Chapter 49: When Knights Fall...

Thomas Kasuto

Mandala

 

“Well? Who would like to go next?” BioPremenitmon asked, turning from Gallantmon back to his lizard-like form.

“Try fighting me; see how long you last,” Flamedramon said.

“It would be an honor, Flamedramon.”

“Sephyrus, I order you to stand down,” a voice from behind the Bio Hybrid said.

“Yes, my lady,” BioPremenitmon laid down his ankh and turned his back to us, bowing down to one knee.

“…She’s coming,” Irene said in a quiet, shaky voice.

“Who?!” Statch asked.

“That voice…it was Lilithmon’s…” In a matter of seconds, the Mega Digimon Irene spoke of appeared before BioPremenitmon. She looked exactly as was described in ancient texts. An attractive woman clad in dark robes, with wings protruding from her back. Her right hand was golden, and hung limply at her side.

“So…at long last, we all meet,” Lilithmon said, a wry smile forming on her lips. “Thomas, the Assassin. Zelda, the Bishop. Statuedramon, the Fool…oh, and even Flamedramon decided to honor us with his presence!” Lilithmon looked over at Irene, and to my surprise, instead of glaring, she smiled at the small girl. “Irene…I’m glad you decided to come.”

“I’m sorry…Lilithmon,” Irene said, looking away from the Digimon.

“You don’t have to worry about your betrayal, Irene; this does not affect my decision of helping you find your mother,” Lilithmon said. “That is, I never planned on helping you.” Lilithmon began laughing to herself. “How is it possible…to find someone who’s dead, after all?!”

“…N—no…my mother?! No…no, she can’t be!”

“She can and she is! Slain by my hand!” Lilithmon held up her right hand, a golden claw. “You are so easy to fool, Irene; my Goddess, you’re lucky you’re so freaking adorable all the time! I killed your mother, Irene, because even at that young an age, I could sense a strong amount of quintessence from you…who would have ever thought so much could be packed away in such a tiny little body? I purposely never showed my real face to you…because I knew that, if you saw me murder your mother at that age, you’d have remembered my beautiful face…oh, if only you were a little younger at the time, I wouldn’t have had to be so careful all of the time…I decided to keep you close to me for when you got a little older…When that happened, I would harvest every last ounce of your quintessence, Irene!”

“Wait…that woman she was always speaking with…that was you?!” Irene asked.

“Of course; quintessence has all sorts of powers, you know. One of them is to fuse Humans and Digimon together to make Bio Hybrids…another use is to change someone’s appearance. That’s why I had to be so careful; I had to make sure I didn’t waste too much of my quintessence changing my appearance…and I also had to make sure you weren’t around when I killed your mother so that I could make you think she had gone missing, rather than to the Dark Area! That way, I could keep you close and have you do whatever I needed you to do.”

“No…my mother…”

“Don’t look so sad, Irene; it’s not as if your promise is the only one I’m breaking,” Lilithmon said. Irene broke down in tears, and I felt a familiar rage billow up within me. “I promised Adrian the Spirits of Legendary Warriors from long ago…as if some foolish old myth like that could ever be real! Michalis and Sephyrus here are the only two who are gracious enough to work with me without asking for anything in return. Oh, and speaking of Michalis…Thomas, it might interest you to know that Michalis was the one…who murdered Victoria.” My heart skipped a beat. I nearly dropped my sword upon hearing this.

“Michalis...? No…he couldn’t have,” I said. My head was spinning. Everything around me seemed to be a total blur. I could barely even think.

“But he did! Stabbed her over and over with a knife given to him by Sephyrus,” Lilithmon said, pointing at BioPremenitmon. “The same knife he killed his father with.” The Mega Digimon began laughing maniacally, but her twisted smile vanished when she caught a glimpse of my face. “Oh, come on; what’s wrong with you?! Show a little emotion, why don’t you!”

“Thomas…” Statuedramon looked over at me worriedly. I steadily looked down at the ground, ignoring my best friend. I listened in shock as the evil Digimon continued to prattle on.

“Oh, well, perhaps you’d be interested to know that she was pregnant!” Lilithmon went on to say. My fingers gently clenched around the hilt of my sword. I breathed in and sighed, trying to keep a level head. “Michalis told me that Victoria told him she was right before he murdered her! So, not only did he murder that sweet, innocent woman, he murdered the unborn child in her belly!”

“…She needs to die,” Flamedramon said to himself, shaking his head in disgust at Lilithmon. Lilithmon, however, continued to glare at me.

“…You are so fucking boring, you know that?! Would it kill you to show a little emotion?! C’mon; you should be trying to rip my throat out for having ordered Michalis to do that! Hate me, damn it! Just show some fucking emotion, you bastard!”

“I’ve had enough,” Statuedramon said. “I’m killing this bitch!”

“Statuedramon, don’t,” I said. “You don’t stand a chance—”

“Sword of Dragon’s Soul!”

“Darkness Love!” Lilithmon blew the attacking Statuedramon a kiss, which formed a black heart in front of her that unleashed a devastating beam of dark energy at the Rookie Digimon.

“Statuedramon!”  The Rookie flew backward through the air, screaming in pain until he landed unconscious on the floor in a puddle of his own blood.

“All right, I’ve had enough of her!” Flamedramon said.

“Sephyrus, if you’d be so kind as to deal with him,” Lilithmon said.

“It shall be as you wish, my lady,” BioPremenitmon said. “Shadow Evolution! Splashmon!”

Apollomon

Yew

 

“Solblaster!”

“Terra Destroyer!” Our two fireballs collided in the air once more; my attack, however, tore through BioBlackWarGreymon’s, making it dissipate into nothingness as my attack hit its mark, enveloping the Bio Hybrid in its flames. BioBlackWarGreymon yelled as the flames seared him, burned through what was left of his pitch-black armor. He fell to the ground, landing on his back in the middle of the raging inferno. The form of BlackWarGreymon disappeared, leaving Saias’s body behind. His eyes stared deep into mine, unblinking and lifeless. Saias had died.

I’ve  done it…I’ve killed him…I should be used to killing by now…but this…This isn’t right…he fought with everything he had for what he believed in, and I did the same. Saias…the last time, when I thought you dead, there was still a chance you’d still live, but now…You’re not coming back. The flames around us had died down a considerable amount since our fierce battle concluded. Slowly, I walked through the flames, picked up Saias’s lifeless body, and carried him out of the burning building, one step at a time. “You really did a number on me, buddy…if I had attacked just a split second later…it’d have been you walking out alive…and not me…”

“You there…halt!” A heavily armored knight was approaching me as I reached the exit of the knight’s base. “Oh…Apollomon…” I recognized the knight’s voice at once.

“Lector. It’s…been a while…”

“What happened here?” Lector asked, looking up at the blazing building I walked out of. “Hey, are you okay?!”

“Just a fire…nothing more…”

“…Who is that? In your arms, who is that?!” I sighed and laid Saias’s moderately burnt corpse at Lector’s feet. “…Saias…Who did this to him? Who killed him?!”

“…Lector. I murdered Saias.” This was the last moment I remember saying before blacking out. Lector, in a fit of rage, had taken his spear and shoved it deep into the side of my stomach.

Dianamon

 

“Apollomon! Apollomon, where are you?!” I screamed desperately. The night sky was gradually fading into one of day. The clouds had long since parted, revealing the dim, starry sky. I could see smoke in the distance. Before too long, I finally came to the knight’s base I heard the city folk speak of…the one in flames. The one Apollomon was in. “APOLLOMON!” I ran up to the military base, where I saw Apollomon lying in a pool of blood just outside the burning building. A large knight standing in front of him turned to face me.

“Dianamon…you are too late,” Lector said. In his hands was a lance, whose tip was stuck inside Apollomon.

“Lector?! How could you?!” I shouted. “Crescent Harken!”

“Saias…I’ll join you soon,” Lector said with a smile just before I tore him to pieces with my weapon. As Lector fell to the ground, his lance fell out of Apollomon’s stomach.

“Apollomon! Apollomon, please, wake up! Don’t die on me, Apollomon! Speak to me, damn it! Apollomon!” I flung myself to the ground next to his unmoving body, and shook him desperately. I loudly called out his name several times, I even slapped him, all just to try to get him to move. His blood had stained my white armor. He didn’t move an inch.