By Amai
Disclaimer- Digimon and all
its characters are not copyright me, but copyright Toei Animation/Bandai
(there probably are others, but I can't remember offhand). I wish they
were, but sadly, not all wishes come true. The only thing that's copyright
me is this fanfic, so no stealing, kiddies.
Author's Notes- NOTE: I'm
working on the next installment of "Simple Consequences" and "Tarnished",
but they are taking a while to get done…for some reason I'm finding myself
editing and re-editing…but you should have both soon. This was written
along side those two as well. Believe me…this idea was a very weird one
that came in my head…but I'm not sure if I like how I wrote it. It'll include
Mira (Mimi x Sora), Taijyou
(Tai x Joe), one-sided Taito (Tai x Matt),
one-sided Jyori (Joe x Cody), Kensuke (Ken
x Davis), Takesuke/Daikeru (TK x Davis), and
Kouyako (Izzy x Yolei). *laughs at the last coupling*
Bet you weren't expecting –that- on this list…oh well, if you don't like
it, I suppose you can just skip those parts. (Although I'm not sure if
that would be a good thing…) Don't be expecting the next part soon like
that, I have other stories to finish too, y'know? :) Okay, enough of my
chatter…on to the story!
It was dull and cold, stiffened by
the cruel hands of reality. The world, that is. She huddled herself in
the corner of her little room, hugging herself to keep the coldness from
approaching her, and transforming her into one of those people. Robots,
it seemed, the people of the World were now. But they knew no better…she
did. And every day she stumbled into bed, cursing whatever had done this
to her beautiful world. Or worlds, rather.
It had been four years since the
Merge. It felt like twenty.
She had no idea where the others
were, but right now, she was glad she didn't know. She didn't want to have
anything to do with the past. The past of which was dead now. And her….Mimi.
She was but only a part of the past
as well. The part that hurt the most.
She shivered, not because it was
cold, but because it was lacking warmth. Tomorrow she would have to get
up, and wear her hat yet again, for they didn't want to see her vivid red
hair, it was too bright, too different. If they saw, they would destroy
it. Yes, and she would walk to her work channel, with the other people,
knowing that they were just shells of humanity, not like it was before…with
no souls, just pseudo feelings. They could not love, because love was obsolete
now. She knew that. And it hurt, terribly.
And she would hide from the cruel
truth, not wanting to change it because she was afraid. And she would begin
to forget.
Her name was Takenouchi Sora, Bearer
of Love. But she was beginning to forget what love was.
***
His fingers grazed upon the electronic
keyboard with unnatural speed. Unnatural, to anyone but some one with as
much practice as he. His eyes were still calculating and wide, but void
of any of his childish curiosity that he had had so much when he was smaller.
All his curiosity was abolished all
but three years ago. They had stripped him of everything but his knowledge.
They couldn't take that. He wouldn't let them.
Maybe now was better. With people
so devoid of thoughts and feelings, an after-effect of the Merge, he didn't
have to deal with the awkward feelings when he talked to a person. He was
never very good with people before. Maybe. Maybe this was a good thing.
But it wasn't. He knew it wasn't.
They thought he was one of them.
As he typed on the keyboard, ignoring all movement around him, he realized
that he wasn't. He would never be. He would never want to be. To be one
of them would be sickening, frightening.
Once, there was a time when he enjoyed
playing on the computer, figuring out its ups and its downs, calculating
every little thing about it. Once, he had been afraid to communicate with
other humans, such as he, because he didn't know how. Once, he was taught
that humans were just as interesting, full of information although faulty,
but nevertheless as interesting as computers. Perhaps, even more promising.
That was what he had learned…from them all. Yes, they had taught him how
to truly live.
But they had all taught him. Together
they had all learned what they had only imagined. Only four years ago.
But that was gone, they were gone. And he, although he was learning to
hide it, for his safety, for their safety, knew that such feelings were
of no usage now, as humanity were just a step away from being just like
the computers he had used for so long. Ever since the Merge, ever since
the Digital World had combined with the human World, people had started
to lose what had made them human, slowly inverting into just that: computers.
Gaining information, learning each day, but never thinking, never feeling.
It had been two years since he had
ever seen a Digimon. To his knowledge, along with the Revolution, they
had been murdered with the rest of the feeling.
Feeling; having what used to define
the human race, was prohibited. It was considered an error.
It was disgusting.
He choked back a sob, at what they
had all become. Luckily, no one had noticed, and he resumed typing on the
desolate keyboard. This was how it was, he knew. This was how it was always
going to be, he knew. And he knew that it would never change.
His name was Izumi Koushirou, Bearer
of Knowledge. And he was beginning to realize that sometimes Knowledge
was a curse.
***
He picked up the harmonica, just
wanting to experience how it felt. It had been so long since he had played
it…be it by himself or for someone. He had no one now. He was all alone.
His brother…whom he had loved so
much, his brother, who they had taken away. Once they had separated them,
he had lost all desire to go on. Before, when his brother was with him,
he could have protected him from the hell that they now lived in. But now…
No one. He lived alone, gathering
his rations of food from others when they weren't looking. Sometimes he
was too weak to do even that. He could feel himself crumbling away, but
he felt know remorse. The only remorse he felt was that he let them go…all
of them. His friends. His brother.
He was alone.
Even though it seemed that he had
been alone for almost all of his life. But when he had finally broken out
of that cycle of loneliness, when he had learned what friends are, it was
snatched from him, leaving him with the biting sensation of betrayal. Was
this how life truly was?
No…there had been a time when life
had been enjoyable. But it all seemed like a charade now, blurred by the
surreal reality that he was living in now. Where had they all gone? He
wondered this every day, as he struggled for his own sanity within the
drone-like people that had been created as an after-effect of the Merge.
And he damned the Merge with all
of his soul. Or what was left of it.
It had taken away humanity, and with
that, it had taken the most important thing away from him. People. For
that was what defined his crest….you needed friends to know what friendship
was, right? He didn't know any more…he just didn't.
And every night, when the urge to
cry came over him, he would deny it. Because crying was useless now, when
you had no one to cry for.
The Digimon were gone. And what about
the rest of his former friends? As far as he knew, it was as if they never
existed. Maybe they hadn't. Maybe this was the only true reality.
He hated not knowing. But it was
all hatred in vain. Even as useless hatred, it was the only thing he could
do…maybe it was rather, frustration at all of his lost. He just wanted
to go back to how it was before, when people cared. Even if he found it
hard to care himself. He wanted his brother back. He wanted Gabumon back.
He …..Taichi, he wanted to scream at him again, he wanted to fight with
him again…he wanted him back. He wanted them all back.
And every day that he was denied
this, became colder than he was before.
He blew one lingering note out of
his harmonica.
His name was Ishida Yamato, Bearer
of Friendship. But that term had become as dormant as humanity itself now.
***
She wanted to scream, but she knew
that no one would hear her, and even if they did, they wouldn't do anything.
Her rose tinted hair, changed in
spite of the consensus, blew wildly with the wind as she ran, ran from
those who were after her, for her difference. They wanted her dead. Because
she was not hiding behind a mask like they had wanted her to. Those were
the ones, she knew. Those were the ones behind the Merge. And she just
couldn't let them get away with it….she had grown so much during the last
four years. When the others had been condemned behind the bars of the crumbling
society of the merged Digital World and the Human World, she couldn't let
it go. When the Digimon had begun to disappear, one by one, she couldn't
let it go.
It hurt, it really did, that such…evil
could have been brought out of such a good world. The Digital World. It
was corrupted, and they had fixed it…hadn't they? But then she realized
what had happened. The Human World. If anything was corrupted, it was that….the
humans were like a virus, with all of their growing, thriving hatred. She
hid, catching her breath within the darkness of an empty alleyway. But
she didn't the logic of that…of course she didn't. She was not the child
of Knowledge. But she cried out for some way to help what had become of
their Earth, their Digital World. She just knew that there was a way…
She was pure of her innocence, and
belief that good would always win. She wouldn't be brought down…she wouldn't
hide. She wasn't like that.
And that's why her life was in danger.
She began to run yet again, her feet
almost sliding across the ground as she tried her best not to make a sound.
She had to find somewhere to reside; She had nowhere to go…people were
afraid of her, because they knew who she was. They knew she was a remnant
of how they had been only but four years ago. It was never spoken, but
they knew. It was in their eyes, a sparkle of life, life that they shunned
away because they were afraid, feeling caused pain, unwanted pain.
She knew that the others had this
as well…she knew how to identify them. And she wished for a day were they
wouldn't have to hide any more…and she could see them all without people
flinching in fear of her words, her words of change, of reverting back
to what they were before.
She couldn't speak a lie. She couldn't
be them…she didn't understand why they fought it.
She stopped, her breath erratic,
as she had been running so fast, so soon.
No, she would get them out of their
hidings…she would find them. She had to, or she wouldn't forgive herself.
It was like leaving a friend…to die. She coughed, remembering when she
had last seen Palmon. No, she knew they weren't dead yet…they were hiding
as well. Just like…Sora. When was the last time she had seen her?
Wiping a tear from her eyes, she
made a vow.
She would never forsake the World,
she would never hide…she would change it, and show how different the World
had used to be.
Or die trying.
Her name was Tachikawa Mimi, Bearer
of Purity, and if anything was pure, it was her blatant determination.
***
He held the barely conscious boy
to his arms as he retreated the recreation channel. He hadn't become a
doctor in his earlier years, but knew that this child needed ice; and fast.
For it would swell, the bruises that is, and get infected if he had just
left him.
He knew what had happened to the
child. He knew it all to well, for it very nearly happened to him.
This child was different, like him….and
like Koushirou. He could feel it within his soul, that this boy was to
be like the rest of his team had become. And he cursed whoever had done
that to him. For that was the worst fate in this hell. He knew this, and
he bit back tears of his own for the small child that he held in his arms.
Those boys, they had been ruthless
to that child. Because they could see it too…they noticed his eyes, a spark
of difference. He, himself had heard of stories about them. The horror
tales that mother told to child to keep them out of trouble, or from being
different than the other 'humans' of the world that they now called home.
They beat him because they knew that
he was just like the ones before him…and he would try to change their world.
And they were afraid.
He was afraid too. He had never been
so afraid in his entire life. But that wasn't the point. He didn't know
the child, but he couldn't leave him down there…it was his responsibility;
he felt the need to help him.
Just like he felt the responsibility
to follow Taichi, and act like a buffer, keeping him from doing anything
too borderline.
But it was hard now, it really was…how
could you feel faith towards the people that shunned you away from them
like a deathly disease. The prejudice against people like him was sickeningly
real. No, he wanted, no needed to help those who were unfortunate enough
to become ones of feeling…because if he didn't, who would?
They were all too afraid to help.
He knew.
And even though as he looked at the
bruised boy in his arms, he felt deep sadness at what the Merge had done
to humanity, there was a thin line of hope that struck through him. If
this boy was who he thought he was….then he must have had a Digimon, or
was going to get one.
….were they really not gone…forever?
He quickened his speed as he ran
towards the direction of where Taichi and he resided. Maybe he would know
what to do…but if not…He would find a way. He would.
His name was Kido Jyou, Bearer of
Faith, and even though it was hard to keep Faith at a time like this…it
was times like these he knew exactly what his crest meant.
***
He rarely smiled now.
There was no need to…because what
was there to be happy about? He woke up each day, feeling more dead, more
desolate, like the bland landscape that stretched across the horizon. Nothing
was colorful anymore…nothing. Even the lights were dim in the city.
The only time he felt the most like
his former self was when Jyou was there, but even then…it was hard to cheer
him up from the blasted World they were cursed to survive in. And the worst
thing was….he had wished it to become like this.
Wouldn't that be cool if the Digital
World and our World combined?
Such a friendly chat with friends
then, but he had no idea what the consequences were. He was only sixteen
now, but he felt as if he were twenty. Not like age mattered any more…people
were set to a schedule, taking only "helpful" jobs now. Little children
no longer cared about trivial sports such as soccer; They wanted to grow
up and become just like their mother and their father, the mindless puppets
of society.
Why couldn't they see that it was
wrong? It was wrong to be the same….diversity…ah, how the word had lost
its meaning.
He knew that he, Jyou…the others
were all different. They were living, as much as they hated it, they were.
And he'd be damned if he were to quit living anytime soon.
He spat in the direction of whoever
ruled over them…for that was the person who had changed them all. The person
who had manipulated the corruption of the Human World and the solid information
of the Digital World into their one plaything. Whoever this is….he swore
by his very hands, tainted with the truth, they would pay.
He stared out of the window, wondering
where everyone had gone….it was depressing, knowing how close they had
been, and how they had been forced to separate by force. He and Jyou were
the only ones that had found each other, and thanks to the other one, they
had managed to live on.
Jyou was one of the most important
people in his life now. And he thanked whoever had made this possible;
because he would have already done something he knew he would have regretted
if he were left alone. If there was anything he hated, it was being alone.
And what scared him the most was that the rest were just that: alone. And
his sister….every time he thought of her, he would break down.
Hikari. Sweet, Hikari….he hadn't
seen her in four years, ever since they had separated her from him. He
hoped with all of his soul she was somewhere safe, because if she wasn't….not
even Jyou would be able to calm him down. But he swallowed all his tears
away as he stared out of the window.
He would be brave. Because that was
what he was best at.
His name was Yagami Taichi, Bearer
of Courage. And despite all of his grief, deep down inside, he would find
that Courage…because if anything, he needed it right about now.
***
Somewhere, within a civilian compound,
a boy stared at the white walls of his room. He was being punished, for
saying something he shouldn't of…but he didn't understand why. He was always
being punished, so much that he was already used to it now.
A ladybug flew upon the wall he was
so intently staring at, and his gasped with childish amazement.
Ladybugs….he was sure they didn't
exist. They had been mentioned in his storybook tales that his Mother had
told him, but never, never, had he seen one.
