Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Drifting Pieces ❯ Abstract ( Chapter 19 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Author's Note: We’re almost at the end. Thank you all for sticking with me!

This chapter was hard to write for so many reasons. Things get a little strange here, but that’s just the way I like them. Still not sure if I like certain parts, but they work well enough.
Please review!


Chapter 19: Abstract

Takeru awoke to find himself in a field.

For a moment, he lay disoriented as he stared up at the sky, watching as it swirled in shades of gray and black.

In the distance, he could hear the sounds of waves flowing in and out hypnotically.

Takeru breathed in deeply, wincing at the stale and dead taste of the air, and then sat up.

In the distance, he could see the inky black of the ocean as it moved along the black sands and crashed on the crumbling cliffs. He recognized the area from his first venture there to rescue Hikari.

He half expected to see the creatures crawling over the rocks and cliffs, calling their master’s name as the monster rose up out of the water once more.

But this wasn’t the same. This time, it felt different. The world felt older.

Takeru slowly got to his feet and looked around the field as if expecting to find the answers scattered about, hidden in the tall dead grass. Away from the cliffs at the very end of the field stood a densely packed forest, dark and ominous as it seemed to divide the world in two. Something deep inside told him that he didn’t want to see that other half of the world. Not if he didn’t have to.

He took a step forward towards the cliffs and froze as something crunched under his shoe. “What…?”

The answer presented itself, though it felt like he was asking the wrong question, emerging from the grass and carrying the scent of death up around him.

“Flowers?” The field was filled to the brim with tightly closed flower buds filling the space between the tall blades of grass.

“They’re waiting.” Kaiser lay a few feet away, half buried by the buds. “This world is dead, waiting for life to return.”

“Was it always like this?” Takeru licked his lips and looked out over towards the edge of the field, finding a sheer cliff that looked down on the beach.

“I don’t think so.” Kaiser lifted a hand to the sky, reaching for something just out of sight. “I think at one point, it was very much alive.”

Takeru leaned down and delicately picked up the crushed flower bud. It quickly fell apart in his hand and blew away on the wind like ash. “This isn’t the same. It doesn’t really feel like the world Hikari and I came to before, but it all looks the same.”

“The world Hikari went to the first time was on the verge of death. The world I banished Daemon to was on its last gasps. I don’t think this world moves at the same pace as the other two.” Kaiser sat up and looked around as if in a daze.

“What about when you came here? The first time. What was it like then?” Takeru carefully moved closer to the cliff and leaned over the edge, looking down at the beach fully. The cliff didn’t seem safe enough to chance. One wrong hold and it was likely to crumble away and send him crashing to his death.

Kaiser laughed lightly and got to his feet. “That was a very long time ago.” He moved to stand beside Takeru and looked down over the edge. “Back then… This world was still breathing. It wasn’t new by any regard, but it wasn’t gasping for breath like it was the second time I came here.”

Takeru looked over at Kaiser then slowly backed away from the edge. “How long were you here?”

“I don’t know.” Kaiser turned his gaze to the ocean, his eyes tracing the horizon distantly. “I remember looking out at the water. And feeling all the heat being sucked out of me… It was so vast. So open and barren.”

Kaiser held out a hand, his fingers reaching as he traced the waves in the air. “I could feel it calling and who was I to fight it? I was so small… I waded in and asked for control.”

Takeru put a hand on Kaiser’s shoulder and gently pulled him away from the edge. “That was when it changed your digivice, wasn’t it?”

Kaiser compliantly took a few steps back and smiled at Takeru. “Yes. That was when I decided to take control of the Digital World. I think some time passed there, but I can’t say how long or what I did. The next thing I recall, there was a gate and I was able to travel to the real Digital World. I think you know the story from there…”

Kaiser turned back to the beach and frowned as he focused on the sands this time. “What if Ken’s still down there? What if Ken never left this place and he’s still down there half buried in the sand?”

He took a step towards the cliff again, making Takeru’s nerves go on edge.

“Was Ken even here to begin with? I’m not Ken. I’m not even Kaiser. I’m not even human.” Kaiser laughed, this time sounding forced. “He isn’t real either. The other one. He was never real. None of this is real.”

“Of course you were here.” Takeru frowned. “You took over the Digital World. You enslaved and tortured all those Digimon. How can you say that none of it is real?” It was hard to keep the accusation out of his voice. This was a song he’d heard before. One in which the Kaiser pretended it was all a game and millions suffered because of his delusions.

“Was that me?” Kaiser looked over at him. “Was that even the boy that came here? The thing that left with darkness in his heart wasn’t even human.”

“Of course that was you.” Takeru sighed in frustration. “What else would it have been?”

“Just imagination trying to be more…” Kaiser closed his eyes and breathed slowly. “Ken exists because Daisuke believes in him. I exist because there was once a boy named Osamu. What if I wake up tomorrow and Osamu is still there? Would I do it all over again? Would I kill him again? Knowing what I know now… Would I stop him? Or would I let him step off into oblivion. Would I join him?”

Kaiser turned away from the edge and started to walk across the field.

“You didn’t kill Osamu.” Takeru followed after him. “It’s not your fault that he died.”

Kaiser laughed, though he did not smile this time. “Have you ever been angry at your brother?”

“Of course. We’re brothers.” Takeru kept pace with Kaiser, though he found himself struggling to walk around the flowers, not wanting to crush more than he had to. Kaiser moved without care, leaving a trail of trampled flowers behind him, dried up and black petals scattering in the air as their black remains withered and rotted away into ash.

“Then I’m to assume he’s wronged you before. Done something that you didn’t think would ever be undone in the heat of the moment. Perhaps you said something intending to cut to his core and make him feel terrible for the way he’s treated you.”

“A few times… I felt he wasn’t treating me like he treated the others. He treated me like a child by trying to shield me from everything. I said some things that weren’t very nice… That made him question if he was a good brother.” Takeru looked down remembering that insecure time in their lives. The look on Yamato’s face when he’d realized how jealous he was of Taichi… The way he’d left without a word… The way he’d come back with the intent to cause pain… “We got over it. All brothers do that. They hurt, but they don’t really mean it.”

Kaiser glanced over at him then shook his head. “Do you think it was fair for the Digital World to call me and not my brother?”

Takeru stopped dead in his tracks.

Kaiser continued on for a few more paces then slowed to a stop, though he didn’t turn. “You and your brother obviously had problems… But you loved him. You idolized him. Your brother had problems with his self image. You both came here. The Digital World helped you both. It let you grow and made you closer. It made you trust one another, gave you friends, helped you to deal with things that you shouldn’t have been dealing with…”

Kaiser clenched his fists and Takeru could see them trembling as his fingernails cut into his palm.

“Yes…” Takeru answered softly. “We were together when it called us… Perhaps it was just easier to take us both…” But even as he said it, he knew the flaw in that logic.

“Were Hikari and Taichi together? Was that easier?”

“No.”

“Then tell me…” Kaiser’s voice trembled and Takeru understood a terrible truth that he had never wanted to face. He could see himself back in the dark base when he had faced Kaiser for the first time… When Kaiser had first faced off against Yamato and Taichi… He could see everything and he braced himself for the impact.

“Why was I the only one?” Kaiser turned around, tears overflowing and his face scrunched up in rage. “Why was Osamu left behind?!”

His voice cut across the field, lifted up by the wind, and echoed across the cliffs.

When no answer came, Kaiser sank to his knees, his body wracked with silent sobs.

Cautiously, Takeru moved forward and kneeled before the Kaiser, placing a hand on his shoulder lightly. “Ken… I’m so sorry…”

Kaiser looked up and Takeru was startled to find for the very first time that he honestly could not tell the difference between Ken and Kaiser. The boy before him was lost and alone. There was no one there to guide him and there hadn’t been for a very long time.

“While I was in there growing up and becoming Ken… Osamu was out there suffering and being forced into a role he didn’t even want. He knew what it was… Of course he knew what the digivice was. He could feel it just like I could… When I came back, he knew that he had been denied his one and only chance to get away from this life. His one chance to become something other than perfect.” Kaiser’s tears gathered at his chin before forming into large drops that fell to soak into the dead ground below.

Takeru shook his head. “It’s not your fault… The digital world should have called you both. You had nothing to do with it…”

As he spoke, Kaiser slowly got to his feet. “Is that what you think?” He wiped his face angrily and looked up at Takeru fully. “It must be so wonderful to exist in your world of Hope, Takaishi.”  

Kaiser turned and walked away, faster this time. “You should keep up, Takeru. You don’t want to be here when he arrives.”

Takeru blinked after the other before sighing and running after him. “Who are you talking about?”

Even as he spoke, a great sense of dread was starting to fill him.

Glancing back, he could see the place where Kaiser’s tears had fallen. There was a black dead patch where the flowers and grass had been crushed under their combined weight from kneeling.

“Our dear friend on the other side. The one who calls himself Ken.” Kaiser didn’t stop, moving faster as he neared the edge of the field.

As Takeru watched, the dead patch started to spread outward. It was slow at first, like water bubbling up from a hidden underground well, then spreading out and growing until it swept across the field with alarming speed. Flowers shriveled up and collapsed as they were touched by the blackness and quickly turned to ash.

Takeru spun around and broke into a run, following after Kaiser as they made for the edge where the field met the trees.

Takeru caught up easily, his long legs sprinting as he uncaringly trampled the remaining flowers. Together, they moved in unison as they attempted to outrun what Takeru could only think of as death.

They hit the tree line and didn’t stop. Behind them, Takeru could hear the crack and crash of trees rapidly withering and crashing to the ground. As they ran, all Takeru could focus on was the complete lack of the sounds of life. There were no birds taking flight as their nests were destroyed. There were no squirrels, no deer, no insects… There was nothing…

Panic hit as Takeru caught sight of the forest coming to an end before them. There was a patch of grass and then emptiness.

“Kaiser!” Takeru called out breathlessly. “Kaiser, what do we do?”

A wild and winded laugh came from his left as Kaiser easily moved between the trees. “Don’t stop!”

He wanted to argue, but he didn’t have the time. All he could do was hope that there was something beyond that cliff that cut off into nothing.

They broke the tree line together and moved across the grass in just a few long strides.

Takeru closed his eyes as he felt his foot hit the edge of the cliff and then push off.

The air was cold as they fell. It tore at them, ripping into every vulnerable spot and cutting at their soft flesh.

A wild thought crossed Takeru’s mind and he felt like laughing. This is it. This is where I die.

He forced his eyes open and gasped out in alarm. There was no cliff. There was no dead and dying forest or field of flowers. There were no rocks or sandy beaches. There was only blackness.

Takeru opened his mouth to scream—

“Looks like you had another bad dream.”

Takeru sat up in bed, gasping and dripping with sweat. The room was in shadows, the city lights making his bed appear gray and blue as they passed through the blinds. The only real source of light came from a small and dim desk light on the other side of the room.

“Have many more like that and the neighbors are going to start complaining.”

Takeru rubbed at his eyes with the palms of his hands, desperately trying to get those terrible images out of his mind. All a dream. It had all been just a dream.  

“I’m home.” He mumbled and ran his hands up through his hair, pushing it out of his face tiredly. Home with Yamato… But that didn’t feel right. He hadn’t slept in the same room as his brother since before the divorce. And if he was home, why did the bed feel different? Why was the window on the wrong side?

“What time is it?” He waited for his eyes to adjust as he looked around blearily. His voice didn’t sound right either. It sounded higher and softer. It sounded scared…

There was a sigh and the sound of a chair pushing back as the other got up and padded softly across the room towards the bed. “It’s late. Last I looked, it was almost two in the morning. You should go back to sleep.”

The bed shifted as his brother sat down and moved to untwist the blankets for him.

Takeru’s eyes adjusted at last and he almost wished they hadn’t. Kaiser! Spiked hair, glasses, and sharp eyes leaned over him to adjust the pillows.

But no, that wasn’t right. This boy was older and bigger. His clothes were different and his facial features were sharper.

“Why are you still up?” Takeru had no control over his voice or movements as he rubbed at his eyes again. “Did you have a bad dream too?”

The other looked at Takeru fully and it was easy to see the dark circles under his eyes. This boy was beyond tired. “No, Ken… I’m afraid that I haven’t been to bed at all yet.”

Ken? Takeru looked down at his small hands and then back up at the other boy, catching a dark reflection of himself in the other’s glasses. Oh god, I’m Ken. This must be-

“Osamu…” He heard Ken’s voice quietly plead. “Are you studying? Tomorrow is Saturday. You promised…”

Osamu closed his eyes for a moment and Takeru could feel the barely contained rage as it radiated off of the older boy. Ken, on the other hand, was just too young to understand. “You promised…”

Osamu let out a slow and steady breath then looked back at Ken. “Yes. I did promise, didn’t I? Mustn’t disappoint mom. Get you out of her hair for a few hours while she goes and brags to the neighbors about her perfect and considerate son… Never mind that I still have to study. Never mind that I still have to get a perfect score on the Monday exam. Be a perfect brother, be a perfect son, be a perfect student. I did promise, didn’t I?”

Osamu got up and walked back towards his desk. “Go to sleep, Ken.”

“I’m scared.” Ken’s voice was small and Takeru felt a great pain of pity as he watched the other’s posture stiffen.

“Right… The nightmare.” Osamu sighed and adjusted his glasses. “What was it about?”

Ken pulled his knees to his chest and sunk down under the blankets slightly. “The desert. There was a monster in the desert and it hurt someone.”

Ryo. Takeru drew the conclusion that this must be after Ken’s experience in the digital world. Half remembered dreams… How many nightmares did you have after you came back?

Osamu walked back to the bed and moved to gently push Ken back down against his pillow and then tuck the blankets in around him. “This is the part where I tell you that there’s no such thing as monsters. That there’s nothing to be afraid of. That you’re safe here.”

Ken looked up at Osamu with wide eyes. “The monsters aren’t real?”

Osamu looked down and Takeru felt a flash of fear run through him. Don’t… Don’t do it…

“Monsters are real, Ken. They’re everywhere. Everyone has monsters.”

“Even you?” Ken pulled his blanket up to his nose fearfully.

“Especially me. We all have to live accepting the monsters inside of us clawing to get out and consume us.” Osamu laughed to himself. “I think I let mine out years ago.”

“Osamu…” Ken couldn’t believe that his brother had monsters. He looked the same. He looked like his big strong and perfect brother, just as he always did. Maybe Osamu was just tired. “I don’t think you’re a monster.”

Osamu looked at Ken for a moment. “Give it time, Ken… Someday, you’ll look back on me and only see the monsters.”

Osamu ruffled Ken’s hair then walked back to his desk, sitting down and hunching over a text book. “Go to sleep, Ken. Dream of better things. Tomorrow will be better, if only for a little while.”

Ken lay in bed watching Osamu work for a while longer, before his eyelids grew heavy and slowly closed.

Takeru was once more drifting in darkness as he caught dim images that floated in and out of focus. There was sand and the friendly face of a boy he didn’t really recognize. There was laughter and cheering and the voice of Wormmon lovingly urging him along.

A lot of it didn’t make sense, as dreams tend to jumble and skip, but there was a great sense of loss for something that Ken couldn’t really put his finger on.

“Wake up.” Ken’s eyes flew open to find Osamu cleaning up and organizing his desk. “Go get dressed. I let you sleep in and now we’re running behind. Mom’s not going to be happy if we make her late.”

Takeru got the distinct feeling that Osamu had not gone to bed at all that night as Ken slowly climbed out of bed and moved to get ready.

He had time to wonder why he was there as Ken moved about his morning routine. What had happened to them as they fell? Was he really inside of Ken? Were they in the past or were these just memories?

While trying to figure it all out, he took in the images of Ken’s world around him. The overly neat and empty bedroom that was devoid of toys and games. The bland decor of the hallways and bathroom. The lack of family photos on the walls and the simplistic living room furniture that showed no signs of wear from two little boys running or jumping on them.

Takeru felt ashamed as he was shown how Ken’s parents ignored him at the breakfast table, each doting on Osamu… But their doting wasn’t on the boy himself. They asked about his studies. They asked if he was understanding what he was learning. They talked about advancing his studies past what the school was offering. They talked about how the neighbors had asked what career Osamu was thinking of taking. They smiled and boasted proudly about the class ranks, which had Osamu at the very top… No one asked Osamu how he was feeling. No one asked him why he looked so tired. No one asked him what he wanted to do on his day off.

At the end, Osamu politely got up and guided Ken out of the apartment. “Come on, Ken. Mom has to be somewhere and Dad has work. Let’s go to the park, okay?”

Ken looked lovingly up at his brother, but Takeru could feel the jealousy as his parents each bid Osamu goodbye and wished him a good day while simply telling Ken to ‘mind your big brother’.

Together, they walked down the steps and headed to the park. They were silent as they moved, Ken looking around and taking in all the sights and sounds while Osamu kept his focus on his goal.

They were almost to the park when Osamu started to slow down.

Takeru focused in as they approached a busy intersection and waited at a cross walk. It can’t be.

Ken looked past the street to the main goal of the park, his eyes picking out the best places to play games or run around. He reached up to take Osamu’s hand, squeezing tightly in preparation to cross the street just as he was taught.

Osamu’s hand squeezed back half heartedly and Takeru could sense that the older brother was watching the cars speeding past. His eyes following each one, judging… waiting… No. Not here. It can’t be here…

Osamu closed his eyes tiredly and his shoulders sagged. “Ken…” His voice cracked.

Oh god. No… No!

Ken looked up adoringly at his big brother, but Osamu only shook his head and looked back out at the traffic, his features pulled tight in conflict.

Two lights down, a large van was stopped at a red light. When it got going again, it would hit all green lights and be up to speed as it attempted to reach the end of the street without having to stop again.

Osamu’s gaze shifted back to the street and zeroed in on the van as it started to move forward again. Osamu tensed for a moment before completely relaxing. The conflict was over.

“Wait here, Kenny-boy. Wait here.” His hand left Ken’s.

“Osamu? Where are you going?” Ken looked up with large eyes, his hand suddenly feeling cold. Panic surged through him as he thought of the prospect of being left alone out in the city for even just a few seconds… But Osamu was smiling.

The smile was so peaceful… So beautiful that Ken couldn’t help but feel a part of that peace as he watched his brother.

“Just… Wait here…” Osamu moved closer to the curb, his eyes tracking the van.

Ken! Takeru had to stop this. If he was here, truly here, maybe he could do something. Maybe he could reach out or warn him…

“But Osamu…” Ken looked up at the still red ‘Don’t Walk’ sign then back over to his brother and that beautiful smile. “Osamu?”

He saw the van speeding down the road and something clicked.

Time seemed to slow down as Osamu’s feet left the safety of the curb. “Osamu lookout!”

Osamu was in the street in one stride, turning to face Ken with the smile still across his face. The Van was just a few feet away, the driver looking up at the traffic light and hoping that it would stay green just long enough for him to make it through. Ken was looking up at his brother’s face in horror, frozen to the spot as he saw it all layout before him.

Time froze.

Takeru suddenly found himself standing next to Ken and disoriented from the change in perspective.

“Here we are…” Kaiser stood on the other side of Ken, his eyes on Osamu sadly. “Where it all started. Or maybe it’s where it all ended.”

“Why am I here?” Takeru swallowed hard and looked up at Kaiser. “Why are you showing me this?”

Kaiser smiled and looked over at him. “Because I want you to understand.”

“Understand what?” Takeru did his best not to look at Osamu or Ken. He didn’t think he could handle that smile anymore.

“My choice.” Kaiser closed his eyes then looked back out at Osamu.

Takeru slowly followed Kaiser’s gaze from the truck to the brother then back to Ken. Ken looking up at his brother’s face. Ken watching it all layout… Ken…calculating.
 
Takeru whipped his head from truck, to brother, to Ken, then back to truck. Understanding dawned on him and he felt his stomach clench.

“You had time…” If Ken had started running right now, he could have pushed Osamu out of the way. As small as his legs were, they could have at least carried him to Osamu. The momentum would have slammed into the older boy and knocked him just clear of the truck at the last possible second… But would Ken have made it? Would Ken have been hit instead?

His stomach heaved. “You would have died.”

“On impact.” Kaiser stepped out into the street and stood before his brother. They looked the same, save for the glasses. The same face, the same eyes, the same hair… But Kaiser appeared just a tad taller… Just a tad softer in complexion.

“Why me?” Takeru choked out. “Why show this to me? Why not Daisuke?”

“Daisuke wouldn’t understand. Daisuke is courage. The choice here would have been obvious, but not the consequences. He would have said pointless things about me being too young. Me not understanding. Me doing what I had to do with no time to really think about it.” Kaiser reached up and ghosted a finger across his brother’s glasses. “You’re hope. Choices like this aren’t as biased. This is the truth that Ken has yet to realize. The truth that Ken refuses to acknowledge.”

Takeru looked away. “You didn’t want to die. It’s not hard to understand that. You didn’t know it would kill him. You were scared. Damn it, you were eight! What were you supposed to do?!”

“Do you know what I was thinking about right now?” Kaiser looked away. “It was the smile… I had never seen him look so relaxed or peaceful. Two days ago, I had wished that Osamu would disappear so that I could have all the love and attention. So that people would finally notice me for a change. Two days ago, I told my brother that I hated him and that I wanted him gone…”

Kaiser slowly walked back out of the street and took up his place once more next to the younger Ken, turning to look at his brother.

“In that second when I realized my options all I could think was: ‘I can see your monster’.”

Time started up again and Takeru clenched his eyes shut, turning his face away as he heard the sickening crunch, the screech of brakes, the thud of a body hitting the ground and skidding to a stop, and the screams of bystanders.

Takeru kept his eyes closed tightly as he felt the world moving around him.

He kept his eyes closed as the sounds of chaos faded into the sounds of the ocean and the wind. He kept his eyes closed as the hard ground under his feet shifted into soft and uneven sand. He kept his eyes closed as he felt the spray of a cold and fine mist lashing at his cheeks.

It wasn’t until a splash of water from a larger wave hit him that he opened his eyes at last.

He was on the beach near the water, Kaiser nowhere in sight. The sky was black with smoke, ashes raining down around him like so much black snow.

Up on the cliffs, the world was blindingly white with fire.

The air shimmered beside him and there was a split second when he could swear that he could almost hear Hikari’s voice calling out.

Any thoughts of trying to respond were wiped clear from his head as Daisuke suddenly materialized out of thin air and crashed into him, sending them both tumbling into the sand.

“Takeru? Where’s Ken?!” Daisuke frantically looked around then up at the burning cliffs. “What happened?”

Takeru looked up at the burning cliffs then slowly lay back in the sand fully, looking up at the sky. “I met a monster.”

--

Daisuke had never been to the Dark World before. He had heard Hikari, Miyako, Takeru, and Ken talk about it on many occasions. He had even seen it once when Ken had opened the gate to banish Daemon.

Even with all of that, he could never have imagined just how strange it was to actually be there. Colors were not just washed out, but utterly grayed out. Even normal sounds seemed to be muffled by the sound of the waves. It was like living in a black and white TV that was riddled by static.

The wind across the waves was cold and he could imagine that the water was even colder. Even the sand felt cold and unyielding under his feet. This place was wrong in so many ways that Daisuke wondered if it had ever been more than it was.

To his side, Takeru was sitting in the sand looking sick and lost. Now and then, he would glance up at the burning cliffs and then nervously look back down at the sand.

Daisuke wanted to press and find out what he had missed. He wanted to know where Kaiser and Ken were, but he felt that Takeru most likely didn’t know.

Daisuke looked up at the burning cliffs, shielding his eyes from the falling ash. Something told him that the fire would not last much longer and that once the fire had died, he needed to be up there.

Till then, he tried to focus on what Hikari had told him.

“Before I came here, Hikari told me that we needed to find someone. That they were buried in the sand and that he wasn’t two but three.” Daisuke looked around at the beach, wondering if he was supposed to just pick a spot and start digging or if it would be obvious where he needed to look.

Takeru stayed where he was, silent and lost in thought.

Daisuke frowned. “Hey, Takeru. It’d be great if you could help. I don’t even know where to look and you were always real good at solving those real cryptic riddles.”

Takeru didn’t move. He didn’t even look up from his spot in the sand.

“Takeru!” Daisuke snapped, hardly in the mood to deal with one more problem. “What is wrong with you? You’ve been after me and Kaiser since this problem started, desperately wanting to help! Now you’re here and you can’t do more than just sit there feeling sorry for yourself!”

Takeru sighed and looked up. “Everyone wants to be wanted, Daisuke. To be needed. To have an important role to play… To be important to someone. I thought I understood my role. I thought that I was meant to help. Then Kaiser finally pulls me in and I think that maybe I’m his someone. That I was meant to help him…”

Daisuke stopped and looked down at Takeru sympathetically. Early on as the leader of their group, Daisuke had struggled with finding his own role and someone that would actually listen to him and let him help.

“It was cruel. I think that was why he did it. To put me in my place. He showed me something, Daisuke. He let me see something that I wish I had never seen. I can only hope to God that someday I will be able to forget what I saw. How am I supposed to help him when I can’t even deal with facing what happened myself?” Takeru looked angry, frustrated, and scared. “I can’t help him.”

Daisuke slowly moved to take a seat next to Takeru. “Sometimes the best thing you can do for someone is to understand that you were not the one meant to save them. Sometimes, we just have to accept that maybe we’re not the ones that are meant to do the saving… But that we were meant to be saved.”

Takeru looked over at Daisuke. “Then why am I here?”

Daisuke shrugged. “Maybe you’re trying to save the wrong person?”

Takeru opened his mouth then froze. “Buried in the sand…” With that, he scrambled to his feet and started to frantically look around at the sand. “He said it was somewhere around here… When he first came to this world!”

Daisuke blinked. “What?”

“Hikari said that he was buried in the sand! Earlier, Kaiser said that when he came here the very first time, it was along this strip of the beach. Don’t you get it? He’s still here! He’s really three!” Takeru took off towards a place where the beach pushed in further to the water.

Daisuke didn’t get it, but he trusted that Takeru would understand Hikari a lot better than he did.

He took off after the blond boy and skidded to a stop when Takeru started to frantically look around at the sand, kicking and stooping to dig at it every now and then.

Daisuke shrugged and copied him, taking a few steps then stooping to dig. “Who are we looking for? Who’s still here?”

“Ken.” Takeru slowly moved closer to the water. “Not the one that split from Kaiser… The first Ken. The real Ken.”

“What? What are you talking about?” Daisuke stood up, dusting his hands off in annoyance. Hadn’t he just spent the last two days trying to convince Ken and Kaiser that they were one and the same? That they were supposed to be whole?

Takeru glanced up from digging. “Don’t you get it? It’s why they couldn’t come back together in the other worlds. You can’t rebuild a shattered glass if it’s missing pieces!”

Daisuke flushed in embarrassment. How could he have been so blind? “He split into three pieces. That’s why they’re so unstable.”

The closer they got, the harder it was for Kaiser and Ken to keep control. One would bleed into the other, but there was still that missing piece that wouldn’t let them stay together. When Kaiser disappeared, that other side of Ken had emerged as dominant without any influence from the other two to contain him.

“Takeru?” Daisuke slowly went back to kicking through the sand. “When you and Kaiser first got here… Was he different?”

Takeru stopped and looked up, dusting clumps of wet sand off of his knees. “I didn’t really get to spend a lot of time with him before… But yeah. I guess he was different. For starters, he didn’t try to kill me.”

“Kaiser isn’t the murderous one.” Daisuke muttered and kept his head down. “What was he like?”

“He… He was emotional. He was sad and angry. He… He talked about his brother. Showed me what happened. He-”

“Showed you?” Daisuke wasn’t finding anything in the sand and was now just walking around kicking at it discouragingly.

“Yeah. He showed me.” Takeru turned towards the ocean and moved in closer until his feet started to get wet.

“This isn’t getting us anywhere!” Daisuke kicked a mound of sand and looked around angrily. “We could be out here for days tossing around this stuff and we might not even be in the right area! How deep are we even supposed to dig?”

“I don’t know.” Takeru sighed and rubbed his temples. “I know it’s around here. I just need to figure out the right location.”

“While we’re wasting time down here playing in the sand, Ken and Kaiser are out there somewhere!” Daisuke looked back up at the cliffs, noting how the flames seemed to be dying down as they burned through their fuel.

“They should be fine. Kaiser didn’t really seem like much of a problem here. He almost seemed a little out of it, really. I’m sure they’ll be fine if we let them be for a while.” Takeru looked out at the ocean and hesitantly took a few more steps closer until the water came up to his mid calves.

“No, you don’t get it.” Daisuke sighed, not really wanting to get into it. It only seemed fair since Takeru didn’t really want to talk about his own experience with Kaiser. “Ken’s going to kill him. He thinks if he takes the seed, then he can make the flower bloom.”

“What? Why would he want to do that?” Takeru appeared to be sinking slowly as he stepped into a softer patch of sand.  

“I don’t know!” Daisuke looked out at the ocean. “Let’s just say that when you two disappeared, Ken sort of… Lost it a little. He’s not Ken. That’s all I know. He’s not Ken.”

Daisuke, a boy that was known for never giving up, for fighting when everything was against him and always coming out on top, was starting to feel like he wasn’t going to win this one.

“Daisuke?” Takeru was looking down at the sand as the waves washed in and out steadily. “I… I think I found something.”

Daisuke ran over, nearly stumbling and falling several times as the waves crashed in and bit at his legs.

Takeru was already digging by the time he got there. He could just barely make out a small and pale hand poking through the sand.

Daisuke didn’t hesitate as he dove in, digging furiously and pulling on the hand to try and get the rest of the body up and above the waves.

How was this even possible? How long had he been here? Was he even still alive?

Every time they gained an inch, the water and sand would suck back down, refusing to give up its long buried treasure.

“This isn’t working!” Daisuke kept a firm grip on the hand, shivering at how cold the fingers were. “We’re just going to have to pull him out!”

Takeru dropped to his knees and reached down around the half submerged arm, struggling not to get a face-full of the inky black water. He slipped his hands down into the sink hole until he found purchase. “Pull!”

Together, they both pulled, slipping and falling over each other as they fought against the ever shifting sands.

At last, the body shifted and dark hair caked with sand rose up out of the water.

They didn’t stop pulling until they had pulled the small boy clear of the water all together and had all collapsed on the beach.

Takeru and Daisuke looked across at each other, both wondering the same thing: Is he alive?

Takeru moved first, laying the boy flat on his back and tilting his head back. He leaned down and placed his ear to the boy’s lips and nose to check for any signs of breathing.

Daisuke swallowed hard as he waited. There was no telling how long the boy had been buried. For all they knew, he had been down there for years being preserved by the sheer will of this place.

The boy’s eyes flew open and he gasped in sharply, scaring the other two to their core as he sputtered and clawed at the sand.

“The flower…” He wheezed and rolled to his side, hacking up old sand and muddy water.

“Easy… Just relax and breathe.” Takeru patted the boy on the back gently.

“The flower…” The boy repeated and looked up at Daisuke with the same eyes Daisuke had been looking into just moments before he had come to this place.

“What about the flower?” Daisuke couldn’t help but ask as he watched they very young Ken Ichijouji struggle to sit up.

“It’s dying.” Everyone looked up in alarm as Kaiser spoke from just up the beach.

Daisuke took a defensive stance between himself and the small boy. “What do you mean it’s dying? Ken told me that it was still sucking energy from you all and was trying to remerge.”

Behind him, Takeru was clutching at the boy’s hand tightly and trying to keep him from getting up.

“Ken is wrong. Not exactly a surprise for me, but still disappointing.” Kaiser smiled, though to Daisuke, it looked forced. “Don’t worry about him, Takeru. The boy is stronger than he looks. He’s survived this long, hasn’t he? Though, he is fairly new.”

Daisuke was getting tired of the games and the riddles. He was in no mood to waste time trying to guess just what the Kaiser was talking about when Ken -all of Ken- was in danger.“What do you mean he’s new? Ken said-”

Kaiser rubbed at his temples and made an irritated sound. “Oh to live in your little world of easy answers. Nothing is black and white, my dear Daisuke. Why do you think that this world exists in shades of gray? There are just so many variables…”

“I was created when Ken and Kaiser came through.” The younger boy spoke up softly. “Ken’s the one that did it, really… He split the spore down again. I think he’s been trying to split it from the start but was unable to do it fully until just recently. I didn’t become aware until you pulled me free.”

Kaiser smiled. “It would seem Ken is breaking down. How many times do you think the spore can be divided before it dies? Two is fine. A little bit of glue can solve that… But three?”

“Why would Ken want to split it down again?” Takeru spoke up softly. “He’s dividing up his personality. His…”

“Oh god.” Daisuke now understood why he had felt so strongly that the Ken in the Digital World was not his Ken anymore.

“I was wondering what it would take before your dull little light bulb went off.” Kaiser shook his head.

Kaiser was already a large chunk of the persona that Ken despised. Why would Ken decide to break off another part? Especially if this was the part that Ken had once so desperately wanted to get back to.

Even worse…

“If Ken split himself again…” Takeru voiced Daisuke’s worst fear. “What’s left of him?”

High above them, the flames faded away, leaving behind a field of smoldering ash.

“Let’s go find out.” Kaiser smiled and turned towards the cliffs.