Pheragas Danved
Outside Lachesis HQ
“We’realmost there, Pheragas,” Dianamon said.
“Dank you…Dianamon…” I had nearly lost consciousness as
Dianamon half-carried and half-dragged me all the way back to the fortress. The
severe burning pain in my chest was not as intense as it had been, but was
still enough to labour my breathing and make it difficult to stay conscious.
“Hey, Apollomon, we’ve got a problem!” BlackGaomon shouted
as he ran into the fort. Dianamon dragged my limp body over to the nearest couch
and instantly set me down on it, and Apollomon was soon at my side.
“Whathappened? Is he okay?!” Apollomon asked.
“He’s fine; he just got hit in the chest by a fireball from
Flamedramon!” BlackGaomon said.
“Fine?! That’s not
fine! He’s lucky to still be alive!”
Apollomon shouted. “Luna, go get him something to clean up that wound!”
“Yes sir!” I heard Luna run up the stairs of the fort as
fast as she could.
“What happened? Where are Thomas and the others?” Saias
asked.
“Thomas vas able to find Ienzo,” I said weakly. “Dey should
be in Yew by now…looking for Irene…Flamedramon attacked dem, he…killed Garret…”
An uncomfortable silence filled the room.
“Garret…is dead?” Apollomon whispered. I nodded slowly.
“He almost…killed dem…and me…Dianamon came just in
time…Thomas and de oders vere able to escape in time…”
“Apollomon!” Luna ran into the lounge, breathing heavily. “FIRE!”
“What?!” Apollomon looked toward the witch; her golden eyes
were wide with panic.
“I tried…to put it out…but nothing worked! We have to get
out of here — now!”
“Damn it, Flamedramon must’ve followed us!” Dianamon said.
“I should’ve killed him when I had the chance!”
“Don’t worry about that now; everyone, get out!” Apollomon
yelled. With a little help from Saias and Lector, I was able to get off the
couch and run out with everyone else. Standing in front of the fort’s entrance
was none other than Flamedramon.
“Who wants to die first?” Flamedramon asked. “Perhaps you would like to go first,” Flamedramon
pointed at me. “I always like to finish whatever I start.”
“Nobody has to die today, Flamedramon,” Apollomon said. “We
can talk about this if you’d—”
“The time for talking ended twenty years ago, Apollomon!”
Flamedramon said. “FlameFist!”
“Solblaster!” Apollomon opened up his palm toward the sky
and created a flaming orb in the center of his hand. Flamedramon’s attack
struck the orb, causing it to swell drastically and increase in size. Apollomon
then launched the orb, which, at this point, had grown to be even bigger than
Apollomon, at Flamedramon. With nowhere to run, Flamedramon stood and embraced
the attack, the brightly shining flames enveloping his entire body.
“Hmph. Not bad…been quite a while since I’ve felt an attack
from a Digimon quite as strong as this,” Flamedramon walked through the flames,
completely unsinged, glaring at Apollomon. “You could’ve prevented this,
Apollomon. If you had just done your job, someone like me would never have been
born.”
“What are you talking about?!” Apollomon asked.
“Flame Fist!” Flamedramon unleashed a stream of flames from
his claws; all of us ducked, and Flamedramon’s attack instead hit the fortress.
The entire fort became wrapped in flames, forever disfigured by their glare and
destructiveness as it crumpled to the ground in a burned-down heap.
“You bastard! Arrow of Apollo!”
“Fire Rocket!” Apollomon launched two flaming arrows from
the jewels on his hands, which Flamedramon allowed to hit him as he became
enveloped in his own flames before leaping through the air towards Apollomon.
“ENOUGH!” Saias shouted, stepping between Apollomon and
Flamedramon. “If you want to fight someone, let it be me!” Flamedramon fell to
the ground, landing on his feet.
“Saias…you’re no match for him!” Apollomon said.
“That’s not important,” Saias said. “It is the job of us
knights to protect people. If we had just done our job right…maybe this could
all have been avoided…” Saias brandished his large sword at Flamedramon, who
began backing away from the knight.
“You…you are just like me,” Flamedramon whispered.
“What do you mean by that?!” Saias asked quickly.
Flamedramon, however, began to walk away. “Hey, get back here!”
“There is no sense in fighting someone who is just like me,”
Flamedramon said before vanishing from sight.
“Saias…what does he mean by that?” Lector asked.
“I don’t know…” Saias said. “But we should not worry about
that right now. Apollomon…what are you going to do?” The Mega
Digimon turned around to stare at the fortress; the flames had not yet dissipated,
and they had already savagely destroyed the building.
“There’s…nothing much we can do,” Apollomon said softly.
“This fortress has been destroyed. However, it was only a building for us to
reside in; Lachesis is made out of its members, not their dwelling. Flamedramon…has
accomplished nothing.”
“Except for making us all homeless,” BlackGaomon noted.
“You don’t have…anywhere else you can stay?” Saias asked.
“There is one place,” SlashAngemon said. “When I’m in Yew
with Irene, we always notice this one house that everyone else seems to avoid
going near; we’ve heard them say it’s been abandoned for years, and nobody
wants to go near it. They seem to think it’s haunted. We could stay there for a
little while.”
“I…suppose we don’t have any other choice,” Apollomon said.
“I know the house of which you speak, and I can assure you
that it is not, in fact, haunted; after Lector and I return from Paeonia,
perhaps we could visit you for…relocation purposes?” Saias asked.
“…What’s wrong with that house?” Apollomon asked.
“Nothing’s wrong with it; it’s just rather old, and it might
not be large enough.”
“Very well; we accept your offer,” Apollomon said.
“SlashAngemon, lead the way to that house.”
“Lector, we need to get going if
we’re going to make it to Paeonia in time,” Saias said.
“I hope those kids were able to
get Ienzo there without any problem,” Lector said.
“You have nothing to worry
about,” Apollomon said. “All things considered, Thomas is probably the most
dependable member of Lachesis there is. He may not be as strong as me or
Pheragas, but in a battle, there’s no one I’d rather have at my side than him.”
Ienzo
Paeonia Town
Elphierr Territory
2 Days
Thetown Thomas and his friends had taken me to
was rather small, but I immediately felt right at home. A further sense of
relief washed over me when I realized that nobody here would be able to
recognize me. I was exhausted from the nonstop walking through Cyprus Desert,
and my clothes were covered in sand, as were the clothes of the others and
Statuedramon’s armor. At the moment, I was simply thankful that I was being led
through a hotel, apparently called the Eucalyptus Hotel, to my very own room.
“Saias and Lector have already taken care of the payment, so
you don’t need to worry about money, and that includes the bar downstairs.”
There’s a bar
downstairs?! Chick city, here I come!
“They should be here in a few hours, if I remember what they
said correctly,” Irene said. Over the past two days, I noticed that she was
talking quite a bit louder than she was when I first met her. I could tell she
was beginning to feel less shy, but her face would immediately turn red, and
she would try to hide it from sight whenever I attempted to flirt with her. The
scoldings from Statuedramon were always worth it, though. The punches in the
face, not so much, and the kicks in the groin, even less. I made a pass at
Zelda once, but when Thomas began glaring daggers at me, I felt that my life
was in danger, and I immediately stopped, figuring that the two might be a
couple. I noticed the way they looked at each other when they thought the other
wasn’t looking, and I didn’t want to interrupt anything that may or may not be
occurring. I might be lecherous, but I wouldn’t ever try taking another man’s
woman. At least, not on purpose…
“This hotel’s pretty nice for such a small town,”
Statuedramon noted. We had to walk up three flights of stairs before we finally
made it to my room. There were two large beds, and a single, short dresser with
a lamp between them. A huge, glass window replaced the wall to our opposite
side, and a glass door led to an outdoor balcony constructed of white stones.
“Thank you for all of this,” I said, looking at Irene, Thomas,
Zelda, and Statuedramon. “You could have all just left me to die like I wanted,
but instead you all worked hard to save my life. I…I don’t know what to say…”
“You don’t need to say anything,” Statuedramon said. “It’s
all part of being a mercenary; we all help those in need!”
“A very simple, but very admirable philosophy,” I said. “If
only the Valencian Knights had a similar one…besides Saias and Lector, of
course.”
“Here’s the key to your room.” Irene handed me a small,
bronze key. “If there’s anything you need to know, please don’t hesitate to
contact us at Lachesis, okay?”
“Well, I’d hate to inconvenience you, especially after all
that you’ve done, but if you’re offering, it would be rude of me to refuse,
wouldn’t it?” I asked. We all said our goodbyes, and the four soon left and I
made my way to my room and closed the door behind me. Then I sat down on the bed
and looked up at the ceiling.
Hmm…What should I do
while I’m waiting for Saias and Lector? An idea instantly popped into my
head, and I sat up. “At a time like this, there’s but one thing to do; goto the bar downstairs and pick up some
chicks!” I smiled at my own brilliance and left my room, walking back down all
three flights of stairs and into the bar past the lobby. There were quite a few
people there, including two or three Digimon, but not enough for it to be
considered crowded. I ordered a small glass of wine from the friendly
bartender, and looked around at my options. A young blonde woman in a blue
midriff top, vaguely reminding me of Zelda, was walking by. Oh, goody! I just can’t say no to a bare
midriff! I brushed my hair back just as she passed by, and to my
astonishment, she ignored me, and continued walking by. After half a second of
dejection, I noticed another young woman, clad in a very short and very tight
red dress sitting close by. I smiled at her, but she walked away after paying
the bartender. I sulked.
“Aw, don’t feel too bad, bud,” the rotund, mustached barkeep
said with a smile. “You’ll find one soon; just don’t lose hope!”
“Heh. Thanks for that,” I laughed. “Though, I might need a
few more of these if all doesn’t go well…”
“You got it, bud!” the barkeep set the bottle of blood-red
wine nearby. I sighed. After a few minutes, another woman sat down on a stool
to my left.
“Youshouldn’t look so discouraged, you know,”
she whispered into my ear. “You look much more handsome when you’re smiling.” I
looked over my shoulder at her; long blonde hair, and garbed in a dark cape.
Her eyes were red, but what caught my attention the most were here fairly large
breasts emphasized by a low-cut top that revealed an ample amount of cleavage,
in addition to her navel and a small portion of her midriff. It took every
ounce of self-control to keep myself from…from grabbing her…from fondling her…
“See, what’d I tell ya?” I heard the barkeep whisper happily
to himself.
“Would you care to tell me your name, love?” the woman
asked.
“I…I’m…Ienzo…” She was so incredibly beautiful that I could
barely speak. I continued looking at her. Her gray skirt fell to her
mid-thighs, leaving the rest of her legs exposed. She wore red, open-toed high
heels to complete the perfect visage of her magnificent beauty. I was in
complete shock.
“Ienzo…such a lovely name,” she said. “My name is Abigail.”
“A…Abi…”
“Shhh…you don’t need to talk,” she whispered, placing a
finger over my lips. Her fingernails had been filed into razor-sharp points,
and resembled claws, and the one she placed over my mouth nearly cut my lip. “I
can see that you’re scared, but you don’t need to worry. I know just how to deal with anxiety. Would you
care to…show me your room?”
“F—For…what?” Abigail smiled. She slowly and seductively
slid her hand down the side of her stomach and down to the waist of her skirt,
which she pulled down ever so slightly. The black of her panties contrasted
well with the light gray of her skirt and the pale skin of her belly. “I…seem
to have gotten locked out of my room. Could you maybe…let me stay in your room
for a while?”
“I…would be happy to,” I said breathlessly. I stood up, and
instantly fell to the floor, making Abigail giggle in a very cute manner. I
stood straight back up very stiffly. My legs were shaking, so to keep from
falling down again, I had no choice but to walk without bending my knees. Up
three flights of stairs. It was exhausting enough climbing those stairs while I was bending my knees, but not
bending them made it a trying task to be sure. After what felt like an
eternity, I finally lead Abigail into my room, and closed the door behind me.
Abigail promptly plopped down on one of the beds, directly facing me. She
smiled lovingly at me as she held her legs up in the air. I slowly and
carefully removed her shoes, gently brushing my fingers across and through her
toes as I did, an act which made her laugh gently.
“You are such a
gentleman, Ienzo,” Abigail whispered as I removed my own shoes and socks. “And
now that we’re up here…there’s something I need to tell you…It’s very naughty…” I swallowed nervously,
and nearly choked.
“Y—Yes…? W—What is it?” Abigail’s lovely red lips twisted
into a smile. I gasped when I saw what I thought was a fang protruding from her
slightly parted lips. I leaped into the air when I heard the closed door behind
my open with a loud bang. A tall and muscular young man barged into my room and
quietly shut the door behind him.
“Pardon for the intrusion, Ienzo,” the man said.
“The name’s Adrian.”
“Is there…anything I can do for you?” I asked. Abigail stood
up and placed her bare feet over mine, interlacing her toes between mine. Her
skin was soft and cool, and it was a very pleasant sensation, though not as
comforting as the feeling of her cheek resting against mine, or the feeling of
her fingers running through my hair.
“Yes, this is definitely him,” Adrian said. “You did a good
job of findin’ him, Abigail.”
“I—I don’t understand,” I said.
“Aww, don’t worry,” Abigail cooed, brushing her hand against
my face. “You are pleased to meet me,
though, aren’t you? You should thank Flamedramon for our little union; I was
ordered to follow him around when my master ordered me to tail after you.”
“Same with me,” Adrian said. “I was ordered to watch after
those kids when I got the same order.”
“Those kids…you mean Thomas and the others?!” I asked.
“Anyway, how do you know my name?!”
“Oh, silly me, have I said too much?” Abigail asked.
“What do you two want with me?!” I asked. Begrudgingly, I
tore myself away from Abigail, who cast me a look of hurt. However, I was
beginning to suspect that it was a feigned one.
“You know far too much about quintessence, pal,” Adrian shrugged.
“If that information fell into the wrong hands…like, for example,
Flamedramon…well, we’d be in a lot of trouble.”
“…Are you here to silence me?” I sat back down on my bed.
“Last we heard, you were praying that someone would come
kill you,” Abigail said. “Come here…I’ll make it…pleasant for you.” Abigail sat
down next to me. She gently placed her hand around the side of my neck and
pulled me closer to her. Her lips came into contact with the side of my face.
The feeling left me tingling, and yet, I forced myself to pull away again.
“You brought me up here so you could kill me?!” I yelled.
“Where nobody would see…”
“Aw…you don’t want to die?” Abigail asked.
“A few days ago, I would’ve jumped at the chance, but after
seeing all the trouble Thomas and the others went through to save my ass…” I
shook my head. “I couldn’t…dishonor them like that…”
“Oh, it appears our future victim needs some convincing…” Once more, she slid her
hand down the side of her stomach and pulled down the waist of her skirt to
show me a glimpse of her panties. “Stand
up, and I’ll show you a little more.”
With her other hand, Abigail lowered the top of her shirt lower down her chest
to further expose her ample cleavage. It was tempting; believe me, I wanted to
see more. However, I remembered what I said earlier, and continued to sit on my
bed, not moving an inch. “Well, now…this is quite boring; I’d heard rumors you
were as lecherous as our comrade, Magnus, and here you are, resisting me? I haven’t lost my touch, have I,
Adrian?”
“Hell, you’re making me
want to stand up, and I’m already standing.” Adrian was gazing absorbedly at
Abigail.
“Oh, well; I suppose we’ll just have to do this the old
fashioned way,” Abigail said. “Shame; I hate working up a sweat.”
“You can always take a cold shower after this; a nice place
like this is sure to have them.” Abigail turned to face me.
“Yes…just imagine me taking a
nice, cold shower…” Abigail whispered into my ear. “Just imagine all that cold
water running down my naked body…Imagine yourself lathering me up with
soap…it’ll take your mind off the pain…” The next thing I knew, the room became
filled with a blinding, white light, and after that, nothing.
Saias
Eucalyptus Hotel
Five Minutes
“Thisis a really nice hotel; we should look in
to booking a room or two for us,” Lector said as we walked up the hotel’s sole
staircase.
“Let’s see…room 398…that was Ienzo’s, right?” I asked.
“Yep; here’s a spare key to his room that I got from the
concierge up front.” Lector handed me a key. We soon came to room 398, only to
find the door slightly open. “What’s going on? Why is the door open?” Lector
opened the door and as we walked in, we were greeted by the thick, irony smell
of blood. I looked down at the floor, and gasped. There, lying on his back on
the floor, was the lifeless body of Ienzo with a gaping hole in his chest.
“W—what the hell happened?! Who did this?!” All I could do was shake my head.
“We’re too late…the other knights must’ve found him before
we got here,” I said. “But how did they know? How could they have found out?” I
fell to my knees next to Ienzo’s body. “Ienzo…this is all my fault. We were
just trying to protect you…why did this have to happen to you when we were
trying so hard to protect you?!”
“Commander Saias, what should we do?” Lector asked. His face
had gone completely pale.
“I don’t know…we should at least give him a proper burial,”
I said. Who could’ve done this?! What the
hell is going on?! Is this some kind of a message left by the other knights?
“…Let’s go…Lector. We need to bury him.”
“…Yeah…Damn it! And after those poor kids worked so hard to
get him here, too!” Lector spat.
