Chapter 88: Into the Realm of Darkness

Thomas Kasuto

 

I suddenly came to when a sharp, throbbing pain in my head woke me up. I looked around, and saw almost nothing. A torch with a very small, near-extinguished flame nearby kept a small area around the three of us illuminated. We appeared to be in a long hallway of sorts, the architecture of which reminded me of Etemon’s Castle in Linnea, as everything appeared to be composed entirely of stone. However, nearly everything that could be seen was dusty and covered with sand, even the air. That trap Linoan set up for us…it must’ve taken us all the way into the desert…But what is this place? Some kind of underground building or castle?

“Thomas…”

“Zelda, are you okay?” I whispered. I didn’t know why I was whispering; it just seemed to be the thing to do in this dusty, underground hallway.

“I’m…fine…But can you help me stand up?” Zelda took my hand, and I gently hoisted her up. “Thank you…So, where are we?”

“I was just wondering that myself…”

“Isn’t it obvious? That bitch Linoan sent us down here!” Statuedramon said. “I knew it was a trap, I knew—”

“Is there…any chance that Linoan didn’t have anything to do with this?” Zelda asked.

“No, it was definitely her,” I said. “When we were falling, I saw her smiling.”

“…I see…”

“Damn it, I was expecting a trap, but nothing like this…”  I shook my head in disbelief and looked up. Nothing but darkness, except for where the torch shone.

“If you knew she was leading us to a trap, why did you follow her?!” Statch asked.

“I thought she might’ve been leading us to one of Lilithmon’s allies.”

“That’s why you went?! Isn’t that a reason why we ought to avoid following strange, creepy, yet incredibly beautiful young women we don’t know?!”

“Well, we’re going to have to fight them sometime, right? It’s not like we can just let them live, and do whatever they want, right?” I asked.

“Yeah, but—!”

“Statuedramon, we can argue about this later all you want; right now, we need to work on getting out of here.”

“Fine, fine…” The three of us walked in silence through the dark corridor, occasionally passing by a lit torch until we reached the end of the hall. Statuedramon was about to press on when I grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. “Hey, what’s wrong? Why’d you do that?!”

“…You shouldn’t be too hasty in a place like this,” I whispered. I picked a rock up off the stone floor and dropped it in front of Statuedramon; the rock landed on something, and without warning, the floor opened up. “See that, Statch? A tripwire…If I hadn’t stopped you, you’d have fallen into that pit and landed on all those spikes down there.” The trapdoor closed by itself.

“Is it safe to pass?” Zelda asked.

“As long as we don’t touch the tripwire, we should be fine,” I said. “Here, give me your hand.” Reluctantly, Zelda held out her hand, and when I took it in mine, it was trembling noticeably. “We’ll be okay…We’ll get out of this, like you said,” I told her.

Zelda nodded, and slowly, the two of us walked over the tripwire. “There, we made it!” I said, and Zelda nodded again as Statuedramon followed us over the tripwire. “Are you okay?” I asked her. In the light of a nearby torch, I could see that her face had gone completely pale, and she was breathing heavily, but quietly.

“I…I’m fine, Thomas…I just…” Zelda looked around nervously before looking back up at me.

“It’s okay,” I said.

“I…I’m scared, Thomas…With everything that’s been going on, I…I just feel so frightened all of a sudden…” Zelda was looking steadily at the ground. Statuedramon’s words from earlier today came back to me.

For the first time in my life…I’m actually afraid. I’m not scared that I might get killed, but that I might get killed without having done everything I could have done to protect my family. Zelda stepped closer to me and grabbed onto my arm. Everyone…is losing confidence over what happened. Am I…the only one who hasn’t…? No…that isn’t true. Lilithmon and her friends are stronger than before, and if I die, then…then I won’t be able to keep Zelda and Statuedramon or anyone else safe…I just can’t allow myself to think about those things. All I can do is think about each challenge as they come to us, one at a time. If I focus on only the one thing at a time, everything should turn out fine. I stopped myself from thinking any further before the words ‘and if everything doesn’t turn out fine’ entered my head. I looked down at Zelda, and gave her trembling hand a reassuring squeeze.

“Guys…I think I see something up ahead,” Statuedramon said. I looked up and saw a tall figure advancing very slowly toward us. The torch flames went wild, glowing brighter as the figure passed them.

“…That’s him,” I said. “It’s SkullCaliphmon…”

“Thomas…I was hoping I would find you in here!” SkullCaliphmon said. “You boner…after you killed me last time, I’ve been waiting to get my revenge on you, so I had Lupinemon trick you into landing in my castle. Do you like it? I designed it myself.” I let go of Zelda’s hand and walked toward the Mega Digimon. “Over five-hundred years ago, I raised this castle up from the sand.”

“Thomas…if I couldn’t kill Hydramon a few days ago, then you definitely won’t be able to kill SkullCaliphmon,” Statuedramon said.

“Statuedramon, I want you to take Zelda and get out of here,” I said. “I might not win…but I’ll fight him off for as long as I can…”

“Thomas!” Zelda cried in protest.

“Oh, how adorable! The little bonehead thinks he stands a chance!” SkullCaliphmon laughed.

“Statuedramon…keep her safe for me.”

Statch nodded, but before they could move, SkullCaliphmon cried out, “Sirocco Sword!”

I raised my sword, prepared to defend against the attack when Zelda pulled me out of the way to the ground.

“Come on!” Statuedramon grabbed both of our arms and dragged us away from SkullCaliphmon, who began laughing again when we passed the corner. The two of us struggled to our feet and began running.

“Zelda…why—” I asked as we followed Statch through the gloomy corridor.

“Tommy…do I still need to tell you?” Zelda smiled at me. “After my sister…you were the first person to show me kindness after a lifetime of cruelty and sadness…I love you, Tommy, and I don’t ever want to see you throw your life away…okay?”

“…I’m sorry…”  The feelings and thoughts I felt at that moment were cut off by the frantic and shaky voice of Statch.

“Guys, dead end up ahead!” he exclaimed. I looked up, seeing that our running had led us straight up to a wall.

“Oh, good; and here I was, starting to get bored out of my skull!” said a nearby voice. I turned back around and saw SkullCaliphmon smirking at us. “It was fun, though…chasing you around like this…but I’m afraid I must dispose of you now.

“Get behind me,” Statuedramon said, holding up his shield. SkullCaliphmon held up his two-bladed sword, prepared to swing it.

“Sirocco Sword!” A loud crash from behind us interrupted SkullCaliphmon. The wall caved in, and a surge of flames tore through it and surrounded SkullCaliphmon.

“What are you waiting for?! Get out of there!”

That voice…is it—

“Flamedramon, is that you?!” Zelda asked excitedly, climbing through the hole in the brick wall.

“Yeah…it’s me,” Flamedramon said. The Digimon helped us climb through the exit he made, and the four of us began running as fast as we could away from the castle.

“Oh, Flamedramon! I haven’t seen you in so long! Where have you been? I was so worried about you!”

“Ah, come on…why would you worry about someone like me?” Flamedramon asked. “After everything I’ve done, too, you were still concerned about me…”

“…Do you not want me to worry about you?”

“I…uh…oh, jus—just keep running, damn it!”

“Where are you taking us?” Statuedramon asked.

“…We’re going to Acacia,” Flamedramon said. “Rumor has it there’s an incredibly powerful Digimon Talisman there.”

“Oh, is that so?” The form of a large Digimon materialized before us.

“DeathPhantomon!” Flamedramon gasped. Seeing the Digimon I had just recently killed was somewhat unnerving, but not so much as his presence, his voice, and his deep, red eye.

“…SkullCaliphmon’s slacking off if the lot of you were able to escape,” DeathPhantomon said.

“Stand aside!” Flamedramon said. DeathPhantomon’s only visible eye narrowed with disdain.

“…Thou art not the Digimon I knew,” DeathPhantomon said. “Even so…thy presence makes me ill. Thou must be dealt with!”

“Stand back, everyone!” Flamedramon shouted. “Flame Fist!” Flamedramon’s attack hit DeathPhantomon’s body directly.

“…Just as I had suspected…thou art not nearly as strong as the other I fought. I erred in believing otherwise,” DeathPhantomon sighed. “Mirage of Darkness!” DeathPhantomon’s eye began to glow, and both he and Flamedramon became surrounded in darkness. Flamedramon’s screams cut through the silence of the night, and the darkness began to fade away. To my horror, I saw Flamedramon laying in the sand, clutching his chest in pain.

“Flamedramon, are you okay?!” Zelda ran to the fallen Digimon’s side.

“It…it was…Abigail…Abigail was here,” Flamedramon said.

“No, it wasn’t,” I said. “That was one of DeathPhantomon’s tricks…you can’t let that Digimon get to you, Flamedramon!”

“I…I know…” Flamedramon forced himself up, to DeathPhantomon’s annoyance.

“Oh, dear…I thought if I turned my form into that of the woman he loves, he’d have lost the will to fight,” DeathPhantomon said. “Verily, will I have to take a different approach…”

“Bring it on…I’m prepared for whatever it is you’ve got!” Flamedramon said.

“In that case, I bid thee Welcome…to My Nightmare!” In an instant, Flamedramon fell to his back, his eyes wide open in terror, both glowing bright red, like DeathPhantomon’s.

“Flamedramon!” Zelda began running to the screaming Digimon, but I quickly grabbed her arm to keep her from being attacked by DeathPhantomon.

“Do not fear for his safety…all that is happening to him…is only confined to the boundaries of his own imagination,” DeathPhantomon said.

“Flamedramon! Flamedramon, I’m coming!” Zelda exclaimed.

“Into the Realm of Darkness!” A huge shadow formed beneath Flamedramon, swallowing him up as quickly as it had appeared.

“Flamedramon! Flamedramon…” The shadow disappeared completely when Zelda approached it. “What…what did you do to him?!”

DeathPhantomon snickered. “I sent him…to the realm of darkness,” he said. “Quite obvious from the name of my attack, is it not?”

“The what?! You mean the Dark Area?” Statuedramon asked.

“No, not that place…Verily, is Flamedramon forever locked in a nightmare, doomed to wander in the shadows for all eternity…what better punishment for the Digimon who killed me over five hundred years ago?!”

“But…that wasn’t the same Flamedramon who you fought,” Zelda said tearfully. “He…he’s one of the Marked…he has nothing to do with—”

“That matters not!” DeathPhantomon interrupted. “He was of the same species…and his punishment was better than what he truly deserved.”

“How…how could you?!”

“You may all run along now,” DeathPhantomon said.

“What?!”

“Nya ha ha…and earlier, I criticized Lupinemon for almost letting the lot of you go…” DeathPhantomon sighed. “I suppose I merely enjoy threatening others…and torturing. Torturing is fun, too.”

So…this is what DeathPhantomon is truly capable of…If I can just destroy that jewel around his neck…

“I am only giving you this one opportunity to escape, mind you. If you chose not to do so…then thou shalt join Flamedramon in the infinite nightmare for the rest of your days!”

DeathPhantomon…with all of his allies free, he’s too powerful…But…if we…if we wait until later…when a few of the others are gone, when he will be weaker… “Statuedramon…Zelda…let’s take his advice.”

“What?! Weren’t you the one hoping to run into one of these freaks?!” Statuedramon asked.

“No…not DeathPhantomon,” I said. “Not…yet.”

“Not yet? Hey, what do you mean?”

“Thou art a clever one,” DeathPhantomon said.

“…Come. Let’s go.” I turned from DeathPhantomon and began walking north toward Celosia Province.

“Well, if we aren’t actually going to fight him, then where are we going?” Statch asked.

“Let’s just go back home for now,” I whispered. “Maybe Apollomon and a few of the others will have returned by now…”