Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ The Chosen Warriors ❯ Chapter V: To Serve the Priestess ( Chapter 5 )

When I look back on my adventure as the Priestess of Qinglongmon, I think my most difficult time was after we escaped from the Digital Hunter base in the Sleeping Valley. There would be times afterwards that I felt like giving up; when I would lose the people closest to me, but the hardest emotion I ever had to deal with was betrayal. Maria of the New York Team had become the Priestess of Baihumon, and the rest of the Team became her warriors. They lost their digimon partners to the horror of “The Solution to the Chosen Children Problem,” and they were scarred because of it. They wanted to make certain that the Digital World would be sealed away, while I wanted the exact opposite. Only one of us would be able to reach the Temple of the Center and summon our Digital God to grant our wish. Could I really hurt Maria in order to do it?

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The Chosen Warriors

Chapter V:

To Serve the Priestess

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Lord Sentry crossed his arms as he stared up at the giant screen before him. It displayed a flat image of the Digital World’s continents with four glowing circles in the four directional points. The circle in the East and the circle in the West had an ‘X’ over top of them. “What exactly am I looking at?”

Recorder nodded. “Yes, sorry. These are the locations of the four Digital Gods’ Temples, according to the scroll that Artemis copied from Hikari Yagami. The Key from the Qinglongmon Temple in the East was already taken, and our sources in the Western section say that the Warriors of Baihumon already got their Key.”

“So, only two left, huh?” he asked, rubbing the bottom of his face, “Do we know where the two teams are?”

She pressed a set of buttons and two more circles appeared: a blue one near the southern circle and a white one near the northern circle. “The Qinglongmon Warriors and heading towards the Temple of Zhuqioamon, and the Baihumon Warriors are heading to the Xuwanamon Temple.”

“Good,” he said,” Even though they are rivals, together, they could join forces to drive us off, but separate… Get in touch with Orion and Nimrod, send them after those two teams.”

“Yes sir.” She reached for a normal phone resting on the console in front of her. After a few moments, she reported to the leader of the Digital Hunters.

“Orion has just come out of the cybernetic capsule.”

“Will he be able to complete this mission?”

“He said he is fine and will head for the Baihumon Warriors. Nimrod is on his way to intercept the Qinglongmon Warriors.”

Lord Sentry grinned. “Excellent. Excellent.”

“””””””̶ 1;”””””””””” 221;””””””””””& #8221;”””””””””” ;””””””””””R 21;””””

Hikari cradled the Key that was resting in her lap. She was surprised at the elegant design of a dragon on the end of key while a mysterious and strange key design at the other end. She gave a small sigh, remembering how difficult it had been to get it. She looked over to where Noriko was once again wrapping bandages around Taichi’s wounds.

“I think maybe you should go easy the next time you fight, Oniichan. Remember when we were younger and you’d come home all beaten up from a fight. You didn’t want Mom to know you were fighting, so I’d have to clean you up.”

“I never got ‘beaten up. I won each one, and besides,” Taichi said with a slight grin, “I don’t think Michael’s enjoying himself right now. Serves him right, the traitor.”

Hikari glanced at the Key. “So, what do we do now?”

“We need the other Keys,” Taichi said.

“Including the one that the New York Team has,” Takeru sighed.

“You mean the Baihumon Warriors,” Ken clarified.

“Our enemies, “Daisuke growled.

“No, don’t say that,” Sora said, “I refuse to believe that Mimi is our enemy.”

“Sora,” Yamato said, “I don’t want to believe it either, but…”

“But nothing!” Sora almost shouted, “She’s my friend, my friend!”

They were silent for a few moments. Noriko cleared her throat. “I’m sorry Sora, but I have to agree with the others. That one girl, Tatum, was ready to do anything she could to keep us inside that exploding building.”

“She’s right,” Daisuke agreed, “If it wasn’t for her, we’d probably all be dead right now.”

“I don’t want to believe it either,” Takeru sighed, “But…”

Sora looked as though she was about to cry. “I can’t believe you’d all just turn your backs on our friends!” She turned towards the Priestess of Qinglongmon, “Hikari?”

The brown-haired girl hesitated. “I…I think that maybe, if I could just talk to Maria, maybe…” She sighed.

“Thank you,” Sora said. The red-headed girl turned to the others. “I’m glad at least one of us still believes in friendship.”

“All right!” Taichi growled, “You made your point. When we see them again, we’ll try to get Hikari and Maria together, but for right now, I think we need to plan our next move. Where do we go next?”

Ken mentioned to the Priestess of Qinglongmon. “Hikari, let me see your scroll.” She handed it to him and he quickly examined it.

“When we left the Sleeping Valley complex, we traveled due south, so The Key of Zhuqioamon would be the nearest one.”

“How far away?” Taichi asked.

Ken sighed lightly as he studied the scroll. “Well, judging from the time we traveled, it might take half a day.”

The other warriors all moaned. “Come on,” Taichi said, “We’ve got to get there before the New York Team does.”

“It’s still half a day,” Daisuke whined.

“Don’t be such a wimp,” the older boy sighed, “Jeeze, I’m older then all of you, and you don’t hear me complaining!”

“You’re only 16,” Sora glared.

“And you’ll only older then me and Sora by about a month,” Matt said.

“Regardless,” he sneered, “Let’s get going.”

“”””””””&# 8221;”””””””””” ””””””””””̶ 1;””””””””

In another section of the Digital World, the Baihumon Warriors were engaged in a similar discussion. They were not as concerned as the Qinglongmon Warriors, but wondered about their decision to oppose the Odiba Team.

Mimi held her hands in front of her mouth as Steve dressed Michael’s injuries. “Yagami sure knows how to fight. Was he a street boxer or something when he was younger?”

“Hikari used to say that he would get beaten up all the time,” Mimi replied.

“Well, he obviously got better,” Michael sighed.

“He tried to kill you,” Tatum pointed out.

“But he was only doing what I was,” Michael said, glancing at Maria, “Trying to get the Keys so his Priestess could make her wish.”

“Which brings up a very good question,” Lou spoke up, “What do we do if…When we meet them again?”

“I’m not going to fight them,” Mimi declared.

“I understand your feelings,” Wallace said, “I don’t really want to fight them either, but we might not have a choice.”

Tatum glared at him. “Don’t forget what that Kawada witch did to me.”

“You attacked her first,” Steve pointed out.

“Stop fighting!” Maria shouted. The others were shocked, she rarely, if ever, exhibited such an outburst, especially of anger. “I don’t want you to fight each other. We’re all we have left now. We lost our partners…even our parents…We’re all we have left.”

“You’re right,” Micheal said, “As soon as I can walk again, we’re going to the Key of Xuwanamon.”

“””””””̶ 1;”””””””””” 221;””””””

The Qinglong Warriors had arrived in the southern section of the Digital World, where the Temple housing the Key of Zhuqioamon was located. There were small conversations through the group, with Taichi and Hikari silent in the rear. The Yagami siblings watched and listened to the others, happy that, even though their team had lost their partners, most of them had lost their parents to the “Solution to the Chosen Children Problem,” and now their were fighting their friends from New York, but they were still able to laugh and relax. Even quiet Noriko was laughing at Daisuke’s jokes.

Hikari stared at the younger Goggle wearing boy. She watched the way he laughed, she watched the way that he walked with confidence, she especially stared at his smile. Her older brother stared slightly at her. “Hikari?”

“What?” she asked. When he did not answer, she turned to look at him, but saw him giving her a slight smile. “What?”

“Looking at something interesting?”

Hikari started to blush. “N..no one. I mean, nothing.”

“Who is it?” he asked, “Takeru, Daisuke or Ken?”

“T..Taichi!” she gasped.

“Come on,” he said, “I’m your older brother, you really think that I don’t know that you have a crush on one of them. Now who is it?”

His little sister continued to blush. “What would you do if I told you?”

“Probably beat the living snot out of him,” he replied.

She gasped. “Taichi?”

He sighed deeply. “Maybe not, but the thought of my sweet little sister in the arms of some guy looking to score makes me so pissed off that…”

“You can’t protect me forever,” she said, “I’m growing up, and since when did you become so sage-like? You’re acting like you’ve had years of experience, but…” She smiled slightly, “All you’ve had is plenty of girlfriends.”

“That was a low blow,” he said, “All right, maybe I haven’t really had a lot of long-term relationships…”

“None.”

He stared at her. “Fine, but that just means I know what guys are really thinking and what they really want. If you don’t want to tell me yet, fine, but if he ever hurts you, I’ll kick his ass.”

Hikari laughed. “You sound just Dad does…” Her smile faded. “Did.”

Taichi looked at her again. “Hikari?”

“Mom and Dad are gone,” she said, “Just like Tailmon and Agumon. It was easy to forget about Mom and Dad when we escaped here, because our digimon are usually with us, but…we can’t ignore it forever. Mom and Dad are dead, it’s just you and me, Oniichan.”

Taichi wrapped his arms around her shoulder. “Don’t worry, little sister, I won’t let anything happen to you. I’ll protect you until the day I die.

“Don’t say that,” Hikari said, “I don’t want to think about what I’d do if you weren’t here either.”

“Hey, Taichi!” Daisuke shouted from the head of the group.

“What?”

Daisuke lightly scratched the back of his head. “Um, this is kinda embarrassing…”

“What?” he asked again.

“I’m lost.”

“That’s just perfect,” the older boy sighed, “Hikari, I need your scroll again. All right guys, let’s take a break.”

Everyone gave a sigh of relief and Hikari watched as Ken, Taichi and Daisuke huddled together over her scroll. She walked over to one of the many boulders littering the wasteland and sat down. Takeru joined her a second later.

“What were and Taichi talking about?” he asked, “You seemed a little upset.”

She shrugged. “Oniichan doesn’t like the face that I’m growing up and starting to have feelings for…someone.”

The blond boy smiled warmly. “Is this the same ‘someone’ as before?”

She blushed. “Maybe.”

Takeru chuckled. “And you’re still not going to tell me, huh?”

She did not answer.

“You know, maybe you should. After all, I might be able to help you.”

Hikari hesitated for a few minutes before nodded. “All right. It’s…It’s Daisuke.”

Takeru nodded. “I knew it, I knew it.” He shrugged. “Well, you could do worse.”

“You really think so?” she asked.

“Sure,” he said, “You could be in love with Yamato.”

She laughed slightly.

Takeru took a deep breath. “Well, I do have some advice for you. I think that you need to tell him, let him know how you really feel.”

“I..I don’t know if I can,” she said, “What if…what if he doesn’t feel the same way that I do?”

He gave her a strange look. “Come on, Hikari, he was almost obsessed with you for more than a year.”

“You’re probably right,” she said, “But…”

Takeru smiled again. “Don’t wait too long. With all that’s going on right now, who knows how long we might have. I don’t mean to sound so pessimistic, but you should grab your chance at happiness as soon as you can.”

She stared straight into Takeru’s eyes and smiled broadly. “How could Taichi ever think that I loved Takeru in a romantic way. He’s always been like a brother to me, giving us all advice, and now he’s giving me advice about Daisuke. And even if I did have romantic feelings for Takeru, I would never want to destroy this relationship we have right now.”

She nodded. “Thank you Takeru.”

“I think I should thank you,” he said, “I mean, after “The Solution to the Chosen Children Problem,” we lost everything, our families, our partners, we almost lost ourselves, but then you became the Priestess of Qinglongmon, and we became your Warriors. Suddenly, we had a new mission, to protect you. I can’t tell you how that’s made me feel, fighting for someone is great.”

Hikari blushed even more. “You’re embarrassing me.”

“It’s the truth, you’re our light in this time or darkness,” he replied, “But I think you need to tell Daisuke.”

She looked over where Daisuke pointed towards a direction further in the wasteland and Taichi slapping him on the back. “I will,” she said, “I have to.”

“”””””””̶ 1;”””””””””” 221;””””””””””& #8221;”””””””””” ;””””””””””R 21;

While the Qinglongmon Warriors were journeying through the south, their counterparts were traveling through the northern section of the Digital World, through a rich and green forests. As they moved closer to the northern elevations, the temperature began to drop, and small amounts of frost were starting to appear on the trees. Sam cautiously moved up alongside Tatum. “Um, can I ask you something?”

“What?” she asked.

He lowered his voice. “Why are you so eager to fight the Qinglongmon Warriors?”

She took a deep breath. “Because they are trying to stop Maria from summoning Baihumon. It’s our mission to protect her and make sure that she makes her wishes. I’ll fight anyone who threatens her.”

“But why?” he asked.

“On the day the “Solution to the Chosen Children Problem,” happened, the rest of you, and probably the Odabia Team, were already hiding when your parents were killed, a misguided attempt by the scientists of the Digital Hunter to cleanse the ‘gene pool.’ Me? I was there, I watched Airdramon get killed, and then watched as they killed my parents, brutally tearing them apart before my eyes. They tried to break me, hoping that I would tell them were you were hiding. I didn’t, I escaped, leaving my parents dead bodies lying there. I wanted to save them, but I couldn’t.”

The younger boy stared with mouth wide open. “I…I didn’t…I’m sorry.”

She nodded. “Thank you, but you should be apologizing to the Odabia Team.”

“Why?”

“Because they’re going to regret trying to stop us. I will do anything to protect Maria, and make sure we win.” She turned to look at him. “What about you?”

He shrugged. “I guess I’m just like the others, I want to make sure that nothing like “The Solution,” ever happens again.” His eyes almost burned with raw, red fire. “Those Digital Hunters are just bullies! Murderous, self-serving, bigotry bullies! They need to pay! I don’t want to hurt the Odabia Team, but I have to agree with you, if they want to stand in our way, they we’ll have to stop them.”

Tatum nodded. “The problem is, we may be only ones who are ready to do what ever it takes to make sure Maria makes her wishes.”

“Wallace is on the line,” Sam said, “and it won’t be long before Michael, Lou and Steve feel the same way we do.”

“Mimi is the problem,” Tatum said, “She’s still friends with Takenouchi and the others. I just hope she realizes that only one side can win.”

“Hey,” Steve said, “I think we’re here.”

The Baihumon Warriors stopped before a large stone building, very similar to the building where they found the Key of Baihumon. “Yes, I believe this is the right place,” Maria said.

Michael smiled. “All right, let’s go inside.” He took a step forward, but stopped short when a metal arrow smashed into the ground inches before his foot. He shot his head around and stared in the direction the arrow came from. He saw a man dressed in metal armor standing atop one of the trees.

“Greetings,” he said, “My name is Orion, and I am the second-in-command of the Digital Hunters.”

“What are you doing here?” Tatum shouted, “Haven’t you done enough damage?”

“To you, not a chance,” he grinned. “I’m here to stop you from getting the Key you want.”

“Why?” Maria asked, “That Key doesn’t have any value to you.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” he said, “We know about the power those Keys have to make wishes, and we have a few of our own.”

The Baihumon Warriors jumped into a circle and Michael grabbed Maria and threw her into the center. “All right team,” Michael shouted, “Armor up!”

Each one of the Baihumon Warriors quickly changed into their Digital Armor: light blue for Michael, purple for Wallace, white for Steve, pink for Mimi, dark yellow for Lou, bright red for Sam and sliver for Tatum.

Orion chuckled. “Am I supposed to be surprised by that?”

“We’re not through yet,” Wallace exclaimed, “Evolve again!”

Each one of their armors began to crack, finally exploding in a burst of light. Michael stood, dressed as Vegeta, and Tatum was dressed as Child Zelda.

Wallace now wore a suit of dark armor and carried a long spear. “Kain!” he shouted, changing into Kain from Final Fantasy VII.

Steve was now dressed in a pair of black pants and a grey sweatshirt. He had a bandana around his head and carried an umbrella. “Ryouga!”

Mimi wore a blue and white dress. “Chung-Li!”

Lou was now wearing a pair of blue pants, a white shirt, black vest and carried a pair of daggers at his side. Most surprisingly, he had a tail behind him. “Zidane!” He was now Zidane from Final Fantasy IX.

Sam was dressed in a pair of white pants, a loose, red sleeveless shirt and carried a sword, a familiar character from Escaflowne. “Van!”

He clicked his fingers. Instantly, the ground began to shake as an army of Drimogemons burst out of the ground, each one wearing a Dark Ring on their arms.

The Digital Hunter laughed. “As you can see, I am not alone. Drimogemons, attack!”

“Tatum and Sam, protect Maria,” Michael ordered, “The rest of you, let’s go.”

“And remember,” Mimi said, “Don’t hurt them, just try to get those Dark Rings off of them.

The Irish-American girl and the African-American boy leapt in front of their Priestess as the others leapt into battle. Michael began to pummel one of the digimon with the fury of his fists, aiming for the black ring that was squeezing into his arm. Wallace swung his long spear out before him, using his weapon to keep the sharp point of Drimogemon’s drill safely away from him while he attempted to knock the Dark Ring off. Steve was using the similar strategy using his long umbrella. Lou would have used his daggers, except they were not long enough. The drill would have done its damage by the time he was close enough to actually use the daggers. So he tried to use his new-found agility in order to dodge the drill and try to get close enough to remove the Dark Ring. Mimi was having the most luck, using her Kiyoken attack to simply blast the Dark Ring off of the captured Drimogemon.

“Should we help them?” Sam asked.

“No,” Tatum said, “We need to protect Maria, it’s what we’re here for.”

“But I’m okay,” Maria said, “I think the others need your help more.”

“Sorry,” she said, “But we can’t.”

Maria glanced towards the building. “What if…?”

“Don’t worry,” Wallace shouted back, swinging his spear into one of the rings, causing it to shatter and freeing the Drimogemon, “We’re doing fine. Just stay there in case.”

“Kiyoken!” Mimi placed her palms together and fired a blast of blue energy, bringing her entire body forward in the process. The energy slammed into the ring, cracking it. “You’re free!” she grinned, “Hurry up and leave.”

Steve was exhibiting remarkable agility for his side, and managed to leap near the Drimogemon and smash his umbrella into the Dark Ring before the drills would have torn through him. “This isn’t as bad as I thought. I still wish Frigamon was here.”

As the battle continued, Michael had already defeated enough Drimogemons when he glanced upwards. He saw Orion, still standing in the braches of the tree, grinning at the battle below him. Michael pointed both of his palms at the Digital Hunter and fired a stream of purple energy at him. “Gallic Gun Fire!”

Orion noticed the attack and easily leapt out of the way, he glared at the Baihumon Warrior.

“Michael?” Mimi asked, “What are you doing?”

“Keep fighting,” he ordered, “I’m going to to handle this guy!” He leapt into the air and used his flying ability to shoot up to the Digital Hunter. Orion grinned with amusement.

“You really think you are a match for me?” he asked.

Michael swung a fist at his opponent’s face. “Did you really think those Drimogemons were gonna stop us?”

“Point taken,” he replied, easily avoiding the Baihumon Warrior’s jab, “But you’re still not going to defeat me. I’m far more powerful then you. Observe.” He grabbed Michael’s hand and threw him around, slamming him into the tree trunk.

“Michael!” Mimi shouted. She fired another Kiyoken at Orion, but the hunter easily batted it back towards her. She would have been hit with her own attack, except Steve jumped in front of her and used his open umbrella to block it. Unfortunately, the impact still sent the two of them into one of the trees littering the area.

Lou and Wallace finished off the last of the Dark Rings and stood ready to assist Michael, who was still trying his best to fight Orion. “We can’t fly, so how are we supposed to get up there?”

“I’ll take care of it,” Wallace said. He knelt down before leaping high into the air. He hovered in the sky for a moment before bringing both of his feet slamming down onto the back of Orion’s head, making him release Michael and slamming him into the ground. The Digital Hunter leapt back onto his feet, facing Michael, Wallace, Lou, Mimi and Steve.

“All right,” he said, standing, “I’ll destroy you all!”

He leapt forward and executed a spinning attack, hitting the back of his fists into Michael and Lou’s faces. Wallace firmly placed his feet onto the ground and held up his spear. Once the Digital Hunter hit it, he acted like a bicycle with a branch in its wheel. Orion spun around in the opposite direction before falling onto his back. He jumped back onto his feet, but Mimi was ready with a flurry of fierce leg kicks into Orion’s entire body. Steve smashed him in the face with his umbrella. Lou leapt into the sky and brought both of his daggers into the Digital Hunter’s shoulders, and Michael finished off the attack combo with his “Gallic Gun.”

Orion stumbled for a few moments. He was about to start fighting again, but stopped when Maria shouted out to him. “Stop!”

“Maria, what are you doing?” Mimi asked.

The young Hispanic girl stepped forward, with Tatum and Sam on either side of her. She held up the Key of Xuwanamon. “I snuck inside to take the Key while you were fighting. Here, this is what you wanted, right?”

“What are you doing?” Lou whispered.

Orion stared at the Priestess of Baihumon strangely. “Why are you offering it to me?”

“Because I don’t want to see my friends hurt anymore,” she said, “but, is this really worth it?”

“What do you mean?”

“I know you want this Key, that’s what you came here for, but you look really hurt. I’m sure if you keep fighting, my Warriors might win, do you really want that?”

Orion hesitated. She was right; he was feeling the affects of the battle. He was too arrogant when he told Recorder he was fine. The cybernetic capsule repairs and energizes his cybernetic components, but leaves his organic side weak. If he had waited until he was at full strength, he would have won easily. Even now, it was taking all he could to stay on his two feet.

He relaxed. “Very well. Just remember, the next time we meet, I will win, understand?”

Maria nodded. “We will deal with that at that time.”

The Digital Hunter gave the Baihumon Warriors a final stare before flying into the air and disappearing over the horizon.

“Don’t ever do that again,” Michael said, staring at Maria, “What if he decided to take it? He could have killed you!”

“I don’t believe he would,” she said, “Besides, I may be the Priestess of Baihumon, but I won’t allow you to treat me like a child that needs to be protected all the time.”

The others were silent for a moment before Mimi stepped forward. “You’re right,” she said, “I guess because you’re the youngest, it was just my instinct to treat you like a child. I’m sorry, but please believe me when I say that we don’t want anything to happen to you. As the Baihumon Warriors, it is our mission to protect you, always.”

“And I thank you for it,” she smiled.

“I have a question,” Steve said, “How do we get the other two Keys?”

“I don’t want to think about that right now,” Maria said, “Why don’t we try to get the Digital Codex? Then we’ll worry about the other two Keys.”

Michael nodded. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

“”””””””̶ 1;”””””””””” 221;””””””””””& #8221;”””””””””” ;”””

Daisuke grinned. “Finally, we made it.”

“Despite your leadership,” Ken sighed.

“Hey, that was a scenic route,” he smiled. Behind him, Hikari grinned. The way that nothing seemed to ever bother him and the way that he always seemed to find a positive spin on conflicts always brought a smile to her face.

“I’m glad we’re finally here,” Takeru said, whipping his forehead, “I think I just sweated off five pounds.”

“You’ve never looked better,” Sora said.

The group was silent for another few moments as they stared up at the ancient building situated in the center of a barren wasteland. “Well,” Takeru said, “Let’s go in.”

The Qinglongmon Warriors silently walked up the stairs and entered through the small door. The inside consisted of nothing more then a simple room, with an alter, containing the Key.

“Wow, that was easy,” Daisuke commented.

“Maybe we’re finally getting a break,” Yamato said.

“Who cares,” Takeru said, “We’re do we go now?”

“The Digital Codex,” Hikari said, “That’s we’re we need to go.”

Taichi nodded. “Sounds good to me. But I think I should take the lead this time.”

“What?” Daisuke asked, “No one likes my interpretations of the map?”

A few hours after the Qinglongmon Warriors had left the area, Nimrod arrived. After examining the inside of the building, he swore to himself. He brought out his communicator. “Recorder? It’s Nimrod. I’m at the location of the Zhuqioamon Key. It’s gone. The Qinglongmon Warriors must have already been here and gone.”

“Lord Sentry’s not going to be happy about this,” Recorder said.

“Yeah, I figured that,” he sighed, “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“”””””””R 21;””””””””””&# 8221;”””””””””” ””””””””””̶ 1;”””””””””

We may have been given a break, getting the Key of Zhuqioamon without any trouble, but I knew our problems were only beginning. We were now heading towards the Mountain of Gold, where the Digital Codex is supposedly hidden: and if we’re able to get that book, we still need the other two Keys, which I’m sure the Baihumon Warriors have gotten by now. We will have to fight them in order to get those Keys, and I’m still not sure I can. Then I have my own personal problems: trying to build up enough courage to tell Daisuke how I really feel about him. Takeru told me to do it before it’s too late. I just hope I have the strength to tell him. I just hope I have the strength to be the savior the others think I am. I wonder if Maria is feeling the same way?