Chapter 72: Supressed Rage

Thomas Kasuto

The Living Room of Saias’s Villa

 

“She wore it?!” Apollomon yelled, startling everyone else in the room. Dianamon and Pheragas glanced nervously at the Mega Digimon. “I specifically told you what would happen if either of you wore it! Did you not think to tell her what would happen?!”

“I did tell her,” I said. “And she didn’t make the conscious decision to put it on…It just sort of…fell onto her head…”

“You expect me to believe that?!”

“Well, a Zudomon held it in his hand, and then Vajramon threw him onto the ground, and it just…fell out of his hand and landed on her head.”

“Well, I believe him,” Statuedramon said. “Thomas isn’t imaginative enough to think of an excuse like that.”

“…Gee…Thanks, Statch.”

“Oh, you’re welcome, buddy. Oh, wait! I meant to say that…uh…Oh, that he isn’t the kind of person to make excuses like that! Yeah, that’s what I meant! Uh-huh…Yeah. Totally what I meant to say.”

“Alright, alright; whatever. It doesn’t matter how it happened,” Apollomon said. “How long did she wear it?”

“Most likely less than ten seconds,” I said.

“I see…Dianamon, go up and see her,” Apollomon said. “See if you can tell if she has been affected by this Horcrux.”

“Understood, sir,” Dianamon said shortly before leaving the room.

“So, Zelda really did wear the whore-something, didn’t she,” Chrysania said.

“I’m afraid so, sweetie,” Luna said, placing her arm around Chrysania’s shoulders. “I’ll be able to turn her back to her regular sweet self, but it’ll take some time…”

“She must’ve looked really pretty in it, though,” Chrysania said. “Like a princess or something!”

“Well, personally, I don’t think she needs any help,” I said, looking down at the Horcrux that sat in my lap. Like a princess or something, eh…Princess Zelda…That’s got a nice sound to it. I wonder why…?

“You did well to bring it back,” Apollomon said. “Was Zudomon the only one you fought?”

I nodded. “I didn’t see any sign of Michalis or Sephyrus, and he didn’t seem to be affiliated with them in any way, nor did he seem to be a Bio Hybrid himself,” I said.

“So, with the Stone and Diadem, that makes two Horcruxes that we have in our possession, with no more left to find,” Apollomon said. “The Bio Hybrids and Lilithmon are in possession of the Medallion, Necklace, Silk, Jewel, and Mask…But it seems they don’t have the Sword, Flute, or Mirror…Could Zudomon have been involved with their theft? Or maybe he could’ve been with whoever else has been taking them…”

“Sir, I’ve been thinking,” I said. “Statuedramon told you what Deckerdramon told us about a week ago in Lotisea, about the Horcruxes, didn’t he?”

“…Yes, he did.”

“I’ve been thinking that, since the Horcruxes are important to Lilithmon regardless if they have a soul in them or not, it might be best to destroy them.”

“How do you break a rock?!” BlackGaomon asked. “I could understand the Diadem being broken…”

“That would not solve our problems,” Apollomon said. “Even if we were able to shatter them all into millions of pieces, all it would take is one small piece from each of them for Lilithmon to be able to use them for what she has in mind…If, in fact, that is what she’s planning on…”

“Okay, so, breaking them might not help much, but what if we do go ahead and break them, and dump the pieces into the ocean so she could never find them?” Statuedramon suggested. Apollomon shook his head.

“It doesn’t matter where we hide them, or how many pieces we shatter them into. Lilithmon will find them, and when she does, she will succeed. I know her; she will not stop until she is successful.”

“Breaking them might actually make things worse,” Luna interjected. “Breaking them could produce more opportunities for Lilithmon to get hold of something she can use to secure her allies’ souls to.”

“GET OUT!!!” A door upstairs slammed shut, and Dianamon came running down the stairs; tears were welling in her eyes.

“She…she’s mean when she’s evil!” Dianamon said.

“Wow; she must’ve been pretty bad if they made a hardened warrior like Dianamon cry,” Statuedramon said.

“Oh, she cries all the time,” Apollomon said.

“What?! That’s not…that’s not true, damn it!” Dianamon protested.

“Sure you do! I’ve only known you your entire life!” Apollomon joked.

“Vut did she say?” Pheragas asked. Glancing at Chrysania, Dianamon bent down and whispered into Pheragas’s ear, making his jaw drop. “…I…I vas not avare she knew dat many vulgar vords…”

“Ooh, ooh, what’d she say?!” Chrysania asked excitedly.

“…I vill tell you vhen you grow bigger,” Pheragas said. “Still, I…I cannot believe she knows dat vord…”

“Yeah, or that one,” Dianamon added.

“Well, you have to remember that she grew up in a desert city as one of the Marked,” I said. “From what she told me, I can only assume that the words you didn’t know she knew — whatever they may have been — were shouted at her and her sister, Hannah, on a daily basis for doing little more than existing when the other people of that city thought they didn’t have the right to do so.”

“Chrissy keeps forgetting Zelda had such a bad life because Zelda’s always smiling and nice to other people…”

“Hmm…Dianamon, how did she seem to you?” Apollomon asked.

“She was…mean…and vulgar…and….and mean…”

“No, I mean…Were you afraid she might attack you? That she might try to hurt you?”

“No…she seemed more annoyed than murderous,” Dianamon said. “When I looked into her eyes, I didn’t see any bloodlust…only anger.”

“I see…In that case, it seems that the Diadem didn’t have its full effect on her,” Apollomon said.

Sephyrus

 

“It is almost time, Michalis,” I said. The two of us sat in a tree, outside the window of an empty room of the villa. Empty, that is, save for Zelda, who lay on her stomach with her face buried in a pillow. It was late afternoon, and the sun was beginning to set, casting a wonderful shadow for us to conceal ourselves in the branches of the tree. “Soon…we shall deliver the Diadem and the Stone to the lady…Michalis? Are you okay?”

“Huh? Oh…yeah, I’m fine,” Michalis answered. “I’m still a little shocked, is all…”

“That was only the effect of the Diadem,” I said. “It brought forth the inner evil buried deep in her heart. Now, with it, we shall deliver those two Horcruxes to Lilithmon, in addition to our newest ally.”

“Still, I can’t believe anyone in this group was dumb enough to wear the Horcrux,” Michalis said.

“…Nobody here is an idiot; not even Statuedramon. If it was on her head, I can only assume it to be an accident. Perhaps she fell, or someone forced her to wear it. Anyway, I digress; with her help, we’ll be able to find the three remaining Horcruxes that were taken away from us…and then, all of Lilithmon’s allies will be freed! All we need to do is convince Zelda’s evil side to work with us, and we shall have an easier time dealing with whoever stole the Sword, Mirror, and Flute!”

Thomas Kasuto

 

“What do you mean?” Statuedramon asked, staring wide-eyed up at Apollomon.

“It seems as though Zelda actually has no evil within her,” Apollomon said. “If she was truly evil — if the Diadem really had caused any evil to be called forth — then she would have, without any shadow of a doubt, attacked Dianamon. She didn’t, so I have come to the conclusion that what we see now is merely her suppressed rage and resentment from being horribly mistreated by the people of Adonis and other settlements.”

“Is that all that’s wrong with her?” I asked, relieved.

“I believe this to be incredibly likely.”

“…I didn’t think she had any evil in her,” BlackGaomon said.

“Now, with that being said; Luna, will you still be able to cure her?” Apollomon asked.

“Of course; whatever happened to her was the work of magic, and magic can always be undone,” Luna said.

“Couldn’t we just put the Diadem back on her?” Statuedramon asked. “And for that matter, couldn’t we just put it on the Bio Hybrids and Lilithmon so we wouldn’t have to deal with all of this anymore?”

“I’m afraid not; it only works once per person, and only on Humans, so it wouldn’t work with the Bio Hybrids,” Apollomon said.

“But she carries the Mark, doesn’t she?” Dianamon asked. “That’s pretty close to being a Bio Hybrid, so why did it affect her?”

“…I am unsure,” Apollomon said. “Perhaps it is because she was born this way…while the Bio Hybrids had Digimon data injected into their blood…”

“Well, whatever the case, it’ll take some time, but I will bring her back,” Luna said. “She…she must feel awful, with all of that suppressed anger eating away at her…”

Zelda

 

My face had been pressed up against my pillow for the longest time; it was all I could do to keep myself from screaming and tearing it to shreds. I just couldn’t understand why I was feeling this way. I knew, deep down in my heart, that I had never been this way before…so why now? I clenched my fist. It seemed as though everything and everyone around me was out to kill me. I hadn’t felt this terrible since I was growing up…the memories of my childhood filled my heart with even more rage. It was almost comforting, in a strange way. I clenched my fist even tighter.

“Zelda…we need to talk.”

I lifted my head and, to my surprise, saw that Sephyrus and Michalis stood behind me. “What do you two want?!” I asked, sitting up on the bed. “And how the fuck did you two assholes get in here in the first place?!”

“Through the window,” Sephyrus said calmly. “And we’ve come to—”

“I don’t care why you two are here! Just get out!” I pointed at the window, and Michalis looked as though he were about to comply, but Sephyrus stood still and gave me an amused grin. “What, you think this is fucking funny or something, breaking into a lady’s room like this?! Get the fuck OUT!”

“We saw your argument with Dianamon earlier,” Sephyrus said, ignoring me.

“Yeah? What about it?!”

“Well, it seems to me that you aren’t happy being with this group anymore.”

I sighed. “…No…it…it’s not that…I just—”

“Zelda…I believe it’s time you come with us.”

“…Me? Go with…you?!” I found the idea absolutely repulsive. “Why?!”

“Well…we have our reasons for needing you to come with us,” Sephyrus said. “Certain key events have taken place…Zelda, you no longer have the right to call this place home.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, now more nervous than angry.

“You…are no longer aligned with them,” Sephyrus said. “You are evil now, and not good.”

“No…no, that can’t be right,” I said. “I don’t…I can’t be…”

“You…don’t have any feelings of…malice, do you?”

“Only toward you two assholes for barging into my room!”

Sephyrus stared long and hard at me. A few seconds passed before he let out a long sigh. “I see…so, this is what became of you…”

“What are you talking about now?!”

“When most Humans don the Diadem of Spiritual Balance, it makes them change their alignments permanently. But with you…that doesn’t seem to be the case…”

“…What do you mean? I never…put on that stupid, tacky Diadem,” I said.

“I sense that you did,” Sephyrus said. “Rather, I saw that you did. It was on your head very briefly before Thomas removed it.”

“Thomas…removed it?” I asked. “Why…? Why didn’t he tell me? Why didn’t he tell me that it was on my head?!”

Sephyrus grinned.

“So, what’s going on with her if she isn’t evil, then?” Michalis asked.

“What we see here is merely any pent-up aggravation and rage built up over the years finally brought to the surface. In this state, she should be very prone to violent outbursts, and — quite fortuitously, I might add — very easily annoyed,” Sephyrus said. “She is not truly evil…Regardless, this may be able to work to our advantage. Zelda…you will come with us.”

“Forget it; I am not doing anything you tell me to do!”

“Even if we promise to leave you alone after you have done what we want you to do?”

“…”

“Michalis…begin the back-up plan,” Sephyrus said. “Do not back down until she relents and aids us.”

“…Yes, sir,” Michalis said quietly. He slowly and nervously began approaching me.

“Why do you hesitate? You’ve never done so before,” Sephyrus said. I rolled my eyes. “Hurry up; we need the Stone and Diadem!”

“…Fine.” Michalis raised his finger and poked my arm. I slapped his hand away, but he continued poking my arm.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!” I asked.

“Just following orders,” Michalis said.

“Are your orders to annoy me to death?! Because you’re doing a pretty damn good job of that!”

“No, not to death,” Sephyrus said. “We are simply using nonviolent aggression to liberate your true, wrathful disposition…”

“I don’t think it’s working, old man,” Michalis said after I had slapped his hand away a few more times.

“Have a go at her with the feather,” Sephyrus suggested. Michalis nodded and removed a Bird Digimon’s feather from his pocket and brushed it across my belly button, sending a chilling, tingling sensation through it and up my spine, the sensation of which nearly caused me to laugh. However, before Michalis could raise his arm to do it again, I rammed my fist into his groin. I heard a loud snap, as if something broke; whether it was a bone in my hand or one of his, I hadn’t a clue, but when Michalis hit the floor, his face twisted in utmost agony as he fell, dropping the feather, I had a feeling it was the latter.

“Oh, dear…this really isn’t working out as well as I had hoped,” Sephyrus said, resting his chin in his hand.

“I…second…that…” Michalis said weakly.

“Will you two get out of my room now?!” I asked. “Don’t think I won’t hit you just because you’re dressed like a priest! I know what you’ve done!”

“We will leave…as soon as you decide to help us,” Sephyrus said.

I sighed angrily. “You two…are really not going to let this go, are you?”

“We really can’t.”

“Well…if it means you two will shut up and leave me alone…I’ll do whatever you want,” I said. “So…what is it you want me to do?! Spill it!”

“Well, first, we’ll need the Diadem and the Stone…”