Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Diminished Light: Void's Assault ❯ Lost in a Nightmare ( Chapter 16 )

Diminished Light: Void's Assault

Chapter 16

Lost in a Nightmare

By

Sailor Janus

 

 

The gentle rush of a stream was the only sound audible in the large dimly lit cave. Iori and Rosa sat a few feet away from the other unconscious Chosen Children and snacked on some crackers.

 

The Mexican girl sighed as she finished her last bite and turned her attention to the stream. She still felt hot and sweaty and decided that perhaps the water would cool her down. She glanced at Iori to discover he was now focused on his D-Terminal, more than likely reading or composing a message to the others.

 

Rosa got up, walked quietly to the stream, and sat on her knees. She frowned at her dirty reflection then quickly scooped up some water and splashed it on her face. She sighed in relief at the cooling sensation, happy to be able to cool off at last.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

The teenaged girl gasped and spun around to find Iori looking at her in question. She blushed lightly and shrugged. “I just wanted to get cleaned up and the water is really nice…. You might want to do the same as well.”

 

The Kendo expert raised an eyebrow then turned to the older Chosen Children. He scowled for a moment then retrieved an empty water bottle from his bag and approached the stream.

 

“Are you sure it's safe to drink?”

 

“There would be no reason for it not to be given that this is the Digital World and very few if any humans have been here therefore it can't be polluted.” He dunked the bottle under the water for a moment and withdrew it.

 

Rosa stared at him a bit hurt as he headed towards his bag and pulled out several scrapes of cloth. She glanced down at her hands then balled them into fists. “You don't have to be so rude to me.”

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

“You heard me.” She pursed her lips wanting to scream at him, but for some reason couldn't. It was as if that ability no longer existed in her and all she could do was be moderately angry rather than express how she truly felt. Instead she sighed and shook her head. “Forget it. It doesn't matter.” Her muttering turned to Spanish as she rose to her feet and headed to the opposite side of the cave.

 

Iori looked at her briefly then shook his head and returned to his task. He walked up to the fallen Chosen leader, poured some water on the cloth, and pressed it to Taichi's face. He stared down at the young man as if lost in a thought. Glancing over his shoulder, he noted Rosa still appeared to be fuming and shook his head. I'm not rude I'm just… I don't know. It doesn't matter. She's the one with the problem not me…have I been rude? He scowled at his thoughts unaware of the look the girl was giving him.

 

“Oh, so now you are just going to stare at me? You are such a-a JERK!” Rosa's brown eyes glowed intensely with her increasing fury. She stomped her foot and heavily exhaled. “I don't even know why I'm talking to you. A rock has more personality.”

 

“So I'm a rock? Are you sure you're not talking about yourself?”

 

The foreign teenager threw her hands up and fell to her knees, a dejected look on her face. She panted heavily as though she had run a marathon and lost all energy in the process. “Uh, I don't feel so good.” Rosa moaned pressing a hand to her face. Her eyes widened in terror and she suddenly vomited in a corner of the cave.

 

“Are-are you okay?” The Kendo expert looked at her in concern as he forgot about their fight.

 

“I-I don't know,” she replied weakly. She sniffed the air and frowned. “Do you smell that? It's not-”

 

“Smoke. Yeah, it is.” Iori turned to the three older Chosen and gritted his teeth. “We have to wake them up and get out of here.” He threw the rest of the contents of his bottle on Taichi's face. “Taichi! Wake up!”

 

The brunette haired leader flinched then groaned in pain. “Leave me alone.”

 

“There's smoke and we have to wake up Yamato and Sora. Get up, Taichi,” the teenaged boy ordered as he shook the young man's shoulder firmly.

 

“Smoke?” The young man's brown eyes slowly opened then he suddenly gasped. “Shit! The fire! Iori…. You're here….wait. Where are we?”

 

“No time to explain.” Iori raced towards the stream, scooped up more water and splashed it on the unconscious couple as Taichi shook Yamato's shoulder. The cave rapidly began to fill with smoke, setting them into a full out panic.

 

“YAMATO!” Taichi yelled in his best friend's ear, causing the blonde to jolt awake.

 

“Damn it, Taichi. Don't do that,” Yamato growled as he grabbed his friend by the collar of his shirt and glowered at him. He paused a moment and turned his attention to the room. “ Smoke. We have to get out of here.” He quickly let go of the other man's shirt and turned to find Iori trying to awaken Sora.

 

“I can't get her to wake up. She must have fallen harder than you two,” Iori said through a clenched jaw.

 

“There's no time for that.” He shoved the teenager out of the way and scooped up the young woman in his arms. Iori spun around to get his bag and instead found a rather blanched looking Rosa holding it out to him. He silently accepted it with a nod as the others gathered their things.

 

Taichi adjusted the straps on his bag and threw Sora's on his back. “I know I've said this many times, especially since we arrived here but, RUN!”

 

The others didn't give a reason to argue as they bolted after their leader down the echoing corridors of the large cave.

 

 

*~*~*~*

 

“I don't like this place,” Catherine whispered nervously as she and the other Chosen Children walked down the musty, dim caverns inside the volcano.

 

“We don't have much other choice,” Michael said grimly as he glanced up at the stalagmites and stalactites spread around the cave like some odd decoration.

 

The ground abruptly trembled causing Mimi to shriek and grab the American's arm. “I don't like this either.”

 

“Hopefully we'll find a way out that does not deal with lava,” Takeru muttered darkly.

 

“Either way there needs to be a way out of here otherwise…” Koushiro paused unable to voice the fear that was on everyone's minds at that moment.

 

“We know,” Michael sighed. “We know.”

 

Takeru lifted his arm to look at his wrist, but realized that he no longer had his watch. “It might be getting dark soon.”

 

“Is that a bad thing?” The French girl glanced at the other people in the party.

 

“It is if we want light,” The red head replied.

“We better pick up our pace,” Michael suggested. No one argued and began walking as quickly as they could. Suddenly the cavern shook again, resulting in the Chosen Children crashing into each other and the walls as several stalactites crashed to the ground, barely missing them in the process.

 

“It's gotten worse,” Mimi cried out as she scrambled to her feet. “We're not going to be cooked, we're gonna be shish-ka-bobbed to death!”

 

The others stood up the best they could as well with the ground moderately shaking under their feet. Michael grabbed his fallen bag and yelled, “Let's get the hell out of here!”

 

Together the five Chosen raced through the winding corridors of the volcano as it continued to gyrate. The deadly hail of stalactites increased with each jolt.

 

Takeru tripped over his feet during one particularly violent quake and was stabbed in the arm by a broken chunk of stalactite. He cried out in pain and clutched the wound as he continued running.

 

“Takeru!” Catherine shouted in concern as she slowed her pace.

 

“Don't worry about me and keep going.” He hissed in agony.

 

“But-”

 

“GO!”

 

The French girl bit her lip but obliged to his request, cursing her lack of courage with each step of the way. Tears leaked from her crystal blue as she sped past the others as well, running blindly in the heat of her own inner pain.

 

“Catherine!” Mimi called out at the sight of the obviously upset teenager. She spun around to the young writer and glared. “What did you say to her?”

 

“Shut up, Mimi. I got hit by a damn stalactite and don't feel up to talking,” Takeru growled through gritted teeth.

 

The pigtailed young woman shook her head in disgust. “You still didn't need to bite her head off.”

 

“I DIDN'T BITE HER HEAD OFF!”

 

“YOU'RE BITING MINE OFF NOW!”

 

Koushiro sprinted between his two yelling friends and cleared his throat. “Um, I don't think now is the time to be fighting. We have more important things to do such as getting out of here alive.”

 

“He has a point,” Michael piped up as he dodged around a group of stalagmites.

 

Everyone stopped however at the sight of a sobbing Catherine standing practically frozen a few feet away.

 

“What's wrong, Catherine?” Mimi looked at the girl in concern.

 

The blonde sniffled as she wiped her eyes. “Dead end.”

 

The Chosen Children's blood ran cold at those two words. They glanced ahead and found what appeared to be a river of molten lava moving lazily through the rest of the cavern.

 

“Shit.” Michael cursed. He paused when a glittering object in the lava caught his attention and walked past Catherine towards the deadly river.

 

“Michael what are you doing?” Mimi cried out as she stared at her boyfriend in disbelief and fear.

 

“There's something floating in there.” He gestured towards the lava and bent down to get a better look.

 

“Are you crazy? Get back here before you get yourself killed!”

 

The American however paid no attention to the request and instead moved closer. He frowned at the odd gray stone. “It's just floating on top….It's not even being melted.”

 

“But you will be if you fall in there. Leave it alone, Michael,” Takeru said tensely.

 

Michael pursed his lips and grabbed two thin broken fragments of stalactites. Carefully he held them in his hands and using them like overly large chopsticks, pulled the stone out. “Got it!” He quickly set it on the ground to cool and made a face at the strange symbol etched on its surface. “A tree?”

 

Mimi raced towards him and appeared ready to slug him. “You idiot! What if you fell in? You would have been killed!” She stopped suddenly and gaped at the stone. “A Power Stone?”

 

“Is that what this is?”

 

The brunette withdrew hers from her bag and held it out to him. “Mine has my Crest's symbol on it. Purity.”

 

“I see.” The blonde tapped the stone, but was surprised to find it was cool to the touch. “Weird.”

 

“Can we get out of here before we have worse problems?” Koushiro shouted as the flow of lava began to increase.

 

The couple spun around and gasped then bolted back to the others as they raced back through the way they had previous come with only one hope, a way out.

 

*~*~*~*

 

Wallace could feel his heart thundering in his chest as he raced along side his other group members through the thick sand in desperation to escape from the giant wave. “I'd make a crack about surfing, but now is definitely not the time.”

 

“No kidding,” Ken gasped as they scaled up a steep hill.

 

“I am really getting tired of all of this running,” Jyou sighed as he tried to maintain his footing after falling a few times.

 

“You're in the Digital World. Get used to it.” Miyako gritted her teeth as she sunk a bit with each step.

 

Her boyfriend nodded in agreement. “And right now, it seems to be against us.”

 

“I wonder what we did to piss it off?” The American remarked as they slipped backwards a few feet on the loose sand.

 

Ken winced but said nothing, instead refocused on climbing through the large sand dune. Miyako glanced at him but bit her tongue as if she knew he was trying not to brood over his past once again.

 

“This is ridiculous. It's like trying to climb up an escalator that is going down.” The med student grumbled as he coughed up a mouthful of sand.

 

“That's hard but not impossible. You just have to be quick,” Wallace shrugged earning a bewildered look from elder of the group.

 

“You actually did that?” The bespectacled young man stared at the blonde, completely unaware that he was drifting backwards until too late. Jyou tumbled backwards down the dune and landed hard on the more firm sand as a moderately large wave splashed down upon him.

 

“Jyou!” Wallace leapt down, sliding through the thick sand as though he were surfing it, but without a board attached to his feet. Once he was through the thicker parts, he jumped down the rest of the way, landing a few inches from Jyou who was drifting out to sea.

 

“WALLACE!” Ken and Miyako quickly followed after to aid their friends.

 

Another large wave washed over the Chosen Children as the American struggled to grab the med student but was pushed away by the force of the water. “Damn it!” Wallace choked on the salt water when another wave sent his world into a spiral. He crashed hard into Ken and Miyako then scrambled back to his feet.

 

“Wallace!” Ken yanked the boy backwards and pulled him away. “The waves are getting worse and we are already a half mile or so from the sea as it is. We have to save ourselves!”

 

“But Jyou-”

 

The lavender haired girl grabbed his other arm. “We'll have to look for him later. Hopefully he's not…. Come on!” The couple dragged the blonde to the right, back towards the sparse forest for cover.

 

“It's not fair!” Wallace threw his fist into the first tree they came to as Ken and Miyako released him. “The Digital World shouldn't be like this. It's gone insane or something.”

 

“There is something very wrong here. I just don't know what or why.” The former Digimon Kaiser crossed his arms in thought and bowed his head. “I hope Jyou is okay.”

 

“He wasn't moving. We have to go back!”

 

“No!” Miyako grabbed the blonde's arm and gave him an intense look. “We can't lose anymore people. Sacrificing yourself isn't going to do any good.”

 

A shower of salt water rained down upon the Chosen soaking them even more, but none of the three remaining teens wished to comment on it and instead stood in silence in the protection of the small forest.

 

The distraught girl collapsed to the grass and pulled her knees to her chest as she shivered. “What if he died? What would we tell his family? I know digimon can't die, but those rules don't apply to us.”

 

Ken remained silent as Wallace leaned back against the tree he had punched a moment earlier.

 

“Are all of us going to be taken down one by one? First there was the earthquake where you two were nearly crushed and now this? Were we all lead here to die? Were Hikari's missing memories a trap? Are the others even still alive or are we the only ones left?” Frightened tears leaked from Miyako's brown eyes. “I can honestly say I am scared to death of what we are going to face next. Without our digimon, we don't have a chance.”

 

“Don't admit defeat until we are truly defeated.” Ken looked gently at his girlfriend as he spoke. “As for the others, they are strong and know how to survive.”

 

“So did Jyou and look at what happened to him!”

 

“We don't know if he's even dead.”

 

“HE WAS DRAGGED OUT TO SEA! HE MIGHT AS WELL BE!”

 

“But there is still a chance!” Ken retaliated passionately then shook his head and rubbed his face. “The point is he's not dead until we see a corpse. Alright?”

 

Miyako and Wallace stared at him then slowly nodded their heads.

 

“It's going to get dark. We better find a shelter.” The dark haired teen started off deeper into the forest as the other two Chosen followed closely behind.

 

*~*~*~*

 

Hikari's screams seemed to echo in Daisuke's head as they slid down the muddy slope at break neck speeds. He could barely make out her figure in the mass of dirty water covering them and practically everything in sight, but at least being able to hear her voice calmed him enough in knowing he had not lost her yet.

 

Suddenly the ride ended, vaulting the teens across deep puddles with two loud splashes.

 

“I never want to do that again.” Hikari cough, trying to clear her lungs of the muddy water she had swallowed during their short, terrifying trip. Her shoulder length hair hung in her pale face in clumps as what was once a gray skirt clung to her mud covered legs.

 

Daisuke absentmindedly ran a hand in his hair then made a face in disgust at the slimy sensation. “And here I thought just being soaked to the bone was bad.”

 

“Agreed.” The teenaged girl wrinkled her nose in displeasure. “I feel so disgusting.”

 

“Well, Mimi once said mud was good for your skin. Then again, she's Mimi.”

 

 

“But this was way too much.” Hikari spun around and wiped her dirty face, smearing the mud rather than removing it instead, then looked at her companion. “I can't even tell what color your hair is or your clothing….” She trailed off a bit her lip, her brown eyes widen at the sight of him drenched and dirty then quickly refocused her gaze on the ground. “And… we're still soaked.”

 

Daisuke nodded. “We'll dry eventually. That is as long as we stop falling in water.” He adjusted the straps on his backpack and chuckled. “Well, our bags are no longer drier than us either.”

 

“We look like mud people.”

 

“But good looking mud people.”

 

The girl spun around and stared at him in surprise. She paused a moment and tilted her head. “Are you saying I'm good looking?”

 

“I-” The soccer star's jaw dropped and he mentally kicked himself once again. He took a deep breath and shrugged nonchalantly. “Well, how good could a mud person look? And-and well, you are pretty, Hikari...you always have been.”

 

Hikari opened her mouth to reply but something took a hold of her attention out in the distance. Her eyes filled with fear once again as she became statue still.

 

Daisuke noticed the change immediately. “What's wrong?”

 

“We're not safe here.”

 

He turned around and swore at the sight of the massive volcano spewing hot molten lava as it oozed from its mouth. “Shit. This is not happening…. Damn this place!” He quickly grabbed Hikari's hand and took off in a sprint, leading her away from the impending danger as fast as he could.

 

“Where are we going?” The girl panted as she stumbled a bit over a tree root but managed to keep up with her companion.

 

“Anywhere but here.”

 

They ran for several minutes but everywhere they turned, the volcano was still a threat to their very survival. Hikari abruptly fell to her knees clutching her head and she cried out in agony.

 

“Hikari! What's wrong?” Daisuke kneeled in front of her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Talk to me.”

 

“I… don't know. My head is killing me. I don't know where this pain came from,” she replied weakly then screamed when she moved her head slightly.

 

“We can't stop for long.” The boy scanned for the volcano and cursed as the river of lava was growing nearer. They were a good mile off, but the molten rock was quickly gaining on them. “Damn it.” He pulled the tormented girl over his shoulder and raced into the dark forest as fast as he could with the extra weight.

 

Off to the left Daisuke could see a tall looming mountain. Without a second thought he headed towards it deciding that it may be their only chance to survive the deadly lava. “Hikari, I think we'll be okay. Hikari?” He lifted the girl slightly to find her eyes closed and her face oddly unreadable. The teenaged boy sighed and continued on his way.

 

*~*~*~*

 

The scratching of the a piece of chalk set to the blackboard sounded like a light muffle as Hikari stared at the smooth surface of her desk. Unconsciously she tugged at the hem of her green skirt as she glanced towards a spiky haired boy who seemed to have been trying to catch her attention from afar. Suddenly something brushed against her arm. She looked up to find a pair of dark eyes gazing down at her.

 

“Ignore him,” the young man snorted.

 

Hikari opened her mouth to say something but he captured it in a forceful kiss. The back of her head hit the desk of the person seated behind her.

 

“What are you doing? Stop it, Hikari!” A girl with lavender hair frowned in disapproval at the girl.

 

The brunette however gave no reply, her mind was too busy reeling from the kiss and she realized that she probably couldn't respond if she wanted to.

 

“Pathetic.” Someone whispered from the back row as other students turned away

in either disgust or anger.

 

Wait…. What am I doing? Something's wrong… I… As if her senses had awakened from a long sleep she shoved hard against the young man and found herself sitting on a large desk still clothed in the odd green sailor style school uniform. In the back of her mind she could recall a blue one with white lining, yet this one seemed vaguely familiar as well.

 

She touched her head then blinked in confusion at finding herself alone. Hikari slid off the desk and walked briskly out of the classroom to find herself in a massive corridor with a large stone fountain in the center. She headed slowly towards it as if she were drawn to the impressive piece of art that resembled stacks of bowls with odd symbols etched on them. The sounds of her footsteps echoing off the walls came to a sudden halt at the ghastly sight of red water pooling around her white sneakers. Her breath caught as she looked from her feet and back to the fountain then screamed. Lying in the middle of the blood soaked fountain was the same spiky haired boy. A simple pair of goggles was wrapped tightly around his neck as blood drizzled down, staining the crisp white shirt he wore.

 

A cruel chuckle from the shadows made her blood run as cold as ice. She spun around but an unknown force pinned her arms to her sides and pressed a cool steel object against her throat.

 

“You should learn to keep your nose out of people's business, girl,” the masculine voice growled threateningly in her ear.

 

“But I-”

 

“You weren't supposed to snoop around. You've been so much trouble and should pay.”

 

Hikari struggled relentlessly against her attacker. “You killed everything. You took away everything I had.”

 

“I'm not the one you should be crying to. After all, you never listened to my tears.”

 

“Finally the realization of his voice hit her like a freight train. “Nitoni…”

 

“Took you long enough.” He scoffed slicing into her throat slightly, spreading droplets of blood on the girl's clothing.

 

“I did too listen! You were the one that was lying and cheating and full out using me.” Tears fell from Hikari's eyes as she began to feel light-headed. “I tried, but you are the one that should be apologizing to me.”

 

Nitoni sliced into the girl's throat even deeper. “Liar. You never cared about anything.”

 

“I DID TOO!”

 

“STOP THIS AT ONCE!”

 

A bright light flooded throughout the room as a soft yet serene voice rang in the air. Hikari spun around and was bewildered to find Nitoni was nowhere to be seen. She turned towards the fountain and gasped at the sight of a mysterious person dressed in a white cloak with their face completely hidden moving towards her. “Who…are you?”

 

The white clad figure laughed lightly. “Be safe and soon you'll find out.”

 

Just as Hikari moved closer to person, the floor under her feet fell away and she was once again falling into nothingness.

 

*~*~*~*

 

The teenaged girl's eyes flew open as she gave out a blood curdling scream that would make a banshee proud.

 

Daisuke jumped in surprise, nearly dropping Hikari and falling to the ground himself. He secured his grip then set her gently on the ground. “Are you okay?”

 

Hikari looked at him sheepishly and slowly nodded. “Sorry. I didn't mean to scream in your ear…”

 

“It's okay. Jun has done worse damage,” he chuckled.

 

“Are we safe?”

 

The boy grimaced as he pointed towards the rushing lava. “I'm sorry. I tried but….I'm sorry.”

 

“Um. We have bigger problems…. And this time, I think it's my fault.”

 

“What?” He turned around and gasped at the sight of a huge cloud of snow charging straight at them from the mountain. “Crap. Um, so Hikari, would you rather be cooked or frozen?”

 

“We have a better chance with the avalanche than the volcano.”

 

“I'd have to agree with you there.”

 

The two teens exchanged glances. Hikari grabbed Daisuke's hand and together they raced for the mountain.

 

*~*~*~*

Author's Notes: So sorry this took a little longer than normal. I have a lot of stuff going on this month with the holidays and all.

 

On regards to this chapter…. well, Hikari's dream sequence was just plain weird, but it works I guess. I was stuck with what to do with her and then that pops in my head. Well I hope you all enjoyed my newest chapter in what is going to be probably my longest fanfiction series ever.