Chapter 9:
The Garden of Rainbows
Akira sat by the water’s edge and smiled. It was evening, and the green meadows they found that day had become a completely different, but beautiful, world by night. Nocturnal flowers bloomed and cast a mysterious colorful glow that illuminated the night sky and made the stars shine brighter. The eerie glow of an aurora shined and pulsed overhead, as if it were helped by the flowers’ rainbow light. The sights made Akira feel calm, and somehow made her wish that she could lay back and sit like this forever. It was one of those rare nights that she could just relax and not have unpleasant memories tearing through her mind.
She gazed across the lake at the small village they had found just that afternoon. The beautiful garden of rainbows was home to dozens of young data and vaccine-type Digimon, led by Wizardmon. She heard laughter and occasional shrieks from nearby, and saw a big group seated around a campfire. Tian and Renamon were there, as well as Gazimon and a small group of Digimon kids. They were all listening to a scary story Kodamon was telling them and the kids were screaming at the right times.
Akira heard footsteps behind her and quickly sat up, wondering who it was. But it was only Seita, returning from a walk. He wandered over to her.
“Hi. Mind if I sit?” he asked, smiling.
Akira looked up at him and just shook her head. “Go ahead.” Seita sat down beside her and looked at the village across the lake just as she had.
“Beautiful night, isn’t it?”
Akira looked at him, blinking. She didn’t really expect him to say something like that. “Yeah,” she replied, “It is.”
Then Seita turned and looked at her. Akira could feel herself flushing, though she couldn’t understand why. Was the weather getting warmer?
“Are you feeling okay?” Seita asked, looking at her with a small twinge of concern.
Akira blinked again and turned away. “Um… yeah, I’m okay,” she replied, feeling very awkward. “Why?”
“Oh, just wondering,” Seita answered, “You don’t seem like your usual self today.” He stared at her, probing.
Akira looked at him again, warily. “I can’t help but suspect…” she said, inspecting the look on Seita’s face, “…that you’re looking for something to tease me about. Is that it?”
A tiny hint of a smile appeared on Seita’s face. “I rest my case. You are your usual self now!”
Akira looked at him questioningly. “How do you mean?”
The smile got bigger. “Your attitude’s back!”
Akira scowled and pushed Seita away. “Moron!” Seita just laughed.
A few paces away, Tian glanced at the two and smiled.
“So this is the village that Kiwimon told us about?” Jun asked incredulously.
“You’re quite right,” Wizardmon replied. “Kiwimon is as old as the trees and the waters, even the whole Digital World itself. And her memory is just as ancient. Our village really was located near the Valley of Relics – over a thousand years ago!”
Mana laughed a little and sighed. “If only we knew sooner – it would have saved us lots of trouble!”
“But we did make some new friends along the way,” Salamon countered, “Ogremon and Andromon…”
Mana smiled. “Yeah, that’s true.”
“You and your friends can stay here for as long as you like,” Wizardmon said, “It’s peaceful here, and you all can get lots of much-needed rest.”
“Thank you,” Jun replied with a smile.
Mana turned and looked out the window of the small wooden cottage they were in.
“I never believed there could be a place as beautiful as this… Never in my wildest dreams.”
Kei lay in bed, wide-awake, listening to everything around her. She could hear Jun talking to Wizardmon in the next room, and could hear all the chatting and laughing from outside. She shut her eyes, trying to fall asleep, but couldn’t, though Terriermon had fallen asleep long before. That strange, unnerving feeling kept her awake. It had gotten worse since the other day; now it gave her a shiver of fear along with the nervousness, but she knew that somehow, Yuka was feeling much worse.
Kei heard Yuka stir in the bunk above hers, and sat up slowly. “You can’t sleep either?”
“No…” The sheets crinkled and the bunk creaked a little. Kei then saw Yuka climb down and sit next to her on the lower bed. Lopmon was curled across her shoulders.
“Are you okay?” Kei asked, though she already knew the answer.
Yuka shook her head. “It’s gotten worse,” she whispered frantically, “Something bad is going to happen – and soon!” She curled up, and her head sank to her knees. “Any time now…”
Kei put an arm around her, and stared into space, lost in thought. Then she heard Wizardmon speaking again. She looked back at Yuka. “Do you want to talk to Wizardmon about it? Maybe he’ll understand.” Yuka nodded, but looked unconvinced. Kei nodded and got up, holding Yuka’s hand and picking up Terriermon with her other arm. They were almost at the door when Yuka gasped and went rigid.
“What? What?” Kei stared at her in fear. Her own senses had frozen as well.
“Oh, no!” Yuka suddenly ran to the door and pushed it open with a bang…
Akira was still fuming at Seita when she suddenly felt the ground shaking violently under her. “Huh?” She sat still for a moment, baffled, then glanced at Seita. “Did you feel that?” Seita looked just as confused as her. They could hear everyone else murmuring and asking each other the same thing.
They got up and looked around, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. Everything was quiet. The only sound that could be heard was a faint whistling, coming from somewhere up in the sky, and then a soft ‘pop’. A small, bright ball of light suddenly appeared, and began to fall toward the earth, slowly at first, then with gathering speed.
Akira and Seita looked up, puzzled, then looked at each other. Then, it slowly dawned on them exactly what the whistling and the bright ball of light meant.
Without hesitation, they both ran toward the village, shouting.
“Everyone! Take cover!”
“Hurry!”
Akira looked behind her for a moment, and was shocked to see how close the light ball had gotten. It zoomed past them, overhead, and she could feel intense heat and power radiating from it. It looked as if it would slam right into the middle of the village.
Akira swallowed in fear, and she and Seita ran faster.
“Watch out!!”
Jun was still talking to Wizardmon when the door to the next room flew open and Yuka and Kei rushed in, breathing heavily and looking terrified. He took a step toward them. “What is it?” he asked, “Is something–” But he never got a chance to finish. A huge explosion shook the cottage and knocked him down.
Shock waves and blasts of intense heat filled the air, and the earth shook.
Several minutes later, the heat and vibrations stopped. Mana ran over to Jun and helped him up. “What just happened?” she asked, fearfully.
“It’s time…”
Mana whipped around and saw Yuka. Her eyes were closed and she was trembling all over. “What do you mean ‘it’s time,’?” Mana blurted out, her voice cracking.
Yuka breathed out slowly. “It’s time. They couldn’t wait anymore. They’ve come to destroy us all now.”
Mana was about to reply when the front door burst open and a weak, injured Koromon bounced in.
“Wizardmon!” he shouted, “We’re under attack! We’re under attack–” He was blown away by another, weaker explosion, right through the doorway.
There was silence as the smoke cleared. Then a small, black blur whizzed through the door, bumping into the walls and heading straight for Mana. She screamed, hardly moving at all.
“Puppy Howling!” Salamon's attack stopped whatever it was in its tracks, and it fell on the floor, revealing a very dizzy Picodevimon.
Wizardmon walked up to it and examined it, a dark look on his face. “The Midnight Army...”
Jun frowned. “The Midnight Army?”
“I was afraid of this,” Wizardmon continued, “They already know you're here. And they took it as an opportunity to invade us... again!”
“Wha-?” Jun stammered, “What do we have to do with any of this?”
“Everything.” The ground shook with more explosions, and Wizardmon looked at the empty doorway. “Come on, let's get out of here. I'll take you someplace safer!”
They all ran outside and came across a war zone – the very center of the village was virtually gone, with nothing left but bare ground and charred debris. Dark Digimon raged everywhere, attacking everything in sight. Kodiamon, Leomon, and Renamon were surrounded by hoards of them, and so were the other kids. Akira was trying to fight off a Digimon who was trying to strangle her, then she saw Wizardmon and the others.
“Get-away from-here!” she gasped, “It's too-dangerous!” She shut her eyes in pain.
“Akira!” Kei started to run to her, but Mana pulled her back.
“Get off of her!” Seita rushed up and attacked the Digimon with a series of well-placed kicks. The Digimon screamed and let go. “Are you okay?” Seita asked, pulling Akira up. She nodded weakly. Then, Seita turned to the others. “What are you waiting for? Go!” He ran off in another direction, pulling Akira by the hand.
“Come,” Wizardmon said, “We can't waste any more time.”
They ran a distance away from the village, until they reached a metal-covered pothole in the ground. Wizardmon opened the cover, and they were about to slide through when a dark Digimon jumped in front of them.
Jun jumped in between and shouted, “Keep going! Patamon and I will take care of this one!”
Mana didn't move.
“Go on!” Jun coaxed her, “You have to look after the little kids!”
Mana swallowed, then nodded and dropped down the hole after Wizardmon and the rest.
The hole led to a long, dark tunnel, which Wizardmon kept lit with a magic flame. Mana thought she could hear shouts and scuffling feet both above and behind them. “Where are we going?” she shouted.
“Shh!” Wizardmon put a finger to his lips. “The safest place I know.” They finally reached the entrance to a large cavern, and were almost blinded by a strong light coming from the center of the cavern. Wizardmon turned around and pushed a button on the wall. A thick steel door slid over the tunnel entrance they just came out of.
Kei and Terriermon looked around. There was a circular computer console in the center of the room, and in the middle of that, a large, beautiful ice-blue stone was suspended in mid-air. Kei stared at it in wonder, then remembered, with an icy feeling, where she had seen a stone like this before.
“Terriermon, remember the cave under the desert? The one that we and Seita and Gazimon were chased into?”
Terriermon nodded. “That cave was full of stones just like this.”
“And the stone in Andromon's Pyramid,” Yuka added softly, “It was almost exactly the same as this one.”
“It's a Meterostone.” Wizardmon appeared next to them. “A stone that can predict, sense, and even create weather patterns in an area. It can make some places ideal to live in, and others completely uninhabitable.”
“That explains why the weather is so perfect here, even if it's surrounded by miles of desert,” Mana concluded.
“And it explains why this...'midnight army' attacked this place,” Salamon added, “The enemy would want something that powerful.”
“It's not just that...” Yuka said softly. Everyone looked at her, concerned.
“They knew we were at that underground mine in the desert, and at Andromon's Pyramid,” Lopmon continued for her, “And they probably figured out we'd eventually make it here...”
“So they decided to attack, and kill two birds with one stone,” Wizardmon finished. Just then, the door to the tunnel started buckling, and large dents appeared in it. An explosion ripped through it, blasting all of them against the opposite wall. As the smoke cleared, a small, dark figure emerged – a black, catlike Digimon with golden eyes and midnight blue claws.
She looked around the room, at Wizardmon and the kids, then at the Meterostone. “Well, aren't I lucky!” she hissed, “I get to capture the Meterostone and get rid of the rest of you pests!” She walked closer. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Black Tailmon, sub-commander of the Midnight Army.” She smiled evilly. “Destroying you and taking the Meterostone will be easy!”
Wizardmon stepped forward. “Not if I can help it!”
Black Tailmon snarled. “Go get them!” A stream of Vegimon appeared.
Wizardmon waved a protective arm in front of Kei and Yuka, and Terriermon and Lopmon took to the air.
Black Tailmon turned to Mana, who had been tied down by Vegimon vines before she could get away.
Black Tailmon smirked, and placed her claws dangerously close to Mana's throat. “You kids have been a threat to our plans long enough.” She cackled, “If I have to get rid of all of you, I might as well start with you!” Mana screamed and tried to move, but she was tied down too tightly.
“Leave her alone!” Salamon tackled Black Tailmon, and she went flying. She got up an instant later. “Cat Punch!” The attack hit Salamon dead-on, and she was sent across the room. She slowly tried to get up, but couldn't.
Black Tailmon laughed. “That's what happens when a puny little thing like you dares to challenge me!” She turned back to Mana. “Now, where was I...”
Salamon's rage and despair grew as she desperately tried to get up again. She saw Black Tailmon's claw rise over Mana's head, and cried out.
Suddenly, a bright red light shined from Mana's side and surrounded Salamon. Black Tailmon stared at it, a paw over her eyes.
“Salamon, evolve to... Tailmon!” The light soon disappeared, and Black Tailmon stared in disbelief. She was staring at a carbon copy of herself, only pure white, with blue eyes and green claws. She took a step backward.
“Don't even think about it,” Tailmon growled. She coiled up and raised her claws. “Cat Punch!” A couple of seconds later, she had lashed out, slicing up all of the Vegimon's vines and ending with her claws pressing against Black Tailmon's throat. Mana stared at her in wonder.
“You have two choices,” Tailmon hissed, “Leave now and keep your head, or stay, and lose it and everything else attached to you.”
Black Tailmon scowled, then pulled out a strange crystallized ball. “All units, retreat! There's nothing left for us here.” The ball disappeared, and she glared at Tailmon. “You haven't seen the last of us yet! You can bet on that!” She disappeared in flash of black smoke.
Tailmon glowed brightly, and became Salamon again. Mana walked over to her shakily and picked her up. “Thank you... for everything!” she said brightly, then sobered. “But now, this means that you've made yourself a new mortal enemy...”
Salamon smiled and shrugged it off. “Never mind. The next time she tries to harm you again I'll make sure to give her a face full of stitches!” Mana laughed.
Kei looked up at the cavern's roof. “I don't hear anything going on up there anymore.”
Terriermon lifted an ear. “They all must have run off by now.”
“Then, let's go!” Mana replied, taking Kei and Yuka's hands. She looked at Wizardmon. “Wizardmon, you coming?” He slowly shook his head, staring into the light of the Meterostone. Mana shrugged and turned away.
When they emerged from the tunnel, they were greeted by silence. Jun ran over to Mana, a concerned expression on his face. Mana looked at him and smiled.
Kei spotted Akira and Seita sitting together, Akira sipping from a cup of warm water. “You okay?” Kei asked, walking over to them.
Akira smiled weakly. “My throat's a bit sore, but yeah, I'm fine.” Kei glanced at Seita and saw him smiling at Akira. She looked at both of them and raised an eyebrow.
Just then, Tian walked over. “Hey.”
Akira stood up slowly with Seita's help. “What is it?”
“Renamon says she feels a disturbance in the wind. It's coming from over there,” She pointed over to the mountain range in the distance.
Akira gazed at them, and suddenly had a flashback.
She was standing in front of towering, crystal mountains. She caught a fast movement from the corner of her eye and ducked, barely escaping the Black Gears whizzing past her head. She pulled out her Digivice, aimed it at them, and...
Akira shook her head, the memory fading. “It might be the source of all the incidents that have happened.”
Tian thought for a minute. “Their home base, maybe?”
Akira shrugged. “Possibly. Or maybe...” She stopped. Or maybe it's a trap... She turned away. “I think we should talk to Wizardmon about it.”
“Well, you're right, there is something strange going on in the Crystal Mountains,” Wizardmon said, reading the feedback from the Meterostone.
They all were underground, in the cavern that housed the weather-sensing stone.
“There are irregular weather patterns all over the place,” He pointed at the display. “Some parts are blazing hot, and with all the crystal around, it's hot enough for heat stroke in minutes. Other parts are bitterly cold, and with all the shadows that the mountains are casting, it's even colder.” He analyzed the information further, then added, “The only safe way to go is through here,” He pointed to a pathway going northeast through the mountains.
Tian looked at it. “But that still gives us a lot of area to cover if we were to investigate.”
“Not if we split up,” Jun pointed out.
“Are we sure we want to do this?” Mana asked fearfully.
“We have to, if we want to know why things are happening the way they are, and what the Midnight Army wanted with us in the first place,” Seita said, glancing at Akira. Her eyes were closed, as if struggling with a decision.
“Well, Black Tailmon did say that we were a threat to their plans, or something like that,” Mana murmured.
“Whatever it is,” Wizardmon replied, “the Digital World is in danger. I believe that the strange weather patterns are only a part of it.” He took a deep breath, then continued, “But if anyone could possibly do something about it, it would be all of you. After all that you've been through, I'm sure of it.”
“Then we'll go.” Akira opened her eyes and faced Wizardmon, a steely, determined look on her face. Wizardmon looked at Kodamon, and she nodded, understanding.
“Good luck.”
Akira walked ahead of the others, lost in thought. She didn't hear Seita catch up with her until she heard his voice.
“Hey.”
Akira's head snapped up, and seeing him, she looked down. “Hey…” she returned.
They walked side by side in silence. Akira glanced at Seita, an uncertain look on her face, then spoke. “Seita?”
Seita looked back at her. “Yeah?”
“Remember earlier, when you saved me from being strangled to death?” Akira replied softly.
Seita nodded. “Uh-huh.”
“Well...” Akira hesitated, “Thanks.”
Seita smiled. “No problem. You would have done the same if it were me, right?”
Akira nodded slowly, then looked at the blue, crystallized mountain peaks ahead as they grew larger and larger. All of a sudden she could hear someone shouting faintly, as if from far away. She glanced at Seita again and saw that he was still smiling at her. It made her feel uneasy, and she stopped walking.
Seita also stopped. “Is something wrong?” he asked, looking genuinely concerned.
The look confused Akira even more, and she struggled to reply. “I... have a question...” She heard the shouting again, louder this time, and looked around, surprised that no one else noticed. It seemed familiar, somehow, and she tried to place who or where it came from.
“What is it?”
The shouting faded away, toward the back of her mind, as suddenly as it came. Akira took a deep breath and looked at Seita again. “Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden? Just the other day we were screaming at each other, and now, lately, you do nothing but smile at me.” She had a blank, unreadable look on her face.
Seita stared at her in surprise and was silent for several seconds. “I... no reason, really...” he stammered, his face turning red. He swallowed, and asked with a shaky laugh, “Would you rather I make you mad instead...?”
Akira stared at him with that same blank and unemotional look, and walked away. “Never mind, forget that I asked.” she replied flatly.
Seita stared back at her, shocked. He remembered the look on her face and shivered. He hadn’t seen her look that way for a while.
Not since she first came back from America. The day she came back to school. The memory clearly and swiftly returned to him…
It was on a very hot morning in the beginning of June. Seita was slumped over his desk, listening to the chimes that signaled the beginning of class. It was a free study period, so the sounds of lively conversations filled the classroom.
“Hey, hey-” one boy whispered, tapping Seita on the shoulder, “I heard we’re getting a new student today.”
Seita looked back at him, puzzled. “A new student? This late?”
“Yeah. Strange, huh?” the boy replied, “The teachers were talking about it. Someone said that this kid wasn’t supposed to transfer in until the fall trimester, but…”
“I wonder if it’ll be a guy or a girl?” a nearby girl cut in, “I hope it’s a really cute guy!”
“It’d be nice if it was a girl,” the other boy replied, “Then maybe you’d finally get a girlfriend, Kazama!” He punched Seita in the shoulder.
“Hey!” Seita frowned.
“That’s no use,” another student spoke up, “He’s always been in love with Akira Mitsuishi!”
Seita glared murderously. “I am not !”
“Akira Mitsuishi? Who’s that?”
“A girl who was in our class in junior high.”
“She was the captain of the girls’ soccer team in eighth grade, right? She could kick a soccer ball hard enough to break someone’s nose!”
“I remember that she was a crazy hothead – both she and Tian Shu were always together, and they kept getting into trouble!”
“Huh? Tian Shu? Our Tian? But she’s always so quiet and nice, and very smart, and she’s our class representative. She doesn’t seem like someone who’d put a toe out of line!”
“Yeah, hard to believe, huh?”
Just for a moment, Seita flicked a glance toward Tian, who was sitting across the room and looking very bored.
“I wonder what happened to Mitsuishi – last year, when we started ninth grade, she just disappeared!”
“She moved to America, I think. Come to think of it, it was a bit sudden – she was only in school for three weeks, and then she just left!”
A slight cough made them turn around at Seita. His eyes were closed and his arms were folded across his chest.
“Let’s not talk about her anymore, okay?” he asked, irritably.
One of the boys laughed. “You still haven’t gotten over her leaving, have you?”
“I remember that whenever you and Mitsuishi were together, you could argue like there was no tomorrow!”
“Shut up,” Seita growled, his eyes still shut.
The others laughed, then quieted down when the homeroom teacher walked in.
Tian immediately got up, her bored expression disappearing. “Rise!”
Seita sighed, and stood up with the rest of the class.
“Bow!”
When the class sat down again, the teacher spoke up.
“Class,” the teacher said loudly, “I’d like to announce that we have a new student who will be joining us from now on.” She paused for a moment, then went on. “She just came here from America a few days ago, but some of you may recognize her from junior high.” The teacher turned and started to write the student’s name on the chalkboard.
The murmurs of the class grew a bit louder. Seita just looked down at his desk, without a care, and listened to the conversation around him.
“Oh, so the new transfer is a girl!”
“From America? She must know a lot of English!”
“But she went to a junior high school around here? Weird!”
“She must be Japanese – her name’s written in kanji!”
At this point, Seita really didn’t care if this girl’s name was written in kanji or ancient Greek. He just wanted everything to be over with.
The teacher soon finished writing. She then turned to the classroom door. “You can come on in, now!”
The door slid open, and Seita could hear the student’s light footsteps as she entered the room.
Immediately, there was a gasp, from Tian’s direction.
Seita looked up suddenly at the noise, and saw Tian, with a very shocked expression on her face. He looked at her strangely, then slowly turned toward the front of the room.
“EHHHHH?!?!” Seita gave a shout and stood up quickly from his desk, knocking his chair down. “Akira?!”
Sure enough, it was Akira, regarding her fellow classmates with a deep violet stare. She was slightly taller, and her hair had grown just a bit longer from the last time they had seen her.
“I’m Akira Mitsuishi. Nice to meet you,” she said flatly, bowing. She looked around, and met Tian and Seita’s eyes. Her expression remained flat and devoid of emotion – almost dead, even when the teacher directed her to a seat and ordered Seita to sit down.
When everyone was seated again and class began, the whispers started again.
“Scary…”
“You sure that’s the same Akira Mitsuishi we were talking about?”
“No doubt. That’s her.”
“I thought you said she was a hothead! This girl… she’s like a zombie or something!”
Meanwhile, Seita was staring at Akira, shocked. It had to be a coincidence – they were talking about Akira just minutes before, and she ended up being the new transfer student!
He couldn’t believe it.
Ever since that day, Seita never stopped wondering. Akira had shown up in class, just as suddenly as she had left months before, and no one knew why, other than the fact that she had spent most of the year in America with her mom and had just returned. Even her dad and her grandmother didn’t breathe a word, or give any hint that she had come back! Neither he nor Tian had any clue, when by rights, they would have known first!
Not only that, he could never shake the feeling that something awful had happened to Akira when she was away. In the few weeks that immediately followed, people began to notice just how changed she was. She barely spoke to anyone, unless it was to ask or answer a question in class. She hardly ever smiled. That bright, fiery spark in her eyes, and the confident, cocky demeanor that Seita always used to notice about her, was gone.
Until very recently, she hadn't even shot her usual icy looks at him or argue with him over something stupid like she always did. In fact, during all the time that they had been trapped in the Digital World, and they had started arguing with each other again, he had been secretly relieved, glad that she was turning back into her old self again. At least until she started saying, doing and remembering strange things…
“Just the other day we were screaming at each other, and now, lately, you do nothing but smile at me...”
Seita looked at Akira, a distance away from him, and sighed.
I wanted to make you smile again, or laugh, or even yell at me for annoying you. Anything to keep you from going back to being the ghost you were before.