WoS Chapter 1 Part 2: Kei

The story so far: Following a strange message on her phone, Zoe and a handful of other children board a train heading to the Digital World. Armed with little more than a digital device, a D-Tector, they explore the digimon city "Flame Terminal". The local digimon seem mostly friendly, giving them a rundown of their world's current problems over dinner. They also warn them of an entity called Cerberumon, who's been stalking around Flame Terminal in search of a nearby Spirit. Spirits are all that's left behind by the Legendary Warriors of Ancient Times. It's said the Spirits have the power to grant wishes. Just now, Kei's D-Tector began showing her the way to the Spirit of Flame Terminal. 

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-Kei-

It wasn’t that Keisaki had no problem at all with the fact that they all (except Tommy) were heroes destined to save the world. On the contrary, the prospect sounded scary, and she was less sure about how to handle it than she would like to admit. But, and that was the important part, this was undoubtedly, undisputedly right. They were here for a reason and the reason was just. She could do this.

So when the voice-from-beyond, or whoever she was, told her to find the Spirit, a rush of excitement filled her. This was her first chance to do some good!

But the feeling came and went too quickly. She seized up, a biting chill freezing her insides, as a much rougher voice barked, “ Spirit? You know where to find the Spirit?! ”

Green fire lit up around her, separating her from the group. Zoe shouted in warning, giving Kei the presence of mind to jump out of the way when a dark shadow came at her. Claws on four powerful legs screeched over the metal ground as the black canine regained its momentum and turned around again to face her. Oh man, it really looked like the guardian of hell itself with shaggy white hair surrounding its head and grotesque skull decorations on his shoulders! This was Cerberumon!

And it was about to kill her! She had to think of something, quick!

“Stop! Stop! I’ll tell you where the Spirit is, just don’t attack anymore!” Okay, so it probably wasn’t the best idea to wage her hope of rescuing this world against their continued survival, but then again, she also didn’t want to die.

Cerberumon paused. His black eyes reflected the fire and gave them an unnatural green glow. She took her chances and added, “Without me, you’ll never get to the Spirit!” She waved her D-Tector and its search matrix for emphasis. Then she quickly braced herself for an imminent attack. What if huge, talking dogs obsessed with finding Spirits weren’t into diplomacy?

But the attack didn’t come. The green fire subsided and she could see that the Elecmon couple had herded the others back inside the house. They looked at the proceedings with fear. Keisaki just gave them a quick glance, since Cerberumon required her full attention. The hound was still fixed on her and the hologram her D-Tector projected.

“Show me the way to the Spirits and none of your companions will come to harm,” he said.

Kei gulped and tried not to think about what this admission left out. Her hands were shaking as she tightened the grip on her D-Tector. She considered the arrow on the hologram. “This way.”

Cerberumon nodded impatiently so she started walking, trying to ignore the sweat pouring down the side of her face and the wild staccato of her heart. She passed a shocked Izumi with both hands over her mouth, an equally horrified Junpei, and a Tomoki half-hidden behind the older, heavy-set boy and gave them a weak smile. At least they were safe... for now.

The map on her D-Tector brought them to a huge metal staircase leading down into the inner workings of the Flame Terminal. Cerberumon was directly behind her, breathing foul-smelling, hot air into her neck while she scrambled for the courage to do something.

It just wasn’t fair! The Spirit was some sort of magic wish granter, right? Well, she’d reach it first and grab it and wish him back to hell! Though that didn’t solve the problem of getting Tommy back home... Okay, so she’d wish Tommy home and then... arrgh, Cerberumon... She almost ruffled her hair in frustration.

The arrow of her D-Tector led them into a metal cavern with a large, equally metal pillar in the middle. Part of the ceiling and an entire wall was missing. Through the holes, Keisaki saw the black void that surrounded the Flame Terminal and the platform that they had arrived on earlier. Cherubimon’s work, somehow, according to what Elecmon told them. She only glanced around once before she followed the arrow through the cavern... Wait... When she passed the pillar, the arrow swivelled around and pointed straight at it. That could only mean.... Yes!

She stopped in her tracks, D-Tector still pointing at the pillar, and she was feeling very strange indeed. She knew the Spirit was behind those metal restraints. Cerberumon came to the same realization. Quick! She had to take the Spir—

Pain! Pain flashed across her side as Cerberumon took a swing at her and sent her careening against the metal walls. She was too stunned to catch herself and crumbled to the floor. Her ears were ringing, and her breath came out in a panicked wheeze. Keeping her eyes tightly shut did nothing to keep the pain away. That had hurt! That still hurt! It really, really did! She groaned, opening her eyes, cringing away from what she saw.

...What was that?

A brilliant, blue ring surrounded her midsection, partly going through the metal ground. Lines of white light travelled around its surface, making it look a bit like glowing barcode. She lifted a hand to touch it and shook her hand from the tingling sensation... Just... Did she hurt her head?

As if summoned, a headache formed behind her temples. From one moment to the next, the bright blue ring disappeared as if it had never existed. “What the heck...?” she mumbled, getting to her feet.

Cerberumon hadn’t noticed her sparkling hula-hoop; he’d been busy. The skull-decorated hellhound had demolished the pillar and half-molten metal pieces littered the ground. His efforts had uncovered an unbearably hot fire, flaring out of a grate at the bottom of the pillar. It was hard to see past the blue stream and before Keisaki could do anything, Cerberumon leapt inside.

Keisaki swayed on her feet; one hand gripping the wall, the other going for her injured side. Cerberumon’s swipe had torn that part of her T-shirt. Ow, ow, ow! Touching that was a no-go! She grimaced.

Her plan of getting the Spirit first had failed. She needed a new plan; she couldn’t stay here. But it was so hard to focus and something inside her didn’t want to leave. Something urged her to stay and... and—

Cerberumon shrieked. His form shook inside the blue inferno. Howling in agony, he leapt out of the burning death trap with flames clinging to his back. He threw himself to the ground, rolling around to extinguish them.

Keisaki ignored the screaming. Something much more important waited for her. Her eyes were fixed on the blue stream of fire. Blurring heat parted for a figurine floating inside the fiery geyser. It felt like its empty eyes stared right back at her. For a moment, she could have sworn there was a winged silhouette, merging with the flames.

Cerberumon recovered, its beady eyes burning with all-consuming anger at the Spirit resting in the flames. “You! I’ve weathered the depths of hell! Let me in and rip you apart!”

As if Keisaki would allow him to do that.

She let go of the wall, determination etched into every fibre of her being. The Spirit wasn’t for Cerberumon. It belonged to her. She knew exactly what to do.

Suddenly, her D-Tector was in her hand, and she pointed it at the figurine inside the fire.

“Spirit! Come to me!”

Detached, she watched the Spirit float towards her. It was small enough to fit inside her hand, sitting on a flat platform. Kei raised her D-Tector and let it absorb the Spirit. This was right.

Around her left hand appeared a shining ring of blue, like the large ring earlier. This was fractal code. She brought the smaller ring along the scanner on her D-Tector. A stream of blue fractal code erupted from the device and quickly surrounded her like a cocoon.

Execute Spirit Digivolve to.... Anumon!

And for a while, absolutely everything made sense. She stepped outside the data cocoon and didn’t wonder why she was at least a head taller, why powerful, orange wings protruded from her back and why she was wearing black leather armour.

Cerberumon stared at her new form with denial written over his canine face. “What?! It can’t be! Why is a human one of the Legendary Warriors?!”

Cerberumon was evil, Anumon decided. He’d done enough damage to the town. She needed to stop him. In a shower of fractal code, a light red bow appeared in her hands. An arrow followed suit once she pulled the bowstring back between her gloved fingers. She let it go, the arrow-head bursting into flames.

“ Pyro Shot!”

It traced a red-hot streak through the air before it collided with Cerberumon’s shoulder. That woke him from his stupor. He roared in rage.

“ Emerald Flame!” Green fire flooded towards her, but Anumon was fire. It washed over her harmlessly.

Less harmless was the enraged hulk of dog that threw himself at her. She vanished— scanned—the bow and met Cerberumon with both arms extended. But she severely underestimated his strength and weight. The hellhound crashed into her and took her off her feet. Her head cracked against the metal of the ground and suddenly, it took all she had to keep the slavering fangs away from her. He took a good swipe at her side, the one he hit earlier, and she felt the pain even through the layer of armour.

“Ngh!” Anumon managed to get her feet under him and kicked him off her. She summoned her bow again and brought it around to defend, but he was faster than she was. He pushed past her block and traced searing lines of pain across her torso.

Anumon was breathing heavily when she finally managed to slam the edge of her bow against his head, ending the onslaught. Another arrow lit up, but Cerberumon had learned to avoid the attack. He charged at her again. She threw herself out of the way and spread her wings for balance. Wings!

The human inside her recoiled, but Anumon knew how to fly.

As the ground lost its hold on her, Anumon began to chuckle. She raised her free hand above her head, paying no mind to the green fire Cerberumon sent her way. A dozen pinpoint lights appeared above them, rapidly increasing into their true shape of burning arrows.

“ Fiery Rain!”

True to the name, the sleek, black arrows rained from the ceiling. Cerberumon was quick enough to evade the brunt of the attack, and even the arrows that managed to stick themselves into his armoured hide didn’t seem to do a lot of damage. Then again, Anumon’s Fiery Rain wasn’t intended as more than a nuisance. Her trump card was the arrow pulled back against the bowstring. Its tip radiated light, constantly growing in intensity the more power she pushed into it. Anumon took a deep breath and focused, waiting for her prey to get into position for the perfect shot.

Cerberumon flicked the last, stray arrow out of the way, head swivelling to the flying Spirit Warrior. He snapped around just a moment too late, and Anumon let her arrow fly.

“ Critical Shot!”

The attack was incredibly powerful. It took so much energy that she could only muster the strength for it once a fight. The arrow struck true and pierced straight through Cerberumon’s body. His howl of pain quickly died out, and a shining ring of fractal code appeared around him. His form grew darker until only a silhouette was left.

Anumon beat her wings and landed before her defeated enemy.

“Your foolish endeavour only led you to a terrible fate,” she said coolly. She scanned her bow and materialized her D-Tector. “May my burning fire light up a different path for you in the next life. Scan!”

The data ring split up and connected Cerberumon’s code with her D-Tector. It allowed her to cleanse the digimon from that taint that led him believe destroying a town was worth his revenge. Cerberumon vanished and left an innocent, white DigiEgg behind. Anumon stepped back, secure in the knowledge that she gave Cerberumon the chance for a better rebirth. The egg hovered in place for a moment, then floated away through the hole in the ceiling.

Anumon took a deep breath. The exhaustion she'd been holding back overwhelmed her and a cocoon of data encased her. Her time was up.

-Zoe-

When Cerberumon showed up, I had to admit that my first thoughts were less than honourable. My mind erupted into a litany of “Nonononono”,and I sagged back in relief when Keisaki managed to lure the hellhound away. I tensed as I realized that she’d effectively sacrificed herself for us.

Tommy still clung to JP for dear life; he stared fearfully in the direction Cerberumon and Keisaki had taken. I figured I was the one to do something. Think! Quickly!

Well... The voice that had summoned us into the Digital World spoke to us over our D-Tectors, and she had also shown us where the Spirit was. I grabbed mine and whispered frantically, “Please, can you hear me? We need help! Can you also show me where the Spirit is?” I’m not sure what I intended with my desperate pleading. I was hoping for some kind of miracle or maybe for the location of another Spirit so that I could use it to save Kei.

The screen remained blank.

To make matters worse, Tommy decided that now was a good time to ask: “Is Keisaki going to die?”

“No!” I snapped.

The Elecmon and Poyomon shrank back. They still crowded the entrance of their house, somehow reasoning that they “already lost one potential carrier of a Spirit” and now needed to protect the ones remaining.

I wasn’t sure what exactly I should do, but I was willing to bet a solution wouldn’t materialize out of thin air. “I need to go after them. We need to help Kei!” The ‘we’ was more of an afterthought since I didn’t know if Junpei and Tomoki were as willing to jump into action.

Junpei for his part didn’t look convinced. Deep down I knew I couldn’t fault him for that—we were unarmed kids trying to go against a fire-breathing monster! I still resented him for his arrogance and cowardice, so I exploded, “Fine! Stay here while she’s going to die for you! I intend to help!”

With that, I marched past our Elecmon guards who rushed out of my way and watched me go with apprehensive stares.

It took me quite a while to figure out where Kei and Cerberumon had gone. In the end, I needed the help of one of the fluffy, grey Pagumon from earlier. She showed me the way down below the platforms. Just as I reached the stairs, footsteps sounded over the metal that covered the ground in the Flame Terminal.

I turned around and blinked in surprise. Both Junpei and Tomoki were coming towards me. I crossed my arms and waited for them to catch up. “What changed your mind?”

Junpei took a moment to get his breathing under control but still avoided meeting my eyes. “I think you’re right... We can’t let Keisaki do all the work... and maybe we’ll be able to use the Spirit as well...”

I accepted this explanation but shot a concerned glance at Tomoki. All traces of the tears from earlier were gone, and he met my eyes with determination. “I want to help, too.”

I turned back to the stairs. “Let’s go then.”

One level below the surface, the buildings forged out of metal plates made room for a long string of shining black corridors branching from the main hallway. Before I could ask if the boys had any idea where to go, a hellish howl sounded in the distance. I cringed, hands against my ears.

“That came from straight ahead,” JP said and, with only a moment’s hesitation, took off towards it.

In my hand, the D-Tector grew slick with sweat. I took a deep breath and switched my hold on the device. I followed him into the dimly lit darkness beyond the stairs. It continuously got hotter with every step until it felt like the air itself was resisting our approach.

Up ahead the noises grew more worrisome. I pulled ahead of JP and was suddenly the leader of our brave charge. The reality of what we were about to do caught up with me and my legs were too weak to carry me onwards. I slowed to a stop next to a half-lowered gateway and leaned against the iron wall to catch my breath. The blistering air itched and I coughed.

Before I could worry about the sudden noise attracting unwanted attention, a much louder howl sounded too close for comfort. I jumped and peered through the gap in the gate.

Beyond was a square room with a high ceiling. Straight ahead, a broken metal cylinder emitted a steady stream of flaring blue fire. Cerberumon stood next to the crumbled wall a little to the right, his head raised and staring toward the massive hole in the ceiling. JP and Tommy arrived at the gate just as a glowing arrow pierced Cerberumon and his body began losing all colour. A blue ring of... something appeared around him.

I was frozen in place and watched as some sort of winged archer in black armour descended through the hole. The upper half of her face was hidden behind a red dragon mask and a ponytail of bushy red hair sprouted out of her horned helmet. We were too far away to hear what she was saying to the rapidly disintegrating Cerberumon.

“What’s going on?” JP asked quietly. It quickly became his question of the day.

“Who’s that?” Tommy followed suit, pointing at the only digimon left in the cavern. It looked rather roughed up.

The answer to that question managed to clear everything up while answering nothing at all. An actual cocoon of glittering blue strings surrounded the digimon and soon revealed a familiar figure who quickly collapsed to her knees.

I think my heart might have stopped for a moment. Kei being so hurt and exhausted spurred me into action and I was on my way before I made the conscious thought. “Kei!”

The boys were following me, but this time I wasn’t holding back and reached the brown-haired girl way before them. I kneeled next to her. “Kei, are you alright?”

She was shaking and had trouble pushing herself up with her hands, but she looked up and gave me a lopsided grin. “I’ve felt better.”

I helped her into a more comfortable sitting position, and she grabbed her head in confusion. “Ouch. I’m feeling absolutely whacked. What happened?”

JP and Tommy came to a stop next to us, the former crossing his arms. “You can’t remember what just happened?”

“Things are a bit fuzzy.” At that, she struggled to get up and grabbed my outstretched hand with a grateful smile. Now standing, she pointed at her side. “Cerberumon took a swing at me and then... I think I got the Spirit.” She held out her D-Tector as if that would explain the rest.

I shrugged. “We don’t know more, either. But you kinda were a digimon...?”

“I was? But that wasn’t even what…” she trailed off, blinking sluggishly. “I guess that’s the Spirits’ power then. Whoa.” She poked her side and flinched. “That still hurts. And I still don’t know how to get us home, sorry.”

Cerberumon was defeated and the imminent threat gone. I thought we had earned our moment of relief. “Your digimon form has wings! You could always fly us home!”

“No way! I’m afraid of heights!” she joked lightly.

-Meanwhile-

The rampaging Cerberumon had left his effect on the nocturnal population of Flame Terminal. Normally they wouldn’t bother themselves with the affairs of daylight folk. But one irritated Sangloupmon and her equally nocturnal brother, Dobermon, had the misfortune of the commotion jolting them awake. Sangloupmon was a wolf-like creature with sleek, violet fur and massive blades protruding out of her four limbs and she hated bright light and the disruption of her sleep. Her brother’s glowing red eyes stared back at her, and the black dog let out an annoyed growl. Such a racket, just over Ophanimon’s Spirits!

The noises continued.

There was no helping it.

In silent agreement, the four-legged siblings rose and abandoned their sleeping place. They liked the warmth Flame Terminal’s furnace emitted, but for now, they had to settle for the abandoned ruin just outside of the city.

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