"Well, come on," Miyako whined, "what does it say?"
Takeru shook his head, "I'm opening it as fast as I can." He took a moment to skim over the message before relaying what it said to everyone else.
"You've got me on the edge of my seat, Takeru," Daisuke groaned, yanking the D-terminal from the other's grasp, "Gennai wants to meet us, well Takeru, at his house."
Hawkmon was the first to speak up, "and where exactly is his house?"
"Look up!" Patamon giggled, causing all of the chosen children to whip their heads up towards the sky.
"Not this again," Takeru chuckled at a spotlight similar to the one Gennai had used during his first adventure to guide the kids to him.
Miyako ran forward before turning around to look at her friends, "well, what are we waiting for? Roll out!"
The other three chosen children ran after her with their Digimon in tow. All of them except Takeru had a calm aura surrounding them. The boy in question couldn't help but acknowledge the pit of anxiety in his stomach. He wondered if Hikari was right and if all of his issues had to do with the Digital World. Why else would Gennai have reached out to him specifically? Or, even worse, something else was happening that would only add to his current worries.
Before he could continue spiraling even further, Hikari bumped his shoulder with hers. He hadn't realized he had stopped walking and the two had been left behind.
"We're going to get answers," Hikari sounded confident, there was honestly a strange lack of uncertainty in her eyes.
Takeru chuckled, "I feel as though we've switch roles somehow."
Letting out a sigh at her smile he added, "but yeah, you're right, no matter what."
Out of the trees Daisuke came running, panting as he skidded to a stop in front of the two, "what are you guys doing, don't you know we have places to be."
"Sorry Daisuke, I don't think you want to know," Takeru teased before laughing at the boy's look of shock.
"Hikari is this true," Daisuke cried, turning to her for consolation.
Hikari giggled, "don't we have somewhere to be?" and then she disappeared in the direction Daisuke had just come from.
"Well, I'm not going to be last," Takeru smiled before taking off after her.
"Guys, come on."
"Welcome... uh... everyone," Gennai said to the group, not expecting so many people to show up, but he also knew he should've known these kids did absolutely everything together.
Daisuke stepped forward, "So what issues are happening in the Digital World? And why'd you tell Takeru and not Koushiro, unless you did tell Koushiro... I guess we wouldn't know if you did. The point still stands." The boy began rambling on and on, Takeru wondered how he hadn't passed out from not breathing for so long.
"This is more about Takeru than the Digital World as I'm sure you know," Gennai explained as two shocked faces whipped in Takeru's direction.
"What does he mean by that?" Miyako asked. She adjusted her glasses a bit, presumably to get a better look at the boy as she skeptically scanned him up and down.
Takeru hesitated for a moment, glancing out the window of Gennai's house back in the direction they had come from, back to that place. Patamon easily snapped him out of his thoughts, "The'yre your friends. You can tell them Takeru." The small Digimon had way too much worry for his size swimming in his eyes and for a moment Miyako felt guilty for being so direct.
"I know!" Daisuke suddenly shouted, "Hikari said something about a 'place' is that what this is about?"
"You're oddly perceptive today, Daisuke," Takeru chuckled dryly through the other's shout of hey!
Veemon looked at Daisuke curiously, "he's got a point."
The partners began arguing somewhat in the background as Takeru turned towards Miyako to give an explanation. When he finally spoke up the squabbling silenced itself to listen in.
"It started with these nightmares I've been having," he began, "at first they were just really bad, and it sucked, but they were just nightmares, but now..."
Hikari noticed his distress easily and decided to finish for him, "they're not just nightmares. They're slowly becoming real."
Miyako, Daisuke, and their partners looked on in shock.
"What? How?" Miyako cried out, "what happens in these nightmares?"
This is where Gennai decided to step in to give the information he had discovered, "What happens in these nightmares is a possible future."
Takeru stared at Patamon before staring back at Gennai, "you don't mean..."
"This doesn't mean they are guaranteed to happen, but it is one outcome of many. Someone has decided they want you to see this future, so far the intention is unclear," Gennai continued, "I do, however, believe this is the workings of an old 'friend'."
"One of our old enemies is back?" Daisuke groaned, "we're supposed to be left in peace now we already saved the world."
Miyako sighed, "I guess it's still our job, do we know which enemy?"
Gennai shook his head, "I have no idea yet, but I feel like they will reveal themselves eventually, you just have to be prepared for that time."
"That's why you asked me here. To warn me it might happen in those dreams and not somewhere everyone else can help me," Takeru frowned, more unsure about everything than he had been before coming here. He was silently hoping a talk with Gennai would quell his fears, but it ended up doing the exact opposite.
"Well, we know where in the Digital World you've been going now, of course we can help you," Daisuke attempted to assure him, but there were too many unknowns, it did little to help, although Takeru appreciated the effort.
Smiling a bit, Takeru responded, "I know you'll try."
"Of course, we will," Hikari beamed at him, "we're going to fix this."
As Takeru turned to face Hikari more, suddenly he was surround by rock. "No," he groaned. His thoughts began racing. Every other time he had been transported here he was either asleep or relaxed to some degree. If he was here now it meant whatever, whoever, was taking him could take him whenever they pleased. He looked around for the beam to guide him back to Gennai's house, but it was nowhere to be found. Even though they had just seen this place in the Digital World, he wondered if he truly was still there, could his friends actually come to get him. Suddenly remembering they had come here through a TV he moved to go find it so he could just go back home. He stopped himself before he could wish Patamon was here, knowing what that entailed in this world.
"Ah, young hope, such a fickle thing," a voice from behind him laughed, "it comes and goes based on other's promises and once you're old enough to know the truth... it vanishes."
Takeru turned around in search of who was talking to him but found nothing, "What truth?"
The voice was behind him again, "The truth that hope is meaningless, fate cannot be changed, of course."
"Fate can be changed, there are so many possible endings," Takeru wasn't sure if he was saying that to comfort himself from the flash of a limp Patamon behind his eyes or to genuinely argue with the wind.
"Silly child, you'll know soon enough," it laughed at him, mocked him, "Hope cannot save what you hold dear."
Takeru turned around once more in a last-ditch effort to find the person? Digimon? Creature? Only to be greeted once more with his best friend on the ground, the only difference being the large shadow hovering above him shaking with what looked like laughter. The large grin projected onto the shadow further showing its joy at the scene in front of it.
He wasn't sure how long he had stared at the small figure, but the shadow was long gone, and he was suddenly snapped from his thoughts at the sounds of his friend's voices. He suddenly remembered Gennai's words about possible futures, and he let himself smile; glad his friends could come get him from here.
"Takeru where are you?" Hikari's voice was laced with worry and Takeru frowned. How could she not see him from there? They were on a gravelly beach, and she was no more than a couple hundred feet away. As the three children, their partners, and Patamon inched closer to him he gasped, noticing their bodies looked like static, almost as though they were on a TV with a bad connection.
He ran forward to try and come in contact with them, "I'm right here," he cried desperately, reaching out to touch Daisuke just for his hand to go right through him.
"He's not here... maybe he... home" Takeru could barely make out what Miyako had said as their figures began to disappear and reappear before being permanently gone.
Patamon was last to disappear, his gaze piercing straight through his partner as though he could still sense his presence.
Takeru dropped to his knees; he should've known they couldn't reach him here.
"See what little hope did to save you?" the voice hissed into his ears from right next to him, but Takeru didn't bother looking up, he knew he would find nothing. He shivered as a cold wind ran past him and his stomach grumbled. He had no idea how he was going to get home now.
Sorry for the wait again, classes are being really crazy for so early in the semester, but I promise I will be finishing this story! I'm very excited about it and it's a great break for me from work as I enjoy it so much ahah Hope (haha get it) you guys enjoyed, until next time! 3