Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ London Diaries - Journey into Adventure ❯ Compassion ( Chapter 5 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Lord Archive 
In the heart of imprisoned darkness, one's compassion will shine.
Anime/Manga: Digimon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): / Fantasy / Drama / Adventure / Action | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 05.31.2005 | Pages: 5 | Words: 4.6K | Visits: 555 | Status: Completed
In the heart of imprisoned darkness, one's compassion will shine.
Anime/Manga: Digimon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): / Fantasy / Drama / Adventure / Action | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 05.31.2005 | Pages: 5 | Words: 4.6K | Visits: 555 | Status: Completed
London Diaries - Journey into Adventure
Entry 5 - Compassion
By: Lord Archive
The concept of Digimon is copy write of Toei Animation Inc. and Akiyoshi Hongo. The characters in this story, however, are the property of Lord Archive.
---------------------
After finding themselves in a strange and hostile world, seven children arrived safely at home on Christmas day. Each faced the question of whether to remain home or return to the Digital World to protect it and the world they were from. Though their reasons were different, their answers were the same.
---------------------
Seven children had stood in front of a school. Then light flooded their view and they suddenly found themselves falling sideways, not down. They fell through a rainbow of colors before they crash-landed in a heap at a place that held no color.
"Whose hand is on my bottoms?!" Susan cried out indignantly, and the hand was instantly gone.
"Ew! I'm going to have to cut it off," Freddy growled out, looking at his hand as if it was infected with gangrene.
"I'll do it for you," Susan hissed.
"Now if only she can fight the enemy with that intensity," Psychemon quipped.
"Doubt they'll ever change," Goblimon added.
Melissa pried herself free of the pile, unmindful that her head had landed on the inside of Chuck's kilt. She then immediately tackled Modoki Betamon. "I missed you!"
The aquatic digimon wiggled nervously in the arms of her partner.
"Damn... Wish we'd kept the clothes we had on before we left this time." Chuck blushed fiercely, his hands holding his kilt down to the ground.
He wasn't the only one blushing, as Melissa had caused the boy to flash the others. Susan and Freddy, however, were too busy yelling at each other to notice. Teresa began reciting the 'Our Father' repeatedly, while steadfastly looking away from the boy.
George glanced around. "Are we in the Digital World?"
"Of course we are," Kokuwamon replied.
"Well, if a digimon doesn't have a body after they die, how come there's a cemetery here?" George observed.
At the boy's comments, the others looked over and saw that only a short distance away, just beyond a rusted and mangled black iron-bar fence, were rows of funeral plots, complete with headstones. To the children, it reminded them of scenes from horror movies they would watch around Halloween.
The digimon looked at each other in confusion from George's comment.
"What does a cemetery have to do with the dead?" Plotmon questioned.
"In our world, humans don't disappear when they die so we bury the dead in cemeteries," Chuck explained.
"Oh, sweet Mary, Mother of God, preserve us," Teresa chanted as terror gripped her at the sight of movement from the graveyard. A tiny skeleton shambled past the main crypt and a ghost floated around aimlessly.
Henry frowned at the sight of more undead creatures milling about. "Let me guess... the sword we're after is in the main crypt, isn't it?"
Tsukaimon nodded slowly. "That's what Jijimon told us. That's a lot of adult and child digimon to deal with."
"What's the plan?" Kokuwamon questioned.
"I don't want to be stuck here for the next year. I say we go and get the sword now," Henry replied.
"The sooner we get the swords, the sooner we'll be able to face Lady Devimon's evolved form," Plotmon added.
Susan had overheard as she was now 'not talking' to Freddy. "Can't we wait until morning?"
"I don't want to wait. You look good enough to eat now," a voice moaned out.
Susan slowly turned around, her hair standing on end as she looked straight down into the toothy mouth of a ghost digimon. She promptly shrieked at the top of her lungs and ran off into the nearby forest filled with dead trees.
"That twit," Freddy growled, immediately chasing after the frightened girl.
"Laters," Henry called out, as he and everyone else followed Susan and Freddy into the woods.
---------------------
"Well, that was a spectacular failure," Freddy groused.
"He was going to EAT ME!" Susan shot back.
"Once he tasted you, he would've spit ya back out," Freddy returned.
"I didn't exactly fancy facing all those digimon at once," Psychemon added.
Melissa looked disgusted. "Especially ones so icky."
Chuck reluctantly nodded. "A frontal attack wouldn't have exactly been wise."
"Any brilliant plans?" Henry groused.
"Why don't we find a place to camp and think things out in the morning?" Teresa suggested.
"This is our SECOND night in this world. I do NOT have a watch," Melissa stated loudly.
"How about we stay at that inn?" Tsukaimon pointed out.
"Perfect! I won't have to sleep outside!" Susan cheered.
"Of course her 'majesty' would spontaneously combust if she were to get a speck of dirt on her, she would," Freddy mocked.
Susan growled angrily at the boy, while the others shook their heads at the pair's antics.
As the team approached the inn, they found that it was a lot larger than they originally thought, with the main entrance of the building being over five meters tall. There was a secondary, and smaller, door nearby which the group opted to use. Once inside, they marveled at the rustic appearance of the bar and restaurant before them. They were even more amazed at the barkeep who was a winged, giant humanoid dragon with a mark upon his chest that looked either like an X or stylized V.
"Haven't seen you folks before. Tell ol' XV-mon your poison and I'll serve you right up," the draconian informed them.
"We want rooms for the night!" Susan announced.
"You know, I think her 'majesty' has forgotten something. What kind of money do you accept here?" Freddy questioned.
XV-mon grinned. "Bits, bans, dollars, pounds, whatever. If it's a currency, I'll find some means to convert it."
"And how much for two rooms... with breakfast in the morning using pounds?" Chuck questioned.
XV-mon paused to consider it. "Fifty pounds for each room. Food depends on how much you order, but roughly five pounds each."
Chuck and the others sweatdropped. That was a LOT of money for them. Though they had to admit, it didn't sound that expensive. However, most of them doubted that they each had more than five pounds.
"Eighty, ninety, a hundred...," Susan muttered to herself as she counted from the wad of cash in her hand. "Would've preferred my own room, but don't want to spend too much too soon. We'll take the two rooms, please." She held out the cash for payment.
The children with her stared in shock at the girl, not expecting anyone to have what looked to be thousands of pounds on hand.
XV-mon smiled cheerfully. "Certainly!" He then snapped his massive fingers.
A moment later, wingless miniature version of the barkeep appeared. The blue lizard didn't have any marking on his front and stood less than a meter tall. "Yeah, Dad?"
"Show our fine guests to their rooms. They have rooms three and four." XV-mon took two keys from the wall and gave them to the smaller digimon. "And V-mon, stop calling me 'Dad.'"
V-mon bowed respectfully. "Of course, Father."
XV-mon scowled and muttered, "We're the same freakin' age and he calls me 'Dad' just because I evolved first."
---------------------
Susan meandered her way downstairs, the last of the children to wake. What would've upset her days ago from being in a strange and enormous bed, didn't phase her at all. She was more curious as to where the digimon and the other girls were. Then again, a few days ago she had no choice of being sucked into this weird world, but was now here of her own free will. This was an adventure set for her to experience, no matter how weird this world was.
Arriving downstairs and entering the restaurant, she felt a little relieved seeing the group sitting around a table that was built more for their digimon in mind, than the humans. She thought it odd that the windows showed that it was still dark outside, expecting it to be late in the morning from how she had slept, and that the others all looked rather embarrassed.
"Oh, good morning, Susan," Teresa greeted nervously.
"Something wrong?" Susan questioned.
The answer came in the form of the others looking at the small pile of money sitting in the middle of the table.
"Sorry, but I'm afraid we don't have a lot of money to help with the costs. We could only manage sixty-two pounds. Not enough to even buy breakfast for all of us and the digimon," Melissa explained.
Susan waved off the problem. "Don't worry about it. I didn't expect anything from the poor."
While Freddy had been annoyed before, the angry glare from him now caused Susan to step back. "We're fucking children, your majesty. Children only get what their parents give them. NONE of our families would be considered poor except in comparison to you old money bastards living off the taxes collected from centuries of workers so you'll never have to move your god damned dainty fingers. You don't even fucking know what poor means. Poor is when you don't have a roof over your head. Poor is when you give your child half-eaten food from a garbage can because you don't have a single penny to buy shit," Freddy hissed venomously. He snatched a five pound note from the pile. "I'll eat alone."
Goblimon gazed at his retreating partner, longing to go with him yet feeling the boy needed his own space.
Susan stared in stunned surprise. She slowly shook her head, not believing a word of what he said. "He probably didn't have any money."
"Actually, fifteen pounds of it was his," Chuck replied.
Susan pouted. "Let's just eat and then figure out what to do about that sword."
Breakfast was soon served to the children, who were at first reluctant to eat the odd collection of food set before them. The green eggs hardly looked appetizing, but as the old children's story went-- they were actually quite delicious. Freddy's outburst had put a damper on the children's hunger, particularly Susan's, causing them to take longer to eat less than they normally would have.
With the meal finished, Freddy returned to the table, sitting a few seats away from Susan in order to be neither near her nor across from her. V-mon began to collect their dirty dishes.
George looked out the window and saw only the dark and gloomy forest. "When does the sun rise here?"
V-mon gaze at the boy in confusion. "The sun IS up. It's almost noon."
"WHAT?!" was chorused by several voices.
"The clouds are always thick around here. I've never seen the sun since I came here," V-mon replied.
"So much for hoping to use daylight to enter that cemetery," Henry groused. "With it this dark all the time, those ghosts will always be roaming around."
"That's not good," Melissa gripped.
"You're not after the Sword of Compassion, are you?" V-mon almost cried out in fear and shock.
"We have to," Chuck replied. "We need it to defeat Lady Devimon."
V-mon waved his arms frantically, causing the dirty plates in his hands to drip food onto the floor. "You can't go there! Compassion is the LAST thing you'll find from Gargomon! He killed my brother!"
"Is Gargomon one of the little skeletons or one of those ghosts?" Chuck questioned.
"Neither. Those are Skelamon and Bakemon," V-mon corrected. "Believe me, Gargomon is a LOT worse than those digimon. His skin is like rock and is able to use both holy and dark powers in a fight."
"In other words, he's a gargoyle," Freddy observed.
Plotmon frowned. "There's no possible way for us to fight all of those Skelamon and Bakemon on top of that Gargomon."
"If this is the first challenge, I'd hate to see what we face to get the seventh sword," Goblimon intoned morbidly.
Chuck tapped his fingers. "Well, we know this is the 'Sword of Compassion' now, which means the one who gets it is likely the most compassionate of us."
"Sword of Compassion?" Susan questioned. "Must be mine. I'm nothing if not compassionate."
"Look a bug!" Freddy pointed.
"Eek! Kill it!" Susan shrieked.
"I doubt the Tentomon and Kunemon around here would like to hear that," V-mon retorted.
Susan huffed, while Freddy chuckled at her.
Chuck frowned. He doubted this would be Susan's sword, or Henry's for that matter. Freddy was much more likely than them, but there was a rebellious aspect to him that added uncertainty. He didn't know Melissa enough to judge. He didn't think it would be his sword as he had done some rather uncompassionate things in the past. That left Teresa and George as the main candidates in his mind, along with Freddy and Melissa as secondary possibilities. The boy hummed to himself as he continued to debate the issues in his head, but snapped out of it with everyone's eyes resting on him. "What?"
"You've got some sort of plan, don't ya?" Henry observed.
"Maybe," Chuck replied hesitantly. "I was thinking we should break into two groups. One to act as a decoy for the undead digimon, the other to face Gargomon and get the sword. The decoy group wouldn't have to fight and kill them, just lure them away."
Psychemon nodded. "Sounds like a plan to me. But who will be the decoys?"
Chuck paused in thought for how to answer this without offending anyone. "Well, I was thinking that Pyschemon, Tsukaimon and Plotmon would be better able to deal with group fighting. You especially, Pyschemon, with your 'Gaudy Horn' should be able to blind our pursuers."
Susan pouted. "Couldn't Psychemon's attack be just as useful against Gargomon?"
"Well, it would be, but with Tapirmon, that group already has a means to stun him. And that attack isn't suited as well to group fighting," Chuck returned.
"But what if the sword is mine?" Susan pressed.
"Then we'll retreat and try again with the roles reversed," Chuck informed.
V-mon huffed angrily. "Don't say I didn't warn you when you get deleted."
---------------------
Cautiously three children and their digimon approached the outer gate of the cemetery.
"How are we supposed to attract their attention?" Susan groused bitterly, believing the sword to be hers.
Chuck's eyes went wide as he pointed behind the girl.
Susan slowly turned around and saw a familiar gaping mouth.
"Oh, good. You came back. I was getting hungry," a Bakemon moaned out.
Psychemon yanked her partner away from the drooling ghost, clearing the way for Plotmon to unleash his sonic howling attack. The Bakemon slammed against the rusted fence as the puppy digimon's screeching hit him like a truck. Seconds passed and Plotmon did not let up his attack until the ghost exploded into data.
"Good riddance," Susan muttered while trying to clear her ears of the ringing sensation they now had.
Henry stared into the cemetery as a dozen more undead digimon appeared, marching straight toward them.
"Thirteen was our number, and thirteen shall our number be. So says Soulmon," announced a ghost digimon with a pointed witch's hat atop his head.
"Guess he means to make one of us a ghost digimon," Tsukaimon commented with dread.
"There's one thing I can say to that...," Chuck began.
"RUN AWAY!" Henry finished.
The undead digimon would not let this be ignored and gave chase.
---------------------
Having seen Chuck and the others lead the inhabitants of the graveyard away, Freddy and the others entered the cemetery. Though they remained on guard in case Gargomon or any other digimon not counted among the thirteen made their presence known.
Arriving at the central crypt, the children and their digimon saw that it was inlaid with images of angels yielding swords or rods as they battled demonic beasts. Upon the door itself was a visage of a humbled demon shackled at the feet of a rod-holding angel. To most of them, they felt the moral was one of triumph over darkness. Yet to one child and partner, it felt as if this was the agony of defeat.
Teresa ran her hand over the humbled demon figure, as she came to the restraint's connector upon it's chest, she felt something odd. She pressed hard against it, and not only did it move, but the whole door as well.
"Nice job," Freddy praised. He then frowned peering into the darkness of the crypt.
Two red eyes appeared deep within, and a hollow voice rang out, "Enter if you wish to die."
"I don't think our survival is the one that is at issue here," Freddy shot back.
A bone-chilling chuckle was the only reply.
The small group pressed forward and suddenly the oppressive gloom gave way to torches that ignited along the walls. On the far side of the crypt sat a demonic winged stone statue with two golden bands crossing over his chest, which slowly stood up. Behind Gargomon rested a sword on a pedestal.
"You look better in the dark," Freddy quipped.
Gargomon stepped forward heavily. "Joke all you want, but if you are here seeking power or compassion, you have found neither."
"Well, we just have to beat you to get the sword." Melissa grinned. "Modoki Betamon, Kokuwamon, GO!"
"Aqua Tower!" "Stun Shock!" The two digimon fired their attacks together.
Gargomon rushed forward as the two attacks collided behind him, giving him a push forward from the explosive result. The beast was off centered and wrapped his giant hands around Goblimon to steady himself. Before the green humanoid digimon could raise an attack, the stone digimon threw him into a wall and followed that attack up by doing the same thing to Modoki Betamon and Kokuwamon.
"Nightmare Syndrome!" Tapirmon cried out.
Gargomon paused for a moment as the pigmy-elephant's dark cloud enshrouded him. He then glared at her. "Don't bring up unpleasant memories!" The stone demon grabbed Tapirmon and began slamming her into the ground repeatedly.
Teresa latched herself around Gargomon's arm. "Please, stop it! PLEASE!" She then found herself slammed against the wall, pain filling her body.
"You ask for mercy?" Gargomon laughed. "There is no mercy here. Digimon believe that sword is of compassion, but that's a lie."
Teresa coughed from pain. "You don't want to guard it, do you?"
"Guarding it is not an issue. That I do willingly," Gargomon hissed. "LEAVING this crypt is what I cannot do."
"You're a prisoner?" Teresa questioned.
"Yes. I came here wanting to evolve. It was a 'Sword of Compassion,' surely there was no price for it's gift," Gargomon growled. "I got my 'reward' and the sword proved that it held no compassion for the cost it forced upon me."
Freddy, George and the others were at a loss for what to do. They had no hope of being able to hurt the stone beast, especially with their digimon out of commission. And they certainly couldn't retreat with Teresa trapped by the foul creature. They could only watch as the poor crying girl was pressed against the wall.
"Is there any way I can free you?" Teresa questioned.
Gargomon stared at her. "Huh?"
"How can I free you?" Teresa repeated. "Maybe I could take your place."
Gargomon howled and threw the girl across the room. "Don't be stupid! I will NEVER allow someone else to go through this hell. I will kill you before I'd let that happen."
"I won't let you remain here another day, even if it means I can never leave," Teresa protested.
"Then you give me no choice!" A pure white tablet and a jet-black tablet formed in Gargomon's hands, but before he could utter his attack the room flooded with light. As his vision cleared, Teresa stood without a single sign she had been hurt by him and was holding the two-meter long claymore that was bigger than she was.
Gargomon took a step back, staring at the girl in shock and horror. "No, you fool!"
"You imprisonment ends now!" Teresa swung the giant blade toward the stone demon.
At first nothing seemed to happen, but then the golden bands split apart and slipped off Gargomon. Then he began to shimmer and shrink until all that was left was a V-mon, who stared at his draconian paws in shock. He then looked at the girl in amazement before tears flowed from his eyes. "You stupid, stupid girl. Give me back the sword. You don't want to be stuck here."
"Ah! So V-mon's brother wasn't killed. He WAS Gargomon!" Melissa chirped.
Freddy smirked. "Teresa, why don't you see if you can leave? I believe the sword was always meant for you."
"Don't!" V-mon protested. "If you leave, you'll feel nothing but pain!"
Teresa took faith in what she had to do. There would be no point to make swords that could not leave where they were guarded. She readied herself anyway in case the pain did come, surprised that her injuries had vanished when the blade went to her hands. She walked slowly out of the crypt and into the cemetery. She stared at the overcast sky with a frown.
Freddy followed behind her. "You okay?"
"I'm fine," Teresa replied. "Just wished that the sun would've come out." She then turned around. "How's Tapirmon?"
"Not a scratch!" Tapirmon announced.
"All their injuries were healed when light flooded the room!" Melissa announced happily.
"That's wonderful!" Teresa elated. She then pouted. "V-mon, right? You can come out now."
V-mon hesitantly stepped outside of the crypt. Then took a few extra steps. He hopped up and down. Then he finally began to smile and grabbed Teresa's hands. "WE'RE FREE! WE'RE FREE!"
Modoki Betamon nodded. "And your family awaits you at the inn."
"They're still here? It's been so long..." V-mon sighed. "I wonder what my brothers have evolved to."
Melissa giggled. "Why don't we save that as a surprise?"
Freddy looked around. "Now what happened to Chuck and the others?"
Screams of horror echoed across the cemetery, but the cries of panic were not made by voices that the children or their digimon knew.
"Keep away! Keep away!" cried out a terrified Bakemon.
"No one dares try to hurt Susan and gets away with it!" retorted a blue sorceress no taller than the children, who was flinging crystal from her wand.
"Go get the creep, Sorcerymon!" Susan cheered.
"Guess we don't need the swords to evolve our digimon to adult," Melissa commented.
Freddy growled. "Guess so, but how did that twit figure out how to do it?"
Chuck walked up to them. "A Bakemon had Susan cornered. She was almost killed, but Psychemon evolved and killed him first." He then stared at the huge sword Teresa was holding with one hand. "See you got the sword."
"How do you sheath it, though?" Teresa wondered. Then her digivice flared and the sword was sucked into it. The small teen grabbed the device, morphed it into a sword and then back into the handheld device.
"That works," Melissa chirped.
"I'd say its high time we returned to the inn and plan our next move," Chuck suggested, and the others nodded.
---------------------
Author's Notes:
Gah! I didn't expect it'd be THIS long between updates. With luck the next chapter won't take nearly as long.
Next Chapter: The Difference Between Bravery and Stupidity
Can any of the children face off against Bullmon for the next sword?
Entry 5 - Compassion
By: Lord Archive
The concept of Digimon is copy write of Toei Animation Inc. and Akiyoshi Hongo. The characters in this story, however, are the property of Lord Archive.
---------------------
After finding themselves in a strange and hostile world, seven children arrived safely at home on Christmas day. Each faced the question of whether to remain home or return to the Digital World to protect it and the world they were from. Though their reasons were different, their answers were the same.
---------------------
Seven children had stood in front of a school. Then light flooded their view and they suddenly found themselves falling sideways, not down. They fell through a rainbow of colors before they crash-landed in a heap at a place that held no color.
"Whose hand is on my bottoms?!" Susan cried out indignantly, and the hand was instantly gone.
"Ew! I'm going to have to cut it off," Freddy growled out, looking at his hand as if it was infected with gangrene.
"I'll do it for you," Susan hissed.
"Now if only she can fight the enemy with that intensity," Psychemon quipped.
"Doubt they'll ever change," Goblimon added.
Melissa pried herself free of the pile, unmindful that her head had landed on the inside of Chuck's kilt. She then immediately tackled Modoki Betamon. "I missed you!"
The aquatic digimon wiggled nervously in the arms of her partner.
"Damn... Wish we'd kept the clothes we had on before we left this time." Chuck blushed fiercely, his hands holding his kilt down to the ground.
He wasn't the only one blushing, as Melissa had caused the boy to flash the others. Susan and Freddy, however, were too busy yelling at each other to notice. Teresa began reciting the 'Our Father' repeatedly, while steadfastly looking away from the boy.
George glanced around. "Are we in the Digital World?"
"Of course we are," Kokuwamon replied.
"Well, if a digimon doesn't have a body after they die, how come there's a cemetery here?" George observed.
At the boy's comments, the others looked over and saw that only a short distance away, just beyond a rusted and mangled black iron-bar fence, were rows of funeral plots, complete with headstones. To the children, it reminded them of scenes from horror movies they would watch around Halloween.
The digimon looked at each other in confusion from George's comment.
"What does a cemetery have to do with the dead?" Plotmon questioned.
"In our world, humans don't disappear when they die so we bury the dead in cemeteries," Chuck explained.
"Oh, sweet Mary, Mother of God, preserve us," Teresa chanted as terror gripped her at the sight of movement from the graveyard. A tiny skeleton shambled past the main crypt and a ghost floated around aimlessly.
Henry frowned at the sight of more undead creatures milling about. "Let me guess... the sword we're after is in the main crypt, isn't it?"
Tsukaimon nodded slowly. "That's what Jijimon told us. That's a lot of adult and child digimon to deal with."
"What's the plan?" Kokuwamon questioned.
"I don't want to be stuck here for the next year. I say we go and get the sword now," Henry replied.
"The sooner we get the swords, the sooner we'll be able to face Lady Devimon's evolved form," Plotmon added.
Susan had overheard as she was now 'not talking' to Freddy. "Can't we wait until morning?"
"I don't want to wait. You look good enough to eat now," a voice moaned out.
Susan slowly turned around, her hair standing on end as she looked straight down into the toothy mouth of a ghost digimon. She promptly shrieked at the top of her lungs and ran off into the nearby forest filled with dead trees.
"That twit," Freddy growled, immediately chasing after the frightened girl.
"Laters," Henry called out, as he and everyone else followed Susan and Freddy into the woods.
---------------------
"Well, that was a spectacular failure," Freddy groused.
"He was going to EAT ME!" Susan shot back.
"Once he tasted you, he would've spit ya back out," Freddy returned.
"I didn't exactly fancy facing all those digimon at once," Psychemon added.
Melissa looked disgusted. "Especially ones so icky."
Chuck reluctantly nodded. "A frontal attack wouldn't have exactly been wise."
"Any brilliant plans?" Henry groused.
"Why don't we find a place to camp and think things out in the morning?" Teresa suggested.
"This is our SECOND night in this world. I do NOT have a watch," Melissa stated loudly.
"How about we stay at that inn?" Tsukaimon pointed out.
"Perfect! I won't have to sleep outside!" Susan cheered.
"Of course her 'majesty' would spontaneously combust if she were to get a speck of dirt on her, she would," Freddy mocked.
Susan growled angrily at the boy, while the others shook their heads at the pair's antics.
As the team approached the inn, they found that it was a lot larger than they originally thought, with the main entrance of the building being over five meters tall. There was a secondary, and smaller, door nearby which the group opted to use. Once inside, they marveled at the rustic appearance of the bar and restaurant before them. They were even more amazed at the barkeep who was a winged, giant humanoid dragon with a mark upon his chest that looked either like an X or stylized V.
"Haven't seen you folks before. Tell ol' XV-mon your poison and I'll serve you right up," the draconian informed them.
"We want rooms for the night!" Susan announced.
"You know, I think her 'majesty' has forgotten something. What kind of money do you accept here?" Freddy questioned.
XV-mon grinned. "Bits, bans, dollars, pounds, whatever. If it's a currency, I'll find some means to convert it."
"And how much for two rooms... with breakfast in the morning using pounds?" Chuck questioned.
XV-mon paused to consider it. "Fifty pounds for each room. Food depends on how much you order, but roughly five pounds each."
Chuck and the others sweatdropped. That was a LOT of money for them. Though they had to admit, it didn't sound that expensive. However, most of them doubted that they each had more than five pounds.
"Eighty, ninety, a hundred...," Susan muttered to herself as she counted from the wad of cash in her hand. "Would've preferred my own room, but don't want to spend too much too soon. We'll take the two rooms, please." She held out the cash for payment.
The children with her stared in shock at the girl, not expecting anyone to have what looked to be thousands of pounds on hand.
XV-mon smiled cheerfully. "Certainly!" He then snapped his massive fingers.
A moment later, wingless miniature version of the barkeep appeared. The blue lizard didn't have any marking on his front and stood less than a meter tall. "Yeah, Dad?"
"Show our fine guests to their rooms. They have rooms three and four." XV-mon took two keys from the wall and gave them to the smaller digimon. "And V-mon, stop calling me 'Dad.'"
V-mon bowed respectfully. "Of course, Father."
XV-mon scowled and muttered, "We're the same freakin' age and he calls me 'Dad' just because I evolved first."
---------------------
Susan meandered her way downstairs, the last of the children to wake. What would've upset her days ago from being in a strange and enormous bed, didn't phase her at all. She was more curious as to where the digimon and the other girls were. Then again, a few days ago she had no choice of being sucked into this weird world, but was now here of her own free will. This was an adventure set for her to experience, no matter how weird this world was.
Arriving downstairs and entering the restaurant, she felt a little relieved seeing the group sitting around a table that was built more for their digimon in mind, than the humans. She thought it odd that the windows showed that it was still dark outside, expecting it to be late in the morning from how she had slept, and that the others all looked rather embarrassed.
"Oh, good morning, Susan," Teresa greeted nervously.
"Something wrong?" Susan questioned.
The answer came in the form of the others looking at the small pile of money sitting in the middle of the table.
"Sorry, but I'm afraid we don't have a lot of money to help with the costs. We could only manage sixty-two pounds. Not enough to even buy breakfast for all of us and the digimon," Melissa explained.
Susan waved off the problem. "Don't worry about it. I didn't expect anything from the poor."
While Freddy had been annoyed before, the angry glare from him now caused Susan to step back. "We're fucking children, your majesty. Children only get what their parents give them. NONE of our families would be considered poor except in comparison to you old money bastards living off the taxes collected from centuries of workers so you'll never have to move your god damned dainty fingers. You don't even fucking know what poor means. Poor is when you don't have a roof over your head. Poor is when you give your child half-eaten food from a garbage can because you don't have a single penny to buy shit," Freddy hissed venomously. He snatched a five pound note from the pile. "I'll eat alone."
Goblimon gazed at his retreating partner, longing to go with him yet feeling the boy needed his own space.
Susan stared in stunned surprise. She slowly shook her head, not believing a word of what he said. "He probably didn't have any money."
"Actually, fifteen pounds of it was his," Chuck replied.
Susan pouted. "Let's just eat and then figure out what to do about that sword."
Breakfast was soon served to the children, who were at first reluctant to eat the odd collection of food set before them. The green eggs hardly looked appetizing, but as the old children's story went-- they were actually quite delicious. Freddy's outburst had put a damper on the children's hunger, particularly Susan's, causing them to take longer to eat less than they normally would have.
With the meal finished, Freddy returned to the table, sitting a few seats away from Susan in order to be neither near her nor across from her. V-mon began to collect their dirty dishes.
George looked out the window and saw only the dark and gloomy forest. "When does the sun rise here?"
V-mon gaze at the boy in confusion. "The sun IS up. It's almost noon."
"WHAT?!" was chorused by several voices.
"The clouds are always thick around here. I've never seen the sun since I came here," V-mon replied.
"So much for hoping to use daylight to enter that cemetery," Henry groused. "With it this dark all the time, those ghosts will always be roaming around."
"That's not good," Melissa gripped.
"You're not after the Sword of Compassion, are you?" V-mon almost cried out in fear and shock.
"We have to," Chuck replied. "We need it to defeat Lady Devimon."
V-mon waved his arms frantically, causing the dirty plates in his hands to drip food onto the floor. "You can't go there! Compassion is the LAST thing you'll find from Gargomon! He killed my brother!"
"Is Gargomon one of the little skeletons or one of those ghosts?" Chuck questioned.
"Neither. Those are Skelamon and Bakemon," V-mon corrected. "Believe me, Gargomon is a LOT worse than those digimon. His skin is like rock and is able to use both holy and dark powers in a fight."
"In other words, he's a gargoyle," Freddy observed.
Plotmon frowned. "There's no possible way for us to fight all of those Skelamon and Bakemon on top of that Gargomon."
"If this is the first challenge, I'd hate to see what we face to get the seventh sword," Goblimon intoned morbidly.
Chuck tapped his fingers. "Well, we know this is the 'Sword of Compassion' now, which means the one who gets it is likely the most compassionate of us."
"Sword of Compassion?" Susan questioned. "Must be mine. I'm nothing if not compassionate."
"Look a bug!" Freddy pointed.
"Eek! Kill it!" Susan shrieked.
"I doubt the Tentomon and Kunemon around here would like to hear that," V-mon retorted.
Susan huffed, while Freddy chuckled at her.
Chuck frowned. He doubted this would be Susan's sword, or Henry's for that matter. Freddy was much more likely than them, but there was a rebellious aspect to him that added uncertainty. He didn't know Melissa enough to judge. He didn't think it would be his sword as he had done some rather uncompassionate things in the past. That left Teresa and George as the main candidates in his mind, along with Freddy and Melissa as secondary possibilities. The boy hummed to himself as he continued to debate the issues in his head, but snapped out of it with everyone's eyes resting on him. "What?"
"You've got some sort of plan, don't ya?" Henry observed.
"Maybe," Chuck replied hesitantly. "I was thinking we should break into two groups. One to act as a decoy for the undead digimon, the other to face Gargomon and get the sword. The decoy group wouldn't have to fight and kill them, just lure them away."
Psychemon nodded. "Sounds like a plan to me. But who will be the decoys?"
Chuck paused in thought for how to answer this without offending anyone. "Well, I was thinking that Pyschemon, Tsukaimon and Plotmon would be better able to deal with group fighting. You especially, Pyschemon, with your 'Gaudy Horn' should be able to blind our pursuers."
Susan pouted. "Couldn't Psychemon's attack be just as useful against Gargomon?"
"Well, it would be, but with Tapirmon, that group already has a means to stun him. And that attack isn't suited as well to group fighting," Chuck returned.
"But what if the sword is mine?" Susan pressed.
"Then we'll retreat and try again with the roles reversed," Chuck informed.
V-mon huffed angrily. "Don't say I didn't warn you when you get deleted."
---------------------
Cautiously three children and their digimon approached the outer gate of the cemetery.
"How are we supposed to attract their attention?" Susan groused bitterly, believing the sword to be hers.
Chuck's eyes went wide as he pointed behind the girl.
Susan slowly turned around and saw a familiar gaping mouth.
"Oh, good. You came back. I was getting hungry," a Bakemon moaned out.
Psychemon yanked her partner away from the drooling ghost, clearing the way for Plotmon to unleash his sonic howling attack. The Bakemon slammed against the rusted fence as the puppy digimon's screeching hit him like a truck. Seconds passed and Plotmon did not let up his attack until the ghost exploded into data.
"Good riddance," Susan muttered while trying to clear her ears of the ringing sensation they now had.
Henry stared into the cemetery as a dozen more undead digimon appeared, marching straight toward them.
"Thirteen was our number, and thirteen shall our number be. So says Soulmon," announced a ghost digimon with a pointed witch's hat atop his head.
"Guess he means to make one of us a ghost digimon," Tsukaimon commented with dread.
"There's one thing I can say to that...," Chuck began.
"RUN AWAY!" Henry finished.
The undead digimon would not let this be ignored and gave chase.
---------------------
Having seen Chuck and the others lead the inhabitants of the graveyard away, Freddy and the others entered the cemetery. Though they remained on guard in case Gargomon or any other digimon not counted among the thirteen made their presence known.
Arriving at the central crypt, the children and their digimon saw that it was inlaid with images of angels yielding swords or rods as they battled demonic beasts. Upon the door itself was a visage of a humbled demon shackled at the feet of a rod-holding angel. To most of them, they felt the moral was one of triumph over darkness. Yet to one child and partner, it felt as if this was the agony of defeat.
Teresa ran her hand over the humbled demon figure, as she came to the restraint's connector upon it's chest, she felt something odd. She pressed hard against it, and not only did it move, but the whole door as well.
"Nice job," Freddy praised. He then frowned peering into the darkness of the crypt.
Two red eyes appeared deep within, and a hollow voice rang out, "Enter if you wish to die."
"I don't think our survival is the one that is at issue here," Freddy shot back.
A bone-chilling chuckle was the only reply.
The small group pressed forward and suddenly the oppressive gloom gave way to torches that ignited along the walls. On the far side of the crypt sat a demonic winged stone statue with two golden bands crossing over his chest, which slowly stood up. Behind Gargomon rested a sword on a pedestal.
"You look better in the dark," Freddy quipped.
Gargomon stepped forward heavily. "Joke all you want, but if you are here seeking power or compassion, you have found neither."
"Well, we just have to beat you to get the sword." Melissa grinned. "Modoki Betamon, Kokuwamon, GO!"
"Aqua Tower!" "Stun Shock!" The two digimon fired their attacks together.
Gargomon rushed forward as the two attacks collided behind him, giving him a push forward from the explosive result. The beast was off centered and wrapped his giant hands around Goblimon to steady himself. Before the green humanoid digimon could raise an attack, the stone digimon threw him into a wall and followed that attack up by doing the same thing to Modoki Betamon and Kokuwamon.
"Nightmare Syndrome!" Tapirmon cried out.
Gargomon paused for a moment as the pigmy-elephant's dark cloud enshrouded him. He then glared at her. "Don't bring up unpleasant memories!" The stone demon grabbed Tapirmon and began slamming her into the ground repeatedly.
Teresa latched herself around Gargomon's arm. "Please, stop it! PLEASE!" She then found herself slammed against the wall, pain filling her body.
"You ask for mercy?" Gargomon laughed. "There is no mercy here. Digimon believe that sword is of compassion, but that's a lie."
Teresa coughed from pain. "You don't want to guard it, do you?"
"Guarding it is not an issue. That I do willingly," Gargomon hissed. "LEAVING this crypt is what I cannot do."
"You're a prisoner?" Teresa questioned.
"Yes. I came here wanting to evolve. It was a 'Sword of Compassion,' surely there was no price for it's gift," Gargomon growled. "I got my 'reward' and the sword proved that it held no compassion for the cost it forced upon me."
Freddy, George and the others were at a loss for what to do. They had no hope of being able to hurt the stone beast, especially with their digimon out of commission. And they certainly couldn't retreat with Teresa trapped by the foul creature. They could only watch as the poor crying girl was pressed against the wall.
"Is there any way I can free you?" Teresa questioned.
Gargomon stared at her. "Huh?"
"How can I free you?" Teresa repeated. "Maybe I could take your place."
Gargomon howled and threw the girl across the room. "Don't be stupid! I will NEVER allow someone else to go through this hell. I will kill you before I'd let that happen."
"I won't let you remain here another day, even if it means I can never leave," Teresa protested.
"Then you give me no choice!" A pure white tablet and a jet-black tablet formed in Gargomon's hands, but before he could utter his attack the room flooded with light. As his vision cleared, Teresa stood without a single sign she had been hurt by him and was holding the two-meter long claymore that was bigger than she was.
Gargomon took a step back, staring at the girl in shock and horror. "No, you fool!"
"You imprisonment ends now!" Teresa swung the giant blade toward the stone demon.
At first nothing seemed to happen, but then the golden bands split apart and slipped off Gargomon. Then he began to shimmer and shrink until all that was left was a V-mon, who stared at his draconian paws in shock. He then looked at the girl in amazement before tears flowed from his eyes. "You stupid, stupid girl. Give me back the sword. You don't want to be stuck here."
"Ah! So V-mon's brother wasn't killed. He WAS Gargomon!" Melissa chirped.
Freddy smirked. "Teresa, why don't you see if you can leave? I believe the sword was always meant for you."
"Don't!" V-mon protested. "If you leave, you'll feel nothing but pain!"
Teresa took faith in what she had to do. There would be no point to make swords that could not leave where they were guarded. She readied herself anyway in case the pain did come, surprised that her injuries had vanished when the blade went to her hands. She walked slowly out of the crypt and into the cemetery. She stared at the overcast sky with a frown.
Freddy followed behind her. "You okay?"
"I'm fine," Teresa replied. "Just wished that the sun would've come out." She then turned around. "How's Tapirmon?"
"Not a scratch!" Tapirmon announced.
"All their injuries were healed when light flooded the room!" Melissa announced happily.
"That's wonderful!" Teresa elated. She then pouted. "V-mon, right? You can come out now."
V-mon hesitantly stepped outside of the crypt. Then took a few extra steps. He hopped up and down. Then he finally began to smile and grabbed Teresa's hands. "WE'RE FREE! WE'RE FREE!"
Modoki Betamon nodded. "And your family awaits you at the inn."
"They're still here? It's been so long..." V-mon sighed. "I wonder what my brothers have evolved to."
Melissa giggled. "Why don't we save that as a surprise?"
Freddy looked around. "Now what happened to Chuck and the others?"
Screams of horror echoed across the cemetery, but the cries of panic were not made by voices that the children or their digimon knew.
"Keep away! Keep away!" cried out a terrified Bakemon.
"No one dares try to hurt Susan and gets away with it!" retorted a blue sorceress no taller than the children, who was flinging crystal from her wand.
"Go get the creep, Sorcerymon!" Susan cheered.
"Guess we don't need the swords to evolve our digimon to adult," Melissa commented.
Freddy growled. "Guess so, but how did that twit figure out how to do it?"
Chuck walked up to them. "A Bakemon had Susan cornered. She was almost killed, but Psychemon evolved and killed him first." He then stared at the huge sword Teresa was holding with one hand. "See you got the sword."
"How do you sheath it, though?" Teresa wondered. Then her digivice flared and the sword was sucked into it. The small teen grabbed the device, morphed it into a sword and then back into the handheld device.
"That works," Melissa chirped.
"I'd say its high time we returned to the inn and plan our next move," Chuck suggested, and the others nodded.
---------------------
Author's Notes:
Gah! I didn't expect it'd be THIS long between updates. With luck the next chapter won't take nearly as long.
Next Chapter: The Difference Between Bravery and Stupidity
Can any of the children face off against Bullmon for the next sword?