...
An awkward silence pervaded the room; Gennai was looking at all of us blankly but keeping his air of serenity intact. He almost reminded me of those old monks in movies and manga.
After a day of rest and reflection, we all sat back down at the table, ready to face the dangerous hill ahead of us.
The mood was uneven. Matt, Joe, and Mimi seemed resigned to their fate, while Sora, with dark circles under her eyes, looked as if she hadn't slept all night. TK, on the other hand, showed a fiery determination, as if an inner spark was driving him.
I... was somewhere between Matt's apathy and TK's fervor.
This was bullshit.
If I said this whole situation wasn't bullshit, I was lying.
But it was shit we had to do, not only to get out of here but also to protect our world.
Whether I wanted to or not, this was something that was going to happen.
I needed to be ready.
I needed to get strong.
A cough brought me out of my thoughts and made me turn my gaze to stare at Gennai.
"Well, before we start the meeting, I want to know if all of you are willing to face Vamdemon. I know you have your doubts, your suspicions, and your reasons for not wanting to fight him" Gennai remained silent, patiently analyzing us before continuing. "If you have something to say, or if you want to leave, you can do so; I won't stop you."
A moment of silence passed until a deep sigh broke it.
"I'm going to be clear; I don't want to do this." Matt stood up from his chair with both hands shoved in his pockets. "I don't want to do this; I don't want to fight any more evil Digimon; I don't want to lose anyone else in this group; I don't want anyone to get hurt."
TK stood up, surprised by Matt's response, ready to retort, but an appeasing gesture from Matt made him stop.
"I don't want to do this" Matt took a deep breath and continued. "But it's our only chance to get home. So I'll do it."
Matt looked up, his eyes fixed on Gennai, as if making a promise.
"I promised my mom I'd bring TK back safe and sound; I told my dad I'd take care of him every step of the way. And that's what I'll do, even if I have to kick that idiot Vamdemon's ass."
Then, he turned his gaze to the rest of the group, his expression stopping on Sora, and a shadow of guilt crossed his face.
"Also... I want to... apologize. I shouldn't have blown up like that..." Matt muttered lightly as he sat back down and stared at the table, avoiding the incredulous stares of everyone else in the room. "I think... losing Tai affected me more than I expected. It made me wonder if... maybe I'm not strong enough to protect them..."
The room fell into stunned silence as everyone looked at Matt with surprise and slight confusion. What had caused the change in the grumpy blond?
I glanced to the side to see Gennai, but he was simply staring at the blond in silence. Although I could have sworn I saw the ghost of a smile on Gennai's face, it was hard to tell with that huge mustache covering his mouth.
"Don't blame yourself so much for it; it's normal to doubt and not think correctly, stress, anxiety and fear of losing the ones you love. All that is what makes you you, with all the flaws and faults" Gennai replied softly. "You realized your mistake, accepted it, and apologized for it. That's what matters in the end; it's our mistakes that allow us to grow and improve."
We all focused our gazes on the old man who seemed to be lost in his memories. I looked at Sora with a raised eyebrow, but she simply shrugged her shoulders with no idea what to do.
That seemed to snap Gennai out of his trance.
"I got a little carried away, hehe" Gennai laughed softly before coughing and focusing on the conversation. "Anyway, does anyone have anything else to say?"
"Other than this, the first time I've heard Matt apologize for anything?" Mimi joked with amusement before shrugging her shoulders. "Nope, you can go on."
"Fine, then let's move on to the next topic" Gennai spoke earnestly, ignoring the murderous look Matt was giving Mimi and how the latter stuck her tongue out at him mockingly. "Emblems, as I'm sure you know, each Emblem represents a quality. These being: Courage, Friendship, Love, Knowledge, Sincerity, Reliability, Hope, Kindness, Light, Fate, and Miracles."
"And how do you explain what happened with Agumon?" Izzy asked with an uncomfortable expression, looking at Tentomon. "I don't want Tentomon to turn into SkullKabuterimon or something."
I grimaced sympathetically as I felt the Emblem on my neck weigh heavily at times.
"Emblems are extremely powerful artifacts... if used properly," Gennai emphasized. "As I said, each Emblem represents a quality that represents one of you. In Tai's case, it was the Emblem of Courage; said Emblem represents sunshine, greatness, and strength, all qualities that represented Tai fundamentally as a person."
'It makes sense, I guess. Tai was always so cheerful and confident in everything he did; if he decided to do something, he would put all his heart and desire into it. He would face every obstacle he would face without fear and with a smile on his face...' I thought absentmindedly as I recalled the exact moment when Tai decided to join the soccer club in elementary school; since then he had become obsessed with the game of kicking a ball. 'I wonder what qualities miracles represent...'
"However, there is a small but significant difference between being brave and being reckless; Tai mistakenly thought that since he possessed his Emblem he was invincible, which caused him to start mistreating Agumon psychologically, telling him to work hard to protect you all or that he should be stronger so that nothing bad would happen to you" Gennai's voice had taken on a stern tone, giving us a clear warning of what we shouldn't do with our Digimon. "While his intention was to protect you from the dangers of this world, it was not the right means, which, in a situation of extreme pressure and prompted by Tai's words, caused Agumon to evolve into SkullGreymon, a Digimon that only respects strength and seeks to destroy its rivals."
I gritted my teeth as Gennai's words sunk into my head.
'If Tai could make such an obvious mistake...' I glanced sideways at Herissmon before shaking my head. 'No, I was better than that... Herissmon is one of my few friends; I could never treat him like that...'
"And how are we supposed to find the Emblems?" Sora asked, changing the subject and steering the conversation back on track.
The expression on Gennai's face softened as he rubbed his long mustache again.
"It's not going to be easy, but with Piximon's portals and his Tag's it should be relatively easy to find them" The old man said thoughtfully. "We have two of them in our possession right now, which leaves us with another eight to find."
"We have two of them?" Matt asked with narrowed eyes but with confusion on his face.
"Right! I forgot that— Mimi stopped completely before looking at Gennai with eyes wide as saucers. "Wait, two?!"
That made everyone start looking at each other suspiciously.
I let out a mutter that drew everyone's attention to me as I reached under my shirt and pulled out my Tag-protected Emblem. "I... I have mine..."
The eyes of the entire group seemed to fluctuate between the golden Emblem and my eyes, with clear doubt on their faces.
"Since...when?" Izzy asked incredulously.
"A few minutes before Etemon captured me." I replied with a shrug before frowning thoughtfully. "Maybe this is why he knew where I was..."
"And you never decided to tell us you had an Emblem, why?" Matt looked at me with narrowed eyes as he leaned forward to look more intimidating; I wasn't doing a very good job at that last one, to be honest.
"I didn't feel the need; it wasn't like I knew what they were for either" I half lied; admittedly, I didn't know what they were for, but I had known what their function was a couple of days ago thanks to the information the Digivice gave me.
...At the end Mimi could be right about me being a liar....
"Be that as it may" Gennai interrupted the conversation with a loud cough. "We have two Emblems in our possession; we need to find the other Emblems as soon as possible; the faster we get our hands on them, the faster we can train with them, and there will be a better chance of facing Vamdemon and his army face to face."
Sora, Matt, Izzy, Joe, and their Digimon nodded at Gennai's words.
"In the meantime, you two will have to learn how to use your Emblems" The old mustachioed man looked at Mimi and me. "And I have someone in mind who could help you..."
The door to the room burst open, followed by Piximon's mischievous laughter and a large black shadow.
Everyone in the room exclaimed his name with relief as the big jet wolf strutted around the place casually, pausing to look at me analytically.
Whatever he was checking out seemed to satisfy him as he nodded to himself with a small smile.
"Long time no see, brats" BlackGarurumon grinned fiercely as he looked at each of us as if we were his prey. "I don't know anything about all this mess regarding Emblems and all that crap. But I do know several ways to whip them into shape!"
Even though he was threatening another one of his Spartan workouts, I couldn't help but smile with glee to see that the Digital World's number one tsundere was doing well.
***
The feeling of being conscious again was strange; it was like when I would fall asleep for school or when I would forget something to do. That uncomfortable feeling in my mind, trying to remind me of something urgent, something missing.
But I couldn't finish remembering.
When my mind finally floated out of the realm of unconsciousness, I slowly pulled myself together by getting up and rubbing my eyes weakly, feeling lost for a few seconds.
I opened my eyes slightly only to almost close them tightly again when the strong sunlight hit my retinas. After a while, feeling more awake, I opened my eyes again to look at my distant surroundings.
Everything, as far as I could see, was a vast crimson-colored valley, with small hills and the occasional rock. Despite the sun's rays, the sky remained cloudy, leaving few gaps for sunlight to pass through.
"Where...?" The question came out as a whisper as I shakily stood up and looked around my immediate surroundings. I felt my breath catch as I saw a familiar orange figure beside me.
"Agumon... Agumon?!" I exclaimed with concern, feeling a ball of guilt and fear form in my stomach as I watched the little dinosaur. "Hey buddy, are you okay?! Agumon!"
After a few shaken beads, Agumon slowly began to wake up, as if he had come out of a deep slumber.
"Tai..." Agumon spoke hoarsely as he looked around in confusion. "What... happened?"
"I... I don't know; all I remember is... the explosion with Etemon," I replied briefly as I tried my best not to cry on the spot; instead, I gave the still confused dinosaur a tight hug. "But I'm glad you're okay... I... I thought that... I thought that..."
"If you're done hugging, we need to get out of here right now" Said a mocking voice.
I felt all the blood in my body freeze for a second.
I immediately put myself on guard as I looked in the direction of the source of the voice. There, sitting on a rock, was a Japanese boy, about my height, dressed in strange garb straight out of a sci-fi manga; behind the strange boy was a large humanoid figure with dragon-like features and metal parts.
He was as eccentrically dressed as the boy.
"Who are they?!" I interposed myself between Agumon and the strange child.
Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my Digivice... only to see it completely turned to stone and dysfunctional. 'What the hell!'
Letting out a lazy snort, the boy jumped up and looked at me with a confident smile as he pointed to himself.
"My name is Ryo Akiyama" Said the confident boy before pointing his finger at me. "And you are?"
I looked at him cautiously for a moment before answering.
"My name is Taichi Kamiya" I said bluntly as I helped Agumon up. "You're a Chosen Child?"
Ryo frowned in confusion before shaking his head. "I have no idea what that means, but no, I'm a Tamer."
I blinked twice before looking at him with the same confusion on my face.
"Okay... and do you know where we are, exactly?" I asked, crossing my arms.
Ryo opened his mouth only to close it again as he scratched his head awkwardly. "That... is a very good question."
"I-"
Before I could say anything, a frightening scream filled the silent valley as shadows and mists began to form out of nowhere.
We both stared into each other's eyes with the same thought in mind.
Shit.
...
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