Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ The Children Of Fate ❯ 7 ( Chapter 8 )
[ 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 | Updated On: 08.01.2005 | Pages: 6 | Words: 2.5K | Visits: 234 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Digimon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Romance | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 08.01.2005 | Updated On: 08.01.2005 | Pages: 6 | Words: 2.5K | Visits: 234 | Status: Completed
Chapter 7:
********
The dream was the same again. She stood in the darkness, surrounded by things that snarled from the black veil that her eyes could not pierce. She shrank back from them, fear rising in her throat and crawling up her spine like some demented demon. She drew her sword to fend them off, but the dark blade melted away before her eyes, dissolving into the air.
And then he appeared, a figure shrouded in gold, with a bright-bladed katana in his hand. He drove away the dark shadows, and a feeling of peace pervaded her mind, making her feel safe and welcome.
The figure held out his hand to her, and she reached to take the offered palm…
=============================================================
Taythe woke from the dream, and gasped. It had been stronger this time, and she didn’t know how much longer she could resist.
But no… that was a lie, wasn’t it? Amazing.
She could even lie to herself. She didn’t know how people could cope with this. All these emotions building up inside her?
Taythe had not had what could be called a conventional childhood. She had been told that emotions were a weakness, something to be oppressed at all costs.
And it seemed that they had been right. Daisuke had fought with his emotions, and she had beaten him. She had emerged victorious…
Hadn’t she?
=============================================================
They marched all of that day, and long into the next, before they finally reached their destination. The mountain region of the digital world was a area of snow-covered peaks and deep, dangerous ravines.
And at the centre of it all was the fortress of the dragon lords. Kari and the Digidestined were urged roughly into a wide circular room, its domed ceiling seeming to stretch high out of sight.
“Brings back memories, doesn’t it?” Tai quipped.
“Just like back in Paul’s tower.” Matt replied. “I feel at home already.”
Kari grinned. If the two boys could joke like that, then she didn’t have too much to worry about. She turned as Taythe stepped into the room, and walked along he narrow carpet to a dais. On the dais was a throne, and it was all Kari could do to prevent herself from laughing. When Taythe turned, and settled herself onto the seat, she looked for all the world like a child playing with a toy.
“I am the new ruler of the digital world. I have defeated the Paladin in combat, and I claim my prize.” The raven-haired girl announced.
“Ooh, look who’s a big girl now…” Gatomon whispered down her partner’s ear. Kari hastily stifled a giggle, as Taythe continued to speak.
“As the new ruler, I hereby summon those who shalt enforce mine will upon thee, and cast away those disparaged ones who displease mine eye.”
“What was that about?” Tai said in a stage whisper to Matt and Sora.
“How the hell should I know? I couldn’t understand a word she was saying?” Matt whispered back.
Kari had kept her eyes on Taythe the whole time, and had seen the dangerous flicker in her eyes as Tai and Matt had played their game. She turned to them, and spoke loudly enough to be heard
“Alright. Enough. I like both of you too much to have to explain to your parents why your heads were cut off.”
They grinned slyly, and nodded. As they turned back to the Dais, Taythe raised her Digivice. White light span from the closed hand, and shone towards the twelve podiums situated around the wall, dazzling the Digidestined, who flinched away. When they turned back, the podiums were no longer empty. On each of them, in a circle around the room, sat one of the huge dragons that Edenamon had faced on the snowfield. Kari felt something drain from her as she looked at the huge creatures. She knew that they could not stand against that much amassed power. Taythe sat on her throne, smiling a cold smile.
“And now, I am truly the ruler.”
=============================================================
The newly anointed regent of the digital world decided that evening to entertain her prisoners. The dejected Digidestined were marched into the citadel’s banqueting hall, where, at the head of the long table, the raven-headed girl awaited her guests. Taythe’s face was cool, almost calm as she watched them enter.
“Welcome.” She said simply. “Please have a seat.”
None of them moved. Taythe sighed, and leant back in her seat.
“Don’t make me use force, Digidestined. I’m sure you’ve noticed that I have absolutely no problem with that.”
The group glanced at each other, and sat. Taythe looked around at them.
“Dinner will be served in a short while. However I thought we could take this opportunity beforehand to talk.”
Kari fixed her with a level gaze, as Gatomon sat beside her on the wide seat.
“I don’t think we have anything to talk about.”
“I want you to tell me about the paladin.”
“No.”
“It wasn’t a request.”
“And that’s still my answer.”
“I have ways to make you tell me.”
“Been there, done that. When you’re on a par with Malomyotismon, give it another try.”
Taythe grinned, and Kari shivered. It was like the smile of a corpse, cold and without any trace of good humour behind it.
“I didn’t think that you would cooperate, Miss Kamiya. But like I said, I have ways of making you do what I want.”
She stood, and started pacing around the table, until she was standing behind Kari. They brown-haired Digidestined didn’t turn round to look at her nemesis. Taythe sighed.
“Guards!”
Two Shadowmon came into the room, and stood silently a little distance away. Taythe looked around the table, and her gaze finally settled on Mimi.
“Kill that one.”
The foul creatures drew their swords, and started forward.
“No!” Kari yelled.
Taythe stopped the Shadowmon’s movements with a brief gesture of her hand.
“You will cooperate?”
Kari still didn’t turn to face her enemy, but instead looked down at the table, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes.
“I’ll cooperate.” She said bitterly, the taste of defeat filling her mouth.
“Good.”
Taythe turned to the Shadowmon.
“Take the rest to join the others. Miss Kamiya and I will talk, and she will be along to join them presently.”
Sora looked up Sharply.
“The others?”
Taythe’s dead smile crawled across her face once more, a nauseating smirk of condescension.
“Oh yeah, I forgot.” She said. “I’m afraid we captured the other Digidestined as they were trying to get away on the boats. If its any consolation, none of the were hurt.” She laughed viciously. “Things REALLY didn’t go well for you at coast city, did they?”
The Digidestined’s faces were dejected as they were escorted from the room.
=============================================================
Tai quickly settled back into his standard position as leader after that point. Kari was still being held in the dining hall, and the Shadowmon were escorting the rest of them deep into the bowels of the citadel.
“Where we heading, Tai?” Matt asked.
“Bud, when I develop telepathy, I’ll let you know.” Came the acid reply.
They moved through the fortress in near darkness, and as their eyes gradually became accustomed to the dim light, they became aware of rough walls, no longer the smooth stone that had been so readily apparent in the halls upper levels.
Finally, they stopped in front of a large door. There, the Shadowmon walked back along the lines and moved off into the passageway behind them, their receding footsteps gradually quieting in the repressive darkness.
It was the two new guards who were now facing them that startled Tai the most, however.
They were human, clad in the same style body armour that Paul’s troops had been the year before, and carrying rifles that looked as if they had never been used.
“Who…?” Matt started.
“No talking!” the first guard said, cutting him off. The second one took a bunch of keys from his belt, and opened the door behind him.
The Digidestined were shepherded through, and suddenly arrived in something akin to the tenth level of hell.
There were other humans around them, dirty and wasted, their eyes dim. They were chained to each other by long shackles that were in turn bound to a rail cart. Among them, they had picks and shovels, and were dully taking some form of rock to the cart. Another rifle-toting guard stood watch from about ten feet away.
Before they could even ask so much as what was going on, they were pushed roughly down another corridor, and the people behind them were gone. When they were finally allowed to stop, it was in the only brightly lit room they had seen. A woman stood in the middle of the room. she was a big woman, taller than Tai, and she was dressed in army fatigues. In one hand she carried a long leather riding crop.
“I am Wentela. As of this moment, you are my slaves. If you work, you will get fed. If you don’t, then you will not. tomorrow morning, you will receive your equipment, and then you will begin mining.”
Tai, being the person he was, was not someone who was very accustomed to taking orders.
“Erm… excuse me?”
Wentela froze, and turned slowly to stare at him. Slowly, deliberately, she raised the riding crop, and slammed it down across the young mans face.
“YOU WILL SPEAK ONLY WHEN I ALLOW YOU TO SPEAK!!!” she roared.
Tai, an angry red welt across his face, clenched his fist, only to find Agumon’s claw on his arm. Wentela looked at the small dinosaur with obvious distaste.
“Take their Digimon away, and put them with the others.”
As the guards moved in, Tai glared at the woman, who smirked back.
“Welcome to the mines, Digidestined.”
=============================================================
“You were his lover, weren’t you?”
The question was put so boldly that it caught Kari off guard, and she glanced up at Taythe, who was seated across the table from her.
“Yes.” She replied simply.
“How long had you known him for?”
“I’ve known Davis since we were twelve. He was in my classes at school.”
“You have known him a long time. Was he always so impetuous?”
“What do you mean?”
“When we were fighting, he always seemed to be on the attack. He left almost no room for defence, and that was why his counters were so sloppy.”
Kari leant back, and looked down at her feet. Gatomon was curled up beside the chair, and although her eyes were closed, Kari knew that the little cat-Digimon was listening to every word.
“Davis was… a very fast moving person. Once he got going, trying to dissuade him from a course was almost impossible. He thought that he could shoulder all the burdens for the rest of us, and just make them go away.”
“He cared for everyone under his command?”
“We weren’t ‘under his command’. He would ask us, and if we felt that it was a good idea, we’d carry it out.”
She sighed.
“Davis’s view of leadership was that a leader should be the one who is in first, out last, and patches things up. There was more to it for him than just yelling orders and expecting them to be carried out. That’s not leadership, that’s dictatorship”
“And that was why he failed.”
“Huh?”
“A leader should expect to be obeyed, not merely tolerated. Daisuke was a fool.”
To Kari, Taythe sounded like someone trying to justify herself.
“Well, I’m sure you’ll be able to discuss that with him in person.”
“I doubt it. That wound I gave him would be enough to kill even him. The power of the paladin could protect him no longer.”
“Taythe, better people than you have tried to kill Davis, and none of them have succeeded yet, somehow I doubt you’re gonna be the first. Believe me, Davis is alive and well, and he’s not gonna leave his friends in your hands.”
======================================================================== =====
********
The dream was the same again. She stood in the darkness, surrounded by things that snarled from the black veil that her eyes could not pierce. She shrank back from them, fear rising in her throat and crawling up her spine like some demented demon. She drew her sword to fend them off, but the dark blade melted away before her eyes, dissolving into the air.
And then he appeared, a figure shrouded in gold, with a bright-bladed katana in his hand. He drove away the dark shadows, and a feeling of peace pervaded her mind, making her feel safe and welcome.
The figure held out his hand to her, and she reached to take the offered palm…
=============================================================
Taythe woke from the dream, and gasped. It had been stronger this time, and she didn’t know how much longer she could resist.
But no… that was a lie, wasn’t it? Amazing.
She could even lie to herself. She didn’t know how people could cope with this. All these emotions building up inside her?
Taythe had not had what could be called a conventional childhood. She had been told that emotions were a weakness, something to be oppressed at all costs.
And it seemed that they had been right. Daisuke had fought with his emotions, and she had beaten him. She had emerged victorious…
Hadn’t she?
=============================================================
They marched all of that day, and long into the next, before they finally reached their destination. The mountain region of the digital world was a area of snow-covered peaks and deep, dangerous ravines.
And at the centre of it all was the fortress of the dragon lords. Kari and the Digidestined were urged roughly into a wide circular room, its domed ceiling seeming to stretch high out of sight.
“Brings back memories, doesn’t it?” Tai quipped.
“Just like back in Paul’s tower.” Matt replied. “I feel at home already.”
Kari grinned. If the two boys could joke like that, then she didn’t have too much to worry about. She turned as Taythe stepped into the room, and walked along he narrow carpet to a dais. On the dais was a throne, and it was all Kari could do to prevent herself from laughing. When Taythe turned, and settled herself onto the seat, she looked for all the world like a child playing with a toy.
“I am the new ruler of the digital world. I have defeated the Paladin in combat, and I claim my prize.” The raven-haired girl announced.
“Ooh, look who’s a big girl now…” Gatomon whispered down her partner’s ear. Kari hastily stifled a giggle, as Taythe continued to speak.
“As the new ruler, I hereby summon those who shalt enforce mine will upon thee, and cast away those disparaged ones who displease mine eye.”
“What was that about?” Tai said in a stage whisper to Matt and Sora.
“How the hell should I know? I couldn’t understand a word she was saying?” Matt whispered back.
Kari had kept her eyes on Taythe the whole time, and had seen the dangerous flicker in her eyes as Tai and Matt had played their game. She turned to them, and spoke loudly enough to be heard
“Alright. Enough. I like both of you too much to have to explain to your parents why your heads were cut off.”
They grinned slyly, and nodded. As they turned back to the Dais, Taythe raised her Digivice. White light span from the closed hand, and shone towards the twelve podiums situated around the wall, dazzling the Digidestined, who flinched away. When they turned back, the podiums were no longer empty. On each of them, in a circle around the room, sat one of the huge dragons that Edenamon had faced on the snowfield. Kari felt something drain from her as she looked at the huge creatures. She knew that they could not stand against that much amassed power. Taythe sat on her throne, smiling a cold smile.
“And now, I am truly the ruler.”
=============================================================
The newly anointed regent of the digital world decided that evening to entertain her prisoners. The dejected Digidestined were marched into the citadel’s banqueting hall, where, at the head of the long table, the raven-headed girl awaited her guests. Taythe’s face was cool, almost calm as she watched them enter.
“Welcome.” She said simply. “Please have a seat.”
None of them moved. Taythe sighed, and leant back in her seat.
“Don’t make me use force, Digidestined. I’m sure you’ve noticed that I have absolutely no problem with that.”
The group glanced at each other, and sat. Taythe looked around at them.
“Dinner will be served in a short while. However I thought we could take this opportunity beforehand to talk.”
Kari fixed her with a level gaze, as Gatomon sat beside her on the wide seat.
“I don’t think we have anything to talk about.”
“I want you to tell me about the paladin.”
“No.”
“It wasn’t a request.”
“And that’s still my answer.”
“I have ways to make you tell me.”
“Been there, done that. When you’re on a par with Malomyotismon, give it another try.”
Taythe grinned, and Kari shivered. It was like the smile of a corpse, cold and without any trace of good humour behind it.
“I didn’t think that you would cooperate, Miss Kamiya. But like I said, I have ways of making you do what I want.”
She stood, and started pacing around the table, until she was standing behind Kari. They brown-haired Digidestined didn’t turn round to look at her nemesis. Taythe sighed.
“Guards!”
Two Shadowmon came into the room, and stood silently a little distance away. Taythe looked around the table, and her gaze finally settled on Mimi.
“Kill that one.”
The foul creatures drew their swords, and started forward.
“No!” Kari yelled.
Taythe stopped the Shadowmon’s movements with a brief gesture of her hand.
“You will cooperate?”
Kari still didn’t turn to face her enemy, but instead looked down at the table, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes.
“I’ll cooperate.” She said bitterly, the taste of defeat filling her mouth.
“Good.”
Taythe turned to the Shadowmon.
“Take the rest to join the others. Miss Kamiya and I will talk, and she will be along to join them presently.”
Sora looked up Sharply.
“The others?”
Taythe’s dead smile crawled across her face once more, a nauseating smirk of condescension.
“Oh yeah, I forgot.” She said. “I’m afraid we captured the other Digidestined as they were trying to get away on the boats. If its any consolation, none of the were hurt.” She laughed viciously. “Things REALLY didn’t go well for you at coast city, did they?”
The Digidestined’s faces were dejected as they were escorted from the room.
=============================================================
Tai quickly settled back into his standard position as leader after that point. Kari was still being held in the dining hall, and the Shadowmon were escorting the rest of them deep into the bowels of the citadel.
“Where we heading, Tai?” Matt asked.
“Bud, when I develop telepathy, I’ll let you know.” Came the acid reply.
They moved through the fortress in near darkness, and as their eyes gradually became accustomed to the dim light, they became aware of rough walls, no longer the smooth stone that had been so readily apparent in the halls upper levels.
Finally, they stopped in front of a large door. There, the Shadowmon walked back along the lines and moved off into the passageway behind them, their receding footsteps gradually quieting in the repressive darkness.
It was the two new guards who were now facing them that startled Tai the most, however.
They were human, clad in the same style body armour that Paul’s troops had been the year before, and carrying rifles that looked as if they had never been used.
“Who…?” Matt started.
“No talking!” the first guard said, cutting him off. The second one took a bunch of keys from his belt, and opened the door behind him.
The Digidestined were shepherded through, and suddenly arrived in something akin to the tenth level of hell.
There were other humans around them, dirty and wasted, their eyes dim. They were chained to each other by long shackles that were in turn bound to a rail cart. Among them, they had picks and shovels, and were dully taking some form of rock to the cart. Another rifle-toting guard stood watch from about ten feet away.
Before they could even ask so much as what was going on, they were pushed roughly down another corridor, and the people behind them were gone. When they were finally allowed to stop, it was in the only brightly lit room they had seen. A woman stood in the middle of the room. she was a big woman, taller than Tai, and she was dressed in army fatigues. In one hand she carried a long leather riding crop.
“I am Wentela. As of this moment, you are my slaves. If you work, you will get fed. If you don’t, then you will not. tomorrow morning, you will receive your equipment, and then you will begin mining.”
Tai, being the person he was, was not someone who was very accustomed to taking orders.
“Erm… excuse me?”
Wentela froze, and turned slowly to stare at him. Slowly, deliberately, she raised the riding crop, and slammed it down across the young mans face.
“YOU WILL SPEAK ONLY WHEN I ALLOW YOU TO SPEAK!!!” she roared.
Tai, an angry red welt across his face, clenched his fist, only to find Agumon’s claw on his arm. Wentela looked at the small dinosaur with obvious distaste.
“Take their Digimon away, and put them with the others.”
As the guards moved in, Tai glared at the woman, who smirked back.
“Welcome to the mines, Digidestined.”
=============================================================
“You were his lover, weren’t you?”
The question was put so boldly that it caught Kari off guard, and she glanced up at Taythe, who was seated across the table from her.
“Yes.” She replied simply.
“How long had you known him for?”
“I’ve known Davis since we were twelve. He was in my classes at school.”
“You have known him a long time. Was he always so impetuous?”
“What do you mean?”
“When we were fighting, he always seemed to be on the attack. He left almost no room for defence, and that was why his counters were so sloppy.”
Kari leant back, and looked down at her feet. Gatomon was curled up beside the chair, and although her eyes were closed, Kari knew that the little cat-Digimon was listening to every word.
“Davis was… a very fast moving person. Once he got going, trying to dissuade him from a course was almost impossible. He thought that he could shoulder all the burdens for the rest of us, and just make them go away.”
“He cared for everyone under his command?”
“We weren’t ‘under his command’. He would ask us, and if we felt that it was a good idea, we’d carry it out.”
She sighed.
“Davis’s view of leadership was that a leader should be the one who is in first, out last, and patches things up. There was more to it for him than just yelling orders and expecting them to be carried out. That’s not leadership, that’s dictatorship”
“And that was why he failed.”
“Huh?”
“A leader should expect to be obeyed, not merely tolerated. Daisuke was a fool.”
To Kari, Taythe sounded like someone trying to justify herself.
“Well, I’m sure you’ll be able to discuss that with him in person.”
“I doubt it. That wound I gave him would be enough to kill even him. The power of the paladin could protect him no longer.”
“Taythe, better people than you have tried to kill Davis, and none of them have succeeded yet, somehow I doubt you’re gonna be the first. Believe me, Davis is alive and well, and he’s not gonna leave his friends in your hands.”
======================================================================== =====