Chapter 96: Welcome to my Nightmare

Flamedramon

 

My eyes opened, slowly at first. Cautiously, I looked around; no matter which way I turned, there was nothing but blackness. And yet, when I looked down, I could see myself as clear as day. What’s going on? What is this place? I…was attacked by DeathPhantomon…Did I die? My entire body ached all over, so I was fairly certain I was still alive. A flame twisted around my arm, but still, I could not see anything. I could hear someone running behind me; I turned around and saw a young boy toward me. His hair seemed rather long for his age — he looked to be close to ten years of age — and his face…I nearly fainted when I saw it. That…that’s…me! Back when I was a Human! I turned to completely face they boy. What the hell is going on?! If that is me…then chasing me would be… I knelt down as the boy continued running toward me, and yet, he did not stop. He kept running and running…until he ran right through me. “…I see. So this is…a dream…right?”

Coming into sight now was a huge, angry mob consisting of various Humans and Digimon. Subconsciously, I launched a stream of flames at the approaching mob, and yet, as I anticipated, they passed right through the flames unsinged. I watched in awe as person after person ran right past me or through me, not seeming to notice me at all. In no time, the entire mob had run past me, relentlessly pursuing the boy, and I was left alone in the dark silence, pondering what had just happened…if it really had happened.

“It is because you carry the mark that you are treated this way.” I turned around, and once again, I nearly fainted; standing behind me was myself once again, only this time…

“You…why do you look like me?! Who are you?!” I asked.

“I am Flamedramon…as you are.”

“What is this? What is going on?!”

“It is because of me you carry the mark.”

“What do you mean?! Are you telling me that I must blame myself for that accursed mark?!”

“…Let’s follow after them, shall we?” Without warning, both of us lifted up in the air, and flew in the direction the mob had run. In the blink of an eye, the dark scenery changed to that of a city. The two of us were on the ground.

“I’m so glad you came here, John,” a young girl’s voice said below us. “It gets lonely, not having any friends to talk to.”

That girl…that’s—!

“I’m glad I came here too, Abby,” my past self said to the girl. “I promise to always treasure the time I spend in this city with you.

…Abigail…When she was a child…By the Goddess, she’s adorable! The young Abigail smiled at my Human self. She wore a simple grey dress, and had her long, blonde hair tied back in a ponytail. So…this is Cyclamen City…

“What do you mean? Are you going somewhere?” young Abigail asked.

“…I have to leave this place soon, Abby,” John said.

“What? Why? We’re friends, aren’t we? Or did I…” Abigail looked down to the ground. “Did I make you mad?”

“No. You could never make me mad, Abby,” John said. “People from my home village, Iris, are chasing me. That’s why I came here, Abby; to hide.”

“…Why are they chasing you?”

“Because…I carry the Mark.” My younger self took off his traveling gloves and rolled up his sleeves. “This…is why they are chasing me.” John held up his arm, showing Abigail the Marked’s symbol on his left forearm. Abigail looked at the mark with a shocked expression.

“You have that too?!”

“…What do you mean too?! Abby…” Abigail lifted up her dress, revealing that she too had the Marked’s symbol on her stomach, just above her navel.

“N—no way! You carry this cursed mark?!” My younger self reached over and gently brushed his fingers across Abigail’s belly, feeling the mark just after feeling his own. “It’s real…Abby…”

“We’re the same, you and I,” Abigail said, letting her dress back down. “We…we belong together, don’tcha think?”

John’s face had gone completely pale, his eyes wide with fear. “…I shouldn’t have come here,” he said, walking away from Abigail. “Abby…there is no reason for you to involve yourself with someone like me.”

“John, what are you talking about?” Abigail asked. “John…c’mon, John! Let me stay with you!”

“No. I told you; we shouldn’t have been together for as long as we had!” John began to run away, but Abigail grabbed his arm. “Those people that were chasing me; they chase me because of this mark. They’re out to kill me, Abby; don’t you understand that if you stay with me, then they’ll kill you, too?!”

“John, please! Don’t leave me alone here! I don’t want to be left alone in this place!” Abigail begged tearfully, clinging tighter to John’s arm.

“Let GO!” John shoved his elbow into Abigail’s ribs, making the girl fall to the ground. “And don’t even think about following me! I…I hate you, Abigail!”

“But…John…” It was too late for her to speak; John was long gone. “I…I love you…” Tears fell from her eyes, wetting the ground as she cried out, more from sadness than from the pain of being shoved.

All of this happened right before my eyes. Reliving the memories…they were awful.

“No way to treat a lady,” the other Flamedramon said to me.

“I…was just trying to protect her,” I mumbled. “I didn’t really hate her…I just didn’t want her to stay with me. If she did…”

“And yet, when she heard of your death, the poor dear continued to cry herself to sleep every night until she was turned into one of those Bio Hybrids. Far too good for you, I’d say.” My body moved on its own once again; I attacked the other Flamedramon, but my flames passed through his body. He simply shook his head.

“Let’s see where you went after that, shall we?” Once again, the two of us lifted up into the air, flying in the direction John had run until we reached a large, old-looking fortress that stood in the forest.

“Lachesis…”

“You burned this place down, didn’t you?” the ‘other’ asked. “Because of that, the members of that organization are forced to seek refuge in the house belonging to a now-deceased knight. Speaking of…he carried the Mark as well, didn’t he? You noticed…when you first met him.” Without thinking, I walked into the fortress of Lachesis, where I saw John speaking to Apollomon, Dianamon, SlashAngemon, and BlackGaomon.

“Who is chasing you, little one?” Dianamon asked.

“Who would try to hurt a child?” SlashAngemon asked.

“They’re chasing me…because of this mark…” John showed the four Digimon the symbol on his arm.

“That hardly seems a suitable reason to chase somebody,” Apollomon said.

“It is because of what I am that I carry this mark,” John said. “It is because I have the blood of Humans and Digimon inside of me that I carry this mark.” BlackGaomon, Dianamon, and SlashAngemon all gasped. Apollomon, meanwhile, stared intently at John.

“You’ve gone through hell, haven’t you?” Apollomon asked. “All because of something you cannot control.”

I looked up at the fiery Mega Digimon, wide-eyed, but…happy. Happy that I had someone to turn to. I remember the exact words I said to him next. I said them simultaneously with my Human self.

“What if I’m not worth protecting, because of what I am?”

“Anyone pure of heart is worth protecting,” was what he told me. He said it exactly as I remembered. The look in his eyes…it was so sincere, I just couldn’t stop myself from breaking down and crying at that very moment. Both as John, and as Flamedramon. Dianamon lovingly cradled John in her arms as he cried himself to sleep.

“That was the promise they made to you,” said the ‘other’. “You put all of your hope and faith in them, and how did they repay you?”

“You don’t need to tell me what—”

“By letting you down. By failing to protect you when they said they would.” I glared at him; he stood right next to me, with his arms crossed, calmly observing the scene before him. “Oh, they did indeed try; you cannot fault them for that. But…they were unsuccessful.” Without my notice, the scene had changed to that of a small, poorly built house, set completely ablaze. Far away in a corner stood John, surrounded by two rather large men.

“This is where you die, kid,” said one of the men.

“For insulting the goddess that gave us all life just by existing, we sentence you to a swift death,” the other man said.

“Solblaster!” A huge fireball tore through the side of the house and struck the two men dead in an instant.

“Apollomon…I remember this,” I said. “This is where…”

“John…I’m sorry…none of this would have happened if we had been watching you at all times,” Apollomon said, calmly stepping into the blazing house. He offered me his hand, which John was about to take when Apollomon was struck from behind by a Digimon. The Mega Digimon hit the floor, unconscious, and John was left standing, facing a Meramon. The Flame Digimon walked up to John, his fiery body roaring in anger, and grabbed him by his arm, the one with the mark, and hoisted him into the air.

“Hangman is coming down from the gallows, kid, and you don’t have very long,” Meramon said. The Champion walked John out of the house, past the unconscious body of Apollomon, and up the stairs of a crudely made gallows, in front of which stood a large crowd of Humans and Digimon, all of which were yelling and cursing at John. A rope was fastened around his neck. A lever was moved. The floor underneath him opened up, and it was over in an instant. John was dead.

“All of this happened because of me.” I turned and looked at the other.

“Are you…a ghost?”

“…I suppose you could say that.” The other turned to look at me; though we were the same height, it seemed as though he were looking down at me. “I became known as the first Digimon to ever fall in love with a Human.” The other turned back to look at the lifeless body of John. “How tragic…simply because you were not like them, this happened to you…When you were given a second chance at life, this is what you became.” Once again, flames surrounded us, and this time, a third Flamedramon stood before us.

“That’s…me?” My past self was cornering a young woman outside a burning building.

“Why? Why are you doing this?!” the woman asked.

“If I am going to continue to be rejected…then the only thing I can do is reject the world,” my past self said. “Anyone else remaining in this wretched village…will share the same fate.” A twist of flames coiled around my past self’s arm.

“No…please, don’t; I’m preg—” the woman suddenly began screaming, completely enveloped by my flames. My past self looked on with a cold hatred in his eyes, and I with horror in mine.

“Yes, I know,” said my past self. “You would not be the first to make such a claim.” The burned woman fell to the ground, dead.

“This…did I…really do this?” I asked.

“You did.” I looked over at the other. “This is what you became.”

“WHAT ARE YOU?! WHO ARE YOU TO ME?!”

“That Human woman and I…we didn’t know what would happen, but still, we had a child. The child looked Human, but had the mark, just like yours. After that, the two of us discovered we as well carried it.”

“You…are you telling me that you’re my—”

“It seems unlikely that you were that child,” the other said. “But…who’s stopping you from being a descendant of mine? So you see, Flamedramon; it is my fault you carry the mark. It is my fault you look the way you do now.”

“Why I look…Why was I…brought back?”

“The Goddess does things in a mysterious way. Perhaps she simply felt sorry for the both of us,” Flamedramon said. “You see, it seems that while you were killed, I was on the verge of death myself for reasons pertaining to our mark. It seems that we now share the same body; you were given my body and powers, and I was given your consciousness — hence why it took until now for you to become aware of me. Flamedramon…we are…the same person now.”

“…But…why…Who are you?”

“Still don’t know? You remember Apollomon and SlashAngemon, do you not?” Somehow, I was able to make my head nod. “They were part of a group known as the Celestial Vanguard, a group of twelve of the strongest Digimon who worked tirelessly and flawlessly at defeating Lilithmon and her allies five hundred years ago. I was one of those Digimon.” I stared silently at the other Flamedramon. “It seems that this dream is a curse brought about by one of those Digimon — rather, a nightmare, I should say. You…you still have the mark, don’t you?” I looked at the center of my right claw…at the mark.

“Yes. I do. But it is in a different place than the one I had as John…is this where yours is?” Flamedramon nodded.

“As long as you carry it…you will forever be surrounded with sadness as long as people see you as a violation of the Goddess’s teachings. You are doomed to be forever persecuted, hated, scorned…unloved, even. If that little girl is still alive, she will no doubt suffer the same fate, but for a long time, due to the Digimon blood in her.”

“No…no! I can’t…How do we get rid of this cursed mark?!”

“There is no way. Flamedramon…as soon as you were born, you were both doomed to be treated this way. It is an unfair and unjust world we live in, but that is the way things are, and the way the people are, it is unlikely to change for many centuries.”

“…Why?! Why would you—”

“It was selfish of me, I know, to love a woman of the other species without thinking of the consequences it could bring, but because of this, you and that girl are doomed to eternal sorrow.” Once more, I mindlessly attacked the other Flamedramon in a blind rage.

“You should know by now that that won’t hurt me,” Flamedramon said, appearing behind me. I looked closer into the flames; someone was caught in the blaze, but it wasn’t the other Flamedramon.

“ABIGAIL!” The flames instantly dissipated when I screamed her name, leaving her horridly burned body in its wake. “ABIGAIL! ABIGAIL!” The woman slowly raised her arm up to stroke my face, and as I gently reached to place my hand over hers, she faded into dust, carried off by the wind. I turned back and glared at the other Flamedramon as tears began to well in my eyes.

“Why do you look to me, as if it’s my fault?” Flamedramon asked. “This is one of DeathPhantomon’s nightmares, after all; I am quite familiar with them. He did the same to me; making me think I had brought harm to the woman I had loved.” I looked off in the distance as tears began to fall down my face.

“Abigail…Abigail…”

“…I see that there is no reasoning with you,” Flamedramon said. “How did I end up sharing the same body with such a hard-headed individual?” His words fell on deaf ears, as I continued looking away, mindlessly repeating Abigail’s name.

“Flamedramon…it’s okay…”

“I’m right here, Flamedramon. I’m right here…” I felt an unseeable hand stroke my face, the last thing I remember before becoming completely surrounded by the darkness once more.