An old man unloaded a cart full of hay he had harvested from his field, Cletus Thatcher, was his name, and someday he was going to be too old for this, from how his body ached, it was going to be sooner than later, first thing to leave him had been the color of his hair, now his body was failing him. His son would take grandson would take over, tending his fields, maybe he would visit the world outside of Arukeni Village. He heard that Lilithia was a beautiful place to visit, but that weird darkness was there now, destroying his hope of seeing it, whatever that was needed to go before his time was up. Everyone was stuck, even that travelling gleeman Wilhelm. There was a sudden chill in the air like all the heat had been taken out of the area. It had been too soon for winter, the heat had made him sweat just moments, now that heat was gone. The ground started to be covered in ice, he dropped his pitchfork, because it burned his hand with cold. In the blink of an eye he was surrounded by people, who move rather weird like they were puppets, but they moved quickly despite this, and Cletus barely dodged the first, his back gave out on him, he forced himself to crawl away from whatever these people were. "What do you want" he shouted at them, as he tried his best to get away. But he didn't get to far, they were upon him, all talking in the same voice, he heard this voice before, he didn't know from where. They all repeated "One of them" as they dragged off Cletus, as he trashed and screamed for them to let him go, before fabric wound its way around cutting it off.
Digimon Sync 02 Episode 4 "Tangled Threads"
The Digidestined stood on edge of Arukeni village, Huang remembered the last time, he had been there, with the whole thing with the supposed monster, that hadn't been a monster, and the volcano that nearly wiped it out.
"Did Takajin tell you about this, because I don't think you were there for this incident?" Huang said, turning to Juniko, Leoben, and Virgil.
"Yes, he did, it was tragic, Aru, sacrificing herself to save this village, they treated her so horribly, and she forgave them" Juniko said, saddened by remembering that story, and it depressed she also because it reminded her that Takajin was still missing.
"Whatever is going on here, must be connected to Erebosmon, or some other force we don't know about, hopefully its nothing so we can get back to finding the new digidestined of light" Virgil said, taking mental notes of their surroundings.
They entered the village, it was eerily quiet, so far no one in sight, every building, had boarded up windows and doors, from all appearance it was a ghost, but then a door opened, and out came an old woman, gray haired and looking very disheveled, it was Yorda, they had met her the last time they had been there, even though the one they met first had been an imposter, the so called monster. Stepping out too, was man in multicolor cloak, black bearded, with white streak, it was Wilhelm, they were both happy to see them.
"Weird stuff started happening after the darkness had encased this village, people have started vanishing again" Wilhelm said, with Yorda nodding with every word he said.
"Have you checked the mansion's catacombs?" Huang asked, looking at the large mansion in the distance.
"No, because half of it, is in the darkness out there, do you know what it is?" Wilhelm asked, eyeing Juniko like she was dangerous.
"The third great old Erebosmon has been released from is imprisonment, and has cast darkness in the world, the only thing protecting places right now is the mirrors that Lilithmon used to travel" Virgil answered, point blank, without sugar coating it.
"Ya from the origin of this world tale, I have told that story over a thousand times, I didn't think he would ever be released, how did this happen?" Wilhelm asked, rubbing his eyes, he hadn't slept in days.
"It was because of Tajiri Kamiya, he corrupted his virtue, ala his digi chip, causing the seal that held Erebosmon to weaken, then someone namely Karone Melody set him free" Juniko answered, this time. "I don't know why a worshipper of Lilithmon would release someone imprisoned by her"
"Aren't you Lilithmon, aren't they a worshipper of you?" Wilhelm said, accusingly, almost walking directly into Juniko's face, before calming down and stopping in his tracks "I am so sorry, you aren't her, I shouldn't lash out at you like that. I haven't slept in days, and it's wreaking havoc on my mental state, but I am not the only one on edge, everyone else fears what is taking people away, it can't be Aru, because she is dead, and there was nothing, left of her, after she was incinerated by the lava"
"Could it be another case of Tsubara, she caused the volcano erupt, her digimon partner ate her, maybe what's left of her is haunting the place, taking revenge of being stopped from killing everyone here thinking she was helping a friend" Huang said, reminding them who one of the real monsters were in the origin incident. "Whatever is doing, we need to find the missing people, destroy what is doing this, no matter what it is, lets fist head to the mansion, to scope it out, the missing people might be there. It's the only place big enough to hide people in it here, in the catacombs underneath it"
"You aren't coming with us!" Juniko said, with a sigh, as she turned to see Enna sneaking up behind her, hoping she could somehow help, even without a Digi chip. "That mansion and its catacombs are partly in the darkness, if you slipped and ended up falling into it, you would turn into a sentinel, which we will likely encounter some there"
Minutes later, they stood in front of the mansion, it had been somewhat restored since the last time, Huang thought to himself, but still it was creepy, and foreboding, wreaking of sadness and loss. He remembered the girl dwelled in inside, and what happened to her.
-Flashback-
The lava was now visible a torrent of fire heading their direction, with a large impact it hit the dam and seemed to be holding, the damn pushed forward from the pressure it wasn't going to hold, Arukeni ran back to it turning back into her digimon form, she latched more webs to stabilize it, but it wasn't working, Arukenimon now bracing herself against putting all her strength into keeping, lava now leaking through taking pieces of Arukenimon with it evaporating it into data. "Goodbye Digidestined and thank you, " said Arukenimon before finally being gone.
Huang ran toward where Arukenimon had been, scooping the ground as, his Hikaru's screams only registering as background noise. He had lost another friend, even though friends for not that long, it felt like they bonded, overnight. She hadn't deserved this; she was the most beautiful thing ever created, stoic and brave, she had never been a monster. He swore he wouldn't let anyone else sacrifice themselves like had done.
-Present day-
Huang held back the tears, the ones threatening to overflow his eyes, but enough tears had been shed already in the name of Arukeni, he had to find out who was kidnapping these people now, and why were they doing this.
"We will split up into two teams, one team searches the mansion and the other checks the catacombs, team 1, will consist of me and Huang, Team two will be Virgil and Leoben. Huang has knowledge of the catacombs from the last time, he was down there, Virgil has gotten schematics of the mansion"
Minutes later Virgil stepped through the entrance to the mansion, it was the grand hall, and really looked the part, walls covered in family portraits, and singles paintings of each member of the family, including extended family, he could picture every get together, when better times were still, but signs of the restoration now being complete by various smatterings of dust, some paintings here and there were faded, and some were missing faces altogether. "Leoben, this place is missing its heart, " he said, turning around to see Leoben catching up with him.
"This place is creepy, that's what it is, but I can still see your point" Leoben said, picking up what appears to be snow globe.
They left the grand hallway, and passed through, the living room, there were no signs of life what so ever, so up the stairs they went, where the bedrooms were, they entered Aru's room, it showed the life of just an ordinary girl, before everything shattered for her. He's picked up a book, but it fell apart as soon as he did, it had suffered so much damage from neglect, from moisture, they had gotten there to reset it, all that was left of it was the Aru's Diary. Being of the virtue of curiosity, it pained him to see a book so badly damaged.
-Archive-
Sakura was standing front of the elevator, that went to the core, when Arthur appeared, he was flickering like a faulty light bulb, going back and forth from solid to transparent within seconds. "What is it you want young lady" he asked, trying to sound concerned, but failing.
"You know everything in the archive right, I want to know why I don't have a digimon, why was cursed this way" Sakura asked, answering Arthur's question.
The word searching flashed in Arthur's eyes "You want to know why Cursed ones are, there are many theories, but none of them have ever been proven, some say it's a digital radiation, some said it was the great olds punishing evil parents by taking their digimon partner away" he said, when his eyes turned back to normal. "There are far weirder theories, do you want to hear them"
"Um, no, just stuff that will explain why people, hate people like me, I didn't do anything to them, but most have tried to kill, even my father" Sakura said, running her hand across the scar across the bridge of her nose.
"People see you as cursed hence the name cursed one, they think you are evil because you weren't given a digimon when you were born, I once knew a person like you, when I was alive, she was killed by someone she those she could trust, I don't blame one for that, I blame those who forced his hand, I will… never mind!" Arthur said, with some malice, in his tone of voice, which was the first emotion he actually showed her. "I miss her deeply"
"This person, was your lover?" Sakura asked, her cheeks reddening slightly.
"No, she was a friend, a very good friend, she changed my life, she was the first person, whoever didn't treat me like an animal, we were partners, we were going to change the world" Arthur said, sparking tear flowing down his cheek.
"Yeah, I wish someone would change the world, to something I would not have to hid from, I need to be equal with everyone else, ending my pain, I want a world where I am happy" Sakura said, pulling her hand away from her nose scar.
Arthur showed a weak smile, "Everyone wants a world like that, but only the strong manages to get what they want, " he said, with the weak smile fading from his face. "You need to fight for what you want"
"Whatever, it is I'll never get it, or if I even want it bad enough to fight for it" Sakura said, turning to leave Arthur.
"If you need any more advice, you know where I am" Arthur said, before vanishing, seemingly finally flickering out of existence.
Sakura exited the elevator, through the tunnel that took her to it, until she returned to where she always hanged, camped out, just existing there on a day to day basis having to deal with other people. But when she arrived, an archive tablet was waiting for her, she picked it up, read the title of what already loaded onto it, Aru's Adventure Dairy/Monster Dairy. She flicked to the next page, and began to read.
-Unknown Years ago-
Aru sat at the table, eating breakfast, it was her birthday, she paused and picked up the diary she had gotten as a birthday present, she had written in it already, it was hard for her to express herself like this, it was weird. She opened it thinking, about what to write now. Her mother walked into the kitchen, and smiled seeing her daughter with the dairy.
"I had one just like that when I was your age, you can have all the adventure you want, but don't leave the premises of this mansion" Mother said, placing a hand on her daughter's shoulder.
"I Know, don't ever write about being cursed, people would probably react badly, they don't know I am cursed, they think I am just too sick to leave my home, if I ever travel it could be used against me" Aru nodded, as she spoke.
Aru puts her diary in her satchel, she didn't understand why her mother, would bring this up now, did she know, she had been sneaking off the property, using the catacombs under the mansion, no one saw, and probably never see her, she was always cautious. She left through the back door. She dawned her robes, and picked up the wild digimon that she pretended to be hers.
"This is not wise, please let me be" Paomon said, bristling "This won't well, I get nervous under pressure.
"Look you owe me, who is the one that sneaks you my left over food?" Aru asked, looking intently at a flustered Paomon.
"You do, I am grateful, but, you are a cursed one, I don't want to be the one who gets you in trouble. You are my bestest friend in the world" Paomon said, face turning red.
"Then don't get me in trouble, if anything happened to me, would you avenge my death?" Aru asked, teasing Paomon, not expecting a serious answer.
"You I would, if anything to you, I would be alone in this world, I wish I had been born your Digimon partner instead of being wild" Paomon said, as a declaration.
"We are all connected, everything is a part of something, we just don't see what connect us all" Aru said, giggling, and petting Paomon, as they headed into the catacombs.
"You are very wise for someone that has barely lived that long" Paomon said, nuzzling into Aru's shoulder "Must be the reason you feel weird, something makes me think you aren't so cursed after all" he flushed crimson, when she kissed him on the top of the head. They had been friends for a few years now, she had rescued him from trap meant to protect someone's garden, if she hadn't come along, the person who owned the garden would have killed him, he owed Aru his life. She smiled down at him, and that lets him know that for years she had known that.
-Present day-
Sakura flipped the tablet over, she didn't know, why she had been reading it, it had just appeared, and she still felt drawn to it. Maybe since the girl in it seem so much like herself, cursed to be tormented for not having a digimon partner, even though she had a wild digimon friend. Something she never had in her life, the only reason she herself wanted a digimon was so people would leave her alone. She tucked the tablet away under her makeshift bed. She was about to go to sleep, when something started poking her, she looked up to see it as Enna Kamiya.
"Why are you, down here alone, don't you have friends?" Enna asked, giving Sakura a look of concern "I was running around randomly and nearly ran over you"
"It's none of your business" Sakura retorted, in annoyance, at her being disturbed, she closed her eyes, hoping that it would go away, only to get poked again, she opened her eyes and glared at Enna. "Go away!"
"No, not until you explain, why are you hiding from everyone?" Enna said, in a demanding tone, and tapped her right foot as she did so.
"You wouldn't understand, no one with a digimon partner would, you have everything hadn't to you because you have a digimon, and I was treated like shit because I don't, to those with them, I am cursed hence not a person and they don't want me around" Sakura said, running her hand over the scar on the bridge of her nose.
"That is just stupid, just because someone doesn't mean they aren't a person, I want you around, you seem like a nice person, aren't those orphans that you came here with, aren't they your friends"
"Yes and no, they all look at me like some sort of injured thing, they should feel sorry for I see it every time they look at me" Sakura said, getting more frustrated the more she talked.
"What do you see when, when I look at you?" Enna asked, tilting to the side, as she kept her gaze on Sakura.
"You look at me… weirdly, I have never seen anyone look at me like I was a person, why do you do that?" Sakura said, the annoyance, leaving her tone, and confusion taking its place.
"I look at you that way because you are person I want to be friends with, and nothing else, now get up so I can give you a friend hug" Enna said, pulling a Sakura up, and hugging her tightly. "We are friends now, you might have encountered bad people, but not everyone is going to be horrible to you, don't forget that or hug you until you remember that I'll always be there for you got it"
-Catacombs-
Huang and Juniko had combed the entire place, and had found nothing, they were now leaving out the other entrance, that they had found leading out into the village, from where they stood, they could see down and alley and right in front of it was the statue of Arukeni, its side profile, its resolute expression still visible from where they stood. They now knew at least since no one was in the catacombs, that Arukeni hadn't returned and started taking people again. It was kind of a relief, Juniko wondered if Leoben and Virgil had seen anything in their search of the mansion, maybe something there would point them to whoever was kidnapping people.
"I need to visit an old friend" Huang said, as he started to walk through the alley, and made his way toward the statue, followed closely by Juniko, they both made their way there, the statue looked like it had been made from solid metal, it gleamed in the sunlight.
"That chrome digizoid, the same things the sage's ponchos are made from, a very rare metal indeed, and beautifully too" Juniko said, running her hand over the statue's face.
"I wish you would have known her, she was so peaceful, and forgiving I am glad she hadn't come back to do what is going on now, the volcano isn't active so she doesn't have a reason to kidnap people, she was saving them back then" Huang said, wiping his eye to prevent a tear from rolling down his cheek.
"Whoever is doing this, we will find them, and bring them back to answer why they are doing this, they are not going to get away with it" Juniko said, with conviction, with anger sharpening her tone of voice to a razor sharp edge.
"Fine words, coming from you, the great old one of lies, " said an unknown voice coming from behind them. "Let's see if you can stick by your convictions for once"
Juniko turned, to see there was no one there, had she just imagine this voice, because Huang hadn't turned to look like she had.
"What is wrong" Huang said, just noticing that Juniko had turned away from the statue, and was looking off into nowhere.
"I heard a voice, I don't know if it was the stress of the situation that made me hear things, or someone spoke directly to me" Juniko said, still shaking off the confusion.
"Whatever it was, we need to be careful, and not excuse it off as nothing, I learned from the previous digidestined quest, not to do that because it nearly got us all killed" Huang said, turning to face the statue again "Not seeing right away how Arukeni, wasn't a monster got her killed, when it could have been prevented"
Yorda walked up to them, downcast, "No that was our fault, she was innocent little, and we did this to her, " she said, breaking down and crying, tears flowing down her cheeks.
"Hindsight is always 20/20, things that appear to be obvious now, because you have knowledge of the truth, you can't be blamed for stuff you didn't see before the event took place" Wilhelm said, as he caught up with Yorda.
"Yes, like he said" Babydimon said, before dozing off again, on Huang's shoulder, showing even in sleep he had been paying attention to what was going on.
Mikemon walked forward, clearing her throat "You cannot blame yourself for the actions of others in the past, because you didn't see the truth, then" she said, before being picked up by Juniko, who starting petting her, causing her to purr loudly.
"But…" Yorda said, but stopped before saying anything else, she was obviously hiding something, and didn't want to say anything else, like it would tear her heart apart just by saying it.
-Mansion-
So far they couldn't anything that could lead them to the missing villagers, and they practically most of the mansion except the part that was submerged in darkness, Virgil was hesitant about going there, since that's where the creatures known as Sentinels could turn them both into one of their cursed kin, every time they got close to a border between them and the darkness one of them was waiting, but these ones were smarter than the ones at the vale. They just skulked and waited for them to be stupid, licking their black congealed blood lips, it was like looking at something from a very bad nightmare. When they were far away from the border, it turned back into a puddle of sludge. It these things were trying to mess with them it was working.
"Yes, I don't like the looks of them, they are as described by the journey of the legendary digidestined, and our late sages" Starmon said, not taking his eyes off the puddle, that the sentinel had turned into.
"Yes, Starmon, I don't like it either, those things are beyond creepy" Candlemon said, afraid to take his eyes off the darkness, like it would devour him if he lapsed for only a second.
"Virgil, Digi chip the virtue of Curiosity, Leoben Kamina, Digi chip the virtue of Reliability, outdated sentiments in a world coated with darkness. Trying to save the world from a fate its creators sentenced it to by imprisoning the one true great old one" A voice said from the darkness, and stepping out of it was masked boy in cloaked that appeared to be made from the darkness, and alive its teeth clamped over the edges of the masked he wore. "Digidestined 2.0, we are Digidestined 3.0" appearing beside him was three more like him. They all cracked their necks in unison.
"Are you the ones responsible for the missing villagers" Leoben said, ignoring the situation, and the fact Virgil was gesturing him to run. Candlemon taking up a place at his side, while Starmon was doing what Virgil, his own partner was gesturing them to do.
"I would be lying if I said I didn't set things in motion, I am an agent of Erebosmon, and Digi chip the virtue of chaos" the mysterious boy said, smiling under the mask, that mimicked his expression.
Leoben was going to charge at the mystery figures, when Virgil grabbed hold of his arm and yanked him backwards "We are outnumbered here, they all have Digi chips, I don't know or why they have them, we need to get back to the others" He said, as he and Leoben began to run away from the newcomers. Through the library, the study, living room, they now made their way through the entrance foyer, those people still following them, all their mask now showing a manic expression. The people that chased now had digimon partners, where they came from was unknown, they just appeared right now, and hadn't been there when they had stepped from or appeared from the darkness. Virgil had to ignore the chill that was now making its way up his spine, it was telling him they might not make it to the others.
-To Be Continued-
Are these newcomers responsible for the missing villagers, and in what way are they, to answer this question and more please tune into the next Digimon digital monsters!