Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Diminished Light: Void's Assault ❯ Mysterious Happenings ( Chapter 14 )

Diminished Light: Void's Assault

Chapter 14

Mysterious Happenings

By

Sailor Janus

 

 

The ground shook heavily as weakened trees swayed and collapsed. The five endangered Chosen Children raced through the deadly forest, struggling to stay alive as the threat of being crushed increased with each angry jostle of the ground.

 

Taichi sprang from the ground over a crashing tree trunk, then dove under a second one. He quickly rolled to safety and leapt to his feet without a second of hesitation. “This is insane!”

 

“The key is to stay alive,” Yamato agreed, clinging to Sora's hand tightly as they zig-zagged around several uprooted trees.

 

“I-I'm feeling overheated again,” the red headed young woman moaned as she ran along side her boyfriend. The blonde glanced at her briefly then stopped. He quickly grabbed her by the waist and lifted her over his shoulder and started the race for their lives once again.

 

Rosa panted as she trailed after the group and stumbled over a surfaced tree root. Just as she was about to fall forward, a firm grip enclosed around her arm, and pulling her back up right. She gasped in surprise at discovering her rescuer was none other than the rather stoic, Kendo expert. “Thank you.”

 

Iori nodded as he released her arm. “Keep running. We need to find someplace safe.”

 

“Right.” The Mexican girl replied, well aware of how flushed her face was probably at that moment.

 

“WATCH OUT!” Yamato shouted to the two teenagers as a large, yet spindly tree began tumbling their way.

 

Rosa screamed in terror as Iori shoved her to the ground and out of danger's way as he followed close behind. The girl moved to stand up, but found herself sinking rapidly into the ground. “HELP!” The boy spun around, but lost his balance as the earth stirred again sending them both plummeting into a large hole.

 

“Iori! Rosa!” Taichi move towards the direction of the teens, but was halted as a tree landed directly over the hole they had fallen into throwing the Chosen leader back a few feet. He quickly scrambled up from the ground and raced back to the tree in hopes of helping Iori and Rosa, but the hole was completely blocked off prompting Taichi to kick the tree in frustration. “Shit!”

 

Yamato turned around, and sprinted to his friend's aid as fast as he could while still carrying a rather dazed Sora over his shoulder. “What happened?”

 

“This damn tree is covering up the hole Iori and that girl fell in!”

 

Another strong tremor rocked the ground, nearly sending the three remaining Chosen crashing into each other. The blonde swore and glanced from the tree to Taichi. “We'll have to come back later.”

 

“What? But we have to get them out,” Taichi said with a sense of urgency in his voice.

 

“We need to find someplace safe or we will potentially be crushed,” Yamato argued.

 

“But we can't just leave them there!”

 

“We won't be much help if we're already DEAD!”

 

“Please, Taichi? I feel really sick,” Sora said weakly wanting to end the rapidly growing fight before it got too out of hand.

 

Yamato lifted up his girlfriend and cradled her in his arms, his face completely blank as he glanced back at his friend.

 

The brunette looked up into the sky and exhaled loudly. “Damn it. Fine. We'll come back.”

 

“Thank you, Taichi,” Sora softly whispered, her head lulled against the musician in a limp fashion.

 

The brunette quietly nodded, too lost in his own thoughts as they ran through the collapsing forest. First Hikari and Daisuke, now Iori and Rosa. Everyone else is pretty much split up. How many more do we have to lose before this ends? How many more times do I have to fail the people I care about? Taichi's hands unconsciously formed into fists as they tore through the dead grass, shoved through the brush, and leaped over tree trunks before finally making it into a clearing. Oddly enough, by then, the strange earthquake had ended. “If only Augmon were here. He could evolve into Greymon and move that tree like it was only a toothpick.”

 

“Yeah, but he's not here. We're in this alone,” Yamato reminded their leader.

 

He didn't argue as exhaustion claimed him as well as the other two Chosen Children. Tiresomely they fell to the soft ground, bathed in sweat and dirt. Taichi stretched out his arms as he laid sprawled on the grass as Yamato and Sora lay beside him. Their bodies heavily ached, but even worse was their hearts. They were worried about their younger friends trapped in a hole as well as those they were separated from. With only Iori having access to a D-Terminal all they could do was think about the countless possibilities of danger the others may be in, without the ability to actually voice them.

 

Sora released her tensed hand, realizing that she had been clutching onto something the whole time as if her very life had depended on it. She brought the small stone to her face and studied the very distinct carving of the symbol of Love on its surface.

 

Yamato glanced over her shoulder and raised his eyebrows. “Is that what I think it is?”

 

“It has the same exact symbol as the Crest of Love so it has to be. It's a Power Stone,” she nodded.

 

“Really?” Taichi sat up and reached out to take if from her, but withdrew quickly as an electrical-like current shot through the stone and zapped him. He yelped loudly and clutched his hand. “Damn it! That's the same hand Hikari's light burnt.”

 

“Oh I'm sorry, Taichi. I didn't know it'd shock you,” Sora apologized as a tinge of blush covered her cheeks in embarrassment.

 

Her boyfriend however smirked slightly in amusement. “He can't touch it because he's not the Chosen of Love like you are, Sora.”

 

“That makes sense, though Miyako could probably handle it as well since she had the Digimental of Love.”

 

“That could be true, then again it may not be anymore. I guess if we find any more of those things, we may be able to find out what they are supposed to be used for and if there is more than one per crest.”

 

“Wait, Yamato.” Taichi began as he ran a hand through his hair. “The crests are gone. What good is something that is connected to them going to do us?”

 

“We'll just have to wait and find out.”

 

“I'm getting really sick of waiting.” The Chosen leader paused for a moment then quickly unzipped his back and pulled out three small packages of crackers tossing one to each of his friends before tearing into his own. “If we have to wait, might as well make use of the time.”

 

The other two didn't argue against it as they too indulged in the small snack in hopes to recover much needed energy and a plan to save their two missing friends.

 

*~*~*~*

 

The wind whipped through Catherine's curls as she stared in disbelief at the place where the boys had once been. The violent shaking of the earth had died down leaving the two girls isolated from their friends in nearly deafening silence. The only audible sound seemed to be Mimi's quiet sobbing. The heart-wrenching noise was slightly strained as if the young woman was desperately trying to pull herself together. The French girl grimaced as the boys' bags fell off the last remaining portion of the cliff. She looked at Mimi with wide fear filled blue eyes in concern and pressed herself more firmly against the wall of the mountain. “What are we going to do?”

 

“I-I don't know,” Mimi sniffled as she leaned back against the rough surface of the mountain. “Wh-what if they're dead? I can't lose Michael…. Though sometimes, I feel like I already have.”

 

“I've already lost Takeru,” Catherine muttered forlornly. “And it's all my fault for listening to my mother.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“She didn't accept the fact that I was spending so much attention on him despite the fact that all we'd do was communicate by computer. He wasn't in her standards. She actually liked him less than she liked Floramon.” The French girl pushed a strand of hair from her face in aggravation. “She even forbid me to speak to him because he was not proper for a lady such as myself…. whatever that is supposed to mean.”

 

Mimi looked at the girl thoughtfully as her brown eyes began to clear. She rubbed her tear-streaked face and sat up a bit straighter. “Why didn't you keep talking anyway?”

 

“Against my mother's wishes?” Catherine gasped in complete bewilderment at the idea of doing such a thing.

 

The Japanese young woman giggled at the reaction her suggestion had created. “Do you really think my parents approved of Michael? They didn't mind him so much when we were kids, but when we got older.... well, we'd get into so much trouble. But I don't think I'd trade those days for anything in the world.” Mimi suddenly froze as she drew a hand to her mouth. “I-Oh, my God. I think I really am still in love with him and now he might be dead!”

 

“I was so stupid. You're right. I should have at least explained things to Takeru before we stopped talking. I was so cruel to him. He'll probably never forgive me.” Tears flooded the blonde's glassy blue eyes as clear Japanese became mumbled, broken-hearted French.

 

“Catherine, if you don't mind me asking, when did you learn Japanese?” The brunette lowered her eyes, hoping that the new conversation wouldn't be as painful as their current one. “I've always been meaning to ask you.”

 

“Partly, my grandfather and of course Takeru. My grandfather always believed strongly in communicating with different cultures. First I learned English, which was very hard, then a few other languages that I didn't focus on too well, before Japanese. Since everyone seemed to understand English, we used that during my birthday party.”

 

Mimi smiled as she nodded. “I remember. Your home was very lovely.”

 

“It's just a place to live. Nothing too spectacular,” the blonde shrugged. “But later, after Takeru and I hit it off as you would say…. he helped me with my Japanese and I taught him French. All on the computer of course, but it was fun, because we could communicate in a language that most other people around us did not understand.”

 

“Yeah, Michael and I kind of did the same thing, helping each other with English and Japanese. He really wanted to come with me to Japan and meet the others since I told him so much about them. After that, it was a quite common occurrence since his family has a lot of money. His dad is a popular and well known actor so usually Michael would get whatever he wanted….of course he didn't always get everything.”

 

Catherine smiled whimsically then blushed brightly. “Takeru even told me he loved me in French. I was seventeen at the time…. And now I'm seventeen again. This age thing is really strange.”

 

“It's okay. I'm just as confused, but that is really cute.” Mimi smiled reassuringly. “You should tell him how you feel next time you see him.”

 

“I-I can't. He more than likely hates me for the way I had hurt him. No…It's better this way,” Catherine said sadly.

 

“Two people being miserable is never a good thing. Parents are not always right and you can't let them run your life. You have to make your own decisions. You have a good head on your shoulders, use it.”

 

The French teenager glanced at Mimi thoughtfully. “Do you do pep-talks often?”

 

“Me? Actually, no I don't.”

 

“You're good at it. Thank you.”

 

“You're welcome.” The brunette sighed heavily. “But we're still alone and the boys may be…. no, we can't think like that. They've survived through a lot and this shouldn't be a stupid exception. They'll be fine.”

 

Catherine rose to her feet and dusted her skirt off. “And so will we. Right, Mimi?”

 

The Japanese young woman glanced up then joined her foreign friend. “Right. We'll show them that we don't need to rely on a man to get through things.”

 

Suddenly the earth violently shook again, throwing the girls back to the ground with loud shrieks. Mimi smacked the back of her head against the hard mountainside and looked up in a daze as an odd gray stone landed next to her. She frowned as she picked it up and examined a rather familiar etching. “Purity.”

 

“MIMI!”

 

Her head snapped up in shock as she turned to the teenager who seemed oddly petrified with fear. “What is it, Catherine?”

 

“I-It's a volcano….. The mountain blew its top and lava is now coming out. Look.”

 

The brunette spun around and gaped in horror at the bright red molten rock as ash rained down from the sky, threatening them with an agonizing death. Mimi grabbed Catherine's bag thrusting it in the French girl's arms then snatched up her own. “RUN!”

 

*~*~*~*

 

Why did you run off like that, Miyako? Ken clenched his jaw as he picked up speed, heading off in the direction he could swear the lavender haired girl had retreated to. Unfortunately, so far there was no trace of her. This only worried him more.

 

What could have been a deafening roar of the ocean seemed like only a whisper as he ran through the thick sand towards what appeared to be a small dense forest of tropical trees and other foliage, most of which were damaged from the earthquake.

 

“So why exactly did she runaway? Miyako never struck me as the type to do stupid things.” Wallace looked at the dark haired teen in curiosity, but only received a silent shrug. The blonde grumbled and raced after the other boy. “Look, I know its none of my business but what happened?”

 

Ken stopped and spun around as he cried out, “I DON'T KNOW!” His blue eyes were wide and wild, tainted with a mix of anger and fear.

 

Wallace took a step back in shock and lifted his hands up as if declaring peace before the former Digimon Kaiser could get any false ideas about the American's intentions. “Whoa, cool it, Kenny. She'll be fine. We just have to find her then we can straighten everything out, find your friends, and slap a big “Happily Ever After' sticker on this adventure.”

 

The Japanese boy took a deep breath and exhaled. “Sorry. There's just too much going on.”

 

“Yeah, you're worried about your friends, but I'm worried about them too. Even though its been pretty much like forever since I last saw them.” A light breeze ruffled through Wallace hair as they began slowly walking. “Strange but friendly Daisuke, clever Iori, talkative Miyako, kind Takeru, and sweet yet mysterious Hikari. I can still remember that day so clearly. It was probably the first time I actually understood what friendship was outside of my digimon. Don't get me wrong, they were like my best friends, but human friends are valuable too.”

 

Ken studied his companion then refocused his gaze on the ground as the overwhelming sensations of guilt from his past as the Terror of the Digital World; the Digimon Kaiser, consumed him once again. “Friends are always good. Why we turned on each other….I don't know.”

 

“Life caught up with us,” Jyou said in a matter of fact tone as he joined the two teenaged boys in their search. “It happens. Despite being Chosen Children, we're no different.”

 

“Are we?”

 

The med student removed his glasses and shrugged as he wiped the lens off with his shirt. “We're not special.”

 

Ken however came to a halt and stared at the elder member of the Chosen Children. “What makes you say that? In case you haven't noticed, the number of actual Chosen has diminished. The reason, I don't know, but digimon sightings have become a rarity. People oddly have forgotten about the BelialVamdemon battle. It's like it had never happened.”

 

Wallace frowned. “I was wondering about that…. There is something strange going on.”

 

Jyou glanced between the two teenagers and sighed in defeat. “Fine. I'm just trying to be rational here.”

 

“Sometimes rational doesn't always work,” Ken said softly. “Do you think of the existence of digimon and the Digital World as a rational idea?”

 

The elder of the group ground his teeth together. “Just get off my back. We all know I'm not cut out for this adventure thing. I was twenty-five years old for crying out loud!”

 

“And you were miserable. All of us were.”

 

“I wonder why,” Wallace muttered, digging his hands into his pockets as they started walking again.

 

“Things not going well for you too, Wallace?” Ken glanced at the blonde.

 

The American shrugged nonchalantly. “You could say that.”

 

“Just as I thought. I wonder how everything had gotten turned upside down and what exactly happened. I mean it could be something, but then again, it may be nothing.”

 

“You're talking in riddles, Ken.”

 

“Maybe. Maybe not. The point is there may be more going on than we are aware of. Such as where did Daisuke and Hikari go? What happened to the digimon and the Digital World? It's completely indistinguishable. I haven't found one single landmark since we got here.”

 

“Then there's these strange Power Stones with the symbols of the crests on them,” Jyou began slowly as he pulled his out of his pocket.

 

“Exactly.”

 

Wallace nodded in agreement. “You were one of those honor students, weren't you?”

 

Ken shrugged as he sped up a bit. “We still need to find Miyako and the rest of the Power Stones. From there we can try to figure out what happened to the Digital World. It's almost as if the data had been either erased or rewritten. Either possibilities are not the best.”

 

“Yeah, before something worse happens to us than a stupid earthquake.”

 

The three young men exchanged glances then began their search for the single female member of their group once again.

 

*~*~*~*

 

It's so cold. I just want to be someplace safe and warm and sleep. Just sleep forever. So tired. Hikari closed her eyes and her mind seemed to shut down as well. She couldn't remember where she was or how she got there, only that her body felt numb.

“Hikari, don't stand too close to the water,” A young Taichi told his sister as they walked along a pier in an old fishing town they were vacationing in.

 

The little girl however leaned over the edge, peering down at something in the water that had caught her eye. She couldn't quite tell what it was and moved closer until she had lost her balance and plunged into the cold water below.

 

“HIKARI!”

 

She gasped, but rather than fill her lungs with air it was water. She sputtered and flailed her arms and legs, fighting to surface from the frigid water she was submerged in. Suddenly, something encompassed around her wrist and pulled her up. Just as she was about to surrender to the murky depths, her weak body was yanked towards to the surface. The brunette haired girl coughed loudly, gasping for much needed oxygen.

 

“Hikari! Are you okay?”

 

She turned her head and found Daisuke looking at her with concern in his dark eyes. He didn't seem to fair much better as he continued treading the icy water of the strange world they were trapped in. The memory quickly faded and she focused back on the reality of their situation. Both teens knew they couldn't keep going on for much longer. “Cold,” she shivered violently.

 

Daisuke pulled Hikari closer to him. Her eyes widened as she gave him a bewildered expression. When she glanced at him again he looked very serious as he spoke. “If we huddle close together, we can retain more body heat, helping us stay alive longer, but you have to trust me.”

 

The brunette haired girl bit her lip then nodded. “Okay. I trust you. Just please don't let us die.”

 

The teenaged boy said nothing and pulled his companion closer to him. He could feel her warm breath on the side of his face as she relaxed in his arms. Once again however, he was at loss as far as what exactly to do. He wished there were at least something they could grab onto, but now he couldn't even see any ice. It was as if it had never existed in the first place. “What is going on here?”

 

Hikari winced as she noted the same thing. “Someone or something is trying to kill us. It's the only explanation.”

 

“Over my dead body.” Daisuke was about to make another comment when suddenly Hikari's head fell back as she became limp in his arms. “Hikari? Hikari! Wake up!” He shook her gently, but she didn't come to. The boy's breath caught in his throat as he stared at her in fear. “No, Hikari, open your eyes, damn it! SHIT!” Abruptly, she slipped out of his grasp and back under the chilling waters. Daisuke fought to reach out for her as panic took over, but she was falling too fast. “HIKARI!”

 

Suddenly a shock of bright glowing light shot out of the water and radiated through the large lake. The temperature slowly began to warm to a more bearable degree.

 

The teenaged boy's jaw dropped as Hikari arose to the surface, lying on her back with her eyes closed. She appeared completely serene with her hair floating around her head and her arms at her sides. The glow slowly diminished as he drew closer.

 

Brown eyes fluttered open and stared at Daisuke in question. She tried to sit up not realizing where she was and sunk deeper in the water with a cry of surprise. She broke back through the surface and frowned. “How did the water get so warm?”

 

Daisuke said nothing and instead enveloped her in his arms, hugging her tight, never wanting to let go.

 

“Daisuke?” The girl hugged him back, but was still greatly confused by his actions.

 

“I'm just glad you're okay. You passed out then sank. I thought you died….I-I'm glad you didn't.”

 

A small smile appeared on Hikari's lips. “I'm happy I didn't either.”

 

He let her go and spun around, freezing in shock as he gaped at the sight of a darkly lit forest directly behind them. “Where did that come from?”

 

Hikari looked as well, an intense shiver ran down her spine. She swallowed thickly and swam towards the forest. “Our next mission.”

 

“Mission?” Daisuke quickly trailed after her, tripping over their bags as he climbed out of the water. He stared completely flabbergasted at the two backpacks. “What the hell? Where did these come from? What the hell is going on here?!”

 

“There's only one way to find out. We continue on.” The female Chosen Child retrieved her bag and despite being dripping wet, pulled it on then turned to her friend.

 

The soccer star sighed as he too grabbed his and slung it over his shoulder. He felt very uneasy about the whole thing, but if it meant finding Hikari's memories and the others, he'd be willing to do just about anything. “Let's go.”

 

Hikari nodded and together they approached the foreboding forest, unaware of what may lurk inside.

 

*~*~*~*

Author's Notes: I hope you enjoyed my newest chapter. There is a lot of stuff in this one that I am puzzled over myself, so I'm intrigued as to what is going on. I have a small outline with lots of missing detail, but the new information is rather mind-spinning, and I'm the one writing this! But needless to say, it kind of makes sense.