Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Passage through Shadow 4 - Memento Mori ❯ Chapter 2

Disclaimer. Shutsumon doesn't own Digimon. She just has a really weird imagination.

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Passage Through Shadow IV

Memento Mori

Part Two

Ken lay on his bed propped up in one elbow. He was watching Worrmon sleeping and wishing that he could manage to do that but in spite of not having slept the night before and being bone weary he found that his mind was too restless. He knew that he needed his strength to fight whoever was after him but equally he was so alarmed by what had happened that he couldn't calm himself down enough to rest... but he had to try and it was nearly midnight. With a sigh he turned off his light, closed his eyes and tried to blank his mind.

It seemed like only seconds later that a strange thwapping sound and an accompanying dizziness made him open them again. He was astonished to realise that he was not in his room. He tried to sit up to look around but found that he was firmly but not uncomfortably bound. This was not good he realised and began looking round as best he could from his prone position. Looking for clues as to where he was and why.

It was daylight and from the look of the sky he was in the Digital World somewhere. He moved his head slightly to look around and found he was in a clearing in some sort of forest. It was hot and a scent on the air suggested this forest wasn't far from the desert. The trees were stunted and twisted and the grass looked withered. Something about the area felt wrong... like something was corrupting it by it's presence. The aura of the place, while different from the aura of the World of Darkness and nothing like as intense, distressed him and he couldn't suppress a whimper. The sound must have alerted his captor to the fact he was awake because within moments he heard footsteps approaching.

"Ah, you're finally awake, Ichijouji-kun. I thought you were going to sleep forever." A teenage girl with murky green eyes and light blue hair cut in a bob far too severe for her face was standing over him. "I'd say it's been a long time but you don't remember me yet so you'll have to take my word for it. We really weren't expecting you to cause us so much trouble, you know."

"Who are you?" Ken feigned ignorance even though he could sense she was one of the dark chosen children. "What are you talking about?"

She laughed a suprisingly warm and genuine laugh devoid of any active malice that he could detect. "I'm sure you'll remember soon enough." She paused and her voice changed. It became deeper, more masculine and developed a weird echo. "And she was referring to our little fight earlier." It wasn't her voice anymore, Ken realised, someone was speaking through her. "You are stronger than I anticipated. Which is all to the good because it means you might be usable with you flipping out on me again. After that whole abberation of yours I thought I was going to have to wait." A visible energy surrounded the girl and she knelt down by him. The voice continued. "I know you won't believe me but I do regret that this will hurt you. It was never meant for you but needs must in an emergency." She slipped a hand under his neck. He felt the energy flow into it and it began to hurt more intensely than ever. He realised that she, or more accurately whoever she was channeling, must be feeding the thing in his neck and tried to struggle but the bonds were too tight and it was only a matter of seconds before the pain became so intense that he passed out.

He woke in his own bed, more than a little panicked and soaked in sweat. He looked at Wormmon but the little digimon was asleep and apparently oblivious so he looked at the clock and was startled to realise that it was only ten minutes since he's closed his eyes.

"A dream?" he murmured to himself. "Or was it something else?" From the pain his neck was in he guessed that something else was a better bet. He decided to email the others there and then, even though it would probably hurt him terribly, and write down a description. He had a hunch he might forget about it before morning if he didn't.

-----

Daisuke, wake up!" Daisuke came awake at the sound of his sister's urgent whisper.

"Uh, Jun-chan?" he blinked sleepily at her and looked at his clock - it was just after midnight. "What is it?"

"Something is very wrong." She frowned. "I need to talk to you."

"And there I was thinking you'd woke me up just to annoy me." He tried to grin and break the tension as his brain woke up. "Something is very wrong."

"Your paranoid as well as uncute." The joke was strained. "But not wrong... something is ominous." She paused. "I-I-I just had a vision." Something was really bothering her he realised.

"A premonition type vision?" He asked and she nodded. "What of?"

"That's just it, Daisuke, I don't remember!"

"But you know it was of the future?" She nodded. "And you know it was bad?" She nodded again. "Do you forget visions often?"

"I never forget them." She scowled. "Not like this. They may fade with time but I remember them long enough to describe them. Something is interfering. Playing with my mind."

"If something is doing that how do you know that even the vision is true." He asked. "They may be trying to mess you up totally." She considered for a moment.

"That's perceptive." She said finally. "That idea never occurred to me. It's possible. Not likely but possible." She lapsed into thought for a moment. "There are powerful digimon who could quite easily cloud my mind or even implant false visions in an attempt to fool me but I can't think of a valid reason for any one of them to do it."

"A new enemy that wants to hide from you maybe?"

"There shouldn't be any new enemies but then if it's hiding I wouldn't know about it." She seemed about to say more when Daisuke's d-terminal beeped. "An email? This late? This probably isn't good."

"Understatement." Daisuke muttered as he opened it and scanned the contents. "It's from Ken.... oh dear." He passed the d-terminal to Jun who's frown deepened as she read it. "Is that supposed to be happening."

"Not according to any vision I've ever had... unless that's what was in the one I just forgot." She frowned. "I can guess what's happening via simple logic but it makes no sense. He knows he'll have a better alternative than using Ken if he's patient and he is patient. He even said as much to Ken... what the heck is this emergency?"

"Who's this he?" Daisuke asked. "You really know who's doing this?"

"So do you." She shrugged. "You just need to remember. This is why it's now imperative you and Ken visit Akiyama's grave as soon as you can. The pilgrimage should restore your memories in such a way that you don't have to ask half a million questions... which you would if I tried to tell you what is going on. Experience is worth a thousand explanations."

"Okay... we'll go tomorrow if Ken is agreeable." Daisuke said and then frowned. "Nee-chan, if something is messing with your visions and things are happening that shouldn't does this mean your prophecies aren't reliable any more?"

"Hmmm... yes.... no...." She frowned again. "It's a matter of perspective. It's not that what I've said is wrong, per se, well some of it was ... prophecies become obsolete all the time. I see potential futures not one absolute futures... at the moment the future is in flux and I can't work out the most likely outcome -- which is a little odd but I've made several prophecies that don't have a clear outcome in the past."

"Maybe you can't see it because of the information that's being hidden from you?" He asked and her eyes went wide.

"That might be it.... I'm missing pieces of the puzzle and it making the situation more unpredictable than it should be." She paused and then added. "When you visit Ryo's game be cautious."

"Cautious? Of what?"

"I'm not sure.... it's a feeling.... a hunch if you like ... but I've learnt to trust my hunches."

"Okay, we'll be extra careful." He promised.

"Good." She rose to leave the room. "Oh, while I'm here can you get Yamato to give me front row tickets for that concert he's doing next week.... please? I'll do your chores for a month if you do."

"I thought you said that your interest in him was so you could watch us."

"No, I said that it mostly was. He's cute and really cool and of course I'm interested."

"I don't think he's interested in you, nee-chan."

"Probably not." She conceded with a grin as she left the room. "But I like a challenge." She popped her head back in a stuck her tongue out. "Ask him about those tickets... The Digital World will be the last thing on your mind if you don't."

---

Takeru swirled the cereal round his bowl absently. He'd woken several times in the night terrified by dark dreams he couldn't quite remember. Worse yet he'd finally got up this morning to find Ken's email about his own dream. The worry was upsetting his appetite and of course his mother noticed and laid her hand quickly on his forehead to check his temperature.

"Aren't you feeling well? You seem out of sorts." She noted with concern. "Perhaps you shouldn't go out today."

"I'm fine, Mom." He told her. "I just didn't sleep well. I kept waking up."

"Are you sure?" She asked with a slight frown. He nodded and forced himself to start eating the cereal. "Well okay... you don't seem to have a temperature so if you are sure."

"I'm sure." He reassured her before finishing the cereal and sneaking some food into his room for Patamon. As he did he noticed that the message light on his d-terminal was flashing. It turned out to be an email from Hikari asking him to come to the Digital World as soon as possible. He considered for a moment and then e-mailed the others telling them why he'd be late and then opened a port on his computer. "Come on, Patamon."

They ported through to the digital gate just above the Penguin Village and found Hikari waiting for him. She had a pensive look on her face but grinned when she saw him.

"You came! I wasn't sure that you would at such short notice."

"Well, I doubt that you'd be trying to trap me." He said. "You'ce been honest with us since this whole thing began. That I know of anyway. I did tell the others where I was going though."

"I understand." She smiled. "Prudent of you."

"So why did you ask me here?" He asked mildly. "At least I assume that it wasn't just to see if I'd come."

"Of course not." She actually giggled. "Actually I thought of something that might make a show of good faith." She produced a small device that looked similar to a d-terminal from somewhere and handed it to him. He looked at it in perplexity which seemed to amuse her."Open it." She told him.

He pressed the button cautiously and it opened to reveal a screen. A copy of the map he'd seen on her computer appeared on it.

"Oh!" he looked at her quizzically.

"Yes. It's much better than the ones we have in our digivices since it will tell you exactly who controls where. I'm sure Gennai can confirm it's accuracy if Koushiro asks and that it'll update itself as things change."

"Oh." He said again and closed it up. "It'll be useful but some people will probably still think that it's a trick... of course Miyako has her mind on other things right now."

"So I hear." Hikari's eyes narrowed with malicious amusement. "How's she taken the news?"

"How do you know about that?" He blinked several times.

"I have my sources. I've known for some time." She replied cryptically before glancing at her watch. "You should get back before the others decide that I've kidnapped you." Her expression became deeply pensive again. "I hope that this will satisfy the others because..." Her eyes clouded up for some reason. "Because...." She trailed off looking unhappy.

"Hikari-chan, is something wrong?"

"You are not going to be happy with me... none of you. Not if what happens next plays out the way I think it will. It'll be worse if you don't feel you can trust my word even if you can't trust my judgement." She sighed and looked away.

"That sounds bad." He said with concern. "What are you talking about?"

"You'll find out." She gave him a sad smile. "Now get going."

---

"I don't like the sound of that." Iori said when Takeru described his conversation with Hikari while Koushiro examined the map device "She's obviously planning her next move and something about it is bothering her. I'd guess that not only are we not going like it but she doesn't like it either -- so it must be bad."

"But she'll do it anyway." Ken said thoughtfully. "She thinks that it's necessary and this concept of necessity is what drives her at the moment. She knows that we will think that she is wrong...."

"But doesn't want us to think her a liar." Daisuke finished.

"So she's being honest with us... well as honest as she can without giving us enough information to stop her." Iori agreed. "What do you think, Miyako-san?" He asked but there was no response. He looked over and discovered she wasn't paying attention. Instead she had picked up her crest from Koushiro's desk and was looking at it and muttering to herself but now they were focused on her they could make out snippets.

"...don't understand... not a terrible person... why .... countercrest? ... what is so bad about me?"

"Well you are self absorbed to the point where you don' pay attention or even notice when someone speaks to you." Jyou said loudly in her ear making her jump. "Which may well have something to do with it." He added in a more normal tone. She blinked and dropped the Crest back onto the desk. "Sorry, I zoned out there. What was the question?"

They quickly outlined the situation again because they weren't sure how much she'd missed. After they finished she just frowned.

"Is that thing safe and for real?" She asked quickly. Koushiro nodded.

"No traps, no tricks, Gennai says the map is accurate and the code is set to update itself. It is exactly what she said."

"That is useful." Miyako admitted. "Maybe she is being honest with us but I still can't see that we did the right thing by dealing with her. I can't help thinking we did the wrong thing by not fighting her. We are going to regret this... but she is being honest with us."

"Do you still think that she booby trapped my digivice?" Taichi asked and she shook her head.

"I was just mad that you agreed to her terms... I never actually thought she'd stoop so low as to booby trap it. She pauses as Daisuke's d-terminal beeped. "Who'd be e-mailing you that isn't here?" She asked.

"only one way to find out." He opened his d-terminal and read the message. "It's from Michael."

"Really? What does he want?" She asked coldly. "Has he come to his senses?"

"I'd say that he came to his senses long before you ever met him." Daisuke replied absently. "And in the current circumstances he's got his courage together to let me tell you."

"Yes, I did notice that something was bothering him when we met ... I thought it was just that Elliot guy..." Koushiro frowned. "But now I think about it there was something more wasn't there."

"The deepest irony," Daisuke mused, "Is that of all the Digimentals it could have given him the Digital World gave him the Digimental of Mercy. Somewhat twisted sense of humour there I think."

"Well in the circumstances it was appropri..." There was a long pause as Koushiro connected the dots. "Oh... I see... it was still appropriate though."

"Can people really change that much?" Iori had apparently also made the connection. "A leopard can't change it's spots can it?"

"People can change in extraordinary ways." Yamato told him. "It takes some sort of shock usually but it can happen. Don't you trust the Digital World's judgement."

"It was Mercy, Iori-kun," Koushiro added. "Unless you have another word for it."

Iori frowned thoughtfully. "I guess that it's not that he changed but that he changed so much... it scares me because people can change for the worse as well as the better."

"I think I'm missing half the conversation." Miyak said diffidently. "Maybe because I'm distracted." Iori explained to her and she blinked. "Oh my! that explains so much! Does he say anything else?"

"That your crest is Selfishness." Daisuke told her.

"Yeah, that's me all right" She conceded wryly. "I'll have to work on that." She glanced over at Jyou. "I must really irritate you, senpai."

"Actually you don't usually. Your digimentals probably buffer the effect." He replied with a grin before glancing over at Ken and Daisuke. "So you two are going to the grave today?" Ken and Daisuke looked at each other then nodded.

"As soon as the meeting finishes." Daisuke replied. "The rest of you should get busy knocking over spires in the CounterDestined areas."

----

"Any luck?" Hikari asked when she got back to her base. Michael and Gatomon both shook their heads.

"The Meramon are being the definition of stubborn." Michael told her. "We talked to them. We even had the Tapirmon talk to them but it's not that they don't believe that we will leave them alone if they don't attack us. They feel morally obligated to get involved." He sighed and shook his head again. "I'm sorry."

"It isn't your fault." She sighed. "I didn't really think they'd change their minds but we had to try."

"What will you do, Hikari?" Michael asked. She looked up at the screen and sighed again before steeling herself.

"Whatever I have to." he said firmly. "Whatever I have to." She zoomed the map in on the area in question. "I'll try to work round them but if they attack I'll deal with them decisively. They'll still be better off than if your former friends took the area. I think that they'll realise that in the end."

"If they don't then my estimation of their intelligence will drop even further than it already has." He muttered. "So, Plan?"

"Three forces. Force one will secure the border, force two will take out the spire and set up the crystal, force 3 will watch the Meramon but only attack them if they make a move. Gatomon and I will be with force two, you lead force three and let Devimon take force one."

"I want to take the border." Michael said bluntly. "And I think you should send Bastemon to the Meramon. She can probably hypnotise them into submission if necessary."

"That's a point but I suspect you want to face down you former compatriots more than anything."

"That's part of it." He admitted blandly. "But my argument for sending Bastemon to the Meramon stands."

"It is a good point but I'm worried the spire location may turn into a massive 3 or 4 way brawl so I want Gatomon with me in case I need her... and I'm not sure I trust Devimon's sense of proportion when it comes to the Meramon."

"If you set limits I will stay with them. I do understand politics.... however I'd agree with his argument for sending Bastemon." Devimon appeared in the room. "And it may well be best to send Michael to face the dark chosen. He'll be able to predict them and keep them from getting into the area. I may not be able to do that. If Bastemon and Michael can neutralise two of the possible opposing forces you'll only have to face down the Chosen Children. Otherwise you'll have three forces fighting you and quite possibly each other and that would be messy."

"That could well be an understatement." Hikari conceded. "Okay, you've persuaded me. I'll do it your way."

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