Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Descent into Darkness ❯ CHAPTER SEVEN ( Chapter 7 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. I do not claim to own Digimon. Toei own Digimon and Sensation Animation (formally known as Saban) make the dub. This is for fun not profit.

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Descent into Darkness

Part Seven

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"She fainted?" Taichi's voice was level but expression was anything but. "And what caused that?"

"I'm not sure." Bastemon admitted. "Dagomon's Scubamon were trying to capture her. I was fighting with them but there were so many of them. I heard Hikari call my name and the next thing I know… this…" Bastemon seemed to consider the right word. "Wave of dark energy hit me and I digivolved to this form. At exactly the same moment she collapsed."

"So the energy definitely came from her then?" Koushiro noted. Bastemon nodded.

"What are we going to do about him?" It was apparent that Takeru had only been listening half-heartedly. His attention was definitely fixed on Devimon. Ken made a mental note to find out exactly what had happened between the digidestined and Devimon to anger Takeru so.

"Since he knows the way out of this place I'd suggest nothing as of yet." Hikari mumbled. Bastemon put her partner down and helped her stand.

"Kari-chan?" Some of the anger drained from the blonde's voice and his attention drifted to Hikari. "Are you okay?"

The question seemed to amuse her. Her eyes were sparkling as she shrugged. "You came anyway." She noted rather than answering. "In spite of my warning."

"Of course we did!" Takeru sounded indignant. "Did you really think we wouldn't?"

Hikari just smiled. She looked oddly fragile as she leant against Bastemon for support. Ken found it hard to imagine that she could be any sort of threat but he could feel it. Dark energy was positively flowing off her… but it felt different from that all around him at the moment. Which meant it was different from the energy he had sensed gathering around the last few days. Which meant… hell he wasn't sure what it meant but he knew it was important. Especially since when he came close to her the pain in his neck cut out abruptly. Hikari must have seen his frown because she grinned at him.

"Is something wrong, Ichijouji-san?"

"Not really, I was just thinking that we should get out of here."

"Liar." She laughed. "It's a true lie though. We should get out of here." She turned to Devimon. "So where's this gate?"

"I'll show you." He replied in a calm tone.

"Are you mad?" Takeru's anger seemed to have returned in full force at that. "We can't trust him."

"I don't think we have much choice if we want to get out of here." Daisuke pointed out mildly.

"No! You don't know him. He can't be trusted. He's evil! You agree with me don't you, Taichi-kun?"

"That Devimon is evil and untrustworthy? Yes I do but Daisuke's right. We don't have any choice."

Takeru turned to Ken. "Can't you open a gate like you did to get us here?" he asked. Ken frowned again.

"I can try but I did warn you that I wasn't sure if I'd be able to open a gate in the other direction." He lifted his digivice and concentrated. As he suspected it didn't work. "Sorry."

"Oh, shit!"

"Swearing won't really won't help the situation, Takeru." Hikari looked back at him. "Do you want to get out of here or not?"

Takeru grumbled a bit but this time he followed the group when they started moving. Devimon led them to a rocky outcrop and pointed to the sky. Looking up they saw what appeared to be a whirlpool stretching above them. At the other end of the swirling mass was a small patch of blue sky. Trying to see it clearly was trying to look through a mist. Ken guessed that the mist was some sort of barrier.

"That's the gate. Fortunately there's a barrier that prevents free passage. Even Dagomon can only breach it for long enough for two or three digimon to pass through at a time. Hikari should be able to open it though and even more importantly to close it afterwards."

"Are you suggesting that she leaves us behind?" Takeru almost exploded.

"Not at all." The evil Digimon seemed amused by Takeru's outburst. "I'm suggesting she doesn't want a hoard of Dagomon's followers on her tail. In fact if she left it open they'd probably invade the Digital World en mass. Do you want that?"

Takeru stared at him. "No… but… Oh, never mind." He looked very confused. Ken turned to Hikari who was studying the gate thoughtfully.

"Can you open it?" He asked.

"What?" she looked over at him. "Oh, yes… I think so. I think I see how it works." She unhooked her digivice and pointed it at the sky. A beam of strangely coloured… something… came out of it. It wasn't really light but you couldn't call it darkness either. Not unless darkness could be somehow radiant. Whatever it was the mist at the entrance to the whirlpool began to melt away at its touch.

"It seems to be working!" Ken noted. "We'd better make sure we can be ready to fly through as soon as it opens… if we can."

"You think there might be a problem?" Daisuke asked and he nodded. Unfortunately it turned out he was right. Normal digivolution didn't work here. Which made Bastemon's presence even stranger and meant that only Halsemon and Pegasusmon had wings. Apart from Devimon of course but Ken doubted that he'd help them evacuate.

"Don't worry about it." Hikari said calmly. "It'll be okay once the gate opens." She sounded certain.

"I wish I shared you confidence, Kamiya-san." Ken murmured. "It was here that I discovered the dark spires."

"It was indeed." Laughed a mocking voice. They all turned towards it and found themselves face to face with a massive vaguely human shaped figure.

"Dagomon, I presume?" Ken asked. An army of Scubamon flanked their Lord and Black Gatomon was standing on his outstretched palm.

"I am indeed and you are an annoying little power thief who I'll take great pleasure in destroying." Dagomon laughed and lifted a black crystal in his other hand. He placed it next to Black Gatomon and suddenly she shrieked in obvious agony as its energy engulfed her and she digivolved to LadyDevimon. "Kill them and bring me the girl."

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Bastemon moved away from her partner with obvious care. "I'll deal with this. Please look after Hikari for me." She said. Takeru immediately moved to hold her up and watched as Bastemon moved to intercept LadyDevimon."

"I will." He told her. Hikari just nodded. All her attention was fixed on the slowly dissipating mist.

"Are you sure that this is the right thing to do?" He asked the brunette as she leaned against him. The question earned him a very strange look.

"It's the only thing to do. This is the only way out." She sounded like she was explaining something to a very small child. "And presuming I can open it I'll be able to close it as well."

"That's not what I mean…" He trailed off as he glanced towards Devimon and was startled to realise that he was backing Bastemon up by dealing with the Scubamon while she fought LadyDevimon. Confused, he hesitated. His head said that he should send Pegasusmon to help but his heart balked at doing anything to assist his nemesis. Miyako, it seemed, had no such qualms. Halsemon was happily shooting attacks at the Scubamon and moments later Flamedramon joined in. Daisuke turned to look at him.

"Are you going to help or not?" He asked. Takeru remained frozen by indecision. Even Iori had sent Digmon to help by now and Scubamon were being deleted at a startling rate. "Takeru-kun, please try and pay attention!" Daisuke snapped. He was right Takeru realised. He really should be helping but he couldn't bring himself to assist Devimon. Instead he ordered Pegasusmon to attack LadyDevimon. Not that Bastemon needed any help really. She was certainly holding her own against the fallen angel digimon. Indeed, as he watched one her attacks sent LadyDevimon tumbling but she soon regained her feet only to be hit by a Star Shower from Pegasusmon. Their combined power soon forced LadyDevimon to de-digivolve and flee before Bastemon could delete her.

"Typical!" Dagomon growled. "If you want a job doing properly do it yourself. He reached one clawed hand towards Hikari just as she yelled in triumph.

"It's open! I did it!" She dropped to her knees in spite of his support, apparently exhausted. "You should be able to digivolve now." She looked up at Dagomon. "And as for you…" She opened her palms outwards and a circle of dark flame surrounded the digidestined. The top of the flames merged with the base of the whirlpool creating a barrier. When Dagomon tried to reach through it he shrieked and pulled his hand back. Hikari laughed and the sound of it made Takeru shiver. "Surprise!" She said in a mocking tone. She looked at the others and the edge to her voice vanished. "We should be going."

The various flying digimon took the digidestined and none flying rookies onboard until only Hikari was left. An exhausted Bastemon de-digivolved all the way down to Salamon and collapsed in a heap. Hikari picked her up and was in turn picked up by Devimon.

"So," he said to Hikari, "You are the One. I thought you were." He had spoken so softly that only Takeru and Pegasusmon who were circling anxiously overheard. As Devimon flew out Takeru frowned and followed. When they emerged into the Digital World he glanced back and saw the flames fade away. An enraged Dagomon appeared beneath them.

"Oh no you don't." Hikari said coldly. The mocking edge had returned to her voice. She pointed her digivice down into the vortex and the mist barrier reappeared much faster than it had originally dissipated. They all heard Dagomon's howl of frustration.

"Onii-chan!" Hikari called over to her brother. She looked surprising calm considering the fact that that she was being carried over the Digital Ocean by Devimon.

"What?" Taichi called back.

"I'll be home by dinner. Tell mom and dad I'm okay… and none of you try to follow us, please." Her tone brooked no argument. The others watched as Devimon sheared off from the group and flew away with her.

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"Do you really think that she'll be back tonight?" Taichi asked as they sat on the beach they'd landed on. He sounded equally anxious and confused. Who could blame him?

"I don't know. I can't believe that she actually went with Devimon." Takeru wished that there was something that he could hit. It might make him feel better. "And what was that flame?"

"I suspect that it is akin to the light that used to surround her occasionally." Koushiro said. The older digidestined all nodded but the younger ones looked confused.

"Light?" Daisuke asked. "What on earth are you talking about?"

"I am beginning to think that we should have told them all about our original adventures here." Koushiro noted. "It's a little hard to explain but before we gave up the powers of our crests Hikari would occasionally glow with this light that came from within her. It would allow our digimon to digivolve even when they'd normally be too weak."

Daisuke seemed to struggle with this explanation for a moment. "I see… I think." He said finally. "She got the energy for those flames and that she used to digivolve Gatomon from the same place?"

"And it wasn't the Dark Sea either." Ken said quietly. "It felt different and did you see the way Dagomon reacted to the flames?"

"If she didn't get it from there then where?" Taichi asked. "Is that why Devimon was so interested in her?"

"I don't think the rest of you heard this but he told her she was the One." Takeru told them. "He emphasised the 'the One' by the way."

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Devimon landed gracefully on top of Infinity Mountain and set Hikari on her feet.

"Do you have anything for Salamon to eat?" She asked.

"Just a moment." He said and began to visibly concentrate. She watched as his temple reformed.

"Impressive. I've always wondered what this place looked like." She noted as he led her inside and produced food from somewhere. Apparently his home came ready stocked. She gave it to Salamon and asked the question that had been puzzling her. "What did you mean when you said I was the One? The One what?"

"There's an ancient and ambiguous prophecy. It speaks of the Bearer of Light who will help to save the Digital World and the Shadow Queen who may one day rule it. What isn't clear is whether it's the same person or not. Obviously it is the same person… you." He walked round her. "Though you don't really look the part yet."

"Well that is interesting." Hikari agreed. "But why are you so sure that it's me?"

"Because I am. Your personality, inner strength and power all fit the prophecy perfectly." He replied mildly. "And the prophecy also states that it's my job to assist you in fulfilling you destiny."

"You?"

"That's what I said. I did tell you it was ambiguous."

"I know that prophecy!" Salamon looked up from her food. "It used to terrify the wits out of Vamdemon."

"Which isn't exactly saying much since he didn't have the wits he was hatched with." Devimon interrupted.

"He was sure it was the same person too. That's why he was so determined to kill her. Not just because I was destined to be his undoing but because he feared the Shadow Queen. The Dark Masters did as well." She looked up at Hikari. "And it would make sense for it to be you. Do you think that it's you?"

Hikari considered the question. "Yes." She said thoughtfully. "I think I do."

"Will you accept my help." Devimon asked.

"Yes but that doesn't mean I trust you. I'll be watching you like a hawk."

"Good. Trust should be earned not just given." He waved a hand and a full-length mirror appeared from somewhere. "Now about that look."

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"Hi, Mom! I'm home!"

"You sound happier." Her mother noted cheerfully. "We're going out to dinner tonight. I've won a meal at that new western restaurant that's opened."

"Sounds like fun. I'd better change." Hikari headed to her room and wasn't surprised when Taichi stopped her. He looked concerned.

"Are you okay? Where's Gatomon?"

"I've never been better, Onii-chan, and she's right here." She pushed her bedroom door open to reveal Gatomon just climbing in through the window.

"What did Devimon want? Did he hurt you?"

"No, he didn't. We had a most interesting conversation and that's all." She walked into her room and turned to look him in the eye. "Please don't get involved, Onii-chan. I'd hate to see you get hurt."

"I am involved." He said quietly as she closed the door between them.

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Now onto the rewrite of "Passage through Shadow 1 - Prelude to a Storm"

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