Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or am associate with anyone who does.
So hello again. Sorry I was so preoccupied with NaNoWriMo. If you also participated, congrats, we made it. Win or almost win or not quite almost win... there is no losing to NaNoWriMo, is what I'm getting at...congratulations!
Without further ado... please enjoy.
T.K. dug his digivice from his backpack before tossing it on the floor in the computer lab, not wasting a second he reached his hand up and melted in a flash of light into the computer. His heart beat in his ears as he materialized in the digital world. The place was calm and quiet—the opposite of what he was currently feeling. The mood shifted as Cody walked up to him, Armadillomon at his side. "There you are." Cody greeted him, an anxious smile lifted his lips slightly.
"Did you guys find him yet?" T.K. asked, anticipating the predictable no as Cody replied, shaking his head.
"Not yet." Cody looked to Armadillomon. "We're split up into groups—Kari and Yolie went south and Davis and Ken headed toward the base of the mountain." He pointed west.
T.K. shifted uncomfortably in his school uniform, undoing the green blazer and the first few buttons of his white button up shirt. "When was the last time anyone saw him?" he directed his question at Armadillomon.
He made an awkward shrugging gestured. "That's what's odd. No one recalls seeing him since the day before yesterday."
T.K. walked closer to his friends and asked calmly, trying to even his shaking tone. "Is it abnormal for him to go off on his own?"
Armadillomon shook his head. "He usually always let's someone know where he's going. Not even the villagers seem to remember him mentioning anything." He gave T.K. a sympathetic grin. "But I'm sure he's fine."
T.K. pursed his lips. "I have a bad feeling."
Cody eyed T.K. silently, almost as if he was expecting T.K. to explode. Finally, he drew T.K.'s attention wearily. "I told the others we'd head north, but if you'd rather go east I can let them know."
"One isn't any better than the other. Let's just head north and see what we can figure out." T.K. walked past the two without making eye contact with Cody.
They walked silently until they were out of the village. Once deeper into the forest T.K. broke the silence calling out for Patamon. Cody and Armadillomon fanned out and did likewise, calling for their friend.
T.K.'s anxiety level only rose as time passed. For Patamon and even himself—flashes of Wisemon running through his mind, trying desperately to recall anything that could help him find Patamon.
#
Matt sat on the couch lazily, talking to Sora on the phone, the TV turned down low for no more than background noise as he listened to her talk about her day at school.
"So…" she paused after Matt had remained silent a little too long.
"Hmm?" Matt blinked to clear his unfocused vision. "Yeah?"
"How's T.K.?" she asked lightly.
Matt shrugged, even though Sora couldn't see him. "I honestly don't know. We had a talk after his accident and I was really hoping it would change things between us a little, but if anything he's more distant. And he's using his injury to avoid everyone else too."
Sora let out a worried hmph. "It's unfortunate that he was hurt so badly on his first game of the season."
"I'm worried that if he can't catch a break he's going to lose himself." Matt ran his hand over his face tiredly, resting his forehead in his palm.
"Lose himself?" Sora inquired lightly.
"His optimism? I don't know. Like, he still puts on a good show and acts like himself, but ever since he moved back I've just felt like he's been forcing it. I'm just worried it's not a phase."
Sora was silent for a long time before she responded. "We've all had our times when we've lost hope." She hesitated. "Both of us know that first hand. Darkness had taken hold of us both there toward the end of our adventure. T.K. may be going through a similar situation in his life right now. But he'll make it through."
"Mmm…" Matt clenched his teeth, remembering too clearly the anger and hopelessness that had taken hold of him.
"Matt?" Sora asked worriedly.
"We did manage to break through the darkness, but not alone." Matt's voice quieted. "I'm just worried I'm not going to be there for him when he needs me."
Sora's voice answered weakly. "He's not alone, Matt. We're all here for him. But we can't force him to let us help—like when you left. There wasn't much we could do for you, not until you were ready."
Matt inhaled slowly. "I know. I just never thought T.K. would have to go through this…he's always been that optimistic shining light of the group. Even when everything is hopeless, he's…"
"Just because he had the crest of hope doesn't mean he can't lose hope, Matt. We're all just human after all."
Matt let out a frustrated moan. "I know that."
#
T.K. and Cody had been walking for almost an hour now, their shouts getting fainter and more discouraged as there was no trace of the little digimon.
Cody finally stopped, looking through the thick forest he saw T.K. just ahead of him, looking dismayed. "T.K., I'm sure we'll find him. Let me get a hold of the others and…" he trailed off seeing that his cellphone had no reception. "That's odd."
"What is?" Armadillomon asked, walking up behind Cody.
"I have no service." Cody looked around worriedly.
Armadillomon shrugged. "Try the D-Terminal?"
Cody nodded, pulling out the grey device he flipped it open. "Nothing here either."
T.K. glanced back at Cody, pulling his own phone out of his pocket. "Weird." He saw no bars on his phone either. "I wonder what's causing the interference."
Armadillomon looked around wearily. "Maybe it has something to do with Patamon going missing?"
T.K. frowned. "It's possible. Something's going on that's for certain."
Cody nodded in agreement. "Maybe we should head back and see if we can get a hold of the others and regroup."
T.K. shook his head. "I'm going to keep going, you can head back—"
"Are you serious right now?" Cody shot T.K. a glare. "Why would I leave you out here all alone? Especially knowing something weird is going on."
"I'll be fine." T.K. lied, he had to clench his fists to keep his hands from shaking—whatever had Patamon was probably after him. But maybe it was the best way to find Patamon before it was too late.
"We'll keep going. Together. I'm not leaving you out here alone." Cody walked up to T.K., anger evident on his face. "I know you're worried about him, but don't be reckless." His expression lightened. "There's no sense in putting yourself at risk—that wouldn't help Patamon."
T.K. let out a deep breath. "I know." He looked away from Cody and started walking again, calling out for Patamon.
It took another twenty minutes of walking before Cody finally stopped. "T.K., maybe we should veer off toward the east?"
T.K. hesitated and then nodded—more to please Cody than out of actual compliance. "Sure."
#
The forest began to thin and old stone streets buried beneath the earth began to poke out in small patches, crumbled stone lay scattered randomly around the area as they continued northeast.
"What is all this?" Cody asked Armadillomon curiously. "Have we really never been out this way before?"
Armadillomon frowned. "I guess not. I don't remember hearing about ruins this way though. We're not that far out of our normal route are we?"
Cody glanced worriedly at T.K. who didn't seem to be paying any attention to them or the growing amount of aged debris. "We've been walking this direction for well over an hour now. And we still don't have any service." He glanced at his phone again. "We should head back to the village and regroup."
"Not yet." T.K. urged, surprising Cody that he was actually listening.
"T.K., what if the others already found him and they can't get a hold of us?" Cody snapped at him. "Let's be smart about this."
T.K. looked at Cody, making eye contact with the boy for the first time since he'd gotten to the digital world. It still threw him off how much taller Cody had gotten while he'd been away. "Let's check out these ruins and if we don't find anything we'll go back. Listen, I'm sorry and I don't want to fight with you, but…" He ran his hands through his hair and looked out over the thinning forest.
"You're really worried." Cody didn't take his eyes off T.K. as he narrowed his eyes and looked to the ground.
"I told you…" he looked up at Cody. "I have a bad feeling."
Without waiting for Cody to respond T.K. continued forward. It wasn't long before the three slowed their pace to watch the crumbled stone begin to resemble structures and now there was more stone than earth, leaving only small patches of dirt and grass spotted around them.
"This place looks like it's been like this for a long time." T.K. noted lightly as they stopped and peered around the ruins. The ruin that still mostly resembled a building, perhaps once a church, had collapsed in on itself and weather had worn it down.
"I don't think anyone has been here recently either." Armadillomon added. "What do you say we head back now?" He looked up at T.K. who was staring intently on the ruins ahead, frowning.
Cody looked curiously the same direction that T.K. was and saw what he was looking at. "What is…?"
"You see it too?" T.K. took a step forward, but hesitated. "That light?" subtle small streams of white and golden light flickered up from between the stone blocks.
Cody nodded. "Is it coming up from the ground through the stone?"
"Let's check it out." T.K. started walking forward again, a little more confident—there was a feeling coming from the light that felt familiar and almost comforting. "It can't be…" he whispered as he quickened his pace.
Cody hadn't moved. "T.K., maybe we should go and get the others now, we'll come right back. Hey are you listening?"
T.K. hesitated. "Just a second." He was only a few feet away from light but the stone underfoot shifted lightly, ignoring it he took another step. His stomach churned as the ground gave way and he began falling—Cody and Armadillomon hollered his name frantically as he fell into a black abyss under the ruins.
He closed his eyes tightly and waited for the impact, his body tensed as he felt himself fall into something soft, slowing his momentum slightly, followed by an instantaneous ripping sound as he continued to the ground, slamming down on the ground on his back, knocking the wind out of him. He opened his eyes, choking for air he was able to make out the patch of light coming from above was where he'd fallen down and draped material that had managed to cling to the ceiling decoratively for all this time came floating down around him. Hearing Cody and Armadillomon's yelling was the last thing he heard before losing consciousness…
#
Cody started running forward but Armadillomon grabbed his leg. "Cody! The ground could give way under you too, slow down!"
Cody nearly tripped over Armadillomon, stumbling to a halt he called out T.K.'s name again. "T.K.!"
Armadillomon walked forward slowly. "Follow me exactly Cody." He could sense the earth beneath them was full of hollow and dense areas and led Cody toward the hole in the ground. He hesitated just before the gap in the ground and tentatively pressed down on it, finding it stable, but not solid—"Be careful." He spoke sternly to Cody as they walked up to the hole.
Cody looked down, his eyes widened seeing the unconscious boy laying several feet below them. "T.K.! Hey!" Cody's hand began to shake. "T.K., say something!"
Armadillomon looked around wearily. "I don't see how we're going to get to him from here."
"Can't you digivolve into Digmon and dig your way down there?" Cody looked at his friend, not even trying to hide the worry on his face. "He's…" his voice caught.
"If I start digging the whole underground could start collapsing and maybe this room will get caught up in it or it won't—are you willing to take that chance? Because I'm not."
"Maybe we can widen the hole and you can jump down?" Cody pressed.
"It's not safe." Armadillomon reiterated.
Cody closed his eyes and swallowed hard. "What are we supposed to do then?"
"We need to find the others." Armadillomon's words echoed Cody's thoughts.
"We can't just leave him." Cody looked at Armadillomon with concern.
"The two of us can't split up either." Armadillomon scowled at Cody. "Let's hurry and head west—Finding Davis and Ken is our best hope at this point."
"What if they've already headed back to the village?" Cody looked back down at T.K.. "What if—"
"Then we keep going until we can find service and tell them what happened. Cody we're wasting time." Armadillomon growled.
Cody hesitated before nodding and standing up, following Armadillomon back toward the forest.
#
T.K. opened his eyes slowly. His body felt stiff and weak as he remained still. After a few seconds his vision began to clear and he was able to make out his surroundings, squinting up at the light beaming down on him from the hole in the ceiling he slowly pushed himself up. "Cody?" his voice was weak—he inhaled deeply and called out again, louder. No response.
He lifted up his left arm slowly, seeing if he'd reinjured it in the fall—no more sore than the rest of his body felt, but he wasn't 100% sure he hadn't set his recovery back.
His head throbbed lightly as he looked around the large wide room. Broken pillars and other debris lay strewn across the grey stone interior of the room. Deep red tapestries hung faded and tattered on the stone walls and the matching material that had been suspended from the ceiling now hung loosely around him—they had managed to slow his fall and save him from worse injury—though their age made them tear easily.
Standing slowly he reached his hand to his head, trying not to wince as the throbbing grew worse with each movement he made. "What is this…?" he noted several doorways in different directions, some were collapsed and piles of stone poured from them, others were still intact.
Moving even a little way away from the light pouring in from the ceiling rendered T.K. almost blind to the dark corners of the room—no light penetrated this ruin below ground—he knew walking further into the ruins would be foolish. He'd be lost in the pitch blackness in no time at all. He looked up and realized the size of the room, however, meant the light coming up from the ground above had have come from this room, considering the distance between him and where the light was when he fell.
Stepping back under the light he tried to face the direction he had been before, not certain, but fairly sure of his accuracy he was facing a narrow doorway now—if the light wasn't in this room, it had to of come from that direction.
Inhaling slowly, trying to calm his nerves he looked back up and hollered for Cody one last time. "Are you still there?" After a few long seconds T.K. sighed. Turning around he thought he saw something in the shadows out of the corner of his eye. He turned and stared at the darkness, unsure of himself now. He tried to slow his pulsing heart beat with slow steady breathes but the feeling of something else being down there with him suddenly hit him and he couldn't shake it.
He was alone and vulnerable. Cody had probably gone for help—at least he assumed. Meaning that if something else was there, he didn't stand much of a chance.
A flicker of golden light caught T.K.'s eyes—he turned and faced the narrow corridor again—the light was glimmering from deep within the ruins, almost like it was beckoning to him.
"What if it is…" T.K. frowned, walking forward he found his right side ached terribly, pulling up his white button up shirt he saw a nasty purple and yellow bruise forming on his side. "Great." He sighed and pulled his shirt down, continuing he walked toward the doorway, finding he could barely see his hand in front of his face he pressed his palm to the wall and slowly moved into the darkness.
The silence around him as he walked only made each step he took echo that much louder, the crunch of loose debris under foot echoed off the walls and far down the narrow passage. After a few minutes he stopped and contemplated turning around. Glancing back he could barely see the light from the large room. He inhaled deeply and then a sharp crunch from further down the passage sounded, making him turn back toward the direct he had been heading—He took a slow step backwards.
Closing his eyes he listened intently—several minutes passed without a sound. He thought of several excuses to what the noise could have been, the structure was old and probably deteriorating. Anything could have been knocked loose from his disturbance. His mind could also have been playing tricks on him.
He opened his eyes he looked ahead confidently at the black abyss, every few seconds he'd see the gleam of light in the distance, keeping him moving forward. Each step he took he quickened his pace, "I've made bad decisions before, but this probably takes the cake." He spoke to himself quietly, irritated. Suddenly his hand felt the wall disappear, he stopped and reached out, realizing there was another corridor going across the one he was already in. "Great." He huffed as turned back the way he'd come—he couldn't see the light from outside anymore.
Turning he decided to keep going down the same path—but a light to his right caught his attention. It was only for a split second, but that shimmering white and gold light shone down the right hand path. He felt that feeling again, familiarity, comfort—he was being drawn toward it. He turned and followed after the light—the light he used to hold around his neck as a child.
#
Cody stopped, out of breath. "I can't…" Cody huffed. "We have to go back."
"Cody we can't, we have to find the others!" Armadillomon urged.
Cody started to argue but stopped, unable to believe what he was hearing—Davis. He took off running, pushing through the forest into a clearing almost running right into Davis, Veemon and, to his surprise, Patamon.
"I don't believe it." Cody fell to his knees weakly.
Armadillomon gaped at the others as they stared confusedly at Cody and Armadillomon.
Davis raised an eyebrow at them. "There you are! We were looking all over for you, we lost service a while ago so Ken went to find Kari and Yolie and I went to find you. Ken and I found Patamon. Turns out he was just visiting—"
"—Nevermind that. T.K.—" Cody gasped. "He fell, he's…" he stammered.
Everyone frowned at Cody's interruption. Davis knelt beside him. "Slow down, tell us what happened."
"There's been no service. I couldn't get a hold of anyone." Cody pushed himself up. "I'll explain on the way, we need to hurry."
Davis nodded. "Let's go."
#
T.K. had found himself at yet another juncture in what he could only assume was an underground maze. Each time he'd found himself lost he'd catch a glimmer of light out of the corner of his eye—This time he stood in complete darkness waiting for what seemed forever. But he could feel the sensation of the light nearby. The sensation the crest of hope had always given him.
"It just can't be…" he frowned and closed his eyes, taking in the feeling, trying to discern it from the power of the crests. "…we gave up the power of our crests years ago." A loud hiss sounded through the corridors around him and he opened his eyes just as a sharp blinding light lit up the entire underground as far as T.K. could see in any direction, he closed his eyes and then, squinting, looking up to see a room straight ahead. The light faded, but the cracks in the walls and floor still glowed with a pulsing golden light.
T.K. blinked, his eyes quickly adjusting to the darkness again. He ran ahead toward the room but just before reaching the entrance it turned into a dead end. The stone wall where the doorway had been seconds before, bore a carving of the crest of hope. T.K. stopped abruptly and stared at it. "It is the crest of hope." He reached his hand up and pressed his palm to the stone. The symbol of hope glowed brightly and T.K. gasped in pain, grasping his chest he fell to his knees.
T.K. yelled out a strangled cry of pain as flashes of things he knew and things he'd never see before ran through his mind. The walls around him lit with writing T.K. didn't recognize—it wasn't the digital language they'd seen strewn over the digital world over the past several years, these were different, more like insignia and symbols than singular letters or words. The outline on his crest pulsing brightly.
#
"He's just through here." Cody yelled as they could see the ruins clearly now. "There." He pointed toward the hole in the ground.
"Be careful where you step." Armadillomon hollered.
Suddenly the five of them stopped as Phelesmon stepped out from behind some ruined beams and blocked their way to T.K., pointing his triton at them he smirked.
"Who is that?" Armadillomon growled.
Veemon answered before Davis, "The digimon that attacked the village last month."
Cody felt a chill run down his spine—the evil intent running through the air around the digimon left him frozen in his spot. "Paildramon couldn't beat him?" he glanced at Davis who was scowling at the digimon, completely oblivious to Cody's question.
He noted Davis' hand curled into fists, fear infiltrating his angered expression. "We have to fight, but…" he didn't take his eyes off the digimon.
"We got this, right Veemon?" Armadillomon nudged Veemon lightly, but his concerned expression didn't leave his face.
Veemon looked back up at Davis worriedly. "Davis?"
"Just hold him off." Davis nodded hesitantly.
"Right!" Veemon grew more determined and motioned for Armadillomon to follow.
Davis pulled out his digivice and lifted it up. "Digivolve Veemon!"
Veemon leap forward but after a few seconds he turned to Davis with a perplexed look on his face. "I can't."
"What do you mean you can't?" Davis growled.
Cody looked at his digivice and to Armadillomon who shook his head. "What about Armor Evolution?" he pulled out his D-Terminal. "Digi-Armor Energize!"
Armadillomon shrugged. "Nothing's responding."
"This is bad." Davis' voice lost all its confidence. "Veemon, back off."
Before Veemon or Armadillomon could move Phelesmon dashed forward, attacking the rookie digimon. Patamon shot out a boom bubble that distracted the enemy long enough for Veemon and Armadillomon to escape Phelesmon's range.
"We have to run."
"But T.K.—" Davis grabbed Cody and pulled him back sharply, whispering. "If he hasn't already done something to him than maybe he doesn't know he's down there. If we can make him chase after us…"
"We'll get him away from T.K." Cody nodded.
Before they could do anything else though, Phelesmon caught Armadillomon, knocking him into a pile of ruined stone, the impact de-digivolving his rookie partner back to his in-training form of Upamon.
"Upamon!" Cody made to run for his now unconscious digimon, but Patamon knocked Cody down. "You'll be killed!" He squeaked weakly in Cody's ear.
Davis watched as Veemon dodged another attack from the ultimate level digimon, his heart racing. "Veemon!"
"Just run Davis!" his digimon growled as he leapt back again, the sharp edges of the triton nicking Veemon's chest.
Davis turned to Cody and Patamon. "We have to run."
"I don't think so." Phelesmon's smooth voice snickered. A wave of black energy shot toward Davis—Veemon slammed into his partner, just barely pushing Davis away from the attack in time.
Veemon was sent flying into a nearby tree which toppled on impact, leaving a wounded DemiVeemon laying at its splinted base.
Davis pushed himself up and looked back at his unconscious partner, unable to move as Phelesmon slowly walked up to him, pointing his triton at Davis. "Weak."
Cody sat frozen with Patamon on his shoulder watch everything unfold. "This can't…"
Patamon took off in a rush toward Davis, placing himself in between the boy and Phelesmon. "I won't let you!" Patamon growled.
Phelesmon smirked. "How are you going to stop me, weak one?" his grin widened as he pulled the triton back readying for the strike.
Suddenly the entire ruin burst with light coming up through creases and cracks in the ground. It faded after a few seconds, but Phelesmon lowered his weapon and looked back toward the ruins with concern. "What is he…" Patamon froze at the sensation that coursed through him—a feeling he hadn't felt in years.
"What is…this?" Davis gaped at the gold light that filtered around them.
Cody looked toward the hole in the ground behind Phelesmon, the light gleaming brightly from the ground there. "T.K.?"
#
T.K. gasped for air, his vision began to fade in and out and then he began to see Patamon—Patamon was with Davis and Cody outside. He could clearly make out the situation—the digimon were de-digivolved and injured, Davis and Cody were in danger.
"Stop." T.K. managed to choke out. "Patamon, stop him."
T.K. suddenly felt the power that'd been surrounding him all this time flow into him, coughing for air desperately. "Patamon!" he growled, clenching his teeth he felt the power of his lost crest painfully pulse through his body. T.K. felt numb as he looked. His eyes widened as he saw Wisemon who merely stood watching him. He looked down at the floor, seeing blood dripping down onto the back of his shaking hands. Blood that came dripping from the corner of his mouth—the taste of blood was suddenly prominent. Screaming in pain more flashes of visions infiltrated his mind.
#
Davis and Cody watched as Patamon suddenly burst with light and digivolved into Angemon, just barely stopping Phelesmon's triton from reaching Davis, his golden staff shook against the strength of the ultimate digimon before him—this would only buy Davis and Cody a few seconds.
Angemon shoved Phelesmon back, the cocky grin on the digimon's face now contorted with anger. "We all fall down."
Angemon stood his ground, standing between Phelesmon and the boys. He almost dropped his staff at the pained sound of T.K.'s voice echoing through his mind. "Stop. Patamon Stop him."
In that instant Angemon felt the power of the crest of hope flow into him as if T.K. had been standing beside him with the crest and tag around his neck. "T.K.!" Angemon lunged forward, bursting with another flash of light MangaAngemon was suddenly driving Phelesmon back.
Cody gaped as he stood and watched the two ultimate digimon battle. "How could he reach ultimate? T.K.…" He dashed forward toward the hole in the ground. The light was beginning to dim as Cody peered down to where T.K. had been the last time—he was gone.
Davis took the opportunity to grab DemiVeemon and Upamon before following after Cody. "What's going on?"
"T.K.'s gone." Cody turned back to Davis before looking up at the ensuing battle that had taken to the sky by now.
Each blow MangaAngemon dealt with his sword was countered with another from Phelesmon's triton. Pulses of energy cast off each of the digimon as they exchanged blows.
"I will not let you kill them!" MangaAngemon declared as his sword finally made contact with the demon digimon, sending him back down toward the ground.
Phelesmon slid to a stop, straightening he laughed. "You and your holier than thou act. I'll watch the day you fall from grace!" He sneered and shoved himself back into the air. "Demon Shout!"
A wave of black energy shot from Phelesmon toward MangaAngemon. He countered quickly. "Shield Counter!" MangaAngemon lifted his shield and deflected the black energy, diving down he drove his sword into Phelesmon's chest, knocking him to the ground.
"Wise…" Phelesmon coughed, blood seeping between his lips. "…mon."
"Soul Banish!" MangaAngemon's sword glowed with a bright energy inside Phelesmon's chest, turning the digimon into digital particles.
Cody looked horrified. "He killed him."
Davis grimaced. "But he saved our lives." He looked at the unconscious digimon in his arms.
#
T.K. heaved with each breath he took, the pain was overwhelming. His vision went in and out, flashes of MangaAngemon's battle flickering through his mind. He had won.
T.K. looked up at Wisemon again. "What do you want?"
Wisemon tilted his head and remained silent. The light pulsing through the walls and around the symbol of his crest began to fade. "Why does it hurt so much?" He tried to pull himself up but found his body refused to listen to him. He gasped through the pain, collapsing and losing consciousness.
Hope you enjoyed. I was sleep deprived through most of this, so forgive me if its not as good as the past chapters.
Thank you all for your feedback too. I love, love, love reading your reviews. Everytime I get an email saying I have a new follower/favorite/review I get a warm feeling in my heart.
Speaking of followers, during last month The Spirit of Hope reached over 60 followers! That's so awesome. So thank you everyone who is following my writing.
If you would like to help support me and my original work, please check out The Silent Ballad Series. I just updated my website with wonderful character profile art as well so if you've checked it out before, be sure to stop by back and see the new "Characters" page!