which made Rosemon fall to her knees.
"Even if you were in a better state, you wouldn't be a match for me." Banchoulilymon told her. "I can tell that you never fought in your entire life."
Rosemon didn't have enough strength to stay in that form. Her body regressed to the one of a Palmon and she fell on the stair steps. She tried to pull air to her lungs while attempting to hide herself with the blue cloak. The red veins still glowed under it. Those veins covered her entire body.
"It's over." Picodevimon announced, sadly. Mimi ran to the stairs. She got to her partner's side and kneeled next to the dying Palmon.
"D-Don't look at me…" Palmon murmured as a couple of tears formed in her eyes. "I l-look horrendous… even my parents said so back then… everybody said so… don't look at me…"
"Those people were the horrendous ones." Mimi told her. "They shouldn't have made you feel that you had to change yourself for them."
"I was born a woman…" Palmon whispered. "I couldn't escape their expectations… I had to be what they wanted me to be to survive in this world… but it was never enough for them…"
"You should have fought them." Banchoulilymon affirmed. "There are so many oppressed digimon that would've sided with you. You could've worked together to change the system, to seek equality. Instead, you followed the system's rules and became an oppressor yourself."
"Equality?" Palmon smirked. "I didn't want to be equal… I wanted to be better… and to be acknowledged… I wanted to be seen and heard by those that mattered…"
"You thought those things would make you happy, right?" Mimi asked. "You thought you couldn't lift yourself, so you brought others down. And by destroying them, you thought you would make yourself whole. But you can't be happy by making others miserable, nor can you like yourself by hating others. You just dug a deeper hole in your heart while trying to fill it."
"I've really hit rock bottom if I'm being pitied by you…" Palmon told Mimi. "Just like Etemon and his companions pitied me… they didn't even take revenge… they were weak… cowards…"
"You're wrong." Mimi contested. "It takes strength and courage to resist to violent impulses. There's nothing shameful in being merciful and kind."
"Get out of here… leave me alone…" Palmon ordered. "You don't gain anything by doing this… you don't have any reason to be here…"
"I want to stay with you." Mimi said.
"Why?" Palmon questioned, annoyed.
"Because death is scary!" Mimi replied, holding back tears. "I've seen so many people die already… and when I was walking through the town, I kept thinking about those who had died and the digimon who would still die… it was terrifying!" A few tears escaped her eyes. "And if I'm scared when it's not happening to me, I can only imagine how much more scared those digimon were… those digimon are…" She sobbed, thinking about Etemon and the monsters in the bar. "They won't ask for help and are acting as if they're okay with dying, but they can't be! Those people that fought so hard to regain their freedom… how could they really be okay with giving up on the lives they had just taken back? They have to be scared! And you too must be scared! I can't just walk away from you, knowing how awful it is to feel terrified!"
Palmon's sight was growing darker; the last thing she would see was Mimi's crying face. Yet, there was tenacity in those tear-brimmed eyes. She could see in that girl strength she had never seen in any man and compassion she had never found in any woman. She could no longer tell if Mimi was feminine or not, the meaning behind that concept was becoming harder to grasp, just like many other concepts she had learned in her long existence.
Perhaps the next world would be a place free of those rules. She could only hope.
"You're a foolish child…" Palmon whispered.
Her body was turned into white particles that floated in the air. Then, they became black and flew out of the mansion's front door, towards the sky.
After a few minutes, Mimi asked to go the dead garden. Banchoulilymon and Picodevimon accompanied her. The girl picked up a few sticks and dried vine, and arranged them in the format of a cross. She gathered some rocks and placed the cross to stand among them.
Then, Mimi closed her eyes and prayed.
She hoped that her feelings could reach the digimon that had died and bring them comfort. That way, even if they weren't in peace when they departed, maybe they could still find peace in their next life.
Mimi wished they all could have the chance to be carefree children in a fairer world.
Maybe it was her imagination, but in that instant the thunders didn't sound as loud as they did before.
And the air, that had been so cold, had now become a little warmer.