Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Fire From the Moon ❯ Once, In the Past... ( Chapter 4 )

Tenchi lashed out with her weapon, swinging around and cutting one of them across the chest. It fell to the ground with an inhuman cry. Rini cried out along with it, and tried to hide beneath her hands. At seeing one of their clan hit, the others fell back, but that didn't stop a few from jumping forwards and nipping at Tenchi's ankles. She grunted, kicking out with her foot to stop the attack. With a hiss, the digimon fell back into the shadows, pulling the bleeding body of their comrade with them. Tenchi wiped her sword on the grass, scowling deeply at the blood. With a silent word to herself, she called the sword back to its original form and turned to meet Liliy's disgusted look and Rini's horrified face.

"And I suppose you would rather have me let them attack us?" she asked darkly, and with self-loathing.

"We could have had our digimon fight them," Rini said slowly and softly, her eyes wide and unbelieving. Quixoticmon and Konamon looked unchanged by the event, not shocked by Tenchi's actions in the least, but they did agree with their partners, moving their heads up and down to show their decision.

"Yes, well you two are lucky to still have your partners," she said, and left it at that. Liliy and Rini exchanged looks, but did not speak a word. It was Quixoticmon who spoke.

"So where do we go from here?" he asked no one in particular. Tenchi flopped down across from the two younger girls, but was quiet. The heavy silence that followed trailed for minutes, but no one dared break it. They were all two wrapped up in their own thoughts and self-battles to notice a figure approach them.

"Perhaps I can be of service to you young ladies," a deep masculine voice asked. Tenchi's eyes widened, and she whipped her head around. Standing in the shadows of the forest was…

"MINNAMON!" Tenchi screamed, half in surprise, half in anger. She didn't notice the black, glossy gleam in her partner's eyes, or the fact that he was perched on his hind legs… or the fact that he now wielded a sword… It didn't matter to her. All that mattered was the fact that her partner was back. He was finally back…

Tears sprung to her eyes as she lept up and threw her arms around the neck of the digimon who now, on his hind legs, reached her height. He looked shocked at first, but that shock was quickly replaced by anger. He threw the girl off him with the back of his wrist and pulled his sword from its sheath, twisting his wrist around and scraping the tip of his sword against the skin of her throat, drawing a small trail of scarlet blood.

"Do not touch me again, fool!" he said, gazing down at the girl who had fallen to the floor with shock. Her eyes were wide and watery, shock plastered freshly on her pale face. Rini and Liliy lept up from their seats, their digimon growling lowly. This girl, Tenchi, had just been vicious, and she was saddened. Whoever this was must have been an enemy.

"Ladies… ladies…" He said with a calming tone, returning his sword to his proper place. "Is this any way to treat the digimon who can help you?" he asked kindly. Liliy and Rini both glared at him. "I believe you need a place to stay? Something to do? A simple answer for the reason you were summoned here?" he asked kindly. At the last question, the two angered teens softened.

"Can you really answer that question?" Liliy asked skeptically.

"Probably not," Quixoticmon whispered to her. Konamon tugged on Rini's pant leg in agreement.

"Don't trust him, Rini. I sense an evil presence around him," Konamon hissed, glaring at the digimon. Tenchi had scrambled to her feet, and stood behind the two girls now, waiting patiently for an explination from her `partner'.

The digimon's ears twitched, as he heard all of this. "I mean you no harm, I swear on my grave. My master wishes to speak with you. I can explain some of it while we are walking, if you whish," he offered.

"Yes. I think you owe us an explination," Tenchi said lowly. The digimon turned its gaze to her, and kept silent. He ignored her, and gestured to the fire.

"Well, if you will put out your fire, we can go,"

Liliy picked up a handful of dirt and threw it on the flames, extinguishing them. "Now talk," she stated simply.

"Agreed," he retorted. "Follow me, now, and I will tell you the whole story," he turned on heel and strode the way he came. He only began to talk when he heard the crunch of dirt and the shallow breathing of the three girls and two digimon behind him.

"It starts a long time ago, before myself or my master was brought into this world. Ancient humans had their technology, and created this world with the simple presence of it. We were stable then, but we relied on human technology to support our lifespan. The digimon of that time were ruled by two forces, a dark and a light, each controlled by a system the humans made. They canceled each other out, and our world was in balance.

"But the stupidity of the humans would bring our destruction. These humans were gifted, smarter, then the others. They had been lucky and were born when the soul of their earth was strongest, their parents then influenced by it. They built their new city in the middle of the ocean, away from the stupidity of their cousins. For years they flourished, living off of their new city and the technology they built. But they wanted more. They wanted to have more then they needed.

"Their world was collapsing because they tried to harness the soul of their earth. In the end, their city collapsed and their people destroyed. The humans began to grow smarter with each generation that passed, but that did not help our world.

"Our world was dying because we no longer had the power of the human's technology to keep us balanced. The light side became stronger, feeding off the death of her dark component. The light digimon flourished then, murdering the dark. One digimon stood out then, different from their leader, and he said, `Because we murder our other half, we are no better then the dark,'"

"The light digimon knew this to be true, and they fell into depression. The dark digimon then took over, and murdered their halves without redemption. A new, darker leader stepped up and promised there to be a world inhabited by only the dark component. The light side rebelled, and a great battle took place,"

"The ruler of the light, and the ruler of the dark knew that the battle must end before the world was destroyed, but neither would accept defeat. So they summoned eight children from the human world to fight for them (I believe it was around 1193 in human years). The children were each innocent fighters, strong to the end. Four were on each side fighting an enemy they did not know.

"We knew that when the children fought, their souls would choose whether dark or light would win. But unknown to us, the children had been meeting with a digimon that chose neither side. She gave them each a digimon partner. There were two sisters that stood out to her, and the digimon they had were those born from their own souls. A partnership of digimon, one light, one dark - exact twins. And each was so different…

"The children received locks and keys from the digimon that chose neither side, each lock and key a piece of their souls. They were told to use the locks and keys to stop the battle, but none of them knew what to do. So they fought." The digimon paused then, took a breath and continued.

"When all but a hundred of each digimon remained, as well as the eight children, the two sisters and their digimon finally figured out what to do. Facing each other in the battlefield, their digimon committed suicide, and the sisters used their souls and the souls of their digimon to activate the locks and keys.

"The light and dark digimon were torn away from each other. The light digimon and dark digimon lived on opposite ends of the digital world, surrounded by a small, but strong barrier. The six children that were left died from sadness.

"The barrier did not hold long after that. It survived up until a hundred years ago. The barriers shattered, the locks and keys were destroyed, and the battle for control of the digital world began again. The leaders of the light and dark digimon knew that the children would come again, but they did not want to be captured and locked up again. They commanded their followers to battle each other until death.

"You see, there is no dark, no light anymore. Each digimon has part of both within him. We fight no longer to be in control, but to be free," he stopped, his story done. On the horizon before them, they could make out through the darkness a huge castle. They gaped up at it with awe.

"I am lord Minnamon," he said simply. "And this is my home,"