Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ For They Shall Be Filled ❯ The Traveler ( Chapter 12 )

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For They Shall Be Filled

The future is only a reaction to the past.

By: Vain 5/31/2001-1/26/2002

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I do not own Digimon, Ichijouji Ken, the Digidestined, or the Digital World, nor am I making any money off of this. Kazunori, Sanghee, the Golden Triangle, the Revelationas Arch, all its OC's and original concepts all belong to me.

Please DO NOT use or "borrow" them without my written permission.

Special Thanks goes to Herongale and the Guardian for betaing and thank you's are extended to everyone who reviewed on FF.net, especially Athena, ShinniJekka, KA, Pan-chan, Crew of the Clow, Mink, and Soulfull Ishida.

Because of the FF.net situation, this story will be posted here gradually. The entire fic and its sequel can be found here: http://www.fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=91738

Thank you and please read and review.

~ Vain

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~And whoever falls on this stone will be broken,

buton whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.

-Matthew 21: 44

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Chapter Twelve

The Traveler

The Betamon Village was one of the more recently reconstructed areas of the Digital World and as Gennai walked through he could still smell the paint drying. The digimon moved and bustled along, oblivious to the newness of their surroundings and the Guardians' servant idly wondered how many of them had been reformatted after the fall of the self-styled Digimon Emperor. He wondered if the Digidestined had constructed the buildings according to the previous plan. He wondered if he could really go through with this.

Gennai knew that the Digidestined were "expendable." They were easily replaced. His job, however, as their guardian, as the guardian of the dimensions, was not to be taken so lightly. The Guardians could care less for the Chosen Children; it was only the Tag Tamers and the Travelers who concerned them. So what was so special about these Japanese kids, then?

They had been chosen over all other Digidestined-American, African, Philippine, English, Argentine-to determine the fate of both worlds not once, but now three times. Ken, TK, and Kari were special cases. They were all powerful allies and potential threats to the Guardians' cause, but why were the others necessary? Tai, Izzy, Matt, Davis, Cody: all of them were being called upon in some form or another to champion the cause. The so-called new Digidestined were required to receive the Blessing. The original children acted as their reference source and would also be called upon when the time was right. Yet no other Children were called upon to serve as they were. Curious. Perhaps his superiors were becoming fond of their "pets." Or perhaps they were all merely a means to end that they could neither see nor comprehend.

"Hmph." Gennai snorted without amusement. All this time, and he still cared for questions with no answers. There were, of course, answers, but it was highly doubtful that he would ever be privy to them. He just wished that it didn't make his job so damn hard . . . And today he was going to have to do probably the hardest thing he'd ever done.

If the Chosen passed, they would be safe and everything would be well again. That was what Gennai wanted more than anything else in any world. He wanted his young charges to be safe, if only for an instant. But if even one of them failed, there was a risk that everything they had worked so hard for would come crashing down on top of them. The load was heavy enough to crush everything. Gennai wanted them to succeed. He wanted them all to live happily ever after. But Gennai also had the sinking feeling that he wouldn't get what he wanted-he didn't really deserve that much from life.

Human voices floated through the air and past him and Gennai followed the sound to see the Digidestined gathered at a table in front of what appeared to be a café. So the Guardians were right. They were meeting here . . . With a twinge of guilt, the traveler hid himself in enclave of a small red house where he could still see and hear the Digidestined without being discovered. The children sat in the shade of a canopy spread outside of a café run by Digi Tomamon. They were gathered around a circular table and apparently waiting for someone. He heard Yolei say the word "Ken" and saw Kari grow agitated. The servant of the Guardians frowned and leaned forward. What is this?

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Takeru TK Takaishi watched Kari with worry. The brown-haired girl had dark circles forming beneath her eyes and she appeared paler than normal. When Kari had called this meeting, TK had been curious, but when he heard that Ken was to be involved his worry had turned to anxiety. There was something odd about the Ichijouji boy that TK couldn't figure out, something that drew him to the frightening young man.

"So where is Ken at, anyway?" demanded Yolei in typical Yolei fashion. "Is he even coming?"

"I don't know." Kari made an odd fluttering motion with her hands. "He'll come, though. He's got to come."

"How do you know?" TK asked with a small frown. "I'm not so sure Ken will come. I mean if I got attacked every time met with someone I'd stop coming. Why should he show?"

"He'll come," said Kari with an insistent shake of her head.

"Yeah, so lay off, TP!" snapped Davis protectively.

TK scowled at the ground and contracted his brows darkly. For some reason, Davis's overprotective instincts towards Ken were even more irritating than his overprotective instincts towards Kari. Of course, Davis was just irritating in general. Still, TK wondered if he would be able to tolerate the shorter boy for much longer, especially if-no, when-Ken decided to join them.

The blond stood. "I'm going for a walk."

Kari stopped her fluttering and looked up sharply. "Whe--"

"Don't worry." He made a small dismissive gesture with his hand and offered her a forced half smile. "I just need to stretch my legs. I'll even keep a look out for Ken."

Kari frowned for a brief instant and then smiled again. "Do you want company?"

"No; I'm fine. Besides, I've got Patamon."

"Okay . . . But be careful."

"Don't worry," chirped Patamon as he flew after his partner. "We'll be fine."

Davis watched the two figures as they vanished into the village. "What got into TJ?"

"Can't you be serious for five minutes, Davis?" Cody asked looking irritated.

"What'd I do?!"

"Don't whine." Yolei adjusted her glasses. "Besides, am I the only person who is dying to know what's going on here?"

"Yeah, Kari," Davis asked, "What's up?"

"We have to wait for Ken."

"But I wanna know now!"

Yolei flipped her hair out of her face. "Oh, chill out, Davis."

"Like you should be talking-"

"Hey, look!" interrupted Cody. "Who's that?"

The others all turned to see a tall young human wearing a white cloak and hood fringed with brown. He walked towards them confidently, the edges of his cloak flared out around him. The Digidestined stood and stared openly.

Yolei was the first to find her voice. "What's another human doing in the Digital World? Is he one of us?"

"Actually," replied the mysterious young man, "I don't think that I would exactly qualify as a human . . . and I'm definitely no Digidestined."

Kari's eyes narrowed and then widened in recognition. "Gennai?"

"Right again, Kari!" The man flipped off his hood to reveal a shock of soft brown hair and a pair of laughing hazel eyes set in a pleasant weathered face. A queue of hair fell down his back and beneath his robes he wore a black turtleneck. "Hello, children."

Yolei looked from Kari's grin to Gennai's eyes and blinked in confusion. "Um . . . pardon me for being rude but . . . who are you?"

Kari slipped up from the table and went to embrace the new arrival. "This," she explained, "is Gennai. He's an old friend." She stopped a moment and stared at the older man with narrowed eyes. "Of course, I remember him being a much older friend back in those days."

Gennai laughed. "Yes, it's simply amazing what those new exfoliates can do for the skin."

"Oh, I know you!" said Davis with the air of one who had just stumbled onto something spectacular. "Tai told me about you! You're the little guy with all the funky riddles, aren't you?"

"Well, that's not exactly an accurate description, but I guess it'll have to do."

"Yes," said Cody with a nod. "Izzy told me about you, too."

Yolei frowned and then stomped her foot, clenched her fists, and looked up at the sky. "Am I the only one here who doesn't spend all my time with the older kids?!"

Cody regarded his friend impassively for a moment. "Chill out, Yolei."

"Actually," responded Gennai, "It's just as well that the you're all so close, because I've come to give you all a task and you'll probably be needing some of their experience."

"What do you mean?" asked Kari.

"We should wait for Ken and TK before we start. Do you know where they are?"

"Ken should be on his way and TK went for a walk."

Cody looked at Gennai thoughtfully, briefly reminding the traveler of Izzy. His smooth green eyes absorbed the older man dispassionately. "Are you saying that this 'task' will involve Ken, too?" The boy did not look thrilled by the prospect.

Gennai nodded a bit sadly. "Yes, especially Ken."

Kari stiffened and felt suddenly cold. "What do you mean?"

"I . . ." he paused, hesitating. " . . . You are all in very grave danger."

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