Chapter 99: Echoes from the Crypt

Thomas Kasuto

Saias’s Villa

 

The unknown Digimon stopped walking when Zelda and I stepped outside. Its pitch-black armor reflected the light of the sun, and he held a large, sheathed katana. It simply stood there as we approached it.

“Who are you?” I asked warily.

“You are the ones…fighting the Order of the Enchantress…correct?” The Digimon spoke slowly and unsteadily, but in a clear and firm voice.

“Who are you?” I repeated. The Digimon held out his sheathed blade. We both took a step back as he brandished his weapon.

“Foolish creatures who seek to change the course of destiny; I am a servant of the Order’s twelve! My name is Tactimon, and I am SkullCaliphmon’s only living knight from the days of old!” the Digimon thundered. Almost instinctively, I glanced up at the sky upon hearing SkullCaliphmon’s name.

It’s almost night…I wonder if the servant suffers the same weakness as the master? I put my hand to my sword, but Tactimon held up a hand to stop me.

“Your deaths will be much less agonizing if I am not required to use my sword.”

“Then don’t draw your sword,” I said. “Better yet, stay still so it will be easier for me to kill you!”

“Why have you come here?” Zelda asked. “Is SkullCaliphmon too afraid to show his face during the day?”

Tactimon glared down at her. “His Grace SkullCaliphmon’s powers are limited during the day,” he said. “It is only under the light of the moon where he becomes truly immortal.”

“And as soon as he steps out of that light, he can be killed as easily as you or me,” I said. Tactimon’s eyes narrowed with contempt.

“Be careful, Tommy,” Zelda whispered into my ear. “I can sense…a strange power emanating from his sword.”

A strange power…now I see…

“You will never find out, because right here…right now…you shall all perish!” Tactimon yelled. In an instant, I drew my own sword, and both weapons clashed. Sparks flew in the air at their contact. My face was mere inches away from Tactimon’s as Tactimon vowed, “I shall fight you all to my very last breath with every ounce of strength that I possess!”

“…Pathetic. So, this is all the strength you have?” I asked. Tactimon gasped quietly in surprise. His sword lowered. “I do not even need to use half of mine against you!” All in one motion, I batted his sealed sword away with my own and struck the side of his arm, forcing him back a few steps. Tactimon stared up at me, bewildered and with his free hand covering the bleeding wound on his sword arm.

“How?! I am a Digimon, and you are nothing more than a mere Human!” Tactimon shouted. “How are you this strong?!”

“You forget who you’re dealing with — or maybe you never knew,” I said. “I am an assassin. I live in the shadows, and I have successfully murdered every last target given to me…even Mega level Digimon. And you, Tactimon—” I pointed to the Digimon’s sword. “—your true strength lies in your strategical abilities, and not your physical strength. It’s your sword…your sword is your power, isn’t it?” Tactimon remained silent. “Your sword…it has some special abilities, doesn’t it? That’s why you keep it chained in your scabbard, right?”

“…You found out so quickly,” Tactimon said. “You’re quite an observant one; I can see how you would make a good assassin. But how did you know about my sword? You are only a Human!”

“You can thank my girlfriend; she has the ability to sense things that only a Digimon could sense, and not a Human.” Tactimon’s head turned to Zelda.

“Then…you carry the Mark?”

 Zelda’s face went blank with shock. “…You know about us?” Her voice trembled.

“I can sympathize with you, young lady,” Tactimon said. “The way you must have been treated…ALL those carrying the Mark are treated as such, and yet, you seem to be an exception.”

“Tactimon…do you—”  

“What a cruel twist of fate,” Tactimon interrupted. “To be mistreated horribly for something that cannot be helped. That sort of thing should not happen to you…” Tactimon lowered his head. “…Rather…what I should say…that sort of thing should not happen to us…”

“…You do have it,” Zelda whispered. Tactimon showed us his injured arm, where my sword had hit him. In the middle of the blood I had drawn was the Mark.

“…I almost laughed out when you hit me, in the exact same place as this accursed Mark,” Tactimon said. “I had hoped…that you would have removed it completely with your attack…”

“That would not have worked,” Zelda said. “My mother…when I was young…she cut the skin off the back of my hand — she did the same to my sister’s back, where her Mark was — in the hopes that it would disappear completely. But…no matter how many times she did it, the Mark would always return…She eventually drove herself mad from desperation, and I was always frightened that she would cut off my hand…Tactimon…there is no way to get rid of the Mark.”

“I see…that is most unfortunate,” Tactimon sighed. He looked up at us; his pure yellow eyes almost seemed to be filled with sadness. “I…I cannot continue this fight…I cannot fight a fellow Marked…I cannot fight against one who treats us fairly…” Tactimon knelt down before us and placed his sword down on the lawn. “I surrender to the both of you. Do with me what you will. You may…even dispose of me if you wish, assassin.” I looked down at him, feeling nothing.

“Why did you come here in the first place?” Zelda asked.

“…SkullCaliphmon…His Grace…wanted you dealt with…I volunteered for the job, but…I didn’t know you were also Marked,” Tactimon said. “I…I didn’t know…” Tactimon began to weep quietly into his hands.

“Tactimon. Why did you come here?” Zelda repeated gently.

“SkullCaliphmon…he told me…to kill you all…”

“Is your word to your master so irresolute that you will give up as easily as this?” I asked. Tactimon stared up at me in surprise. “I…am not a soldier. I cannot stand the knights of Valencia Territory and what they do. But I do fight as part of a guild, and I do have a master, just as you do, Tactimon. When he gives an order, I follow it — and not just me; everyone else in my guild does, too. We do so not because he is simply the one in charge; we do it because he is worthy of being in charge. That is something he has proved time and again. Is your bond with SkullCaliphmon really that weak?!”

“…Say whatever you want. I…will not do something as unjust as inflict suffering on one who has been through Hell.”

“Tactimon…you FOOL!” The sky darkened with thick clouds. Directly above us, the clouds swirled and formed a thin but powerful tornado that hit the ground between us and Tactimon. When it was over, SkullCaliphmon stood in its wake. “How dare you chose not to obey an order of mine?!”

Tactimon cowered before his master. “Your Grace…please, forgive me…”

“And now, you’re begging for forgiveness after giving up on life?! You’re a disgrace to my other knights hundreds of years ago, Tactimon!” SkullCaliphmon barked. The tall Mega Digimon held his sword up in the air, and spun it around in a circle. “Echoes from the Crypt!” The wind began to pick up around the four of us, gradually growing stronger and louder until a tornado formed around us. The wind blocked everything around us from sight, and for a moment, it felt as though I had been lifted up off the ground. Zelda kept a tight grip on my arm the entire time. I blinked. The winds were gone. We no longer stood in the front lawn of the villa; instead, we stood in the worst possible place.

“This is…SkullCaliphmon’s castle?!” Zelda asked. I looked up. The sky had darkened with nightfall. The moon was in plain sight.

How…did this happen? What was that?!

“Pretty neat, huh?” SkullCaliphmon asked. Behind him was a large, ornate throne. “With just one attack, I brought all of us to my castle, hundreds of miles away from where we were, in only a few hours!” SkullCaliphmon’s head turned to look at Tactimon. “Tactimon, let me make one thing very clear to you; I order you to fight them! This is no longer a request!”

“…No. I…refuse to fight these two,” Tactimon said firmly, standing to face SkullCaliphmon. “Do whatever you want to me, but I will not hurt—” SkullCaliphmon picked up his sword and shoved it deep into Tactimon’s face until it emerged through the back of his head. 

“Sheesh, it’s just talk, talk, talk with you, isn’t it?” SkullCaliphmon wiped the blood off his weapon as Tactimon’s data vanished. “Hah, preposterous. What could have driven him to choose his own demise?” SkullCaliphmon turned to look at Zelda and me. “Now…our fight begins.”