Disclaimer: I do not own tai and Sora and all the other characters here. Whoa.. It's actually finished. I am kinda in shock over the fact that I actually finished genesis. This story leaves itself open for a sequel, and though I have no plans to do one for it thus far, I do like to leave my options open. This chapter is very short compared to my previous ones. I would like to apologize for that, but I really don't know how to not do that. I don't write to fill a certain number of pages. I basically just write until I am finished with the idea. It's something I am not sure if I'll be able to fix or should fix. It kinda falls into the style of the writer I guess. Kinda like I describe everything.. It's just the way it comes out when I write.. So the story does turn out a bit wordy. Trust me I know it is... -_-'
well I really hope you enjoy the last chapter/epilog to my first series: Genesis. Well I'd say that I don't think it came out good, but frankly I am starting to fear for my life every time I say it so.... I won't. ^_^ I hope you like it.
Mail me at: [email protected]
By Logan
Sora awoke slowly as she felt her senses come to her. she had been held in a dreamless sleep for two nights and even as she awoke now the slow dull pain of tiredness hung upon her. her soft eyes were still closed delicately as she surveyed the surrounding background noise. There was a faint hail of laughter and mirth from across the expanses of the cool air. There was the soft lull of music on the wind as a vague acoustic melody sung from flutes and violins that were hovering in the darkness of the evening air. She could tell it was evening by the gentle cool upon the wind and the vague scent of torch fuel that would be used to light their way. That was due to the power outage after ken's demonic rampage. The torch fluid was not the only scent she could detect through the cool night air. There was an earthy scent upon the wind that she noted to belong to Taichi. She reached over the bed groping for him. He was only a warm impression within her pillow.
She had been asleep sense the final battle with ken. She had woken only briefly to assure Taichi was still with her. he had always been there until now. She was troubled by his absence in an irrational manner that made her apprehensive. She forced her eyes open and was delighted to find the room dim enough to not hurt her eyes. She scanned the room for tai. Not there. Then she paled upon noting that his things were gone also. The black cloak that had been laid delicately against a chair was now gone. No sword or armor. But there was a neatly folded sheet of paper laying upon the table that filled here with more silent and guttural fear then if it were a blood stained shirt..
She flew to her feet with a suddenness that aggravated her sore muscles and threw her to her knees upon the wooden floor. She didn't have time to wake slowly. The note meant something bad had happened. He was gone. Leaving her. she stumbled forward with three awkward steps as she made it to the door of the cool adobe dwelling that apparently had been procured for her. she reached the door without contemplation of the situation. She was now piloted by instinct as she cast open the wooden door with a fast and wobbly push.
The world beyond blossomed before her hazy eyes like a flower of a endless spectrum of color. Most of the colors were purples and blues that came from the vast and rich sky above. It was beautiful as it stretched outward with the most rich turquoise range. It looked as Arizona appears just as the sun sets over a long and stretching mesa. The earth was painted with vibrant reds and oranges. It had a jubilation about it as the impressionist strokes of color danced together in a celebration of liberation from the efforts of a tyrannical god. The torches stretched far-off into the rapidly encroaching night like a sea of fireflies might swarm together in a great mass of flickering golden jewels against the sapphire night sky. She listened to the laughter mingle with the music that she had heard before. It was now more crisp and clear as her mind was assaulted by the sea of multi plumed stimuli. That laughter warmed her in a way no blanket could ever dare to endeavor upon. It was a carefree tune that carried high into the heavens. Had it not been for her current panic she would have stayed to listen.
She wiped the sleep from her eyes as she pierced the crowed that for the most part was unaware that their leader had risen from her sleep. She saw men drinking merrily as they chatted to old friends and young girls who were adorned with white dresses and pink flowers in their hair. She saw the elderly as they watched the celebration with a silent relief that they had lived long enough to see the human race free of slavery. There was the sound of children's carefree laughter as it blended into the conglomeration of a thousand sounds that could bring more joy to Sora then anything else. She didn't stop to listen to the sounds or allow herself to look over the smiles. She was looking for one person in particular. The only person who mattered to her.
She found him tword the back of the crowd. He was wearing his black cloak around him like a shroud. The hood concealed his face and hair behind the dark fabric. He was dressed for travel through the desert. He kept his sword at his side as he favored a long and dark staff with a steel ball bearing at the staff's summit. Several tendrils of chestnut hair escaped the hood and danced in the nightly winds. He was closed away in shadow with only the silver edging of the full moon to illuminate him. He was built for the night, and thus was easily lost within it. However the eyes that searched for him were intrinsically capable of finding him. Almost as though it were a psychic bond between them. he turned to face her, for he knew that she would be there.
He wore dark goggles to accommodate desert travel in conjunction with a scarf over his nose and mouth. As he studied her through the darkened lenses of the goggles he pulled them off to look her eye to eye. Sora stared at him with sadness as she looked into the dark pools of his eyes. They were strange. There was a shadow of longing as he stared at her, though it was clear that he was being pulled away from her by some great force. They remained locked into the other's gaze for a time as Sora felt her eyes bubble over with hot salty tears. She wanted to call him back to her, beg for him to stay. But no words could escape her trembling lips.
Tai stared at her a moment longer before pulling his goggles up over his eyes and returning the hood to its position. He didn't look to her again as he turned and began walking away into the darkened expanses of the night. His silver inlayed features vanished away into the cool winds of the desert landscape to the southern front of the imperial city. Sora drew up her hand and prepared to call out to him. Instead she found herself mearly staring off into the night where the one true love she had in life vanished.
"Sora?" Kari questioned as she stepped beside her.
"He's gone..."
" I had a feeling he might do something like this. Are you ok?"
"I'll only love one person in my life... but.. Tai has given us a world to protect now. Tai would want us to fix this world, to make it right." she stared off.
"But Sora.. Why leave us? Couldn't he have helped?" Kari questioned.
"Tai has his own agenda. His own path to follow. I had hoped he'd let me walk it with him though. Don't worry Kari... he will never be far." she spoke the reassurance more to herself then to the younger girl. Their conversation was ended as several men began cheering Sora's name with a great bellowing roar of adulation. She smiled softly as she turned her gaze off of where tai had once stood to the crowed of people who were now cheering their savior.
Elsewhere Taichi smiled softly behind the dark fabric of his cloak. He ran across the desert with a sudden determination and strength as though he were a vessel upon the sea and destiny was filling his sails, guiding him. He ran hard as he felt his body radiating with a glow of genesis light. The power of creation had been given to him. It was his place to put it to good use. To make amens for the evils of the demon prince of the empire. As he ran his mind drifted back to the face of the girl he loved more then life. The girl he was running from.
"I will give you this." he muttered softly as the stars shimmered ahead with the faintest whisper of hope upon the black tides of the heavens.
*************************
The months following ken's defeat came to be known as the great resurrection. It was a time of renovation and rebuilding. Mankind was left in chaos after the empire was brought down. The second phase of genesis had changed all life from organic and inorganic. Life was somewhere in between the two now. And in that uncertainty came fear. And from fear... danger.
Medicines were rendered useless for they were either remedies for computer systems or for organic structures. There was an outbreak of fearful diseases and viruses that plagued both digimon and human life. However due to the combined actions of the burning dawn specialists (joe and izzy) and several imperial scientists new techniques were developed that brought an end to the threat of plague.
The new landmass was also a issue of debate. Without the empire to dominate mankind's territories there was a mad rush for power and land. This was quelled once again by the burning dawn. Sora had spoken eloquently to the public on the dangers this created. 'Ken had been able to dominate the earth so easily because it was divided in itself. Had there been one unified nation perhaps we could have countered the first assault and spared ourselves the pain and hardship of being conquered and put into bondage.' through Sora's eloquence and beloved nature she was able to guide them to a temporary truce while the world was in repair. It was agreed that no nation shall attempt sovereignty until the new earth was safe of self destruction. Then it would be handled with diplomacy and compassion.
Also humans and digimon were different now too. The merging of digital to organic had left each man and animal stronger and more powerful then ever. Some used this power for peace and goodness while others used it for darker ambitions. As before there were both good and evil humans and digimon. Now they were simply stronger.
Some of these humans were consumed by the same plague that had cursed humanity in the past. The disease of racism. Some who once had worn bed-sheets and murdered in cold blood were now against all digimon and digital humans. These were the most feared by Sora for the worst of a species could cause irreparable damage to the peace between two. She had consolidated forces to wipe them out, yet was beat to the punch as their entire headquarters was wiped off the face of the earth. There had been no survivors. Only a sketchy eye-witness report of a lone figure who came at them with the fires of hell and wiped them off the face of the earth. It had lasted only a moment before the building and its occupants were nothing but soot. The figure had walked away without a moment's hesitation at the idea that he had killed over four hundred people.
Sora had come to know this figure through reports worldwide. He was called the traveler. Seemingly because he always came and left only long enough to dispense graphically violent and godlike wrath upon those who would do evil. Sora knew who he was of corse. Knew it before the account reached her desk. He had been sighted over what once was France, china, America, and all over the globe. He was fighting a war that only he could comprehend.
There were those amongst them who longed for the old ways. The empire had been dealt a major blow; quite possibly a fatal one. But it was a repeated concept in human history that the seeds of evil are difficult to eradicate. Though the empire was gone there were those among the people who hungered for a revival to the darker days in which their demonic god would be returned to power. These cultists were always present in the backdrop of the violence that periodically erupted on the fragile peace they had fought so hard to procure. The world was not free of evil. The world was simply fighting against it with the freshly emblazoned fear that the empire had given them. they all remembered the fear they each knew through ken's dark aspirations.. It was that remembrance that made them so ready to accept Sora's guidance.
The world came to depend on Sora more and more to show it the correct way to grow. She was always happy to do so. She was everything they had hoped of her. a kind woman who understood their hardships and was always capable of fixing a problem. Sora had come to be known as the great peacemaker. She brought hope to the people with her flawless morals and inspiring speeches. She led her group well in certain controlled battles to eliminate potential threats much as the 'traveler' was known to do.
The burning dawn retired their name. Burning dawn was a term of vengeance against ken. Now they used a new name for the special operatives who worked as preventer of violence. They became known as keepers of peace, or more commonly: 'keepers' they were responsible for finding threats to peace and eliminating it before it had the chance to grow to the level ken had grown to. Their efforts were a struggle, but they were able to maintain peace for the people.
All the while Sora guided the people to the correct solutions as she began the arduous task of expunging ken's evils from this world. She worked hard to create a more fair justice system then the endless stretches of crucifixions and shallow graves that bore ill reminders to darker days. Sora had personally led the attack on Dayus's hell. She had used several mega digimon to reduce the structure to rubble. Burning it forever so the earth could slowly take back the hellish place and make it clean again from within the earth.
Life was hard but good as the year slowly rolled by with no word from tai. Sora was hurt though she never showed it. When the night rolled down over them like a silken black tarp she felt the full longing in her heart. She slept in the old palace. In tai's bed. She found herself crying softly against an article of clothing that smelled of him. It was as though she could be with him in her sorrow. As though if she cried hard enough she would be capable of drifting into a dreamless sleep where they could be together. The others knew how she felt despite their distance from her.
they had split off to keep the peace in various regions, though TK and Kari always remained at Sora's side. They felt her pain more profoundly then anyone else could for both of them loved tai too. They all longed for his return.
The year was filled with many joys and many frustrations as the fight for peace continued to be waged with one skirmish after the other. The nights were hard for Sora as she longed for tai. But time does move even when you are miserable. The year was at it's end as the anniversary approached. It was the anniversary of the final battle against the empire. Sora had mixed emotions about this anniversary. There was so much she wanted to forget about it all, so much so in fact that she considered not going. But she couldn't allow herself to miss this anniversary. To not honor those who had given their lives for this day. She would go, for if nothing else the off chance that he would be there.
*************************
He hung there in a silent calm that rivaled that of the dead. Perhaps he was in a way dead, though he was unarguably alive. The creature remained still as he loomed behind the translucent shell of his prison. It was a prison not of stone and iron but of crystal and ice. It looked almost beautiful from the outside - shimmering happily as light pooled over the glittering shell entombed with insect-like appendages of bluish steel. The structure looked arachnid as it remained anchored to the platform in the center of tear's point.
The waters churned around the structure as if they were hungry for the demon. The waters of this landmark had been used in the past as a prison for evil. Thus it had been made to one once again. The entire burning dawn complex had been remodeled to a vault for one special prisoner. The cell was designed with great care by izzy. It was strangely both beautiful like a sculpture and frightening like a crypt. The icy core of the thing was surrounded by arachnid tendrils that hung it there like a frozen tear that had gradually turned to a crystal. Within the shimmering silver of the core there hung an ominously human shaped shadow. It was held in a fetal position though there was no innocence to it as there might be to a newborn in a similar posture. This was a child of evil.
The structure hung open upon a extendable catwalk. That was mearly inches from the tides of the normally placid waters. The cloaked figure of Taichi now made his way across the catwalk slowly as he came to a stop before the machine. It was fortified by three blast shields which slid aside as Taichi drew closer. The machine seemed alive as the structure pulsed with metalic clicks and whines as the impenetrable armor split like the layers of an onion until the frozen core was visible to him. He smiled sadly as he ran his fingers over the cool surface of the crystal and ice shell. Within the icy core there were tributaries of phosphorous liquid that flowed to and from the body. Taichi had been a part of the cell's construction. He knew all there was about the prison that housed his brother.
The veins of glowing fluid were made of silicon. The fluid they pumped inward was a mixture of a muscle paralyzing agent and a organic soup that kept the body alive despite being frozen. The machine was made to counteract both the organic side of the emperor and the technological side while not damaging him. They had done all they could to end the possibility of the data god ever rising again.
By using the emperor's technological side they were able to imprison him with one final safeguard. Through a complicated technical process they were able to upload his mind into an artificial reality. His mind was stored in a sphere of silicon that kept him completely separate from the shell that had once been ken. It was all they could do for the souls of those he had taken to give them peace. It was all they could do to assure that ken never was given the chance to assimilate another innocent soul into his matrix of flesh.
"Hello brother." tai said softly as he activated the console. There was a soft hum as the thing's speakers activated. Taichi smiled as he recognized the lone voice that he had known to belong to his brother..
"Hello brother.. I was wondering if you'd visit me again. It's good to see you, though I still have no clue why you persist on visiting." the voice replied as the orb that acted as his mind's prison glowed softly from its place on a small pedestal that was constructed to house the device.
"You're my brother ken... I may not be able to let you go free, but I do want to know how you're doing. Are you alright?"
"I am locked within a prison of data. Your little friend made an exceptional prison for me. Inverted firewalls. A vast network of circutry that monitors my activity. An instant kill program which would delete my consciousness if I were somehow in the process of being freed. And lets not forget the fact that you extracted my mind from my body!" the voice hissed with rage.
"It was all I could do to keep you alive brother."
"You call this alive? This is hell. I can watch the world through this uplink he gave me but I can't participate in it. This is hell brother."
Taichi saddened lightly as he continued stroking the glassy cell that held his brother's body.
"I wanted to give you a chance... to live. I didn't want to let you die even though you did evil things. You were still my brother..." he paused. "If you truly want this.. I can cripple the machine.. Let it kill you."
The voice softened.
"You always were a good brother. No Taichi. I won't put this on your conscience. Plus... though ingenious, this cell of silicon can never hold me. I will be free again. And then.. We will be enemies once again." he chuckled.
"Are you so ready to destroy this world.. These people. Sora is giving them a real chance for peace brother! Would you deny them that!?"
"Ah dear brother.... so naive. Your mate may be a gifted leader. But she will never be able to lead them to true peace. It's not in their nature. And you know it. Would you put your trust in the human animal tai?"
He paused.
"I put my trust in Sora.. She can lead them to real peace." he replied with a smile on his soft lips.
" The sorceress spoke of a test.... that test was not mearly for you. It was for all life. And the test is not over yet, not even close. The war is coming brother... it's like a storm that thunders over the horizon. Humanity has not yet proved itself worthy to exist. I plan to fight in the coming war." he paused for a time in silence before he spoke again.
"The dawn is now here, but do not allow yourself to forget that the night shall come again.
And when it does... I will be ready."
"You're right brother...
but...
so will the digidestined."
there was a silence as tangible as though it were made of cloth between them. they were brothers bound to war against one another for the future. Yet above that, they were still brothers. And that love would bind them together eternally. They remained bound to one another as the night is bound to the twilight. Eternally together in a chaotic world.
"I look forward to your next visit Taichi. Farewell.. Brother." he replied with a softness to his voice that Taichi had never grown tired of hearing. It was simply the love he knew that ken felt for him.
"Goodbye brother." he whispered softly as he turned and left. As he walked away the shielding returned to its secured housing over the sealed away remains of the emperor. The machinery wheezed and hissed as cables and mechanisms closed over the pod with a sudden metalic clank which sealed it away back into the could sleep where he would be sealed away forever. As Taichi passed the threshold of the catwalk he turned to watch it vanish away into the cool waters of tear's point. As the cylinder which contained ken vanished away into the depths of the cool water also. It would lower downward deeper into the waters where it would be swallowed up within the primary shielding unit that had been constructed from the entire burning dawn complex. Only several people on the globe had the genetic coding that gave them access to his prison. Sora, izzy, and himself. It was better that way. Ken was always a capable persuader, he may be capable of influencing a lesser mind into freeing him. And if he ever was free... Taichi was filled with a sense of darkness to his brother's words. For in the core of his being he did know.
The night will come again.
*************************
There was coolness to the day. Though it was commonly hot around this season the wind cooled them enough to make it considerably more pleasant. The sun shimmered above with a radiance that pooled over the figures that now stood together in a silent communion over the past. Some say the past is best put behind you so one will be more capable of enjoying the future. They could never do that however for in the act of forgetting they would dishonor those who gave their lives in the struggle for freedom. This was a day of honoring those souls.
Many of the burning dawn had been scattered across the globe, and thus were quick to hear of the lives of their friends. They had to wait however. It was a solemn moment that deserved no disrespect. They each waited there with bowed heads as a new figure would join them. they didn't greet the newcomer, mearly allowed him to take his place amongst them. they stood before the monument to the un-named soldiers. A monument erected to honor the lives given in the service of freedom. It was not a shrine to honor just the burning dawn. It was erected to commemorate the lives of all. Humans and digimon who fought on either side. This monument stood at the front of a long plot of white marble headstones that stretched far off and vanished behind a hill. Once they all were together each of the generals of the burning dawn payed their respects to the monument.
Sora smiled softly as she ran her hand over the smooth stone of the headstone at the monument's side. It was a beautiful peace of marble. Somehow it seemed more clean and lustrous then all the others.
Sora missed Collin. He was a good man and the world was in drastic need of good men. As she looked down over the soft green grass which acted as a blanket over the brown earth where Collin slept. What caught her eye was the white roses that lay upon the base of his marker. They gleamed in the midday sun like snow gleams as it falls pure to the ground. She knew who left them. Sora reached to her side and took her own flowers and lay them beside the previous bouquet.
"Can you believe that creep just left her?" Yolie growled as she watched Sora by the grave. Her hair was bradded neatly at her back. She wore a light blue blouse with floral prints that completely clashed with the sword at her side. She had began carrying a weapon since that day one year ago exactly today. The sword was a ornate rapier with a silver inlay. It was kept at her side by a well oiled sheath that connected around her mid-section with two slightly oily black straps. They glistened almost as richly as the blade with their silver studs that trailed the length of the belt to its buckle. She had a certain beauty to her that made Davis constantly nervous when she was around other guys. Her hair was the same light shade of violet that it had been previously. Though after the second phase her eyes had changed color to a purple violet also. Her eyes glistened softly with an exotic beauty that made Davis even more nervous. Thank god for her attitude. He doubted there were many guys capable of handling that as well as he. Thus he had one thing that made him uniquely compatible to her.
"You know if I ever see that genesis guy again I think I'll sucker punch him." she growled as Davis paled lightly.
"Um... sweetie... if possible could you not pick fights with people who can kill gods and wipe people out of existence?"
"How the hell did I get such a wuss for a boyfriend?!? won't even fight a demigod for me! Can you believe this Mimi?"
"Imagine that.. Not even willing to face certain death for you... men are such babies...
But you'd do that for me right Izz?" the older woman smiled with a friendly grin.
Izzy chuckled. "Sure I would.. So long as you don't try dying our children pink when they're born." he rubbed Mimi's swollen abdomen.
"For the love of god koshiro! It was a phase!"
"Sure... whatever you say hun..."
"Listen techno boy.. Just because I'm five months pregnant doesn't mean I can't kick your sorry ass!" she growled menacingly without losing the amused smirk on her thin lips.
"That's nice language for a mommy."Davis grinned. As he encircled Yolie in his arms. Davis had grown up a lot in the war, though as both a blessing and a curse he never would loose that distinct sense of humor and mannerism that made him Davis.
"Oh shove it Daisypuke." she replied
joe smiled warmly to Davis. Put his hand on the boy's shoulder.
"Be grateful. I'm her doctor... she's given me a really nice nickname. You just have to love these mood-swings." he chuckled softly as he fingered the small goatee that he had grown as of late it was not overly accentuated, just with the slightest stubble that gave him a mature aspect. Joe was still the tallest of them all, though he had managed to fill out a little muscle after the war. He wore a white medical jacket that flowed around him like a cloak. His glasses shimmered softly in the sunlight as he cast a glance over to where Sora stood.
"She still loves him after all this huh?"
"Yes she does." Kari replied as she walked over to them. Kari was one of the most beautiful of all the chosen now. She and Sora had always been the two most attractive of them, though Kari's mystical aura gave her a strange beauty that drew people to her. Sora never tried to be beautiful for it wasn't really important to her. she always preferred to be a tomboy over a lady. Why she was seen as different still amazed her.
"What about you Kari? Don't you miss him?"
"Of corse I do, he's my brother. But I do understand him, so does Sora. Taichi is doing what he feels is the best option for us all. It's hard, but I have faith in him." she smiled sadly as TK enveloped her in his arms.
"Do you think he'll come for her Kari? Sora... she doesn't deserve to be left alone. She's such a great woman, but so alone." Mimi said with a sudden sense of seriousness.
"I know it."
"How? Magic?"
"No... I know he'll come for her because he's right over there." she smiled softly as she motioned to where Sora was now standing with a figure clad in a dark cloak. They all gaped as they stared at tai. He was just as they remembered him. The same rugged handsomeness combined with a darkness that hung over him. They hung there before each other for a time. Locked in complete stillness. Then with a sudden explosion of emotion Sora threw her arms around him. He responded with more readiness then he had known himself capable of possessing. He held her to him as the winds changed; casting his long black cloak around her. they didn't speak at first, mearly held each other.
*************************
"Sora..."
"How could you leave me Taichi?" she cut him off without leaving his arms for a moment.
"The note explained..."
"I didn't read it, just folded it up. I'm not letting you get away with something like that. Now I want you to tell me why the hell you left that night." they separated as he stared into her burning eyes.
"Sora.. I'm different from you. Not just what we are, but even among the three I am different. I was made into a weapon. A very powerful weapon. Sora you're good but I'm not. Part of me is just like ken. Evil. I couldn't subject you to that." he replied softly
" you are not evil tai."
"Part of me still hears the cry Sora. A cry you'll never hear. It's a howl of need.. Of evil. And I feel it within myself. Remember what I am Sora.. I am neither good nor evil, maybe that makes me worse. I'm a danger, to you, to this world. As long as I live I will be a threat to this world."
"Taichi.. You are what you chose to be. You think it matters to me if you have this power? Tai, I feel safer knowing that you have the genesis then I would if I had it. Taichi, I have known you since we were children.. You have always been the only person I could put all my faith in. I still have faith in you."
"You shouldn't..." she stroked his face lovingly.
"Where have you been Taichi? I have had reports of you traveling all over the place. Killing the people who were trying to consolidate forces. Why?"
" I'm kinda a gardener now. There are seeds that could grow into something evil... something that could destroy your dream for this world. I've got a knack at finding evil since in a way I am evil. I plan to keep hunting them down until there is no one left to take this world from you. After I do that... I think I'll join these people." he motioned to the endless precession of headstones.
"Tai... you don't have to do that. There's a place for you with me..."
"I'm a weapon Sora.. What does a weapon do when there is no need for it to kill anymore?"
She kissed his lips softly "It finds a new reason to exist."
He turned to walk away. "Perhaps.. Someday I can. But until then... I think I'm going to do what I must to give this world a real chance. If I have to kill to do that.. Then so be it. The war isn't over.. It may never end... but I have my place in it.."
"SO THAT"S IT!?!" she snarled.
"You're just going to leave me... go off and undertake an impossible mission where odds are you'll be killed? I'm not ready for you to leave me again tai. We each have a destiny tai.. And mine is you!" she yelled on the verge of tears. She froze as he turned to face her. his eyes with a hint of a smile.
"I never said you weren't welcome to come with me." he smiled.
*************************
Many years later
'Grendle and Cody left to travel the world intent on making amens for the dishonor shared by their family. They remained active 'keepers of the peace' indefinitely. It was said later in life that Grendle was by far the most human among men. Never was there a more devoted grandfather or teacher. He and his grandson traveled for years making right the wrongs they encountered before finally settling and creating a dojo that taught the martial arts and the rigid sense of honor and righteousness that ruled their lives. Even after Grendle's death many years later, he would forever be remembered by his grandson and great-grandchildren as a truly honorable and limitlessly kind man.
Davis and Yolie married two years later, though Yolie still persists that she must have been very drunk to ever consent to marrying Davis. They gave up fighting and opened a restaurant in the heart of the great city. And they found peace and happiness in that profession. They came to pity the emperor for all he missed out on in life. They did what so few could ever do. They forgave him. In an act of forgiveness they would later name their son Ken.
Joe would do what he was always destined to do and become a doctor. He didn't do this because it was expected of him, he simply did it because it's the one thing he loved most in life. Under joe's efforts there would be many great medical achievements that would raise the quality of life for mankind.
Mimi and izzy had two little girls and one boy. They all took after their father. Mimi would become an ambassador and be known as a great advocater of pacifism and mercy to all. Koshiro would remain a computer scientist working with the 'keepers' to maintain peace.
I would later marry TK just like I knew I would when we were kids. Together we would have children and find true happiness in eachother. The sorceress line was passed onward to my daughter just as we knew it would be. I would become a writer and record all the events I witnessed in the wars. They say that those who do not remember the past are damned to repeat it. Perhaps this is my way of making sure that what happened here will never be forgotten.
TK would assume the role as leader of the 'keepers' since Sora and my brother managed to disappear off the face of the earth.
However...
Several years later they would return to us, and Sora would take her position as sovereign over the united earth. She had been chosen democratically by all people as the one most capable of leading the human species into peace. Sora would be forever known as a savior. But like tai there would always be a darkness about her. Taichi would remain at Sora's side and spend his entire life with her as he had always wanted. They would be remembered for many things. By some their story would be remembered as a story of heros and adventure, to others their lives would fade away into a great love story. Perhaps they would be remembered for both. But they would be remembered.
Not just in legend though....
Their daughter was born six months after their return. She was a beautiful baby with her mother's eyes and features with her father's personality. She too would know greatness within her life. Much the same way that she would know darkness as her parents had before her. She too was born with the genesis. I'll never understand why the genesis exists. Taichi and his daughter understand it, and sometimes I think Sora does too. But none of them can explain what it really is, and what it means.
The story doesn't end there. Ken was right. The night would come again and evil would once again threaten existence. We had not seen the last of The wars didn't end when the empire fell, in fact as I look back over the years to that first battle against the emperor. Or the love story of Taichi Kamiya and Sora Takenouchi. I realize the truth....
It was only the beginning....'
We people are quick to adopt characters into our lives.
In both a series and in life we grow with the characters,
we both suffer and revel in their pains and achievements
we grow to love them as we would love a member of our family, for that is what they are in a way.
Upon the series's end we suffer as we might mourn the death of a loved one.
For in a way a part of ourselves did die.
The secret to a series of either fiction or of life is how we embrace it.
Such as death does not take without offering the chance at new life
so too does no end exist without a beginning.
That is after all what genesis means.. A new beginning.
Thus..
The story goes onward....
The End,
For now....