Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Passage Through Shadow 2 : Heart of Sincerity ❯ Chapter 10

FIREBIRD: WOW… less than a month. My writer's block is evaporating!

Ken: YAY!

FIREBIRD: But I still don't own Digimon. Even though Toei are stopping making it.

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Part 10

"So what have you decided?" Hikari looked up when Takeru entered the room. She was surrounded by several rebel digimon who seemed to be quite in awe of her and yet somehow unafraid.

"We've all agreed that we should work with you. I'm supposed to negotiate terms with you." He paused and grinned. "Which is actually a euphemism for trying to get as many concessions out of you as I can while not giving too many away."

"Well that's honest." Hikari laughed softly. "It's also pretty much the definition of the art of negotiation." She gave him another of her remarkable smiles. "Perhaps we should hold these discussions in the real world. It's pretty much neutral territory, we can grab a bite to eat while we do it and. . ." Her voice gained a slightly malicious note as she apparently noticed where his attention was wandering to. "You'll be a lot less distracted."

"Er. . . Ah. . ." Takeru blushed violently. "It's that outfit. It. . ." He felt like his brain was going into meltdown.

"I know, I know. It is designed to cause the maximum distraction." She concentrated a moment and her outfit changed slightly. Now she was wearing a long, deep red silk blouse open over the cat suit so her shoulders and arms were covered. The curves will still there though. "Is that better?"

"A little. It's still highly distracting." He said wryly. "Then again you'd be highly distracting if you wore a potato sack."

"And aren't you sweet to say it." It was her turn to blush, albeit only slightly. "But shouldn't we get on with the negotiations?"

"We should." He agreed. "I agree about the real world being neutral and therefore better. I'll tell the others where we are going." He poked his head back into the other room. "Hikari and I have decided we'd be better discussing this in the Real World. So that's where we're going. I'll send you all whatever terms we come to and wait to see if everyone accepts them before making a final agreement with her."

"Seems fair." Daisuke agreed. He was still talking to Michael and Ken had joined him. The slight tension Takeru had seen in Michael seemed to have dissipated however. "I suppose there's less pressure on both of you there."

"Exactly." Takeru agreed. "I'll also send the section of the Prophecy that the Child of Fate gave to me to you later." Daisuke just nodded.

"Be careful, Takeru-kun." Iori said. "I doubt that she'll deal straightforwardly with you."

"That's a terrible thing for you to say, Iori." Hikari said quietly. Takeru jumped. He hadn't realised that she had come up behind him. "Have I ever lied to you that you should think such a thing?"

"Not that I know of." The youngest Chosen Child replied coolly. "But in the current situation we can't afford to trust you."

"That's a fair comment in the circumstances I guess." She conceded. "But I have no intention of misleading you."

"You would say that wouldn't you." He replied levelly. "But how can we know it's true?"

"You can't." She admitted. "You have no reason to trust me and are wise not to. . . Yet." She put a hand on Takeru's shoulder. "Shall we go and discuss this then?"

"I'll see you later guys." Takeru said to the others and he and Hikari headed to the digiport.

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"Lord Daemon!" Chiharu came quickly to her feet when the evil mega digimon suddenly appeared in the room. Most of the others did as well. Logan stubbornly remained sitting and Ali didn't shift from where she was casually "playing" with an exhausted but still conscious Elecmon that Necromon had captured as a gift for her. Though she did pause and look up. "This is an unexpected pleasure." The Child of Dark continued.

"Yes." Daemon's voice was amused. "I'm sure it is. I've been watching you and it occurred to me that the Child of Manipulation would need this now." He made a gesture and a Digimental with Elliot's crest on it appeared.

"Thank you." Elliot bowed to their new patron.

"Oh, yes, I need you to bring in the Child of Treachery." Daemon said. It sounded like an afterthought but somehow Logan felt it wasn't.

"Yes. We can do that." Chiharu said. "Can't we, Denbe?"

"I think so." The Child of Fear began.

"Of course we can. Sean lives in Vancouver." Ali rolled her eyes.

"Are you people mad?" Logan shouted making them all jump. Ali looked at him in surprise. "Why are you agreeing to this? It's the WORST idea you've had."

"Why?" Ali frowned at Logan. "He's very good at what he does. He works well with Elliot. And he's easily accessible. You can bring him through."

"Oh, no. No way am I doing that. We can do without his type."

"I don't think it was a request, Logan." Chiharu tapped her fingers on the table. "Was it Lord Daemon."

"No. It was an order. We have need of the Child of Treachery's services."

"Anything you need I'll do." Logan snapped. "Sean will sell us out the first chance he gets. That's how he is."

"Baka!" Kage muttered just loud enough for Logan to hear.

"He's never sold us out before. He is good at getting other people to sell out though." Ali noted simultaneously. "Which, to be honest, isn't your forte, Logan."

"What was that?" Logan ignored Ali and whipped round to glare at Kage.

"I'll called you baka, baka. There is a reason why you are Vengeance and he's Treachery. He couldn't do your job and you can't do his." Kage said. Then added in a fake whisper. "Of course you can't do you job either."

Logan finally stood up and walked over to Kage. "Say that again. I dare you."

"What? Oh you mean 'of course you can't do your job either'."

Logan grabbed Kage's collar and swung at him with his other fist. Kage rolled his eyes as he broke Logan's grip and ducked so that Logan's fist hit the wall at full speed. By the time the other boy made another attempt Kage had moved to the other side of the room.

"Stop!" Daemon ordered. "Settle your scores on your own time, Vengeance!" Logan growled but complied. "Now go and fetch the Child of Treachery. I'll keep control of him if he does prove to be trouble."

"Explain how to me." Logan glared at Daemon. "How can you trust him because I don't trust him at all."

"Did I say I trusted him?" Daemon asked. "I just said I needed him and could control him."

"Fine. But send someone else to get him. I'm not going back there."

"Oh for heaven's sake!" Elliot muttered. "Open me a gate and I'll go get him. I've got his address so I should be able to find him."

"You'll regret this." Logan stalked over to the digiport and opened a gate to Vancouver. "But I won't keep it open for long."

"Not a problem." Elliot waved his digivice, which had transformed into a D3 at him as he passed through. Logan closed the port and turned back to Daemon.

"This will be our downfall you know." He said coldly.

"Not mine it won't." Daemon replied and then vanished.

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"Perhaps I should have gone first." Takeru noted when they emerged in Hikari's room. "Just how are we going to explain this?"

"Don't worry." She reassured him. "I'll check but no one should be in right now."

"Actually, I'm here." Taichi appeared in the doorway. "Yamato emailed me and told me what's been going on."

"I suppose you're going to lecture me about what I did to those Penguinmon?" She asked as she attempted to pull a jacket over her arm, which was still in a cast in the real world.

"Would there be any point?" He asked rhetorically. "It's just that Yamato is worried about Takeru."

"So you've been sent to check I'm not murdering him?"

"Something like that."

"Well as you can see I'm not. And I'm not going to. So unless you have something to add to the negotiations we're hitting the ice cream parlour for our discussions. If you do you're welcome to come along."

"Yamato was also worried you might try to subvert Takeru."

Hikari's eyebrows shot up. "Subvert? Are you trying to be polite? Don't worry I'm not going to try and corrupt him." He smile became impish. "Well not too much."

Taichi gave her a long look and then laughed. "That was a joke, right?"

"Of course it was. I happen to like Takeru just the way he is and just where he is. Though I would be happy to get him to accept that I'm not a psychopathic dictator."

"I know that." Takeru said under his breath. "Well not psychopathic anyway." Hikari smiled at him but Taichi apparently hadn't heard.

"Well in that case you really shouldn't have hit that village so hard." He brother said. Hikari gave him a hard look.

"Oh? Well what should I have done then? Let a genocidal monster control the area. I will do whatever I have to do to stop Athenamon and to re-educate her followers." Hikari's eyes were icy. "Now she's a psychopathic dictator."

Taichi seemed to consider her words for a while. "I . . . I don't know. I don't want to believe you did the right thing but . . ."

Hikari shook her head. "No, it wasn't the right thing to do but it was the necessary thing. There is a difference. War is never a good thing but sometimes it's the only choice you have." She glanced back at Takeru. "Let's go."

"Just a second." Taichi seemed to struggle with himself for a second. "If I promise to limit my attentions to Athenamon, The Counterdestined and other mutual enemies unless you attack Agumon first will you give me back my digivice?"

She seemed to consider for a moment. "Well if the others agree to let you promise that and not to try and get you to break it then yes. I will. I only ever wanted you to keep out of my way, onii-chan. Check with them and get back to me."

"Thank you." He seemed stunned by her acquiescence.

"I knew you'd come around eventually." She added.

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"So what concessions do you want to wring from me?" Hikari asked as she ate a spoonful of chocolate ice cream.

"The big one is that once Athenamon's gone from the region you don't immediately try and evict us and the rebels from the fortress. Actively or passively. Which means . . ."

"No starving you out or similar. I know. That's acceptable with two riders. One if you make any aggressive moves against my forces in that area, I'll be generous and say only in that area, then all bets are off. The second is I want you to turn over any of Athenamon's followers that you capture over to me."

"I'm not sure they'll accept the second one." Takeru said dubiously. "But I'll tell them." He typed it into the email he composing.

"Tell them it's absolutely non-negotiable as well but if it'll sweeten the pill I'll let you have access to the schools to see that I'm not maltreating them."

"Unlimited access?"

"Within reason. If it's in an area we're fighting over you'll have to tell me first but that's all."

He typed that down as he considered what else he should ask for. "Digivolving." He said finally. Hikari raised an eyebrow.

"During the battle certainly."

"When we're fighting mutual enemies in an area you control." He countered.

"I'll decide that on a case by case basis. Sometimes digivolving would be overkill."

"I guess." Takeru added that to his list. "Do you have any more demands before I send this?"

"You as liaison. Apart from that nothing they'd agree to."

"Okay." He added that and sent the email.

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Logan was leaning against the wall in the shadows when Elliot got back with Sean. Everybody else had already vacated the main room. Indeed it was dark when the digiport glowed and the two boys tumbled through. He watched silently as his erstwhile classmate straightened his hair and glanced around.

"Woah! What a weird trip." The Child of Treachery turned and looked immediately at the corner where Logan was standing even though he was certain Sean couldn't see him. "Hello, Logan." He said in a friendly tone. How the hell had he known he was there? "It's nice to… well not see you… why on Earth are you hiding?" Oh, well, since he already knew he was there spying would be impossible. Logan walked over to Sean and punched him.

"Don't get in my way, Sean. If it was up to me you wouldn't be here."

Sean rubbed his cheek where the punch had connected but otherwise didn't respond. "Why does that not surprise me." He said laconically and then shook his head. "And you think that I'm the person most like to betray the group."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Logan growled.

"I hope that you never find out." Sean laughed.

Logan punched him again, or tried to but this time the Child of Treachery got out of the way. "Talk nonsense around someone who cares." He growled and turned to walk out.

"After all we wouldn't want to lose another Child of Vengeance. It would make us look careless."

Logan clenched his fists and kept on walking.

"Oh come on, Sean," He heard Elliot say. "Logan's not treacherous, no offence, not by any stretch. Anyway, he's probably too dumb to know how to switch sides." Logan growled quietly to himself. None of the others knew him. Not even Ali though she came closest.

"No, he not treacherous. Not normally anyway." Sean's voice was so soft Logan barely heard it as he stalked away. "But I wouldn't like to push it. And believe me he's a LOT brighter than he acts. A lot of what you think is stupidity is forthrightness. Just because he's not subtle doesn't mean he doesn't understand the concept of subtlety." What the heck was Sean on this time. He never made much sense but that was worse than usual. It was nice to know that someone didn't underestimate him though. Even if it was the damned Child of Treachery.

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And now onwards to PTS3: Rain of Mercy

Please R&R