Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Dark Diaries ❯ Times of Change ( Chapter 1 )

'Who are you...'

Darkness surrounded him, not even allowing him to see his own body, as he heard the words in his mind.

'Who are you.... Why are you here...'

His head whipped around, searching the black landscape for the echoing voice's source "Where am I?!" his voice had a slightly panicked tone to it as he yelled.

Silence continued on in the void around him, making him edgier by the moment. He took a couple steps, his hands and feet finding nothing but the flat surface underneath him, until another voice spoke, this time coming stronger then the prior one had.

'You shouldn't be here!'

Without warning, the floor he had been standing on disappeared. His body flailed in terror as he felt air rushing around him, before his body turned in the direction he was being pulled. Below him, he could see the Earth, hurtling closer as his body continued it's neck breaking fall. He closed his eyes, curling himself into a ball, awaiting sudden end of his decent, when the stronger voice once again spoke, almost booming inside his mind again.

'Be gone!'

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Erin gave a start, giving a sudden scream as he bolted up in his bed. He quickly glanced around the dark room, thankful as the moonlight from the window showered into the room. Breathing heavily, he pushed the his blankets off of his legs, stretching them over the edge of his bed, trying to compose himself. On weakened legs, he walked to his windows, ignoring the lack of clothing he slept in, as he pushed the window up, the wind causing a shiver against his sweat covered body.

"The same nightmare..." He muttered to himself softly, leaning against the window frame. "That's the tenth time in the last two months. But that voice at the end..." Glancing out of the window, he looked above the buildings outside his room, looking to the sky. Although the city lights dimmed how many stars he could see, the moon was full and high in the sky, not even a cloud blocking it from him. He crossed his arms over his chest as he stared at it, wondering a little more, before he heard a soft gasp behind him.

Turning his head, his cheeks flushed, seeing a familiar figure having stepped inside his door way. "Selene, can't you even knock?" He couldn't put any real bite in the sentence, although he was more then a little embarrassed. He grabbed a towel he had left on the chair by his desk, wrapping it around his waist. "You'd think you would remember that by now..."

"B..But, I heard you scream..." He could see the young female fidgeting slightly as she spoke, her voice almost a soft whisper. Once the towel was around his waist, she walked further into the room, stepping up to the opposite side of the window from him. The moonlight illuminated her face, her long, black hair uncombed, showing she had come straight from her own room. She tugged the light blue robe she wore a little tighter around her, shivering slightly in the night wind. Her ice blue eyes twinkled slightly from the moonlight as she looked up at him. "You had that dream again, didn't you?"

He nodded slightly, his arms crossed over his chest again. He had an average build, although he was thankful he was sucking in to hide the slight pouch of a stomach he had. He wasn't overweight, but he was more then a little self conscious.

The silence continued after the silent response, both their eyes drifting down, as Selene's feet continued to fidget nervously. "D..Did anything else happen this time...?" She looked up again, trying to hide her shyness by pressing her original line of questions.

Smiling softly, Erin nodded again, pushing a couple brown hairs out of his eyes. "Yea... This time, a different voice started talking near the end... Telling me I shouldn't be there... I woke up, when I suddenly started falling, and looked down to see the earth underneath me..." Every time he had had one of those dreams, he told Selene about it. They had started in pure darkness, not hearing or seeing anything. Then by the sixth dream, the mellow voice had begun speaking, getting a sentence or so before he woke up. But tonight was the first night he had been woke up screaming, and it was definitely causing the young girl some unease, from how much she was pressing for answers.

Selene nodded slightly, glancing out the window to the moon again. "D... Do you think the dream is saying..." She paused, her voice shaking a little as she tried to voice the question. Seeing it, he smiled, placing a hand on her shoulder, to try and help put her at ease. She flushed faintly, her own smile returning with a little more strength, before looked down again, continuing in a bare whisper, "Saying maybe you shouldn't be here..."

In response, the male stepped forward, wrapping his arms around the young woman, giving her an affectionate hug. "Well if it is, it can go to hell... I'm your older brother, and I'm supposed to stay by your side." He heard a small sob, her arms reaching around and hugging him tightly in return, as he stroked her back, trying to help her relax. "Besides, it's probably nothing."

After silently holding onto him for a few moments longer, she finally pulled herself reluctantly away. Erin brushed a little of the moisture from her cheeks, smiling softly as she blushed again, but smiled genuinely at him. "I... We should go to bed... Before someone else wakes up..." She leaned up, kissing his cheek softly. "Sweet sleep, niisan."

"Good night, and sweet sleeps, imouto." Erin smiled softly, watching Selene walk quickly out of the room, pulling the door shut behind her. He touched the spot on his cheek where her lips had touched him, chuckling softly and letting his gaze returned to the full moon, still fairly high in the sky. "As beautiful as her namesake..." His mind slowly relaxed again, soon letting the dream slip from his mind, before returning to his bed and to sleep.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Dark Diaries

Entry #1

"Times of Change"

Written by Rocker Starlight

Permission from Lord Archive

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Erin moved with a slow, methodic pace through the packed in school hallways, grumbling softly to himself. Being near the end of the year in the Michigan school, he had worn a pair of blue jeans cut off at the knees, as well as a dark blue t-shirt that said "Ninja Monkeys are secretly plotting my demise." Over the shirt, he had a grey and black checkered flannel, which was a little unseasonal for the nice weather, while his feet had simple black tennis shoes on, with velcro straps holding them on.

'School is a major pain...' Erin thought, grimacing as he walked down the hallway. Walking into the computer lab, he sat down, rubbing his forehead. 'I can't believe so many of my teacher's gave essays as homework... And properly typed, to boot!' Setting his bookbag down, he pulled out the sheet of paper he had been writing his topics onto, and hung it on the little paper holder next to the computer monitor. "Well, no time like the present... At least no one else needs the school computers today."

Typing away, Erin slowly lost himself in his work, focusing on reading each part of the topics, then staring at his keyboard to type. Having never learned the proper way, his style of typing had often been called 'hen pecking', but it worked well enough for him. Glancing up every so often, he examined his work, looking for typos and grammar errors, not even noticing as the time flew past him.

As he begun his art class' essay, a tap on his shoulder caught him by surprise, making him jump slightly. Turning his head, Selene stood behind him, giving him her normal soft smile. She had a Chinese style dress on, a deep red shade that went from her shoulders to her ankles, covering everything by her arms, with a small black dragon design above her left breast. She held a small black bookbag in one hand, and the other was now resting on his shoulders. It took a effort on his part to not blush too deeply from how the dress hugged her petite form.

"Erin, why are you still here?" She watched him, her asian style eyes holding his gaze before he shook himself mentally.

"Sorry. Almost all of my teacher's gave me essays for a final project. Since they need to be typed out, I stopped in here to try and work on them some, since we don't have computer at the shelter. Why, is it late?" He blinked, not even having a clue where the clock was in the room.

The asian girl giggled softly, taking her hand off his shoulders and adjusting the mouse on the computer, pointing to the time in the lower right corner. Erin watched, blushing a little more in embarrassment, before he made a small, startled noise, seeing it was five hours after school had let out.

"Oh shit! Ms. K's gonna have my hide! I had kitchen duty today!" Panicking slightly, Erin moved quickly, saving his work to a disk, and gathering his bag up fast. "Come on, Imouto, we gotta book!" He grabbed her hand, tugging at slightly as he moved to try and run out the door.

He paused before he got to the door, as his friend held his hand firmly, keeping him from leaving, and giggling even louder. "Selene, come on, I'm already gonna get chewed out as it is!" He turned around, seeing her bag on the floor, and her hand covering her mouth. "What's so funny about me being knee deep in it?!"

Calming down a little, Selene took a deep breath, watching him panic still. "It's alright. I saw you in here before I went to my tutoring session with Mr. Stone. I called and told Ms. Klink that you were here working on something, so you might be late." She smiled innocently at him, as she finished her explanation.

Erin simply stared in shock as he listened. "Then why didn't you say so before?!" He half yelled, making her start giggling again. He sighed as he let his body relax, not as worried about rushing home now. "You like watching me sweat, don't you..."

She flashed that cute innocent smile again. "Me, Niisan? Why I would never do anything like that." Her smile wavered a moment, as she glanced down. "Erin... Do you think we could go somewhere else for dinner tonight?" She looked up, a little hopeful of his answer.

The young fifteen year old boy stared a moment, the wavering not going unnoticed. "Somewhere else? Well, I guess we could, as long as Ms. K doesn't mind. I can call and talk to her about it. Any particular reason?" Feeling a little perplexed, he watched the young woman in front of him, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

Selene blushed a little, starting to fidget under the gaze, as she answered quickly, "No! I... I just felt like... going out..." She fumbled over the words, pausing for a moment.

Erin watched her stammer, noticing that she was a bit on edge, as well as acting more flustered then normal. "Well, lets go then." He smiled brightly, as his hand gave hers yet another gentle squeeze, bringing her attention back to his face. "You go get your jacket, while I call and let the old crone know what's going on, ok?"

Without warning, the young boy was suddenly in a strong hug, feeling Selene's arms around his neck, although her boyd against his was more noticeable. "Oh thank you, Erin!! I'll hurry!" She pulled back, smiling brightly now, as she ran out of the computer room.

Erin stood in surprise, still a little bent backwards in the position he had held himself during the hug. "Ok...." Shaking his head, he ridded himself of the stupid grin he had gotten from the momentary glomp. Reaching into his wallet, he looked at his cash flow, frowning slightly. "Not much besides my manga money..." Glancing at the door that the young Japanese girl had run out of, he gave a soft sigh of defeat. "Oh well. Manga's can wait a few weeks again."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Erin watched the sun setting through the windows of the bookstore he and Selen had stopped in, taking a small bite out of his sandwich. He glanced around, looking for the girl in question, who had left him at their table watching her jacket, which hung on the back of her chair. The store was still fairly busy, so only being an hour before closing, and he was beginning to wonder just when his friend planned on heading home, considering how long he had been waiting.

As if on cue, Selene appeared from behind a couple people, carrying a small bag full of books. Shaking his head slightly, Erin couldn't help but chuckle as she slide into her seat again, smoothing her dress out underneath her. She smiled sweetly as she set the books down, eating a couple of the chips off his plate before speaking. "This has been so much fun, Erin, thank you. I guess I needed a night away from everyone."

She glanced out the window, watching the sunset, which had turned a golden red on the clouds in the sky. "Why can't things stay like this..." She didn't look over, not realizing that she had spoken out loud. Resting her check on her hand, she gave a soft sigh as her face began to look a bit dismal.

Frowning slightly himself, Erin tilted his head, regarding his best friend. He knew something was wrong, just from how she was acting ever since she had asked to eat out tonight. She had been acting like she was forcing herself to be happy, or going into small depressions like the one he was witnessing now, then portraying the happy act to try and cover up for it.

Reaching over, he tapped her shoulder softly, watching her give a slight jolt as he brought her back from her thoughts. "Selene, what's wrong? You've been acting odd all day. Did something happen during school today?"

Her attempt to try and act happy again was cut short, as her face lowered to gaze at the table. "Yes..." She glanced up, and gave another sigh, before looking straight into his eyes, amber and blue eyes holding one another, before she continued. "Remember that family I met a couple weeks ago? The one with the two children?" After he nodded, she pressed on, acting as if she were forcing herself to speak. "Well... I got called into the office today, for a call from Ms. Klink. She said that they already started on the paperwork to adopt me..." Her gaze lowered again, sounding more depressed then she had when she started talking.

Erin, however, smiled genuinely at her, taking her hands in his, and giving them a firm squeeze. He remembered her talking about that family, since it was the last one that had come to see her, and she had sounded like they were nice. "Selene, that's great news! You'll finally have a family of your own!" As she kept her head down without a word, he lost his smile, starting to wonder why this was the cause of her negative feelings. "Hey... This is a good thing, right?"

Selene's body shook slightly, as she gave a soft sob. As she looked back up to him, her cheeks were already wet from the tears she had been trying to hide. "Erin, they live in Los Angeles! If I go with them, then I'll move out there, and might never see you again." Her body began shaking again slightly, as she started openly crying.

Sliding his chair next to hers, Erin kept one hand in her death grip, as he slid the other loose. He quickly put his free arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer. He almost lost his seat when she tightly wrapped both her arms around him suddenly, holding nothing back as she cried into his shirt, her hands getting tight grips on his flannel. He stroked her hair soothingly, holding her close as she released all the grief she had been feeling into tears onto his shirt.

Now he could understand why she had been odd all day. When he had lost his parents as a young boy, and was put into a orphanage for safe care, he had met her for the first time. They had both become close friends over the last seven years, and he felt like he finally had a family member again, in the young crying asian girl. She was only a year young then him, so they were commonly put in the same classes, or close, and rarely did they go out without the other. And now, she had a chance for a real family, but it meant they both had to give up being around one another as often as they were used to.

As her sobs finally began to ebb away, he gave her body a gentle squeeze, making a soft noise to try and help her feel better, before he began talking. "It's alright. I know your upset, Selene. But it will all work out, ya know?" She pulled back slightly, still looking down as his hand left her hair to wipe her cheeks dry. "This is a good chance for you to have a stable life though. You can get settled, have better schooling then this dump. And besides, we can keep in contact over the internet. That way I can let ya know when I can come visit you. Then I show these new siblings of your the proper way to take care of my imouto!" He grinned widely, glad to hear a soft giggle escape her, although still joined with a slight sob.

She gave a slight nod, pulling back into her chair more, her eyes red from crying as she wiped her cheeks with a napkin. "T..Thanks, Niisan. I've been worried all day about how I was going to tell you about this. I wasn't sure I could go through with it..." She gazed into his eyes a moment, her lips turning into a very soft smile. "But as long as I know your behind me, I know I can handle it." As she stopped talking, her eyed widened a bit, her cheeks turning a deep crimson as she gazed over Erin's shoulder, lowering her head in embarrassment.

The young man blinked, glancing over his shoulders, and feeling his own blush in his cheeks now. Behind him, was a small crowd of shoppers, sitting at tables or standing around the cafe area, with every pair of eyes watching the both of them. Most of the eyes had a couple tears, having probably overheard most of the conversation, and many were giving secretive smiles at them. A couple had the decency to look away as he caught them looking, with a blush on their own cheeks.

Stammering slightly, Erin turned back around, patting Selene's shoulder. "Lets go home, ok?" After she nodded, he helped her stand and put her jacket on, wishing he didn't feel those eyes burning on his back so badly now. 'How in the world did I not notice them before...' He asked himself mentally as he grabbed her bags, as well as his own. Putting a protective arm around Selene's shoulders, he walked her out of the building and back to the bus stop, ignoring the staring crowd as his cheeks held their crimson shade.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

'Who are you...'

His name? He should know that, but for some reason, he couldn't seem to recall it. The darkness around him seemed to press in around him, but it felt different this time. Like a warm hug, rather then the smothering he had felt before. For once, he didn't feel scared, like this was all perfectly natural.

"Why are you here?"

His body stiffened in surprise. The soft voice was coming from near him, instead of inside his head. "Why? I...I don't know... Do you?"

Silence was all he heard, as he glanced around, trying to figure out where the ghostly voice was coming from. Closing his eyes, he slowed down his breathing, seeing if could 'feel' something around him.

"This place... It frightens me..."

His head nodded, feeling the fright coming from the voice, sensing it coming from in front of him. After a couple steps, his hands came to rest on a head of hair, about as tall as his hips. Kneeling down, opened his eyes, wincing a moment as a soft light filled the area around him.

As his eyes adjusted, he got his first looked at the person that soft voice was connected to. A small head of blond was under his hand still, looking a little unkempt, while the body of the young person --A boy, he was sure now-- was curled into a ball, holding his knees tight to his chest. The young boy had a a white robe on, going over one shoulders, and draped down to a little below his knees, similar to a toga. The back of the robe looked a little different, like something was underneath it.

He watched the boy, shaking in the little ball he had curled up into, not even realizing that the source of the light in the small area around was the boy himself. He lowered himself more onto his knees, stroking his hand over the boy's ruffled hair softly. "Are you afraid of the darkness?"

The boy nodded, looking up a little towards him. His azure blue eyes held his for a moment, unable to even blink, before the young boy spoke to him again. "W..What's your name?"

Blinking, he shook his head, finding himself able to think much clearer suddenly. 'Erin...' "My name is Erin. What's yours?" He smiled, trying to help reassure the youth. He didn't look like he could be older then ten or eleven.

"L..Luce..mon..." The younger boy stammered out, still acting a little scared. "H..He's here you know...."

Erin tilted his head slightly. "He? Who is he, Lucemon?"

Lucemon held his knees tighter a moment, resting his chin on them while he spoke. "He... He protects me... He keeps the bad people from finding me here... They want to hurt me...."

Erin frowned, pulling the boy into a gentle hug. "It's alright. I'll help protect you. Maybe I can help your protector can find a way to keep the bad men completely away from you?"

Lucemon tensed at first, before listening, and slowly relaxing in the teen's arms. "Y.. you would help me? Why...?"

Pulling back slightly, Erin smiled with his hands resting on the young boy's shoulders. "Because it's the right thing to do. I'm not gonna sit by while bad people try and hurt someone."

Lucemon looked deep in Erin's eyes again, looking like he was turning the words over and over in his mind. Slowly, a smile crept onto his face, a small one, but still one that seemed to be filled with hope. "You will... Thank you..."

The brown haired teenager nodded a smiled again, before staring in surprise. He watched as Lucemon stood, and pulled him to his feet as well, but also unfolded the back of his robe, revealing it to actually be four pairs of angelic wings, each increasing the strength of the circle of light around them. The wings each gave a soft flutter, as if stretching from being folded up behind him too long. From his hair, two small wings emerged from underneath the blond coloring, as well as another two that wrapped mostly around his waist. His left arm, torso, and leg all seemed to have a blue colored tattoo on his skin, running and ending at different points. The last thing Erin noticed, were the golden manacles around the boy's wrists and ankles.

Erin simply stood in awe of the angelic boy who stood only as tall as his chest. Lucemon slowly released his hold on the shocked teen's hands, bowing deeply with his hands clasped together in front of him, speaking with a tone that seemed nothing like the scared boy he had met at first. "Thank you, dark champion. You will do well. I look forward to meeting you again." And with that, he turned and walked away, letting the darkness envelop Erin once again.

Shaking himself, the tense boy looked around. He could feel something in the darkness again, similar to finding the young Lucemon. Slowing his breathing, Erin tried to keep himself calm, not wanting to panic again, as he had in earlier dreams.

The presence got stronger, seeming to be completely surrounding him. It seemed as if it were pulsing, or flexing, as it shifted from point to point, always feeling the strongest right in front of him.

'You return.... Why? You should leave before the darkness swallows you whole.'

Feeling the speech of the stronger voice in his mind once again, Erin stiffened his resolve, planting his feet. "If I'm here, then there is a reason. And I will not be scared off, when my help is wanted."

'Your help? What reason do you have to give your assistance?'

The question caught the teen by surprise, and he pondered to himself for a moment, before answering. "Because I won't let evil people hurt someone, if I can help it."

'Even at the risk of your life? Even if it means killing another living thing? Do you think you can do what you must, to defeat those you would oppose?!'

At the shout at the end, Erin jumped slightly, more then a little surprised. He had never even thought he had it in him to kill someone, so could he if he was forced to? A few minutes passed in silence, the presence moving itself around him, slipping closer, as if examining him. Not really focusing on anything around him, he looked forward, gripping his hands into tight fists. "To protect those I care about, and those who need me, I'll do what I must, even at my own risk, physically and mentally." The words flowed from his mouth, oddly feeling as if they came from someone else, but at the same time perfectly natural and the complete truth.

The stronger ghostly feeling flexed itself again, making the darkness feel as if it would smother him completely, but he simply stood, unmoving, and almost holding his breath as he held his fears in check. Finally, the being relaxed itself, and began giving a soft dark glow in the blackness. He watched, as the mist like creature collected in front of him, slowly forming into a humanoid creature that was a little over twice his height. Aside from the three claws at the end of each of his arms, extending from twin pieces of black armor over his forearms, the towering creature's gaze looked down at the human, it's eyes two pools of an almost tangible purple energy as it stared.

They both continued staring, until finally the creatures form suddenly turned into mist again, pooling swiftly directly in front of Erin's face, as the dark glow began increasing from the center point. Once all that was left was the single circle of the ghostly light, the shocked human slowly reached his hand up, until his fingers closed around a small disc, that pressed coldly against his hand, immediately plunging him back into darkness.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Erin blinked looking at the ceiling of his room in the orphanage that he had lived in for as long as he could remember. Sitting up, her tossed the sweat covered sheets off him, sliding his nude form to sit on the edge of his bed. He tried remembering his dream, he knew it had returned tonight, but for the first time since it had been plaguing him, it all seemed fuzzy, as if his memory was jumbled.

Suddenly, a cold shiver ran through his body, starting from his right palm as it pressed against something on the bed. Lifting his hand, he found a black coin, almost invisible in the night's gloom. Picking it up, he examined it closely, just barely making out the imprint of a dragon-man creature, wearing pieces of armor, posed to look as if he were flying. On the reverse side, was a japanese looking symbol, although he had no clue what it meant. Although it was about the same size as a half dollar, the thickness was triple that of a normal coin, yet felt a light as a feather as he turned it over in his hand.

Clenching the coin in his hand tightly, he took a deep breath, as the final part of his dream came back to him, a simple sentence spoken from a unknown female voice right as he woke up.

"You will do well."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Rocker~wow, I thought I'd never get this story out.

ToyAgumon~*glances up at the white haired author* But you were the one who kept pausing your wri...

Rocker~*quickly holds the little mini-tyrano's mouth shut, chuckling nervously* Heh, don't pay any attention to the muse I'm keeping quiet, folks. Hey Flora, mind taking this annoyance off my hands?

Floramon~*A small plant digimon, the same height as ToyAgumon, walks up, and takes the other child's arm, walking the blushing digimon out of the room*

Rocker~*laughs and smiles* That works. Anyway, I've hopefully kicked my writer's block now. Knock on wood. *knocks on the small table holding his computer, as he writes from the couch he is staying on right now* Reviews are always welcome, since I love knowing what people think. Have a happy day, and come back and visit soon!!

Disclaimer - I don't own digimon, and I'm using the Diaries' Storyline with Lord Archive's permission.

~Dedications~

Gen-chan, who always gives me the confidence to keep trying, when I always think I'm failing. Thanks for staying by my side, even if it is only verbally from distance. ^_^

K-chan, who is a dear friend and a beautiful author as well, was inspiring with her "Magical Girl Mimi" series, as well as serving as a part time editor for me.

Kale, retired digimon fanfic author, also deserves credit, for being one of my first reviews on my first fanfic I wrote, which gave me the confidence to keep trying and learning at writing, as well as providing his excellent eight part digimon series, that was a phenomenal, and inspiring, piece of fanfic work.

Last credit, is to Lord Archive, who's stories have astounded me for quite some time now, and who's Diaries' Storyline I am proud to join with this story. I hope to keep reading his stories for quite some time, as they always provide with a good emotional base, as well constant reading enjoyment.

I wish all you fellow author's good luck with your works, and maybe one day, I can achieve what these people who have inspired me have done, and create something that touches someone else as well.

Author's note ~ Some of Lord Archives stories, while very well written, are not for children under 18. Please heed warning, if you chose to read his works.