Chapter 62: The Medallion Calls

Thomas Kasuto

Shendu Territory

3 Days

 

The waves of the ocean were all that could be heard. The sun was in the middle of the sky, and its light was reflected with a near-blinding glow on the surface of the water. The sand of the beach Zelda, Luna, and I stood on had been heated up quite a lot by the sun, and though I wore shoes, I could sense just how hot it was—mainly due to Luna’s complaints about it, as the young witch had taken her shoes off.

“Wouldn’t want these little beauties to get ruined,” she had said as she placed them into Zelda’s satchel before we arrived at the beach.

Zelda gazed at the vast ocean lying before us now. “This is my first time here,” she said. “To the ocean, at least…”

“I’ve never even been to Shendu Territory, let alone the beach,” I said. “The farthest east I’ve ever been was Elphierr Territory.”

“It’s…so beautiful…” The ocean’s sparkling light was reflected in my lover’s eyes; she seemed as completely mesmerized by the sight of the ocean’s water as I was with the sight of her beauty before me. “I could watch this all day…”

“As pleasant as that sounds, we have something we must do,” Luna said. “I’ll go see if I can find us a boat.”

“A boat?” I gave the witch a quizzical look. “Don’t you know some spell that will let us breathe underwater?”

“Of course I do! But, like most of my spells, that one has a time limit. That’s why it would be best for us to find a boat.”

“Couldn’t you just…magic one up?” Zelda asked.

“I could, but magic shouldn’t be depended on for everything. If you can do something with your own hands, you should do so.” Without any warning, Luna, in a single, fluid motion, removed her shirt. Neither of us were surprised, as this was something Luna frequently did at home. Her beauty and sexuality were two of the most dangerous weapons Lachesis had, possibly even more so than Pheragas’s axe, and Luna proudly and unashamedly used both to her advantage to lead to the downfall of countless nameless bandits. “Now, let’s see if I can find some poor, unassuming sap that I can…persuade…into letting us use his boat…” Luna had begun taking her long, dress-like skirt off until she was wearing nothing but her black and dark violet bikini. “Unless I don’t find anyone, this shouldn’t take too long. I’ll be back as soon as I can!”

“I should…I should probably…” Zelda’s face began to turn bright red as Luna walked away. “I…I don’t want my clothes to get wet…”

“You want to change? I can turn arou—”

“No, that’s okay; I did what Luna did,” she added quickly, and very, very quietly. “I…I’ve never worn one before, though…”

“You’ve never struck me as the type to wear a bikini before,” I said.

“…Me too,” she said quietly, nervously looking away from me as she began taking her boots off. “It must seem ridiculous, being nervous like this; what I’m wearing right now really isn’t too much more revealing than a bikini…”

“You don’t have any reason to apologize for being the way you are as a person,” I said softly. “To be honest, I find your shyness quite endearing. You’re really adorable when you blush like this.”

“Thomas…” Eventually, Zelda finished removing her clothes; she wore nothing but a blue bikini with a same-colored cloth wrapped around her waist. She was blushing furiously and trying hard to avoid my gaze.

“You do look very beautiful,” I assured her. “You may not ever believe me when I say it, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true.”

“…T—Thank you…”

“Wow! Lookin’ good, Z!” Luna said. “I’m relieved to see that you’re getting less shy, dear.” Zelda’s face went completely red with embarrassment.

“Luna, did you find a boat already?” I asked.

“C’mon, Thomas; with a body like mine, I’m surprised I didn’t get a few marriage proposals in the process,” the witch joked. “See that man over there?” Luna pointed, and a good distance away stood a lone man next to a motor boat. “Biggest perv I’ve ever met — which is definitely saying something — but I was able to convince him to let just the three of us use that boat of his.”

As far away as the man was, we could see him wave, and Luna turned around to blow him a kiss. “C’mon, we’d better go,” she said, rolling her eyes as she turned to face us. “We have to get to that next Horcrux before the Bio Hybrids do.”

Michalis

10 Minutes

 

“Damn it; we’re too late!” The boat with three of Lilithmon’s enemies took off, leaving Sephyrus and me alone on the cold, windy beach. They were soon out of sight, and I kicked a clump of sand away in anger.

“Not necessarily, my son,” Sephyrus said. “Suppose we were to arrive here first; what would we do?”

“We would…find the Medallion,” I replied. “The Medallion of the Crescent Moon…the Horcrux we’re searching for…what else would we do?”

“And how, exactly, would we get it?”

“What do you mean?”

“The Medallion lies beneath the ocean’s surface, and I, without my ability to transform without DeathPhantomon’s jewel, would be unable to find it. Unless you are capable of Digivolving into something that can breathe underwater, we have no other way of getting it.” 

“So…we just wait for them to come back with it, and then we take it?” I asked. “Just like with the Stone?”

“Exactly,” Sephyrus smiled. “Michalis…how goes your…newest transformation? Have you attained flight yet?”

“Yeah, I’ve got my wings now.”

“Very good; I’m going to go to the restoration sight. When you retrieve the Medallion, bring it to me there as soon as you can.”

“Understood.”

Thomas Kasuto

2 Hours

 

“I think I…found something…” I climbed up into the boat, gasping for air, like Luna and Zelda before me, having been down in the water for longer than expected. In spite of having been down in the ocean before me, both women were still soaking wet, and their bikini-clad bodies glistened in the sunlight.

“Are you okay?” Zelda asked. I nodded.

“What did you find?” Luna asked.

“It looked…like a treasure chest,” I said. “I’ll bet…that’s where the Horcrux is. Luna…cast the spell again. I’m ready.”

“If you say so,” Luna said. The sorceress gently placed her hands over my shoulders as she began to speak in an eerie, incomprehensible language, as she had done before. “Okay, go!” I leaped out of the boat and once again dove down into the sea. In truth, I didn’t physically feel any different; it wasn’t as though I suddenly grew gills. However, it did feel rather weird to be able to breathe in water, and on several occasions, I found myself holding my breath.

Let’s see…where was it? For a few moments, I swam further and further down in silence until something caught my eye. A black treasure chest, caught between two rocks. That’s it! I made my way to the chest, and no sooner had I placed my hand on top of the chest than a giant, white tentacle wrapped itself around my arm. Oh, no…why now?!

“This is my treasure, Human!” I stared with horror into the featureless face of the Gesomon that held me in place. “Leave at once, or suffer the consequences!”

“No! I need what’s in that chest!” I shouted. I don’t even know if what I’m looking for is in there, though… I reached down for my sword and severed the Gesomon’s tentacle.

“You fool; you should’ve left when you had the chance! Coral Crusher!” I was barely able to wrap my fingers around one of the chest’s handles before one of Gesomon’s larger tentacles struck me across the chest, sending my flying through the water with the Champion level chasing after me. “You won’t get away from me that easily; Deadly Shade!” Gesomon squirted out a thick, black ink. Instantly, my eyes began to burn as the Gesomon wrapped his limbs tighter and tighter around my chest.

Damn it…I have to…lose this thing! Can’t let it…hurt Zelda… I tried in vain to swing the heavy, bulky chest, but Gesomon had me tied up too tightly to move my arms. Damn…I couldn’t have died…fighting bravely against one of those Bio Hybrids, huh?

“Fist of the Beast King!” A flaming lion’s head tore through Gesomon’s ink cloud and struck the Mollusk Digimon in the back of the head

“…Leo…mon…”

“Beast Sword!” Leomon’s sword cut through a majority of Gesomon’s legs, setting me free. Gesomon turned around, and when he saw Leomon he began backing away slowly.

“You okay, little buddy?” Leomon asked.

“Yeah…I’ll be fine…” the two of us began swimming up to the ocean’s surface.

“Oooh, Leomon, huh?” I heard the Gesomon ask, sounding somewhat impressed. “I’ve always heard stories of how strong Leomon was, but I never knew he could swim, too!”

 “Zelda saw that cloud of ink rise to the surface, so she and Luna sent me to check up on you,” Leomon explained, ignoring the Gesomon. In a matter of seconds, we had reached the ocean’s undulating surface. The Digimon Spirit climbed into the boat and helped me get the chest aboard before I climbed in after it.

 “Tommy, are you okay?! What happened down there?!” Zelda asked.

“It was a Gesomon,” I said.

“Did he use his Deadly Shade attack?” Luna asked. I nodded.

“It got in my eyes. I can’t see anything, now…”

“Oh, no! Luna, is there anything you can do for him?!” Zelda asked.

“This is the work of a Digimon’s attack, and damage from them can always be undone, dear,” Luna said. “However, it will require the use of a potion, one that I cannot make while we are out in the middle of nowhere. We’ll get him back to Shendu Territory, and I’ll see what I can do.”

“Don’t worry, Thomas; we’ll get you back safely, and you’ll see again really soon!” Zelda said.

“I’ve always wanted to challenge you, Leomon!” I heard Gesomon yell.

Leomon sighed. “Yes, I know,” he said. “That’s what I did with my life before dying; fighting Digimon like you who thought they stood a chance against me. In fact…that’s how I died, Gesomon. That’s how I became a Digimon Spirit. If you wish to fight me, I have no objections, though. I will defend my master and her friends with every ounce of my strength!”

“That’s exactly what I wanted to hear!” Gesomon yelled. “Gesomon Digivolve to, MarineDevimon!”

“…MarineDevimon…One of the strongest Digimon to hide in the depths of the ocean,” Luna said breathlessly.

“…I thought they were blue, though,” Zelda said. “Why is this one red?”

What?! A Digimon with a rare coloration, and I have to be fucking blind!

“It happens,” Luna said. “From what I’ve read, there’s like a one in eight thousand chance of seeing a Digimon with a different coloration.”

God damn it, no! Why?! Of all the times to be blind, why now?!

“Leomon Digivolve to, SaberLeomon!” A monstrously loud splash violently shook the boat as the Digimon Spirit leaped into the ocean. “You three, go on ahead; I’ll deal with MarineDevimon.”

“No way! I’m not sticking around for this!” MarineDevimon screamed. “I wanted to fight Leomon, not this oversized monster! I’m out of here!” Another loud splash was heard, but still, I could see nothing.

“It doesn’t hurt, does it?” I heard Zelda’s concerned voice next to me..

“Well, my eyes are burning, but I’m getting kind of used to it by now.” I felt Zelda — at least, I’m fairly certain it was Zelda — reach down and give my hand a gentle squeeze as the boat began to move once again, heading for the shoreline.

“Yeah, the burning’s to be expected with Gesomon’s Deadly Shade attack,” Luna said. I heard the lid of the treasure chest open. “…You did a good job, Thomas. You found it.”

“The Horcrux? Is it in there?”

“Yes; this is it,” Luna said. “Oh, wait; I guess you can’t see it…Sorry. I was holding it up to…show you…”

I smiled. “Don’t worry about it. As long as the Bio Hybrids didn’t get it, I’m happy.” In a few short minutes, I felt the boat come to a sudden halt.

“We’re back, Thomas,” Zelda said softly. After I was helped out of the boat by the two women, my ears soon picked up the wingbeats of an approaching Digimon.

“…Something’s coming,” I said.

“What? Where?” Luna asked. I could hear her shifting around in the sand, looking around.

Interesting; my hearing seems better now that I’m blind… “It’s a flying Digimon; I can’t tell which direction it’s coming from…”

“Corona Blaster!” The sound of multiple attacks resonated in the air as they struck the sandy beach, sending sand flying everywhere. “I’ll take that!”

“That voice…Michalis?!”

“I claim this Medallion in the name of Lilithmon! Ain’t it lovely?” I heard BioBeelzemon ask.

“Where are you?!” And how long has he had wings?!

“Oh…are you blind or something? Well, that’s not my concern; I got what I came here for, and soon, Generalmon will walk Arcadia once again! Later, losers!” The sound of BioBeelzemon’s wingbeats faded away, and soon, he was gone.

“What…what should we do?” Zelda asked. “We can’t fight him…not without Thomas’s help…”

“I’ll have to try; even if I can’t see, I’ll still fight him,” I said.

“No,” I heard Luna say.

“Luna?”

“I’ll go after him,” Luna said. “I’ll fight BioBeelzemon, and if necessary, that Generalmon.”

“By yourself?!” Zelda asked.

“We don’t really have a choice, now do we?” Luna asked. “You wait here with Thomas; I’ll go get the Medallion back.”

“Will you be okay by yourself?” I asked. I felt so helpless, and useless, not being able to fight. This was a new feeling, and it wasn’t like the time in the desert when Apollomon told me not to fight. This time, it was…crushing…like I was being deprived of my sole purpose in life.

“I could send Leomon or Dynasmon with you, if you’d like,” Zelda suggested.

“No; I’ll be fine on my own,” Luna said. “I’ll be back soon. I promise.” I heard the sound of Luna’s footsteps fade into the distance.

“…Just don’t die!” I shouted. If anything happened to another friend when I could’ve been there to help out, I’ll never forgive myself…

“…Don’t worry. I would never be so cruel as to deprive Chrysania of her mother again.”