Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Passage Through Shadow 3: Rain of Mercy ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: Still don't own digimon. Still not making money out of this. Still poverty struck. This is for fun. Please don't sue.

A/N: In case anyone missed it I've rewritten Remembering to Burn and made some important changes. Over the next week or so I'll be redoing Descent into Darkness so keep your eyes open. The changes to that will be quite radical and you'll need to reread it to understand this and later fics in the future. Don't forget to R&R

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Rain of Mercy

Part 3

"Well, I don't see anything especially unusual." Daisuke said when they arrived in the Digital World. He put his hand to his throat and frowned. "But it is still humming." He stopped as all the D3s beeped and everyone paused.

"There are two Digimentals nearby according to this." Iori looked puzzled. "But it's not saying where."

"We should look for them then." Daisuke said. "But we've been here everyday for the last few days. Why are they only showing up now?"

"Maybe the Digital World is only now making them available to us." Koushiro theorised. "And I suspect that one of them is the Digimental of Mercy and that that is what Daisuke's Crest is reacting to. It would make sense since he'd have to be there when it is given to someone."

"Yes, that's a workable theory." Ken nodded. "It certainly makes sense."

"Am I missing something?" Miyako looked blank. "Why would he have to be there? Unless it's for him of course."

"Well I don't know why he'd have to be there exactly." Iori told her. "But they are right. It's logical that he would. That's why the gate to New York opened after all."

"What?" Miyako frowned for a moment and then blinked. "Oh, I see! Of course!" She winced. "I'd never really thought about it before."

"Neither had I before yesterday." Koushiro admitted. "But someone obviously wanted Mimi here yesterday and then the Digimental of Sincerity turned up. It got me thinking. Taichi and Yamato were there when Daisuke got Courage and Friendship respectively and Sora and I were there when you and Iori got yours."

Miyako nodded. "I understand Logically that suggests that Daisuke will have to be there when the Digimental of Mercy appears on the scene. But why?"

"That I don't yet." Koushiro admitted.

"Look this is all very interesting." Daisuke said. "But we should get a move on and look for them not stand here discussing them."

"I agree." Ken nodded. "And we'd also better keep an eye out for Athenamon's followers. I doubt that the other day was the last time they'll try and kill us."

"That's a good idea." Iori said.

They hadn't gone far when Takeru noticed something. "We've got company." He pointed to the sky where a WaruAirdramon was circling lazily high above them.

"I don't recognise that digimon." Iori said. "Who is it?"

"WaruAirdramon. Hikari has several among her troops." Takeru said. "It seems to be watching us and that's odd because she can watch us anyway."

"Her attention is probably elsewhere." Ken suggested. "At least I can't see another reason."

"She showed me the Penguinmon Village last night." Takeru said absently as the others mulled this over. "She's got them rebuilding."

"Day and night I bet." Iori said sourly.

"Well she seems to have them on a shift rota." He replied. "And she is feeding them." He paused and straightened his hat which had been knocked awry by Patamon. "She also only holding Athenamon's supporters."

"Are you sure?" Iori was obviously sceptical.

"Yes. I met them. She found nearly half the village locked in a cellar and being starved into submission."

"She told you that?" Iori glared at Takeru who nodded. "And you believed her? How do you know that she's not lying?"

"I'm absolutely sure that she isn't." Takeru told him calmly and then glanced over at Ken. "She told me something else interesting."

"Oh?" Ken asked, obviously realising that the comment was aimed at him."

"She claimed that the code for the dark rings was based on that of holy rings like the one Gatomon lost."

Ken raised an eyebrow. "If it was then it wasn't conscious." He considered for a moment. "But it would explain something that always puzzled me."

"Oh that's old news." Tapirmon, who had accompanied them from the rebel base, said simultaneously. "The code similarities were obvious." It seemed amused that he hadn't known. "And yes that is why you couldn't ring digimon with Holy Rings unless you found a way to remove them first."

"Should you have told him that?" Iori asked with a scowl. "What happens if he reverts?"

Tapirmon shrugged. "May be he'll at least have learnt something from all this." It looked at Ken. "But my partner says he won't and she should know."

Iori frowned. "I see." He looked thoughtful.

"Excuse me." Koushiro knelt down by Tapirmon. "May I copy the data from your ring? It might turn out to be useful."

"It probably will be." Tapirmon nodded and held out his paw. "Of course you can."

Thank you." Koushiro bowed politely and copied the code carefully.

"Did Hikari say anything about her control system?" Iori asked.

"Nothing that we can use." Takeru said. "She did say that her methods were 'more subtle' than Ken's and it made them want to do what she said." He glanced up at the WaruAirdramon, which was still circling above them. "She also told me something that you won't like." He pointed up at the flying virus. "They were the Saberdramon that she captured."

"Oh, now that is clever." Tapirmon murmured admiringly before any of the others could react. "Athenamon won't consider them 'real' virii. She'll try to avoid deleting them. Which will put her at a severe disadvantage."

"That's roughly what Hikari said." Takeru told him.

"But what is she using to control it?" Sora was looking at it through her binoculars.

"I don't know but when she made Michael's Seadramon digivolve to WaruSeadramon she used some sort of energy to do it and to maintain control."

"I guess that possible." Ken mused. "But I couldn't have done it and if it is that it leaves us without something to target."

"And she's mocking us with the fact that we don't know how to stop her." Iori growled and then broke off as three Piddomon and several non-flying vaccines seemed to come out of nowhere and immediately attacked the Chosen Children. "Oh Great!" The younger kids grabbed their D3s and activated their Digimentals.

"Why are we always outnumbered recently." Miyako complained as battle was joined and the Children began looking for cover.

"Nightmare Syndrome!" Tapirmon yelled and his attacked several of their opponents who quickly fell to fighting each other instead of them."

"That's a neat attack." Daisuke commented as Raidramon took out one of the attackers who hadn't been caught by Tapirmon. Pegasus and Halsemon in the meantime were trying to deal with the Piddomon but attacks from below caused them serious problems. Indeed the battle was pretty much a stalemate until the WaruAirdramon dropped down from above and knocked the Piddomon out of the sky with its tail even as it fired a blast of some sort at the their non-flying opponents. It made sure the vaccines were retreating in total disarray before coming to hover over them.

"Are you all right, Chosen Children?" It sounded anxious. "It looked like you were having a little trouble." They stared at it for a moment before Taichi answered.

"We're fine. Did my sister send you?"

"Good." It said. "And yes Hikari-sama sent me to protect you if you ran into trouble. I'd hate to disappoint her."

"Because she'll punish you I suppose?" Iori asked coldly.

"No because I want to please her. She's shown me a world I never knew existed and that's made me aware just how wrong headed I was." It replied in an almost worshipful tone before returning to its watching position high above them. Iori watched it go with a troubled look on his face.

"Woah. Did you hear its tone of voice?" Daisuke was also staring after it. "That was no act it meant every word!"

"That is subtle." Ken agreed. "She wasn't kidding about making them want to serve her."

"Does the fact that it's less cruel make it better?" Iori wondered in a subdued tone. He was still frowning thoughtfully. "I think that maybe it is but perhaps that's because I know that it would have been one of those attacking us for Athenamon if Hikari hadn't enslaved it." He sighed. "I'm beginning to be confused about who we should be fighting when."

"We'll sort it out." Takeru told him. "And I think that it is better, not right maybe but still better."

"You know Iori I think that's the first time you've shown any uncertainty about the situation." Daisuke said.

"I shouldn't have doubts but I do." Iori admitted. "I think she's playing mind games with us."

"It's called politics." Jyou told him. "I told you once that everything happens for a reason. I'm sure that this is happening for a reason too. But the game she is playing is definitely politics. Anyway we should continue looking for the Digimentals."

"Hold on… I'm getting an email." Takeru said as he sat down on a nearby rock and looked at it. "Hikari says that it's all going down tomorrow and Athenamon is planning a decoy attack against a village of virii just outside area. She's sending Michael there to co-ordinate a defence and handling that of the Penguinmon Village personally and she wants to see me to check that we're totally clear on who's doing what, where and when."

"I think that we should have observers at the other two battles." Daisuke said. "I'll go to the virii village."

"I'll go to the Penguinmon village." Iori said. "I want to see with my own eyes that she's not mistreating them."

"I'll go to the Penguinmon village." Iori said. "I want to see with my own eyes that she's not mistreating them."

"I think I'll go with you." Jyou told him. "I'm curious too." He paused. "Of course that's assuming she agrees to observers."

"I'm sure that she will." Takeru said. "I'll ask her when I see her." He looked up as a second WaruAirdramon appeared and dropped towards them. "Apparently she's sent me a ride. You guys keep looking for the Digimentals. Hopefully this won't take too long" He told them as he climbed aboard the black digimon with Patamon .

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Takeru stared around the courtyard of Hikari's fortress in awe. He was waiting for her after the WaruAirdramon had dropped him off.

"Do you like it?" She had come up behind him quietly while his attention was rivetted on his surroundings.

"It's amazing . . . beautiful . . . large." He reached out and touched one of the polished black pillars. "How did you build it so fast?"

"I didn't build it. I just created the code for it and there it was." She told him with a warm laugh. "The best think is that it's totally portable. I can carry the code for it in my d-terminal and summon it wherever and whenever I need it."

"So that's your way of saying that you'll be moving it after this since I know where it is?"

"Pretty much." She agreed as she led him inside. Sunlight came in from windows high above and reflected off the walls making it relatively light and giving the room she led him too the same awe-inspiring beauty as the courtyard. "Can I offer you a drink or something to eat while we talk?"

"That would be nice." He nodded and then blinked as she tapped on a keypad on the table and cake and oolong tea appeared on the table. "Oh, now you're showing off."

"A little." She agreed with a grin. "So what did the others say about my email?"

"They have a request." He said and then told her what Daisuke, Iori and Jyou had said.

"Yes," she nodded. "I was expecting something along those lines. It's not a problem. Michael's cool with it as well."

"Good they'll be pleased." He took a bite of his cake. "For something made out thin air this isn't bad." He grinned at her.

"Well thank you." She laughed again. "though I made it out of code not thin air."

"Yes I know." He looked down. "We also need to define the borders so we know where not to attack you if we don't want to be evicted from Athenamon's fortress."

"The area under Athenamon's control currently." She replied. A map appeared between them and with the area marked. "Would you agree with that assessment?"

"Yes. That looks right to me." He agreed as he copied the map.

"So everyone else will join the rebels in attacking Athenamon's base?" She asked.

"That's the plan." Takeru nodded. "But there's one thing worrying me. Athenamon -- she's a mega."

"But she's not a strong one -- just a charismatic one." Hikari told him. "She can't take down an army on her own. That's why she needs her followers."

"I hope you're right." He sighed. "I'd better get back." He finished his drink and rose to leave.

"Oh, one other thing. I found this." She tossed an empty tag to him. "I think it's Ken's."

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The others had continued searching for Digimentals for a couple of hours without success.

"I guess that we're just not supposed to find them today." Miyako sat down on a rock and opened her backpack. "Shall we have some lunch?"

"Good idea!" Daisuke said. "I'm starving."

As Miyako began laying out all the food that she had bought along from her parent's store Ken pulled his brother's laptop out and looked at it.

"What's that?" Koushiro looked over at him curiously.

"It was my brother's." He said as he opened it and turned it on. "He claimed to have lost it just before he died but while I was gone my mom find it hidden behind his wardrobe with the note attached." He showed it to Koushiro. "It's such a strange thing for him to have done."

"You'd better look at it then. If he hid it just before he died because he suspected that something might happen to him then you need to know why he thought that and why he left this for you."

"I know." Ken nodded absently as he waited for it to boot up then tried to access the files. "That's odd."

"What's wrong?" Koushiro asked.

"He'd deleted all his schoolwork. There's nothing left except his journal and a bunch of programs he wrote." He tried to open the journal. "And it's all encrypted… OH!" He broke off as another window appeared with a message from his brother. He scanned it quickly. "Look at this!"

"Dear Ken," Koushiro read. "If you're reading this it means I'm dead. In which case I guess the others were right to tell me not to try and interfere. All the same it was also them who thought I should leave this for you. The information in my journal is important and will explain everything. It may even save your life. I'm afraid you'll have to unencrypt it yourself but I'm sure that you're up to the task. Look after yourself, little brother. All I ever wanted to protect you. Love, Osamu."

"What on Earth was he talking about?" Ken wondered.

"It sounds important." Koushiro said. "do you want me to help you with it."

"Please." Ken paused. "But it can't have anything to do with the Digital World can it? I mean yes Osamu had my digivice but he didn't know what it was."

"Well from you told us he had it for quite a while and he was a genius after all. Who knows how much he figured out about it." Koushiro looked up. "It looks like Takeru's back." Sure enough the WaruAirdramon had returned carrying Takeru and Patamon.

"She's happy enough for you guys to be observers." He told them. "And she gave me this." He held out the tag. "She says that she thinks it belongs to Ken. I don't think it's a trick."

Let me check it first." Koushiro said as Ken stared at the tag suspiciously.

"Please do." The Child of Kindness frowned. "I'd hate to reject it if it's genuine."

Koushiro took the tag and analysed its data before comparing it to Daisuke's tag. After a moment he raised an eyebrow. "It's a perfectly normal tag." He handed it to Ken who looked at it curiously before retrieving his crest and putting it into the tag.

"Why would she give me this?" He wondered out loud.

"I don't know but she has."

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