Chapter 10: The Mismatched Crests
Rei Kamiya had never been bothered by the Crest she was given.
As Marcus led the group towards his camp, the thought couldn't help but bounce around in her head. Not that their march had absolutely no distractions, with this group of Digidestined seeming like they couldn't stop side conversations completely. The issue was more that Rei couldn't bring herself to latch onto or care about what was being said, finding it easier to just lose herself in her own head, so much so that she couldn't quite remember when they had transitioned from forest to their current rocky and barren landscape.
Thinking back, Rei remembered some comments and jokes about getting the Crest of Love. Nothing mean-spirited, but more her friends having their fun with how she had gotten one of the "girlie" Crests. Returning the jabs was easy enough, mostly because they didn't bother her. Despite how she dressed and sometimes acted, Rei didn't carry a chip on her shoulder about being a girl. That was one lesson from her mother that stuck with her, that she should be who she wanted and not who tradition told her she needed to be, which suited her fine on days she wanted to wear sneakers so she could run if she had to.
If anything, pressure to meet expectations came from individual expectation instead of society around her. Her father had been the leader of the Digidestined, and her mother had a reputation for going out of her way to take care of everybody. Again, though, Rei let this roll off her shoulders, treating the whole thing as a personal challenge. Caring for her friends fed into the Crest of Love after all, so the role she had adopted was just a way of being true to herself.
Of course, that all fell apart the day Akira and Mari arrived. They fought and lost and were forced run away as fast as they could. The worst part was that by random chance, Rei had gotten swept up in all this, shunted back in time with no way of knowing what became of her friends. She felt the truth though, that like her family, she hadn't been able to save them.
That all left her with no one to lead and protect, which by extension left her with a useless Crest, with which she could only hurt her partner rather than make her stronger. Rei felt hollowed out, save for the rage at the monsters who had taken the people she loved from her, which she had to figure out how to fight with if she wanted to avenge them.
"You're squeezing too tight."
Glancing under her arm, Rei realized that she had in fact tightened her grip on Koromon. She loosened it, though Koromon's muted expression stayed the same, not even bothering to look back up at her.
Rei sighed. "You know, this whole 'not talking to me' thing doesn't work if you keep talking to me."
"And you know that I can't help it," Koromon countered. "I say what's on my mind and that's that."
"Uh-huh…" Rei scratched back of her head with her free hand. "You could always have someone else carry you."
"It'd be pretty rude of me to ask them to do that."
"I could take her if it would help," Ken's voice pulled their attention to him. Wormmon had moved to his shoulder, leaving him with two free hands.
"No, I'm good," Rei replied quickly. She didn't not want to carry Koromon, but the mixed messages her partner was sending made it anyone's guess what was best for either of them.
Rei did notice Tai looking over his shoulder, concerned expression saying he had at least considered making the same offer. She supposed that was one thing he had in common with her actual father, having a sense for what wouldn't help when he didn't know what would. Rei could admit to herself she was maybe being too hard on him, but she also knew that if there was something Tai could do to set things right, her father would have done so already.
"We're almost there," Marcus announced, drawing all eyes forward.
On the edge of a cliff overlooking a lake sat a small wooden house. Rei squinted, wondering if house was a too generous way of describing it. Getting closer, it seemed more like a hut, one the builder had given up on building halfway through because they weren't sure how to finish it. It did have a roof, though, but planks of wood were missing from the walls, with the side facing them looking like someone had outright smashed a hole through it.
"You live there?" Tai asked before anyone else could speak.
"You're free to look for another roof to put over your head," Marcus shot back, though looked like he was holding back on saying more.
"Seriously, Tai," Mimi chastised while waving her index finger. "You should be thankful we have this instead of acting like a spoiled brat."
Tai sighed, keeping any replies to himself. Rei stayed quiet as well, though noticed noise slowly increasing as they drew closer to the hut.
Mariko Ishida no longer knew where she belonged.
The notion crashed into her as she turned off the bathroom faucet. That no matter how she pushed herself through even the most mundane activities, her normal was long gone. She stepped away from the sink, nearly stumbling backwards, the walls around her suddenly feeling way more alien and distorted than they actually were.
It wasn't as though Mari could go back to her own family's bathroom either. Besides being at least three worlds behind her, there was no guarantee that anything familiar to her was left standing, and all the constants that she valued gone with them. That meant no more picnics to File Island with her generation of Digidestined, no more going with her mother to help at her grandmother's flower shop, and no more bass lessons with her father.
The worst part was that Mari knew she was to blame for all of it. She still couldn't quite grasp who or what was in charge of deciding who would become Digidestined, but she knew they had been wrong for picking her. If that hadn't been apparent to everyone the day she was chosen, it should have been crystal clear when the Digital World started assigning Crests. While her friends were given Crests that highlighted their positive attributes, such as courage or knowledge, the powers-that-be understood that Mari had no such traits.
Reaching into her sweatshirt's front pocket, Mari pulled out her tag with shaking hands. Emblazoned was a golden symbol, one she could only think to describe as an incomplete infinity symbol: The Crest of Destiny.
Mari didn't know what its meaning or purpose was, aside from maybe the Digital World having predicted her current fate. Again, she knew deep down that it couldn't be reflective of anything positive about her character. After all, she hadn't even been able to keep a hold of Satoshi's hand.
A gentle knock at the door paused Mari's train of thought. Taking a deep breath, she stuffed her Crest back into her pocket and approached the door, not surprised to find Gabumon waiting for her on the other side.
Her partner reached out to her, resting a paw on her hand. The memories of her failures still circled her mind, but her shaking came to a stop. Mari nodded at Gabumon, knowing she couldn't waste time making herself more useless than she already was.
Mari moved down the hall, passing Henry's bedroom along the way. At some point, the older kids had moved their conversation there, and Mari could just make out the tail-end of their discussion through the crack in the doorway.
"Not that I can think of," Yolei answered whatever unheard question she had been asked. "After that, Izzy started ordering us through the portal and that was that."
"Well, it's a start," Henry replied, followed by a pause.
"It's still not enough." Yolei's voice didn't hide her disappointment.
"We've made due with less," Joe offered.
Mari leaned away from the door some, wishing she could say anything that would help. She had run into Abbadomon and Argomon a couple times by this point, and tried her best to pay attention through all the chaos of each encounter. She had nothing to contribute though, or at least nothing she thought-
"Listening in on other people's conversations is considered rude in some circles."
Mari jumped back, and may or may not have made a high-pitched noise on being startled. She found Terriermon looking up at her, the Rookie holding a bag of chips in his hands as a sign he had likely just come from the kitchen.
"So's barging into people's rooms without permission." Gomamon sat just a step behind Terriermon, sleeve of cookies resting at his feet.
"Eh," Terriermon said as he looked over his shoulder and shrugged. "I do that all the time."
"I-I'm sorry!" Mari squeaked out, mind now racing as she realized what she had been doing.
"Alright, no big deal." Terriermon tilted his head and arched an eyebrow at her. "Just moumantai, will you?"
Mari tilted her head to match. "Moumantai?"
"Exactly!" Terriermon cheered as peeled his bag of chips open.
"I don't know what that is."
Terriermon paused while reaching into his bag. "Sorry, it's been a minute since I've had to explain it to anyone."
"Do you say it that often?" Gomamon asked.
"Not really."
"Rough translation would be 'take it easy'," Henry cut in, having at some point opened the door to his room. He crossed his arms and focused on his partner. "Which I doubt you're making it easy for her to do."
"Henry…" Terriermon whined, at the very least pretending to be insulted. "You know I always think of the children."
"Is that your excuse too?" Joe asked his own partner.
"Kids filled with anxiety are my specialty." Gomamon grinned as he raised one of his claws to his chest.
"Ah, how could I forget?"
Mari, for as much as she tried, couldn't resist giggling a little.
"See?" Gomamon looked to his partner triumphantly.
Mari froze, her brain catching up with rest of her. More guilt piled onto her conscience, and rightfully so. She didn't have a right to be laughing, not now and maybe not ever again.
"Hey, don't feel bad," Yolei said, catching Mari's attention. "You're good to be happy or sad whenever you want."
Mari looked away again, not sure if Yolei's reassurance made her feel more or less confused. She didn't get a chance to think on it any further, being interrupted by Henry's cellphone ringing.
"Okay, we're on it," Henry said a couple seconds after answering, serious tone confirming that something had caught up with them.
With sunset close to complete, Matt decided he was about as settled in his current location as he was going to get. The group had split in half, with some remaining behind while the rest followed up on leads on the missing children. Kari had instantly volunteered to help Ruli with the search, which meant that Akira had enthusiastically asked if he could accompany them. In keeping with both his Crests, he was determined to find the missing kids and was optimistic about their chances, which ended with Kari caving and letting him tag along.
Less enthusiastic was Salamon, who was still recovering and had stayed behind as a consequence. Matt made it a point to check in on the Rookie, finding them handling being separated from their partner about as well as he expected. Salamon was currently on the living room couch, having rolled over onto their back to stare blankly at the ceiling. Their fatigue did seem to be fading, though, so Matt hoped to get them back to Akira soon.
Other than that, the only other real conflict Matt ran into was him and Cody deciding which of the two of them would remain behind. Neither had felt an urgent need to be part of either group, and both agreed that one of them should help with the search. The final decision ended up coming down to a coin-flip.
Matt walked back across the house, standing in the doorway of the small office Izzy and Kiyoshiro had set up in, and were now joined by Professor Amanokawa. Regarding the man, Matt wasn't surprised by the lab coat, though hadn't been expecting childlike energy and wonder in the body of a middle-aged man.
"BlackGatomon?" The Professor questioned, apparently only just having calmed down enough for them to ask about the digimon in question's location.
"Yes, Professor," Kiyoshiro replied as he spun his chair around and sat up straighter. "We were hoping you could ask him for help."
"Hmm…" Amanokawa place his index finger on his chin and glanced at the ceiling. "I don't really have any deliveries for him."
"So you're saying you can't get in touch with him?" Kiyoshiro asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Don't sweat it, Kiyo my boy!" Amanokawa smiled as he reached out and tussled the boy's hair. "I'm sure we can sort something out."
"Kiyo?" Matt repeated. He probably wouldn't have thought much of the nickname if Kiyoshiro didn't seem to have so many.
Jellymon giggled as she floated by. "A friend of ours didn't really understand human formalities."
"He's not the only one." Kiyoshiro sighed as he looked to his partner.
"I know, Darling." Jellymon waved a dismissive hand in his direction. "That Ruli loves to go against tradition."
"So your new friends are from the past?" Amanokawa asked as he shifted his focus. He seemed surprisingly open to the idea.
"Well, a past at least," Izzy answered. He currently stood by the desk, scratching his chin as though he were still giving the question some thought.
"Their story indicates that reality works on a multiverse theory," Kiyoshiro explained, looking between Izzy and the Professor.
"Does it now?" Amanokawa seemed more focused now.
Izzy nodded. "Yes, as best we can tell, divergences occur at major branching points."
"So more inconsequential decisions don't create branches?" Kiyoshiro asked, his own interest peaking.
Amanokawa's expression sank. "I'd hate to think I create an alternate reality every time I get stumped on what to eat for breakfast."
"It's hard to say given the limited data we have." Izzy paused, looking to his side for a laptop case that wasn't there. "I've played with the idea of starting a multiversal map, but I couldn't wrap my head around where to start."
"I'm starting to think we stayed with the wrong group," Gabumon said softly.
"I'm getting that too," Matt replied. Cody might have been more at home with a conversation like this. At the moment, all Matt could wonder was if they had created a branch by staying in his place.
"So following our timeline directly backwards, we might not end up where you're from?" Amanokawa suggested pointedly.
"It's a likely possibility," Izzy replied without skipping a beat. "We've actually made friends in realities whose timelines run parallel to ours."
"Each with its own Digital World as well," Tentomon added.
"Part of me has started to question whether or not the Digital World itself has generated this phenomenon."
Kiyoshiro placed a hand on his chin. "If not, then you'd have to consider the possibility of ending up in a reality where life on this planet never evolved, or even the Earth itself didn't form."
"Welp, we've all got a lot to think on then!" Amanokawa perked up again, spinning around to face the doorway. "I've got to see if I need any packages delivered. Best of luck, Kiyo!"
The Professor marched out, brushing past Jellymon and right by Matt's shoulder. Within a few seconds, the sound of the font door opening and closing echoed throughout the house.
Matt kept his eyes trained on the doorway. "Well that was…"
"Very normal for him," Kiyoshiro concluded with a sigh.
Matt shrugged. "I guess we should focus on your case in the meantime."
"Let me just double check the warding charms."
Before anyone could question the meaning of the statement, Kiyoshiro had spun around to face the desktop monitor and started typing. Matt didn't have a perfect view, but he could just make out a series of paper talismans appearing on the screen. While he was curious, though, Izzy gave the computer his full attention.
"How exactly do these work?" Izzy asked as he leaned closer to the screen.
"Back before I understood what Hologram Ghosts were, I tried a few methods to keep them out of my dorm room," Kiyoshiro explained, only stopping typing to look back over his shoulder. "Early results were a bit mixed…"
"Nothing was ever going to keep us apart!" Jellymon proclaimed as she wrapped herself around his neck.
Kiyoshiro cleared his throat. "In their current form, these charms keep wild digimon from tracking us, and getting inside if they do manage to."
Izzy grinned. "Prodigious."
"You really think so?" Kiyoshiro asked, surprise in his voice.
"I do." Izzy stood up straight and crossed his arms. "The only reason I'm not asking for a copy of the program is that I'm worried the technology might is a bit too ahead of our time."
Kiyoshiro scratched the side of his face. "Well, uh, thank you, Mr. Izumi."
"Izzy."
"What?"
"That's what my friends call me." Izzy gave the younger boy a friendly nod. "We're friends now, so you should too."
"Trust me, kid," Matt chimed in, leaning against the door frame while he waited. "Our group hasn't been one for formalities in a long while."
"Right…" Kiyoshiro hesitated for couple seconds, then nodded. "I guess I don't mind if you guys want to just call me… Kiyo…"
Matt pushed off the door frame, deciding to go check on Salamon one more time. As easy it was to get drawn into moments like these, it would sit too heavily on his conscience if they wasted too much time. They still had children to rescue, and beyond that, friends to find.
The source of the noise they were hearing became apparent once they reached the hut. Rei counted around two dozen Rookie and In-Training digimon, most of which she was able to pick out. The majority of them had gathered on the opposite side from where they had approached from, in small fenced in area. Again, fence might have been a generous way to describe it, with the planks of wood propped by waist-high posts looking more like they were meant to mark a boundary than keep anyone in or out.
Trying to wrangle the crowd was a gray avian digimon wearing what looked like a ninja costume. Catching sight of them, he broke away from the group, stopping directly in front of Marcus.
"Humans? How did they get here?" the digimon asked, eyes bouncing between each member of their group.
"Long story, Falcomon," Marcus answered. "For now, word is that it's gonna be fightin' time again real soon. We should focus on getting ready."
Falcomon nodded. "Should I alert Gaomon and Lalamon?"
"No," Marcus instructed confidently. "They're either handling something important or on their way back already. Besides, I think these guys can pull their weight."
"What exactly is this place?" Ken asked, looking over the immediate area before his eyes wandered to one of the hut's open windows.
"Like I said, we're peacekeepers." Marcus turned around to face them while gesturing to the group of digimon behind him. "Sometimes that means teaching the smaller guys to throw a punch in case we can't be there to protect them."
"So it's kinda like that one village where Davis taught all those Punimon how to play soccer," Patamon suggested thoughtfully. "Only these guys learn how to punch people."
Rei shook her head, part of her already starting to tune out the surrounding chatter. She was ready to start walking away too, right up until she felt something gently nudge against her leg. Looking down, she found one of the In-Training digimon looking back up at her with wide, innocent eyes. Round with white fur and stubby pink legs and a tail, Rei recognized this particular digimon as Xiaomon.
"Is it true we're gonna have to fight soon?"
Rei hesitated, not sure why the little digimon had gravitated to her of all people. Weirder was that part of her actually thought she knew what to say, that she wanted to be reassuring. The rest of her protested, feeling like she was incapable of being genuine at the moment. Eventually, however, the awkward silence got the better of her.
"Don't worry," Rei said as she knelt down and scratched Xiaomon behind the ear with free hand. She forced a smile, though not as hard as she thought she would have to. "We're gonna take care of everything."
Looking satisfied, Xiaomon waddled away to rejoin their friends. Rei stood back up, noticing Tai was now standing at her side. Scratching the back of his head, he put a somewhat innocent grin on his face.
"You know-"
"Just stop," Rei interrupted him, turning away as she did. "A lot of good my empty words are gonna do when I can't even get my partner to digivolve."
Rei waited for a response, not from Tai, but from Koromon. Despite still remaining tucked under her arm, her partner stayed quiet. Silence saying plenty, Rei committed to walking away.
Rounding a corner of the hut, Rei sat herself down against a wall, where she was sure no one could see her. She set Koromon down on her lap without looking down, focusing on the mostly clear sky instead. She was fully prepared for her thoughts to start running in circles again as well, at least until a shadow cast itself over her.
Rei looked to the shadow's owner, expecting to find Tai. Her expectations were subverted, finding Marcus instead.
"Can I help you?" Rei asked calmly, not sure what local "peacekeeper" could possibly want from her.
"You need to get back in the ring," Marcus answered matter-of-factly.
Rei tilted her head. "Come again?"
"I know a fighter when I see one." Marcus crossed his arms, that and the rest of his body language broadcasting his conviction. "What I can't sort out why you're still moping about it."
"My entire life just got taken away from me," Rei said through her teeth. "My bad if I'm not feeling all chipper right now."
Marcus lowered his voice. "I don't think you know what you feel right now."
"And you do?"
"Listen up, squirt, because we don't have a lot of time." Marcus pointed a thumb back around the corner. "In case you forgot, you're bringing a lot of trouble to people I'm supposed to look after, so I need to know that you're gonna be able to step up when that trouble gets here."
Rei leaned back, looking upwards again. "Well, sorry to say I can't make any promises."
"I know," Marcus replied, his tone softening. "Which is why I'm gonna help you."
"Are you now?" Rei's attention snapped back to him.
Marcus' serious expression hadn't changed. "I'm gonna show you how to get back into fighting shape."
Rei snorted. "You have a flight of steps you want me to run up and down?"
"Not quite," Marcus clapped back, either ignorant to or not caring about her sarcasm. "We run things a little different at the Damon Dojo."
Rei paused, then squinted. "And what if I refuse?"
"I don't think you will. Like I said, you're a fighter." Marcus turned and started walking away. "Finish moping and come find me when you're ready."
"Oh, I absolutely need to see this," Koromon commented.
Rei sighed. A more sensible part of her said she had no reason to listen to some hothead who didn't know a thing about her. The last thing she needed was some new diet and exercise routine, which was decidedly not going to reconnect her with her Crest. On the other hand, she also had nothing left to lose.