With a tired expression, Kei swung around her chair. "All right, I made sure they will have a good night's sleep before jumping back into action," she told Eiko. "They need all the energy. Attacking Lucemon's tower isn't the same as taking a walk in the park. This dungeon will be the hardest as yet... the RPG Maker automatically put the minimum difficulty on a level I've never worked with up to now."
"That doesn't sound very encouraging..." Eiko murmured. "Are you sure you can't remove a few obstacles or enemies? I don't want to send Yui on a suicide mission... she can be annoying, but she's still my sister."
"The game doesn't even let me see everything on the map of the tower..." Kei grumbled. "It's gotta be one of those 'pre-made' scenarios. But maybe we can see more of the map when the others begin to explore the tower..."
"That's stupid!" Eiko proclaimed.
"I know, I know... In strategy games, this is sometimes called a 'fog of war'."
"A what?" Eiko mumbled.
"A fog of... waaaaaar!" Kei moaned as a big yawn forced her to open her mouth widely. "S'cuse me... dang, how late is it?"
"Almost eleven," HolyCalumon said. Unlike the two Hybrid girls, she didn't show any sign of fatigue. "You two look tired out... why don't you go to bed? I'm sure our replacement heroes won't begin their mission until their Game Masters are back in position. Heroes aren't the only ones who need rest."
"I guess you're right..." Eiko murmured while rubbing her eyes. "Just take a look at the kids..."
And indeed, Mizuki and Wormmon were already leaning against other, snoring in their soft little voices. Next to them, Tanemon's leaves were drooping over the In-Training plant Digimon's eyes while a little snot bubble was visible in the corner of her mouth.
"It's past their bedtime," Kei realized. "We should have brought them to bed a couple of hours ago."
"Don't blame yourselves, I think it's commendable that you focussed on your duty like this," Holy said.
"Say, aren't you getting sleepy?" Eiko asked. "You don't look tired at all."
Holy smiled. "That is because I don't actually have a physical body. Digimon are half-digital and half-physical entities. But while I look like a Calumon, I am actually something completely else. Bio managed to get a physical manifestation, but I'm not even sure if he would have needed any sleep..."
"Well, I certainly need it," Kei groaned as she stretched her arms. "All right, Eiko, you bring the young ones to bed while I make sure that the rebel base won't be attacked during the night."
Eiko, too tired to protest, just nodded. The vampire girl stood up and carefully picked her toddler mom up from the ground.
'Good thing Rookies, In-Trainings and human children aren't that heavy... and that Ultimates are so much stronger than adult humans!'
Kei made the last necessary changes before changing everything.
"Leave the computer on for the night," Holy told her. "I will keep watch. And if anything happens, I can call you."
"Thanks, Holy!" Kei smiled tiredly. "I honestly don't know if I could do all of this without your and Eiko's help..."
The pink Calumon-lookalike smiled back. "Come on, I'm just doing what needs to be done... besides, I'm feeling a bit guilty that all of this happened. Bio and I were once one entity, remember?"
"You are not like Bio at all!" Kei protested. "I could never see you doing any of the things he did."
"Every living being has a light and a dark side, Kei," Holy sighed. "But let's discuss this some other time... you barely can keep your eyes open as we talk."
"Yeah, you're right..." Kei mumbled. "Okay, I'll be in my... I mean, in my Mom's room."
Right now, Eiko was tucking Wormmon in, so Tanemon was the only child left in the room. Kei knelt down next to her and gently petted her head. Tanemon sighed blissfully in her sleep.
"Good night, Mom..." Kei muttered. "Even though you weren't my real Mom to begin with... I will still remember you as my second mother, no matter what happens after all of this is over."
She picked Tanemon up and carried her out of the room.
HolyCalumon began to think about what Kei had said. 'After all of this is over... even I can't tell for sure what will happen when this 'game' is finished. Back when Bio and I were one, we created this RPG Maker to wreak havoc, just for fun. It was never supposed to end. But... now that I'm helping Kei and her friends to reach that end... what will happen?'
In the middle of the night, the house was dark. The PC screen was the only bright thing in the whole apartment. To avoid boredom, Holy had some fun with the computer's screensavers. She giggled as she watched how one screensaver turned all of the image on the monitor (except for herself) into tiny little pixels that were floating all around her. Another one was creating funny, colorful images that were spinning around in circles.
Suddenly, she noticed something weird. She thought that she and the spinning colors were the only things visible on the screen, but now she was seeing something else. For a moment, it was like looking into a mirror... but then she noticed that the figure standing opposite of her, on the left side of the screen, had no tiara on its head. Also, it was white instead of pink.
Then she recognized him, even though this was the first time they met. "Calumon?" she gasped.
"Hi, calu!" the personification power of digivolution said with a smile, tilting his head. "Wow, you really look like me!"
"That... wasn't my choice," Holy said. She was puzzled. What was Calumon doing here? And why was he inside the computer, instead of outside? Even though Holy controlled a huge part of RPG Reality's power, she could have never anticipated that Calumon would appear right here, right now.
They weren't standing on any solid ground, but Calumon still waddled over to her, while the spinning colors of the screensaver surrounded them. "I always wanted a sister..." Calmon sighed. "Azulongmon told me that there would never be anyone like me... I believed him, until I found out that Zhuqiaomon created BioCalumon. Yes, yes... your brother just used that digital body to escape from the computer. That's why he created a backstory for BioCalumon. And don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want Bio for a brother... but you are different. You are very nice. You helped Kei and Eiko."
Holy blushed a dark pink. Never before had anyone given her any compliments. True, Kei had thanked her for her help... but this was different. Calumon made her feel... well, like she was part of a family.
"But we aren't siblings, Calumon," she said in a quiet voice. "I'm not even a Digimon..."
"But Bio got his own body," Calumon protested. "Can't you try to do the same?"
"I don't think this can be done a second time," Holy sighed. "And Bio's body is already occupied by Henry."
Calumon looked puzzled. "Don't you want to get out of here?"
That question took Holy off-guard. She had never thought of any existence outside of the computer. It was unlikely that she could do the same as Bio. "I... I admit I've never thought about it," she said. "But... but now that I do... I must say that the idea is... nice."
She smiled when she imagined floating freely through the air with her huge ears just like Calumon, laughing while she played with Eiko and Suzie, who were children again in her imagination.
But then another child entered her daydream and shattered the whole image. It was Ai.
"I don't deserve my own body..." she murmured. "I was one half of the Gremlin... only because of me did all of this happen. Kei would still be male and human... Takato, Rika and the others would be free... and Ai..." She sobbed when she realized what she had turned an innocent, little girl into.
"But you aren't all that anymore. Ever since you became a living being on your own, you became something else."
It took Holy a moment to realize that it wasn't Calumon who had spoken. "Who... who was that?" she muttered.
Calumon smiled. "That's my new friend! He brought me here. I met him after I brought Leomon into the Digital World. And he asked me to talk to you... Hey, come on out! I'm sure she'd love to meet you!"
And meekly, a small shape came out from behind Calumon's back. It was a small, glowing creature that was even smaller than Calu and Holy. And it had a nervous expression on its face.
"I... I shouldn't have come with you," the being said. Even though it was smaller than Calumon, its voice didn't sound squeaky at all. In fact, it sounded very much like the voice of a young man.
"You're... a Digi-Gnome!" Holy realized in surprise. She knew Digi-Gnomes had powers that most Digimon could only dream of. And it wasn't unheard that they created portals between the Digital World and the Internet of the human world. "But... I've never heard of talking Digi-Gnomes."
"I... wasn't always a Digi-Gnome," the little creature admitted. "I took this form as a disguise... to hide myself... and to hide my shame..."
"Your shame? Why? Who are you? And why do you want to talk to me?"
"I... just had to meet you," the Digi-Gnome replied. "After I found out that you became a separate entity from your brother... and after I heard how you helped these children... I just wanted to meet you in person. And look into your eyes..."
This was beginning to give Holy the creeps. Who was this little guy?
Calumon smiled. "C'mon, say it! You've come all the way... don't you want to tell her the truth?"
'WHAT TRUTH?' thought Holy.
The little gnome took a deep breath. "HolyCalumon... I am... your father!"
Holy was stunned. She didn't believe her ears. Even for an RPG story, this was way to surreal. "What?" she whispered.
"I am your father," the Digi-Gnome repeated itself. "In a certain way, that is... I created you, as well as Bio. I am - or was - the wizard who summoned the Gremlin into the human world... and sealed it into a data disc."
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(Posted Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:12)
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