Upon the Dawn

Chatay

PG-13

Chapters - 7 of ?

Disclaimer: I don't own digimon, I do own the plot.

AN: So this chapter was a bit tricky. I had a hard time figuring out exactly how I wanted

Everything to play out. I actually ended up saving a bit for the next chapter, because I changed my mind on how I want it to play out. I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 7 - Disturbia

Daisuke groaned as he lifted Ken up onto his back. His side ached fiercely from the effort, not to mention he wasn't really sure where to go from here. He contemplated using his staff to find his way, but he wasn't sure how long he could hold up like that.

"Marco polo anyone?" he muttered, as he slowly made his way.

He sighed as he narrowly avoided a tree. His mind drifted back to the previous fight. He couldn't keep on fighting like that. If Ken hadn't been there, he probably would of ended up dead. He had to figure out a way to use his eyes.

He frowned as he felt the world shift around him, "It shouldn't shift anymore… there's no trials to be had."

He slowly shifted Ken on his back, and then using one hand to hold him, he managed to hold the other hand out in front of him. The gold glyph appeared and then quickly morphed into his staff. Daisuke closed his eyes and took a hold of the staff. The world began to flash before him.

He couldn't believe the visions before him, much of the land had morphed to that a desolate forest. There was no vegetation to be seen, in fact everything looked as it had been set on fire. The sky had turned a stormy grey and wind blew fiercely against him.

"The world looks like it's destroying itself. Without Siren here, the magic must be unstable…. Definitely not good, " he muttered.

He grunted as he shifted Ken and began making his way again. This time he used his staff as a walking stick so he could watch the world around him.

...

Night was quickly approaching as Daisuke slowly lowered Ken to the ground, and then plopped down next to him. He picked up his staff and laid it in his lap. His body and his mind ached fiercely. He had spent most of the day using his staff to guide them through the changing landscape. He highly doubted he could keep days up like that for very long. He was beginning to form a plan on how to get out, but it could very well put him in the same position as Ken.

"I don't know if I have enough power left for this, but if I don't we'll be in here forever."

He drew his knees up to his chest and then threw a glyph a few feet away from him. He watched as it turned into a roaring fire pit then turned to look at Ken. He grimaced as he realized that he wasn't so sure that coming into the trials was a good idea. Granted, he had no idea that Osamu was going to show up, but still if he hadn't been here. Well, Ken wouldn't of pushed his magic beyond it's limits to heal him.

He sighed, "I've never encountered this before. I thought people typically died if they used all their power."

He stared at the fire for some time. Night had completely fallen by now, and the wind whipping through the desolate trees made for a spooky atmosphere.

Daisuke looked up abruptly as he heard some twigs snap in the night. He could clearly hear footsteps coming towards them, he reached out and grabbed his staff, "Who's there?"

Laughter answered him, "Well, well, look what we have here. Our little brat is all grown up."

Daisuke stared in disbelief as a group of three men exited the cover of the trees. Their clothes were tattered, their skin covered in dirt and grime.

"It can't be….. You're dead." he whispered.

The men laughed, "Death, is merely a figment of the imagination."

Daisuke simply stared as he took in the visible wounds on the men. He could see where Taichi had sliced one man across the middle with his sword.

"I see you've made quite a name for yourself nowadays, brat."

Daisuke didn't reply as he watched the men take a few steps closer. The one in the middle laughed again as he stroked his beard. His face looked normal enough, but if you happened to drop your gaze to his left arm, well it looked like his skin had been melted off. That had been courtesy of Taichi as well.

"What? No 'Nice to see you, again' for your old friends here. I'm hurt. Or did you forget about old Thomasa here."

Daisuke snorted, "Friends? You sure do have an odd definition of that word. I hardly consider people who beat the shit out of me every day for most of my childhood, friends."

Thomasa shrugged, "People do what they have to do, boy. You of all people should understand that."

Daisuke glared, but said no more. The men made their way over the fire and sat down by the light. Daisuke took in the other two men. The one with the slash across the middle was named Lionus, he had been particularly cruel. Fire was his favorite weapon. The other man, Kinikin had been slightly kinder. He at least tended to Daisuke's wounds afterwards.

"Why are you here?" Daisuke asked.

"Because we live here. You're encroaching on the land of the afterlife dear boy. We heard whispers of your presence in the trees and decided to pay a visit, " replied Kinikin.

Daisuke's eyes widened, he had no idea that the lands of the trials extended so far.

"Bah, don't look so surprised boy. You always did walk with the dead, " muttered Thomasa.

"Only because you guys were intent on putting me in my grave, " argued Daisuke.

Thomasa rolled his eyes, "Boy, I ain't talking about you being half dead. I'm talking about you talkin' to and seeing ghosts all the time."

Daisuke's thoughts drifted back to his childhood. These men had come and killed his parents, and nearly himself all in the search of power. They had then spent the next five

years beating him, in an attempt to get his powers to activate until Taichi had discovered them. Then everything changed.

"I haven't seen the dead in a long time," stated Daisuke.

The three men burst out laughing. Their laughter rose high up into the trees echoing throughout the forest making an ominous sound.

"What's so funny, old men?"

"My boy, are you really that naïve? We've been dead for a good six years now, boy. Do you think average people have old ghosts come talkin' to them? You my boy, are on a dark path."

Daisuke went to ask what he meant, when the wind whipped through fiercely blowing out the fire. He quickly threw another glyph out. The light filled the clearing quickly. He looked around, but saw no sign of the three ghosts.

He sighed as he put his head in his hands. The land of the dead… what did that mean for them? He reached one hand over towards Ken, and smiled when he felt the pull of their magic. They obviously weren't dead. There was really no choice left, they had to get out of here, and soon.

He lowered himself to the ground, in the morning he would do what was necessary. Thomasa's comment drifted back to him, 'You're on a dark path, boy.' He wasn't sure what he meant by that, but he doubted it could be good. He stiffened up as pain ripped through his body. He slowly rested his hand on his side, the scar was burning red hot.

…………………………

"Daisuke! Hurry up already would you!"

Daisuke shot straight up. He reached for his staff and looked around the clearing. The fire had dimmed and the early light of morning could be seen in the distance.

"Daisuke! Come on, or we're gonna be late!"

Daisuke swirled around trying to figure out where the yelling was coming from. He was about to answer, when someone else did it for him.

"I'm coming, I'm coming."

Daisuke's eyes widened in shock as he saw a younger version of himself run across the clearing. The vision running in front of him couldn't of been more than eleven. A young girl ran into the clearing as well. Her dusty brown hair landed just above her shoulders. She was wearing a long white gown.

"Hikari…?" he whispered.

"What's with you today, Daisuke?" asked Hikari.

"Why exactly do I have to go to this stupid thing anyways?" muttered Daisuke.

"Because it's important to the people of Diluculo. We need to show unity in this time of need, " replied Hikari.

Daisuke rolled his eyes, "Forcing someone to go, is not unity."

"Stop being so selfish Daisuke, not everything is about you." sneered Hikari.

Daisuke's eyes widened for a second, "Whatever, let's go."

Daisuke frowned at the scene that played in front of him. Part of him said something wasn't right about it, then another part of him agreed that Hikari felt that way anyways. She was always making comments about how Daisuke needed to think of others.

He shook his head as the children disappeared out of the clearing, this place was getting to him. It was time to go.

He slammed his staff into the ground in front of him. He then slowly situated Ken on his back again. He closed his eyes, as he reached out with one hand to grab the staff. He threw his head back as his power rose up from the earth and shot into the sky. The whole clearing erupted in flames as the power burned it's way through. His body shook at the sheer exertion of it all, he grinned when he felt the world begin to give way.

Mimi frowned as she made her way down the stairs towards the trial doors. It felt

Unusually warm in there. "Anyone down here?" she called out.

"Yeah, it's me, Jun and Takeru," replied Sora.

"Why's it so hot down here? It's not good for the complexion." whined Mimi.

Takeru rolled his eyes, "It just recently got like this."

Mimi went to sit down next to the others when the walls began to shake, "What is that?"

The others didn't have to answer because the doors blew open like an inferno. Fire filled the small chamber, but quickly dissipated.

Mimi looked around at the others to make sure they were okay. They looked a little shocked, but okay. She went to say something when Sora gasped.

The doors had been nearly obliterated in the blast. Debris and dust floated around near the bottom of the huge doors.

"What in the heavens?" murmured Mimi.

Takeru stood up and slowly and made his way toward the demolished doors. He stopped as he spotted two figures near the center of the rubble. "Daisuke?" he whispered.

The others immediately stood up and ran over. Jun went to run down to her brother when Takeru held his hand out, "Wait. Look, something's not right."

Daisuke was kneeling down next to Ken, but he made no motion of noticing anyone. His eyes seemed glazed over, and his body pulsed a faint red.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Sora.

"He used a large amount of magic to open those doors. His body has probably been pushed past it's limits, if he wasn't so matured with his magic, well it could of killed him," replied Takeru.

Jun pushed Takeru's arm out of the way and made her way towards her brother.

"Jun! Get back here, there's no way to tell what state his mind is in right now, you're gonna get yourself killed!" yelled Takeru.

Jun ignored Takeru's comments and slowly approached her brother. She didn't say anything as she wrapped her arms around him. Daisuke thrashed about for a moment, but calmed as Jun whispered soothingly in his ear. Daisuke's body stilled as he blinked slowly and looked up into his sister's eyes.

"I screwed up everything, " he whispered.

Jun's eyes widened, slightly confused, "What?"

"Everything, I'm gonna screw up everything," he replied and then slowly closed his eyes as sleep finally claimed him.

Jun stared at her brother in shock as the others slowly began to make their way through the rubble to them.

Hikari frowned as she looked at the demolished doors, "Why did he blast his way out? It doesn't make any sense."

Takeru shrugged, "There must have been a need for it. We'll have to find out when he wakes up."

Hikari nodded as she continued to inspect the doors.

"How is Ken?" asked Takeru, as he proceeded to sit on one of the displaced stones.

Hikari sighed, "It's hard to say. Both Sora and Mimi have examined him, and it seems that there is no physical injuries. Whatever seems to have happened, it had to be mental. They're not sure if he'll wake up or not."

Takeru grimaced, "That's not gonna go over well with Daisuke."

Hikari looked sadly into Takeru's eyes, "I fear that he will never forgive me for this."

Takeru nodded, "Only time will tell. Was Daisuke injured?"

Hikari frowned, "It would seem so. There's an odd shaped scar on his right side. We're not sure what happened there since it seems to be healed. The only thing I can think of is that Ken healed it. There seems to be another problem though… his eyes don't seem right. We're unsure of the damage at the moment, but Sora fears that his sight has been lost."

Takeru's eyes widened, "He's blind? They can't fix it?"

Hikari shook her head, "Sora doesn't think so. She says it feels like a magical injury, if so then they can't heal it."

Daisuke sighed as he found himself back in his room. He could hear a few voices in the background. They were muffled, just outside of the door.

"What do you mean it's not fixable?" asked Hikari.

"No matter what level of healer who tries, none have been able to return his sight. I've never seen anything like this," replied Sora.

Hikari sighed. So far Daisuke had refused most visitors, it didn't help that Ken had yet to wake up. She knew that if something didn't change soon, it would be unlikely that Daisuke would let anyone in there at all.

"How has Ken been doing?" asked Sora.

Hikari sighed, looking defeated, "He has yet to wake up. As far as we can tell, there's no physical injuries, but nothing seems to work."

Sora looked towards the door, "Have you tried asking Daisuke what happened?"

"He wouldn't let her in there if she was the last person on earth right now," replied Novas as he made his way up the tower stairs.

"Novas…"

"Forgive my rudeness, but you have to realize how stupid sending that boy into the trials was. You took down two of your most powerful defenses in one sweep."

Hikari looked Novas in the eye, "I realize that it may have been a mistake, but I do not regret my decision. There's not telling what would of happened to Ken before he was deemed 'trained' enough to enter the trials. The small chance that he could of completed them and give us our second defense was worth the risk."

Novas went to reply, when suddenly they were knocked off their feet.

"What the?" cried Sora.

The door slammed open, and Daisuke stood in the doorway. He turned his head straight towards Hikari, "Ever say something like that again, and it won't be a warning shot."

Hikari stared dumbfounded as Daisuke made his way down the stairs.

"He did what?" cried Taichi.

"Uhhh… he blasted us to the ground," replied Sora.

Taichi ran a nervous hand through his hair. Normally anyone who had done something similar would be dead by now, but this was Daisuke. But then again, this wasn't Daisuke at all. Sure he had his temper now and then, but he had never raised a hand against Hikari.

"It makes sense though," stated Takeru.

"How does loosing your temper every time something doesn't go your way make sense?" asked Yamato as he sat casually across the room.

"Well, how would you feel if that was Taichi? I mean we did this to Ken. Ken was fine before we brought him here. We forced him out of his settings, and for who's benefit? Our own, who are we to say what we did was right? It hasn't helped this country, if anything it's made it worse."

"It was done with the best intentions, we have to do what's best for the country," replied Hikari.

"Where does the line between what's right and wrong stand then? It's true that Ken's magic is great, and that he could be a powerful asset to this country, but who are we to force him to be that asset?" asked Jyou as he stared across the room.

Hikari frowned, "We didn't force him to enter there, we asked him if he would be willing to help us and he said yes."

"That wasn't a informed decision though. There's no way Ken could of truly understood what he would have to face in there. You have to remember this is someone with basically no knowledge of our country, it wouldn't even occur to him how dangerous those trials would be." replied Koushirou.

Hikari looked around at her friends. Their faces were tired and worn, small hints of fear could be seen in each of their eyes. She closed her own and sat back in the chair, 'My grace, what have I done?'

……………………

Daisuke frowned as he plopped himself down on the ground. He was thankful that he could see just a small amount to make out shapes, however that hadn't stopped him from tripping and falling various times. He brought his hand up to his face and brushed it lightly, no scars or bumps could be felt. He had the feeling that if he could see his face it would look the same it always did.

He wasn't really that angry about his eyes, yes it was annoying as hell, but he had done it for a reason. He wasn't sure if Ken would wake up at all. It was quite possible he wouldn't, and Daisuke wasn't sure what he would do then. He couldn't stay here, heck he could barely stand their presence now. He was just so angry with them, they were supposed to friends, allies, comrades, and in one fail swoop they had crushed all feelings of such.

Daisuke winced as his neck throbbed slightly. He rubbed his neck some as he stared out into the endless blur of colors, still unsure of where he was supposed to go from here.

………………………..

Jun sat nervously on the edge of the fountain wall. She watched the people make their way around the plaza. It was getting quite crowded nowadays, they had brought almost half of Diluculo's people within the castle walls.

"Are you okay?"

Jun looked up somewhat startled into Mimi's warm eyes, "Oh, Mimi you frightened me."

Mimi smiled and then sat down while smoothing out her skirt, "You seem easily scared these days."

Jun smiled sadly, "I think most of us feel this way. However I find myself more worried about Daisuke than anything."

Mimi nodded, "It's definitely a tough situation. I wish I knew how to help."

"I can't sense him anymore, " stated Jun, quietly.

Mimi raised an eyebrow, "You can't sense him? How can that happen? You can sense everyone right?"

"I can sense everyone to an extent I suppose. However because Daisuke's my brother, I sense him no matter the distance. However something bad happened in there. Something that I've never encountered before, if I didn't know better, it's almost like he's dead."

Mimi sighed, "I think in a way he is."

………………………………...

Daisuke ignored the hushed whispers as he made his way through the halls of the castle. He had heard a few people call for him, but he kept walking. He was in no mood to talk to any of them. They obviously couldn't understand.

He stopped abruptly in front of a large wood door. His hand hesitated just in front of the door knob, 'What do I say? He can't hear me…'

He closed his eyes and turned away from the door and began making his way back to his room. Luckily he had avoided most people as he made his way up to the tower. He slowly climbed up the stairs, managing to trip only once.

He headed into the room that he had called home for so long, "Veeh!"

A ball of blue fur scurried out from underneath the bed and rubbed up against his leg.

Daisuke smiled, "You don't have to do this ya know? You can stay here with Bui and everyone else if you want to."

Veeh meeped a short puff of anger and then scurried up to Daisuke's shoulder.

"Thanks, but don't say I didn't warn ya, " stated Daisuke.

Daisuke grinned as they headed over to the window. He then lifted Veeh from his shoulder and proceeded to toss him out the window. Veeh glowed a brilliant gold and then morphed into a magnificent sapphire dragon. His scales were a marvelous dark blue, and his eyes a deep emerald green. His wings flapped furiously as he lowered himself just below the window.

Daisuke promptly jumped out the window and landed securely on Veeh's back.

"Well, let's go find this path of ours eh?"

Veeh snorted and then shot up into the sky. 'Do you think this is wise?' he rumbled in his deep baritone voice.

Daisuke sighed, "There isn't really much choice anymore."

'There is always a choice.'

Daisuke didn't answer as they soared towards the sun.

……………………………….