Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Ethereal ❯ Enter Paradise And Hell ( Chapter 12 )

Chapter XII

"Someone remind me to kill Piximon," groaned Daisuke as he sat up wearily from the ground. He eyed everyone else sprawled around him as they also attempted to recover themselves.

"Forget you, Dais, I want my own hands on him," Ken remarked as he stood up, dusting himself off. A look of frustration painted his face as he looked around them. "Where are we anyway…?" he asked before freezing. On one side of the plain they were currently on, everything was dusty and dull, but that was not what caught his attention. It was what was on the other side of the plain that took him over.

Everything was in an array of soft colors ranging from blue to green. Tall, gleaming grass stood up from the ground and swayed gently in the teasing breeze and the sky there was blue and utterly cloudless. In the midst of it all, Ken could spot a wooden mansion at the horizon-a long way from where they were. Looking at the ground below him, Ken noticed that the land was literally split in two by some sort of invisible line. The paradise was on one side and the desert on the other and he and the rest of the Destined were standing right in between the two.

Ken looked at the others. "So…where is Piximon?"

A low murmur began amongst them as they turned in all directions to see some sort of sign of the red digimon. Daisuke moaned in despair before a yelp from Yamato got his attention.

"Where's Takeru?" Yamato cried out, looking around in worry. "I was carrying him when we entered that portal and now he's gone!" he exclaimed.

Everyone remained silent for a moment and left Yamato to himself until Jyou walked over and placed a reassuring arm around the blond's shoulders. Daisuke smiled faintly at this before facing the others. "I think most likely Piximon brought him to his house," he said, waving to the wooden mansion at the horizon. "And I think Piximon would want us to go there as well," he finished.

There was more silence as everyone pondered his words before Miyako spoke up. "Um…I'm still a little unsure about this whole 'Destined' thing but I get the feeling going to that house is going to be harder than it looks." Daisuke regarded her carefully before nodding in agreement.

"I never said it wasn't," he pointed out with a smirk, "but Piximon's got this crazy idea of training us in preparation against Pathogen and shit." A look of amusement was on his face but everyone else found what he said quite disturbing.

"Training? Hold on, I remember Piximon saying that right before he launched us here! You never said we had to do any training!" exclaimed Miyako as she threw an accusing finger at Hikari, who was closest to her. "You just said we were the Destined and had some weird powers and were sent here to, I quote, 'Save the Digital World from Pathogen!'"

Hikari looked troubled and sought Daisuke for help. The dark-haired boy grinned and took Miyako's arm. "Come on! We don't have much time. If we want to get to Piximon's house by night, we better leave now 'cause trust me, you don't want to be traveling here at night," he ordered, gesturing for the others to follow.

As they began walking, Koushirou eyed Daisuke from behind unsurely. "What's wrong with traveling at night?" he queried. The younger boy looked at him sharply.

"Let's just say a lot of ugly things like to come out at night."

Koushirou blanched and Daisuke winked at him before turning his attention to a protesting Miyako. Koushirou slowed his pace until he met up with Jyou and Yamato, who were walking side-by-side without speaking. The redhead smiled at the two and shook his head lightly. When are those two going to get their feelings out in the open? Of course he knew Yamato's memory was still a bit incomplete but it was only a matter of time before they remembered everything. Being in the Digital World had practically guaranteed that-with the digimon crawling in every corner and the familiar setting, even Koushirou, who retained his full memory, was beginning to recall some small incidents in the depth of his mind.

Walking in knee-deep grass was easy enough. With the cool air around them, it was like they were going on some sort of hike rather than trekking through the Digital World. As far as Koushirou remembered, he never knew of any land like this in the Digital World, which made him wonder if they were still in it. The possibilities that they were in another world didn't seem too unlikely in his mind considering Piximon's portal. True, the Digital World was vast but most of its land was either a completely barren wasteland and desert or lively bright fields and forests. The land they were in now was too perfect and surreal to be part of the Digital World. Koushirou frowned to himself suddenly. But then again the Dark Plains were the complete opposite and that ungodly place existed in the Digital World so why not this place?

"…This is just part of Piximon's training, I'm sure of it. Remember he spoke about it before we faced off against Pathogen? Stupid us, we should have taken his offer instead of running off blindly."

"Quite frankly, I don't remember."

"Oh...yeah."

Koushirou couldn't help but chuckle at Daisuke's frustration with Miyako. The girl wasn't even trying to recollect anything; she just took everything in blankly. Well, at least she'll have Hikari to fill her in. Koushirou began wondering on Daisuke's words. He remembered faintly that argument they had a long time ago with Piximon. He had wanted to train them before they faced off against Pathogen but they were too stubborn to accept it and left him. Piximon was furious. Koushirou sighed and shook his head. They were so naïve and foolish back then. And now that they were back, it seemed Piximon was making sure they got their training.

"Heads up!"

Nearly everyone looked up just in time to duck their heads just as a large digimon flew down on them, snapping its jaws at the heads it barely missed. It flew in a circle before coming back again. Daisuke noticed this first and warned the others to go as low as they could on the ground. The result was eleven bodies lying sprawled out in various places, hidden by the grass. Daisuke had distracted the bird for a bit before leaping behind into the bush of green.

Once he was close to the ground, he turned and saw Taichi looking at him strangely.

"What the hell was that?"

Grinning, Daisuke shrugged as best as he could while lying down. "I'm not exactly sure. But it appeared to be a pterodactyl-like digimon," he replied offhandedly.

Taichi glared at Daisuke's cheerfulness before feeling a rush of air by the nape of his neck. He knew that the digimon had probably come pretty close to finding him. "Have any ideas on getting rid of it?" he asked.

"Well…have you tried using your powers since you got here?"

The older boy blinked in surprise before intensifying his glare on Daisuke. "You of all people should know considering I have been with you since I came here," he growled in a low tone.

Daisuke chuckled. "Okay, okay, back off!" he exclaimed. "But you know, now would be a great opportunity to test out your powers. Considering you haven't used them in four years they might be a little rusty," he continued, laughing to himself. Piximon, you sneak, trying to give us a little practice before meeting up with you, eh?

Taichi stared at the dark-haired boy for a while before sighing. Then without warning, he brought two fingers to his lips and blew an ear-piercing whistle that echoed throughout the field. Daisuke stared at him in shock as he began talking aloud. "Everyone out there stand up! We're going to take this beast down ourselves!" he exclaimed before standing up himself.

Daisuke looked up at Taichi and winced when the bird made a swoop for him. Taichi narrowly dodged it and before Daisuke knew it, he was standing up beside the older boy. "Come on, everyone! We can beat this sorry excuse of a digimon! We've done it before!" he rang out, grinning at Taichi.

Again the digimon flew at them and this time Taichi and Daisuke split into different directions and the bird froze in confusion. Daisuke brought his hands in front of him and produced a small fireball that hit the bird in its eye, causing it to screech in pain.

"See? All you have to do is trust your instincts! They'll take over from there! Now, COME ON!"

Slowly the group started coming out from their hiding places and gathered around Taichi and Daisuke nervously. The bird was starting to recover and glared at all of them dangerously.

"Koush, why don't you try a lightning attack?"

Everyone looked at Taichi in surprise and the boy shrugged. "Hey, at least I'm beginning to remember something right?" he commented while Daisuke grinned at him.

Koushirou looked at Taichi in horror and then at the incoming digimon. "You have got to be kidding me!" he yelled as the group missed another attack. Daisuke glared at the redhead.

"You can do it, Koush! You remember how to, just try! Your powers didn't leave you in the last four years; they're just dormant. We can keep the digimon busy for the time being."

"…If you say so."

With a heavy heart, Koushirou tried to focus his mind on bringing out his power. He stood still and closed his eyes, shutting off everything around him. It was like being in an empty hallway that was dark. He could see the light at the end and it felt as if he had forgotten something important. A feeling of warmth surrounded him, beckoning for him to embrace it and he did. Almost instantly Koushirou felt something surge through his entire body, awakening his every sense and nerve. It was all too much to bear and Koushirou wanted to let some of it out. Opening his eyes finally, all the Keeper of Knowledge saw was the bird staring at him darkly and out of instinct brought his hands forward when it approached him. Koushirou became a human voltage box and electricity sparked from his fingertips and he could feel every hair on his body standing up when the energy left him and went into the digimon, causing it to shudder and screech in agony.

Out of sympathy for the digimon, Koushirou lowered his hands and stopped the stream of electricity from going into its body. Suddenly everything seemed to clear up and he saw his friends standing around him, staring at him in awe and surprise at the burnt body of the bird on the ground. Shaking his head, Koushirou tried to calm his raging heart and even then he could still feel the electricity trying to bite its way out. It was a strange yet reassuring feeling, like meeting an old friend.

A heavy pat to his back brought Koushirou back to reality and he looked at Daisuke.

"That was extremely strange, horrible, yet wonderful at the same time," he commented slowly, frowning at the frazzled state of his mind. Looking at Daisuke, he narrowed his eyes. "The energy wants to come out and it hurts."

Daisuke smiled knowingly. "I know. Remember you haven't used your power in a while. I think what happened was you brought too much of it out and that's not usually a good idea. You'll learn to control it soon enough, don't worry," he explained before looking at everyone else. "It'll probably be like this for all of you. Awakening your power is easy enough but controlling it will be the hardest thing to relearn. You were all good at it before so don't worry, it'll come back to you."

A low murmur of uncertainty rang about and Daisuke rolled his eyes. "God, how I hate these inspiring speeches," he commented to Taichi, who stifled his laughter. "Come on, people! We have to head out now unless you want to be made bird food!"

This caught everyone's attention and they immediately began trooping down the grass again. The sun was still shining brightly and Daisuke estimated to be early in the afternoon or late morning. They had only been walking for half an hour. Sighing, he walked last and thought to himself. The trip to Piximon's mansion would take a full day's journey without any disturbances. But of course Piximon would challenge them at different points so if there were any more incidents like that bird, the trip could take a full week at most. Daisuke was not pleased with that thought.

Looking over at Koushirou's direction, he smiled faintly. He had done a good job with the bird. In fact he had done better than what Daisuke expected. That bird really was a goner from the start, he thought amusedly. Feeling strangely light-hearted, Daisuke looked ahead of them and eyed the majestic house in the distance. Now he was sure that Takeru was with Piximon. Even he wouldn't risk Takeru going with them out of concern for his health. Daisuke shuddered lightly when he remembered finding the blond in the bathroom, completely still and the scream that had issued from him. It was one of the most terrifying things he ever witnessed. And despite every grudge he had against Takeru, Daisuke couldn't help but feel worried for him. A ghost's poison could easily kill someone if it attacked through the head or heart. Luckily Takeru only got hit in his arm, but that was trouble enough.

Like Piximon said, he could either keep the arm or just get rid of it. Either way, Takeru was going to lose something.

Daisuke shook his head. Even if he is a bastard, he didn't deserve this. But before he could think any further, a loud scream was sounded. Looking up, Daisuke was hit by something long and quick and it was certainly enough to knock the breath out of him as he hit the ground painfully. For a few seconds all he saw were bright spots and a heavy queasiness in his mind before regaining his composure. He grasped at his chest to soothe the dull ache from which the attack landed and breathed in deeply before standing up and joining the others.

"What's going-?"

However, his question stopped dead when he looked at what everyone else was facing. In the sky was a snakelike digimon glaring at them scathingly. It was black and its scaly skin reflected the light in an almost beautiful pattern if not for the red eyes that glowed sinisterly. And in its grip was none other than a struggling Sora. Daisuke clenched his teeth.

"Let her go, you stupid digimon!" he shouted indignantly. The digimon snapped its jaws at him and floated higher up, its grip on Sora tightening. The girl screamed in pain and the digimon grinned toothily at Daisuke, who was shaking in anger.

"My name, human, is Snahhanmon," he introduced in a cold tone before his eyes glittered white for a second. "Now say good-bye to your little friend."

TBC