Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ The Children Of Fate ❯ 5 ( Chapter 6 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: moose_of_doom 
Anime/Manga: Digimon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Romance | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 08.01.2005 | Pages: 13 | Words: 4.6K | Visits: 240 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Digimon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Romance | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 08.01.2005 | Pages: 13 | Words: 4.6K | Visits: 240 | Status: Completed
Chapter 5:
********
“C’mon, dad!” Gekkou moaned.
Davis turned round in his chair and looked at his six-year-old daughter.
“C’mon where?” he asked.
“You said you’d play football with me!”
“Did I?”
“Yeah!”
“I don’t remember that.”
“You did!”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes!”
“Yes what?”
“Yes, you said you’d play football with me!”
“Did I?”
“YES!!!”
“I don’t remember that.”
“You di…”
Gekkou’s small face froze.
“You’re teasing me, aren’t you Dad?”
“Me? Would I do a thing like that?”
She glared at him. He laughed, and picked her up onto his lap.
“Where’s your sister?” he asked.
“She’s in the kitchen with Mom.”
“Oh, god, please don’t tell me your mother is attempting to cook.”
“Well… yeah, she is.”
“I suppose we’ll have to attempt to eat it, wont we?”
“I guess so.” Gekkou giggled.
A crash from the kitchen broke them out of their small companionship. Davis flinched, and stood as Kari came in through the door.
“Well?” he asked.
She looked at him calmly.
“I’m entirely sure I know what went wrong.”
“Of course.” Davis replied evenly.
“I don’t think it was meant to explode.”
“I didn’t think so, either.”
“You might want to get a new frying pan.”
“I was going to go into town later.”
“Well, if you’re going…”
At no point in the exchange had their facial expressions changed. Their twin daughters, young faces smiling impishly, glanced from one to the other. Their parents turned to look at them.
“Well?” Kari said
The two small girls looked at each other, and suddenly burst out laughing. Despite trying to maintain their air of calm, within seconds their parents were giggling madly as well. After a good few minutes of high-pitched laughter, Davis finally gained control over himself.
“Well, at least we wont have to eat whatever you were trying to cook.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’ve got the same cooking style as your mother.”
“And that is?” Kari said dangerously.
“Experimental.”
He dodged the hastily thrown dishtowel, as he started to laugh again.
“Get out of here, Davis!” she shouted, laughing.
“C’mon, Gekkou. Lets go while the goings good!” Davis said to his dark-haired child.
The two quickly dodged out of the door, and Kari looked down at their other daughter.
“Well, Hinode, you can help me clear up.”
“Aw, mom!”
“You can lick the mixing bowl?”
“Aw, MOM!!!”
“What?”
=============================================================
Gekkou kicked the ball as hard as her small legs allowed her, booting the leather projectile down the beach. Davis, diving headlong, planted himself between the ball and the goalmouth, saving it as his dark-haired daughter groaned. He stood, and smiled at her.
“Not bad, kid.”
“You still saved it!”
“Sometimes, it’s the thought that counts, rather than the goal itself.”
He passed the ball, underarm, back to her. She dribbled it around, then came back for a second shot. The ball sailed true through the air…
“BANZAI!!!!”
Veemon suddenly shot out of the undergrowth at the edge of the beach, sailed through the air, and knocked the football out of the air.
“Veemon!” Gekkou groaned.
But the little blue Digimon didn’t stop. Instead, he chose that moment to indulge in his favourite pastime – daughter bashing. Skidding, he slid forward along the sand, and slammed into the dark-haired girls legs, knocking them out from under her. Davis ran up the beach towards them, as Veemon leapt to his feet.
“Got her!” he cried, triumphantly.
Gekkou glared at him, and grabbed hold of his feet.
“H…hey!” Veemon yelled as Davis grabbed his paws. Father and daughter walked resolutely, carrying the struggling Digimon between the, down to the surf line.
“Oh, you are not gonna…”
But they did. Veemon sailed through the air, and splashed into the water, where he sat up, spluttering.
“YOU SONOVA…”
“Veemon!” Davis snapped, cutting off the remains of the comment. Veemon glared at him, and dragged himself out of the water.
“I hope you are SO happy with yourselves.”
Davis turned to Gekkou.
“I’m happy. How about you.”
“I’m happy too, Dad.”
Veemon fixed them with a baleful look.
“Oh, har har. Jerks.”
“Watch your language in front of my kids, pal.”
“Daisuke Motomiya.”
Davis turned at the sound of the unknown, yet strangely familiar voice. A tall woman with red hair was standing at the edge of the beach, looking down at him.
“Can I help you, Ma’am?”
“Yes. You can.”
He waited, but she said nothing more.
“Erm… how?”
“There are things that require you, Daisuke. Things that require some of your more… unusual talents.”
“Look, is this about the digital world?”
“In a way.”
“Then you should look up Takeru Takaishi. He’s the one who handles these things now.”
He turned, and gripped his daughter’s hand, enclosing the small palm in his own. Together, they started to walk towards the house.
“Paladin.”
He froze.
“How do you know that name?” he asked quietly, without turning.
“Your duties are not yet finished, Paladin. There are tasks you have yet to complete.”
“That part of my life is behind me, Ma’am. I’d be very grateful if you left now, because you’re scaring my daughter.”
And indeed, he could feel that Gekkou was scared. The small girl kept glancing warily over her shoulder at the tall woman.
“Dad… c’mon, lets go in.”
Davis took a halting step forward.
“Do not even attempt to walk away from me, Daisuke.”
The woman’s tone was hard as steel. Davis felt his legs stiffen.
“Turn to face me, chosen warrior.”
Unable to control his own movements, Davis turned.
“Who are you?”
“My name is not important.”
“It is to me! Who are you?”
“My name was… is… Arra.”
=============================================================
“I fell for a long time.” Liam said. “And then I hit the water.”
“Where?” Jun asked.
“It must have been running under this cavern. I’d been fighting the Shadowmon off in the tunnel, after I sent you on your way.”
“Thanks for that, by the way.” Jun said lightly.
“Welcome. Anyways, I’d used up the rounds in my rifle, and I was down to my sword.” He lightly patted the pommel of the weapon slung at his side. “I got as many of them as I could. Then I had the bright idea of lobbing a grenade down into the tunnel.”
“Oops.” Nick said lightly.
“Aye, that about sums it up. The blast made the tunnel unstable, and the next thing I knew, I was falling through the floor into the dark.”
He leaned back in his chair, gazing at the ceiling. The troopers around him had demanded that he tell his tale, and he was all too happy to oblige, yet some of the memories were so fresh he could almost feel them.
Like the touch of Mimi’s lips on his…
“The water was freezing. It went through my entire body like an electric shock. I’d been battered around a bit by the blast, and it took me a while to come to my senses. It wasn’t until I heard the splashing that I realised that some of the buggers had come down with me. I almost died of shock when I felt one of ‘em grab me, I can tell ya.”
Jun shook her head in disbelief.
“Well, Like I said, I was down to the sword, and I was just flailing around, ‘cos the water was moving bloody fast, and I wasn’t exactly concerned with looking good at that moment.”
“You never do that anyway.” Said Nick.
“Did someone stimulate your arsehole gene while I was away?”
“You do realise how that sounded, don’t you?”
“Have you ever had a sword through your throat?”
“Not yet.”
“Are you open to new experiences?”
“Get on with, it, Boss!” Garret said.
“Oh god, not you too?” Liam teased.
“Liam…” Jun started warningly.
“Et tu, Jun?” He caught their looks. “Alright, alright. I fought off a load of them, but then the current pulled me under into a tunnel of rock. Shadowmon are better swimmers than we realised, trust me on this one. I couldn’t move that fast, and it was about 5 minutes under there. My lungs were bloody bursting by the time I surfaced again. I washed up on a beach, about a mile after I dropped through, I’d guess. I must have lain there for about a week before Gennai found me. I was near water, so I wasn’t thirsty, but blood-loss was starting to become a problem, and I was almost too weak to get out of the place.”
He stopped, frowning at his feet.
“After Gennai found me, I was in no condition to really do anything, other than lie around. All my energy had been sapped up in that bloody stream. When I’d recovered a little, Gennai told me what had happened to you lot, and we set out to get here.”
He looked up again.
“The digiworld is swarming with Shadowmon. I mean seriously covered with the things. They’ve taken all the major cities, and their patrols are all over the countryside.”
Nick nodded.
“That’s what I figured. They’ve got the whole world by the throat.”
“Pretty much sums it up.”
“Speaking of Gennai,” Jun said, “He and the Master have been cooped up for the better part of an hour.”
“They’re trying to figure out a way to bring Davis back.” Liam said. “How is he, by the way?”
Jun shook her head.
“His wounds have healed up, but he doesn’t show any signs of coming out of the coma. And the longer he stays…”
“The less chance he’ll leave.” Dartha finished from the door. The Master looked tired, and Gennai, behind him, looked just as haggard, despite his now youthful appearance.”
“What did you do?”
“We’ve summoned someone who we think can bring Daisuke out.” Gennai said. “It takes a lot of energy to summon a spirit back from beyond. She told us that she’s been keeping an eye over him anyway. She believes it’s time to bring him back out, but she has very little power where Daisuke is right now.”
“Where is he then?” Liam asked.
“He is trapped within his own soul. So far, this person has been able to convince Veemon of the danger, but she hasn’t been able to reach Daisuke.”
“Veemon’s in there with him?”
“A Digimon and his partner are connected in ways that go beyond the physical manifestation. They are soul-partners, and that is why Veemon is in there.”
“Who is the person who is in there with them?” Jun asked shrewdly.
Dartha hesitated, before relenting.
“It is Arra. The Paladin’s grandmother.”
“Our grandmother??”
“Maybe the correct term is Ultimate grandmother. She was the wife of Ichiro Motomiya, the first Paladin, and the Paladin line tends to breed straight down when it comes to sons.” He realised how Jun might take this. “Erm… sorry. It was the only way I can think of to…”
“That’s okay, Master.” Jun cut him off swiftly. “So, My grandmother is in there? Then why can’t she bring Davis out?”
“Because she doesn’t have the necessary power. She needs a conduit… a way to give her direct access.”
Jun, Liam and Nick looked at each other sharply.
“The rose!” Jun said, and dashed out of the house. Dartha looked astonished.
“Why the hell didn’t I think of that?” he wondered aloud.
“Because you don’t have a mind like Jun’s.” Liam said cynically. He turned to his ten soldiers. “C’mon lads.”
“Where we going, boss?”
“Flower picking.”
The troopers looked at each other, sighed, and headed out of the door.
=============================================================
“So you don’t mind?” Liam said.
“Oh, Christ no!” Nick replied. “Truth be told, mate, I’m not built for command.”
“And why the hell not?” The Irishman asked, gently picking several more flowers out of the wall.
“I don’t like giving orders. I’ll leave that to you, thankyou very much.”
“Thanks.” Liam replied wryly. “C’mon, lets get this batch back to the house.”
They moved back up the gentle rock slope that led to Dartha’s dwelling, the bunches of flowers held under their arms. When they got inside, they found Gennai, Jun and Dartha embroiled in deep discussion.
“I’m still damned annoyed that I didn’t figure it out, Gennai.” Dartha said.
“I’ve told you, Tetsato, you weren’t the one destined to figure it out. Events here have been building up to loosing the Chana-Paladin on the world, and it was the job of ‘The Healer’ to discover the necessary knowledge.” He gently picked up one of the roses from the table. “You know, it’s quite possible that the entire purpose behind the creation of these flowers was to heal Davis.”
The Master looked interested at that.
“That would imply that fate has a far more involved role than we’d ever assumed. These things would have to be planned almost a millennium and a half before this point.”
“Everything? Even down to my existence?” Jun asked.
“Yes!” Gennai said enthusiastically. “And the knowledge would have been implanted in your subconscious from the very start! There must have been some trigger in our conversation that allowed it to come to the surface!”
Dartha gave him a strange look.
“We’re going to have a long talk about this, Gennai, and it might just take us several decades.”
“Not right now, Tetsato.” He turned to Liam. “Are they ready?”
“The lads are bunching them up now. For trained soldiers, they make surprisingly effective florists.”
“And you’d be surprised how many levels of wrong there are in that statement.” Nick added.
Dartha stood.
“We’d better start then. Lets begin bringing the bunches through.”
By the time they were finished, the bedroom in which Davis had been kept looked like a garden centre, with bunches of Arra’s Rose hanging from the ceiling, in pots on the floor, and arrayed on the bed. The smell was overpowering, and the strange effect that the flowers had caused them all to experience flashbacks. Jun coughed.
“Jeez… this is worse than med school. What do we do now?”
“Now?” Dartha asked. “Now we wait.”
=============================================================
“My name was… is… Arra.”
Davis suddenly glared at her.
“I was almost believing you up to that point.”
“And what is it that you do believe, Daisuke?”
“I know what I don’t believe, and I don’t believe that the dead can come back to life.”
“But haven’t you seen the dead rise before, Daisuke?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“In the cave on the mountain? Do you remember?”
The Memory flashed into Daisuke Motomiya’s mind with overpowering strength, almost knocking him down with its force. The cave…Ichiro and his father… it all came washing back. He shook his head.
“Those were spirits. They weren’t real.”
“What is real to you, Daisuke? Is it what you can see and hear, because all that is what your mind creates for you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you really believe that this perfect little world is real? the house, the wife, the children.”
“Stop it.” Davis said, his voice shaking.
“No, I don’t think I can. I think you need to be shown the truth before you can free yourself.”
“Gekkou… go inside.”
“But dad…”
“NOW, Gekkou.”
His daughter was silent for a second, then nodded, and went inside. Davis and Arra faced each other across the beach.
“Why are you doing this?” he asked quietly.
“Because there are things you still need to do. I’m going to take you on a journey now, Daisuke, but I need you to accept the invitation.”
“Why?”
“Because otherwise, it could break your mind.”
Davis looked down at Veemon.
“Are you in on this?”
The little blue Digimon looked down at his feet, and nodded slightly. Davis looked up again.
“If Veemon trusts you, then I can too.” Davis said.
Arra nodded.
“Please remember – everything that I will show you is from your own mind. They are the memories you have repressed. And one of them will be the thing you fear the most – even I don’t know what that is.”
Davis nodded mutely, and glanced back at the house once.
“Forgive me…”
The surges hit him hard and fast, and the scenery around them faded away as images replaced them.
He was standing in Kari’s apartment, watching as Flamedramon leapt forward to attack the hulking form of Viramon. He leapt forward, driving his fist at his uncle Paul. He watched with an almost detached interest as Paul twisted his arm behind his back, and felt the pain surge through his body.
He watched as Paul’s hand swept up, the small pistol coughing once…
And then the scene changed.
He was in the desert town, running through the mist, his Berettas empty, and the golden-bladed Katana in his hands. His eyes glowed with an inner energy, illuminating the mist around him. He ran forward, slashing the blade through the first commando’s chest, leaving a thin line over his heart…
There was hardly any sense of transition, he noted, between one memory and the next.
He was standing atop Paul’s tower in the digital world, his katana held in one hand. his uncle was clutching the hand rails at the side of the gantry, yelling a the paladin to leave, telling him that he couldn’t hold the tower together much longer. Davis turned, and ran down the steps, as lighting struck the gantry behind him. He barely heard Paul’s final farewell.
“Your father would be proud of you…”
There were patches in the memories. Bits were missing. He supposed those were the parts he’d forgotten, or maybe they were unnecessary.
He was fighting Taythe on the snowfield, the golden Katana clashing against the black metal of Taythe’s longsword. He turned and glanced back at the woman he loved.
“I love you, Kari…”
And then he was turning, swinging the katana with all his strength, and as the two blades met there was a huge explosion of light…
He was back on the beach, and he was on his knees, crying. Arra stood a small distance away, a sympathetic look on her face.
“I’m sorry I had to do that, Daisuke.”
“It’s all right. I understand… Grandmother.”
The red-haired woman started at the use of the title, then smiled slightly.
“Do you have to call me that? It makes me feel old.”
“Erm…”
“Oh, Fine. If it makes you feel better.”
“Davis?” Kari said.
She was standing in the door of the house, her brown hair falling down onto her shoulders. Davis turned slowly to face her. Their children were at his wife’s side, and the Paladin suddenly felt a wrench as he looked at them, as if for the first time, and realised they weren’t real.
He turned, and Veemon scurried off into the bushes.
“Davis! Please, don’t go!”
“I have to, Kari.”
“You promised me!”
The tears were real. They stained his cheeks as well as any he had ever shed in real life.
“You promised me you’d never leave me, Davis...” she whispered.
He nodded mutely.
“I know, Kari. But I can’t stay. This isn’t the life I believed it was.”
“We are your family, Daisuke!”
He looked up at them.
“You are, Kari. But you’re not the family I need. I would love to stay here with you, but I cant. If I’m going to be with you, the real you, I have to leave.” He blinked back the tears from his eyes. “I have to be strong, Hikari. I have to leave.”
He turned away again, as Veemon came back from the bushes. Clutched in the digimon’s hands was his Katana. Davis reached down, and took the sword from him, holding it lightly in his hand. He stuck it in the sand, and walked back to his family. Kneeling, he embraced his twin daughters. Hen he stood, and gently kissed Kari on the mouth. Finally he turned and walked away, pulling the sword from the ground as he went.
“Lets go.” He said to Arra.
“Daisuke…”
“Drop it, Grandmother. Lets just go.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Before I change my mind.”
They walked up the beach, to the edge of the road. Darkness swarmed in front of their eyes.
“This is the end, isn’t it?” Davis asked.
“I’m afraid so. You just have to take the final step.”
He turned back, to look down the little path to the white-faced house.
“This is everything I’ve ever wanted, grandmother.”
“I know. But do you really want to live an illusion?”
He turned back and took the step onto the road.
“I guess not.” His words echoed back to her.
=============================================================
Jun had fallen asleep whilst watching over Davis. But something startled her out of a dream. She looked down, and saw a hand on her arm. Glancing up, she saw that Davis’s eyes were open, and looking up at the ceiling.
“Welcome back.” She said quietly.
=============================================================
********
“C’mon, dad!” Gekkou moaned.
Davis turned round in his chair and looked at his six-year-old daughter.
“C’mon where?” he asked.
“You said you’d play football with me!”
“Did I?”
“Yeah!”
“I don’t remember that.”
“You did!”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes!”
“Yes what?”
“Yes, you said you’d play football with me!”
“Did I?”
“YES!!!”
“I don’t remember that.”
“You di…”
Gekkou’s small face froze.
“You’re teasing me, aren’t you Dad?”
“Me? Would I do a thing like that?”
She glared at him. He laughed, and picked her up onto his lap.
“Where’s your sister?” he asked.
“She’s in the kitchen with Mom.”
“Oh, god, please don’t tell me your mother is attempting to cook.”
“Well… yeah, she is.”
“I suppose we’ll have to attempt to eat it, wont we?”
“I guess so.” Gekkou giggled.
A crash from the kitchen broke them out of their small companionship. Davis flinched, and stood as Kari came in through the door.
“Well?” he asked.
She looked at him calmly.
“I’m entirely sure I know what went wrong.”
“Of course.” Davis replied evenly.
“I don’t think it was meant to explode.”
“I didn’t think so, either.”
“You might want to get a new frying pan.”
“I was going to go into town later.”
“Well, if you’re going…”
At no point in the exchange had their facial expressions changed. Their twin daughters, young faces smiling impishly, glanced from one to the other. Their parents turned to look at them.
“Well?” Kari said
The two small girls looked at each other, and suddenly burst out laughing. Despite trying to maintain their air of calm, within seconds their parents were giggling madly as well. After a good few minutes of high-pitched laughter, Davis finally gained control over himself.
“Well, at least we wont have to eat whatever you were trying to cook.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’ve got the same cooking style as your mother.”
“And that is?” Kari said dangerously.
“Experimental.”
He dodged the hastily thrown dishtowel, as he started to laugh again.
“Get out of here, Davis!” she shouted, laughing.
“C’mon, Gekkou. Lets go while the goings good!” Davis said to his dark-haired child.
The two quickly dodged out of the door, and Kari looked down at their other daughter.
“Well, Hinode, you can help me clear up.”
“Aw, mom!”
“You can lick the mixing bowl?”
“Aw, MOM!!!”
“What?”
=============================================================
Gekkou kicked the ball as hard as her small legs allowed her, booting the leather projectile down the beach. Davis, diving headlong, planted himself between the ball and the goalmouth, saving it as his dark-haired daughter groaned. He stood, and smiled at her.
“Not bad, kid.”
“You still saved it!”
“Sometimes, it’s the thought that counts, rather than the goal itself.”
He passed the ball, underarm, back to her. She dribbled it around, then came back for a second shot. The ball sailed true through the air…
“BANZAI!!!!”
Veemon suddenly shot out of the undergrowth at the edge of the beach, sailed through the air, and knocked the football out of the air.
“Veemon!” Gekkou groaned.
But the little blue Digimon didn’t stop. Instead, he chose that moment to indulge in his favourite pastime – daughter bashing. Skidding, he slid forward along the sand, and slammed into the dark-haired girls legs, knocking them out from under her. Davis ran up the beach towards them, as Veemon leapt to his feet.
“Got her!” he cried, triumphantly.
Gekkou glared at him, and grabbed hold of his feet.
“H…hey!” Veemon yelled as Davis grabbed his paws. Father and daughter walked resolutely, carrying the struggling Digimon between the, down to the surf line.
“Oh, you are not gonna…”
But they did. Veemon sailed through the air, and splashed into the water, where he sat up, spluttering.
“YOU SONOVA…”
“Veemon!” Davis snapped, cutting off the remains of the comment. Veemon glared at him, and dragged himself out of the water.
“I hope you are SO happy with yourselves.”
Davis turned to Gekkou.
“I’m happy. How about you.”
“I’m happy too, Dad.”
Veemon fixed them with a baleful look.
“Oh, har har. Jerks.”
“Watch your language in front of my kids, pal.”
“Daisuke Motomiya.”
Davis turned at the sound of the unknown, yet strangely familiar voice. A tall woman with red hair was standing at the edge of the beach, looking down at him.
“Can I help you, Ma’am?”
“Yes. You can.”
He waited, but she said nothing more.
“Erm… how?”
“There are things that require you, Daisuke. Things that require some of your more… unusual talents.”
“Look, is this about the digital world?”
“In a way.”
“Then you should look up Takeru Takaishi. He’s the one who handles these things now.”
He turned, and gripped his daughter’s hand, enclosing the small palm in his own. Together, they started to walk towards the house.
“Paladin.”
He froze.
“How do you know that name?” he asked quietly, without turning.
“Your duties are not yet finished, Paladin. There are tasks you have yet to complete.”
“That part of my life is behind me, Ma’am. I’d be very grateful if you left now, because you’re scaring my daughter.”
And indeed, he could feel that Gekkou was scared. The small girl kept glancing warily over her shoulder at the tall woman.
“Dad… c’mon, lets go in.”
Davis took a halting step forward.
“Do not even attempt to walk away from me, Daisuke.”
The woman’s tone was hard as steel. Davis felt his legs stiffen.
“Turn to face me, chosen warrior.”
Unable to control his own movements, Davis turned.
“Who are you?”
“My name is not important.”
“It is to me! Who are you?”
“My name was… is… Arra.”
=============================================================
“I fell for a long time.” Liam said. “And then I hit the water.”
“Where?” Jun asked.
“It must have been running under this cavern. I’d been fighting the Shadowmon off in the tunnel, after I sent you on your way.”
“Thanks for that, by the way.” Jun said lightly.
“Welcome. Anyways, I’d used up the rounds in my rifle, and I was down to my sword.” He lightly patted the pommel of the weapon slung at his side. “I got as many of them as I could. Then I had the bright idea of lobbing a grenade down into the tunnel.”
“Oops.” Nick said lightly.
“Aye, that about sums it up. The blast made the tunnel unstable, and the next thing I knew, I was falling through the floor into the dark.”
He leaned back in his chair, gazing at the ceiling. The troopers around him had demanded that he tell his tale, and he was all too happy to oblige, yet some of the memories were so fresh he could almost feel them.
Like the touch of Mimi’s lips on his…
“The water was freezing. It went through my entire body like an electric shock. I’d been battered around a bit by the blast, and it took me a while to come to my senses. It wasn’t until I heard the splashing that I realised that some of the buggers had come down with me. I almost died of shock when I felt one of ‘em grab me, I can tell ya.”
Jun shook her head in disbelief.
“Well, Like I said, I was down to the sword, and I was just flailing around, ‘cos the water was moving bloody fast, and I wasn’t exactly concerned with looking good at that moment.”
“You never do that anyway.” Said Nick.
“Did someone stimulate your arsehole gene while I was away?”
“You do realise how that sounded, don’t you?”
“Have you ever had a sword through your throat?”
“Not yet.”
“Are you open to new experiences?”
“Get on with, it, Boss!” Garret said.
“Oh god, not you too?” Liam teased.
“Liam…” Jun started warningly.
“Et tu, Jun?” He caught their looks. “Alright, alright. I fought off a load of them, but then the current pulled me under into a tunnel of rock. Shadowmon are better swimmers than we realised, trust me on this one. I couldn’t move that fast, and it was about 5 minutes under there. My lungs were bloody bursting by the time I surfaced again. I washed up on a beach, about a mile after I dropped through, I’d guess. I must have lain there for about a week before Gennai found me. I was near water, so I wasn’t thirsty, but blood-loss was starting to become a problem, and I was almost too weak to get out of the place.”
He stopped, frowning at his feet.
“After Gennai found me, I was in no condition to really do anything, other than lie around. All my energy had been sapped up in that bloody stream. When I’d recovered a little, Gennai told me what had happened to you lot, and we set out to get here.”
He looked up again.
“The digiworld is swarming with Shadowmon. I mean seriously covered with the things. They’ve taken all the major cities, and their patrols are all over the countryside.”
Nick nodded.
“That’s what I figured. They’ve got the whole world by the throat.”
“Pretty much sums it up.”
“Speaking of Gennai,” Jun said, “He and the Master have been cooped up for the better part of an hour.”
“They’re trying to figure out a way to bring Davis back.” Liam said. “How is he, by the way?”
Jun shook her head.
“His wounds have healed up, but he doesn’t show any signs of coming out of the coma. And the longer he stays…”
“The less chance he’ll leave.” Dartha finished from the door. The Master looked tired, and Gennai, behind him, looked just as haggard, despite his now youthful appearance.”
“What did you do?”
“We’ve summoned someone who we think can bring Daisuke out.” Gennai said. “It takes a lot of energy to summon a spirit back from beyond. She told us that she’s been keeping an eye over him anyway. She believes it’s time to bring him back out, but she has very little power where Daisuke is right now.”
“Where is he then?” Liam asked.
“He is trapped within his own soul. So far, this person has been able to convince Veemon of the danger, but she hasn’t been able to reach Daisuke.”
“Veemon’s in there with him?”
“A Digimon and his partner are connected in ways that go beyond the physical manifestation. They are soul-partners, and that is why Veemon is in there.”
“Who is the person who is in there with them?” Jun asked shrewdly.
Dartha hesitated, before relenting.
“It is Arra. The Paladin’s grandmother.”
“Our grandmother??”
“Maybe the correct term is Ultimate grandmother. She was the wife of Ichiro Motomiya, the first Paladin, and the Paladin line tends to breed straight down when it comes to sons.” He realised how Jun might take this. “Erm… sorry. It was the only way I can think of to…”
“That’s okay, Master.” Jun cut him off swiftly. “So, My grandmother is in there? Then why can’t she bring Davis out?”
“Because she doesn’t have the necessary power. She needs a conduit… a way to give her direct access.”
Jun, Liam and Nick looked at each other sharply.
“The rose!” Jun said, and dashed out of the house. Dartha looked astonished.
“Why the hell didn’t I think of that?” he wondered aloud.
“Because you don’t have a mind like Jun’s.” Liam said cynically. He turned to his ten soldiers. “C’mon lads.”
“Where we going, boss?”
“Flower picking.”
The troopers looked at each other, sighed, and headed out of the door.
=============================================================
“So you don’t mind?” Liam said.
“Oh, Christ no!” Nick replied. “Truth be told, mate, I’m not built for command.”
“And why the hell not?” The Irishman asked, gently picking several more flowers out of the wall.
“I don’t like giving orders. I’ll leave that to you, thankyou very much.”
“Thanks.” Liam replied wryly. “C’mon, lets get this batch back to the house.”
They moved back up the gentle rock slope that led to Dartha’s dwelling, the bunches of flowers held under their arms. When they got inside, they found Gennai, Jun and Dartha embroiled in deep discussion.
“I’m still damned annoyed that I didn’t figure it out, Gennai.” Dartha said.
“I’ve told you, Tetsato, you weren’t the one destined to figure it out. Events here have been building up to loosing the Chana-Paladin on the world, and it was the job of ‘The Healer’ to discover the necessary knowledge.” He gently picked up one of the roses from the table. “You know, it’s quite possible that the entire purpose behind the creation of these flowers was to heal Davis.”
The Master looked interested at that.
“That would imply that fate has a far more involved role than we’d ever assumed. These things would have to be planned almost a millennium and a half before this point.”
“Everything? Even down to my existence?” Jun asked.
“Yes!” Gennai said enthusiastically. “And the knowledge would have been implanted in your subconscious from the very start! There must have been some trigger in our conversation that allowed it to come to the surface!”
Dartha gave him a strange look.
“We’re going to have a long talk about this, Gennai, and it might just take us several decades.”
“Not right now, Tetsato.” He turned to Liam. “Are they ready?”
“The lads are bunching them up now. For trained soldiers, they make surprisingly effective florists.”
“And you’d be surprised how many levels of wrong there are in that statement.” Nick added.
Dartha stood.
“We’d better start then. Lets begin bringing the bunches through.”
By the time they were finished, the bedroom in which Davis had been kept looked like a garden centre, with bunches of Arra’s Rose hanging from the ceiling, in pots on the floor, and arrayed on the bed. The smell was overpowering, and the strange effect that the flowers had caused them all to experience flashbacks. Jun coughed.
“Jeez… this is worse than med school. What do we do now?”
“Now?” Dartha asked. “Now we wait.”
=============================================================
“My name was… is… Arra.”
Davis suddenly glared at her.
“I was almost believing you up to that point.”
“And what is it that you do believe, Daisuke?”
“I know what I don’t believe, and I don’t believe that the dead can come back to life.”
“But haven’t you seen the dead rise before, Daisuke?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“In the cave on the mountain? Do you remember?”
The Memory flashed into Daisuke Motomiya’s mind with overpowering strength, almost knocking him down with its force. The cave…Ichiro and his father… it all came washing back. He shook his head.
“Those were spirits. They weren’t real.”
“What is real to you, Daisuke? Is it what you can see and hear, because all that is what your mind creates for you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you really believe that this perfect little world is real? the house, the wife, the children.”
“Stop it.” Davis said, his voice shaking.
“No, I don’t think I can. I think you need to be shown the truth before you can free yourself.”
“Gekkou… go inside.”
“But dad…”
“NOW, Gekkou.”
His daughter was silent for a second, then nodded, and went inside. Davis and Arra faced each other across the beach.
“Why are you doing this?” he asked quietly.
“Because there are things you still need to do. I’m going to take you on a journey now, Daisuke, but I need you to accept the invitation.”
“Why?”
“Because otherwise, it could break your mind.”
Davis looked down at Veemon.
“Are you in on this?”
The little blue Digimon looked down at his feet, and nodded slightly. Davis looked up again.
“If Veemon trusts you, then I can too.” Davis said.
Arra nodded.
“Please remember – everything that I will show you is from your own mind. They are the memories you have repressed. And one of them will be the thing you fear the most – even I don’t know what that is.”
Davis nodded mutely, and glanced back at the house once.
“Forgive me…”
The surges hit him hard and fast, and the scenery around them faded away as images replaced them.
He was standing in Kari’s apartment, watching as Flamedramon leapt forward to attack the hulking form of Viramon. He leapt forward, driving his fist at his uncle Paul. He watched with an almost detached interest as Paul twisted his arm behind his back, and felt the pain surge through his body.
He watched as Paul’s hand swept up, the small pistol coughing once…
And then the scene changed.
He was in the desert town, running through the mist, his Berettas empty, and the golden-bladed Katana in his hands. His eyes glowed with an inner energy, illuminating the mist around him. He ran forward, slashing the blade through the first commando’s chest, leaving a thin line over his heart…
There was hardly any sense of transition, he noted, between one memory and the next.
He was standing atop Paul’s tower in the digital world, his katana held in one hand. his uncle was clutching the hand rails at the side of the gantry, yelling a the paladin to leave, telling him that he couldn’t hold the tower together much longer. Davis turned, and ran down the steps, as lighting struck the gantry behind him. He barely heard Paul’s final farewell.
“Your father would be proud of you…”
There were patches in the memories. Bits were missing. He supposed those were the parts he’d forgotten, or maybe they were unnecessary.
He was fighting Taythe on the snowfield, the golden Katana clashing against the black metal of Taythe’s longsword. He turned and glanced back at the woman he loved.
“I love you, Kari…”
And then he was turning, swinging the katana with all his strength, and as the two blades met there was a huge explosion of light…
He was back on the beach, and he was on his knees, crying. Arra stood a small distance away, a sympathetic look on her face.
“I’m sorry I had to do that, Daisuke.”
“It’s all right. I understand… Grandmother.”
The red-haired woman started at the use of the title, then smiled slightly.
“Do you have to call me that? It makes me feel old.”
“Erm…”
“Oh, Fine. If it makes you feel better.”
“Davis?” Kari said.
She was standing in the door of the house, her brown hair falling down onto her shoulders. Davis turned slowly to face her. Their children were at his wife’s side, and the Paladin suddenly felt a wrench as he looked at them, as if for the first time, and realised they weren’t real.
He turned, and Veemon scurried off into the bushes.
“Davis! Please, don’t go!”
“I have to, Kari.”
“You promised me!”
The tears were real. They stained his cheeks as well as any he had ever shed in real life.
“You promised me you’d never leave me, Davis...” she whispered.
He nodded mutely.
“I know, Kari. But I can’t stay. This isn’t the life I believed it was.”
“We are your family, Daisuke!”
He looked up at them.
“You are, Kari. But you’re not the family I need. I would love to stay here with you, but I cant. If I’m going to be with you, the real you, I have to leave.” He blinked back the tears from his eyes. “I have to be strong, Hikari. I have to leave.”
He turned away again, as Veemon came back from the bushes. Clutched in the digimon’s hands was his Katana. Davis reached down, and took the sword from him, holding it lightly in his hand. He stuck it in the sand, and walked back to his family. Kneeling, he embraced his twin daughters. Hen he stood, and gently kissed Kari on the mouth. Finally he turned and walked away, pulling the sword from the ground as he went.
“Lets go.” He said to Arra.
“Daisuke…”
“Drop it, Grandmother. Lets just go.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Before I change my mind.”
They walked up the beach, to the edge of the road. Darkness swarmed in front of their eyes.
“This is the end, isn’t it?” Davis asked.
“I’m afraid so. You just have to take the final step.”
He turned back, to look down the little path to the white-faced house.
“This is everything I’ve ever wanted, grandmother.”
“I know. But do you really want to live an illusion?”
He turned back and took the step onto the road.
“I guess not.” His words echoed back to her.
=============================================================
Jun had fallen asleep whilst watching over Davis. But something startled her out of a dream. She looked down, and saw a hand on her arm. Glancing up, she saw that Davis’s eyes were open, and looking up at the ceiling.
“Welcome back.” She said quietly.
=============================================================