You were back in your dreamscape, trying to get some much needed rest. The dagger wasn't helping. He was too busy swooping around like a paper plane caught in a hurricane. Finally, the crystal stepped in. She blasted a beam of light at the gem on the cross hilt of the dagger. The dagger crash landed on the ground, groaning in agony. At least he wasn't like an irritating mosquito anymore. You relaxed and let your mind rest.
~*~
"Is she awake yet?" A voice enquired. You can't make out who it was; or rather you couldn't recognize the voice for a second. Then, memory came trickling back. It was Tommy's voice. There was a chorus of murmurs. You wondered what was being said. Everything seemed somehow hazy. It was weird. Then, you felt a weight pressing down on your stomach. Your eyes won't work properly but in your mind's eye, you saw a pinkish glow.
*What's that?* you wondered. You had never seen anything that weird looking before.
*Oi~ Stop messing with her head!* a female voice said sternly. This voice was clear.
*Who me?* a male voice replied, sounding very innocent.
*Yes, you. Who else?! Stop playing around with her memories. You're confusing her even more!* the female voice scolded.
*Oh, fine.* the male voice grumbled. There was a click. Memories came back. The voices became clear. Everything just sort of fell into place.
*What the hell happened?* you groaned in your mind.
*See! I told you that you were confusing her!* the crystal said, somewhat triumphantly.
*Am not!*
*Yes, you are! Now apologize!*
*Why should I?*
*You messed with her mind without her permission. It is called intrusion! It is a crime, if you are dumb enough not to know!*
*OH FINE!* the dagger snapped before saying in a barely audible voice, *Sorry Komi.*
You merely nodded your acknowledgement. Something had caught your eye. The pinkish glow you had seen earlier was still there. *What's that?*
*What's what?* the dagger asked.
*That pink thing.*
*Oh...that. It's the Digi-egg of Love,* the dagger replied.
*Digi-egg...of...Love?*
*Well, yeah.*
*I thought all Digi-eggs are the same. They contain Digimon, right?*
*Not this one. It allows other Digimon to digivolve to become Armor Digimon,* the dagger replied, trying hard not to flare from your obvious ignorance.
*Armor Digimon? What are those?*
*They are Digimon who digivolve using the Digi-eggs of Courage, Love, Reliability, Hope, Light, Friendship, Kindness, Knowledge, Sincerity. They are different from ordinary digivolving. Swanmon is an armor Digimon,* the crystal explained, after sensing that the dagger is somewhat at the end of his tether.
*Swanmon? But she isn't covered in armor!*
*Armor. Digimon. Doesn't. Mean. That. They. Have. To. Be. ARMORED!!* The dagger growled in exasperation.
*Oh...so what am I supposed to do with this?* you asked. You figured that since the egg won't hatch into a Digimon, it will be pretty pointless to carry it around.
*When the first Digi-egg hatches, evolve the baby Digimon to its champion level. Then, use the egg to Digivolve it to a Swanmon,* the crystal replied.
*Any Digimon?* you asked, wanting to be sure that you won't accidentally get a mutated Digimon.
*The first one is a Nyaromon. The old Swanmon had left this place first. So, she will be the first to hatch. I'm sure that she will want to resume her duties as soon as possible,* the crystal enlightened.
*Oh, ok.*
*Alright. Now that this is settled, can you wake up and get a move on? Hanging around in here all the time isn't healthy,* the dagger said, after getting his temper in check.
~*~
Your eyelids snapped open. Immediately after that, it closed again as light pierced into your eyes. *Yow!* you yelped as you carefully peeled your eyelids open again. This time, you were prepared for the intense sunlight.
"It's about time," a voice nearby said.
"Wha--?"
"You fell asleep, remember?" the voice reminded you.
"Uh-huh..." you murmured, still getting used to the sunlight.
"You better! We can't have you tagging along if you always suddenly fall asleep!" the voice warned.
"Takuya! Shut up already! It wasn't as if she wanted to come here in the first place!" a girl's voice retorted. That had to be Zoe, the only other female in the group. You blinked. There they were, the entire group, lounging under the tree. Tommy was still fascinated with the Digi-eggs. JP was snoozing between the giant roots of the tree. Koji and Koichi were leaning against the tree truck, conversing in soft voices. Zoe sat beside you, glaring at Takuya.
"What? It's true. Did you count the times she had 'fallen asleep' during the entire rescue operation?" Takuya argued.
"She can't help it!" Zoe snapped, glaring daggers at him. You sat up, rubbing your eyes.
*Great. The first thing I get when I'm awake is them squabbling like old couples,* you thought as you got yourself fully awake. Something dropped onto your lap. It was the Digi-egg of Love.
Now without the glow, the Digi-egg had wings. You picked it up and examined it. It was slightly heavy and shiny, like a piece of metal. *Cool.* you thought as you stood up. All eyes [except JP's] were on you. You stared back with questioning eyes. "What?" you asked but got no answer. The others just tilted their heads to the ground and avoided all eye contact. You scanned your surroundings.
Apparently, none of the eggs had hatched yet. *Which egg will hatch first?* you wondered.
*Try the Digi-egg of Love,* the dagger suggested.
*What? How am I supposed to do that? This thing is just dead,* you replied, staring at the Digi-egg of Love.
*Use the Light. Remember the bedtime story which we had told you when we first came to the bare Land of Beginnings?* the dagger reminded you.
*The Light creates things while the Darkness destroys them,* you recited.
*That's right. Now use that on the egg,* the dagger directed. You closed your eyes and concentrated. You dipped into your wellspring of Light and channeled the energy to the Digi-egg of Love. The egg began to glow in a pink light. At the same time, a Digi-egg on a bush nearby glowed in response. You opened your eyes and looked around for that response. While you were scanning the bushes for the Digi-egg, you couldn't help but see the gang staring at you. Your eyes locked onto the glowing Digi-egg on the bush. You shuffled towards the bush and stared at the Digi-egg.
*Hmmm...That egg is going to hatch right about...Now,* the dagger remarked. Sure enough, cracks began to form on the egg. You watched as the egg glowed white and shrank into a Nyaromon. The baby Digimon looked up at you, wobbling slightly at the tip of the branch.
"Kawaii!" Zoe gasped from somewhere behind you.
"It hatched!" Tommy stated in a matter-of-factly tone.
*Use the Light to make it digivolve,* the crystal whispered. You held out your hand, palm up. The baby Digimon jumped into your outstretched hand, giggling as the branch bent with the weight and snapped back to its initial position. You nearly dropped the baby Digimon, for you weren't expecting the weight. Zoe's hand caught your hand and the baby Digimon and between the two of you, lowered the chuckling baby Digimon to the ground. You smiled at the Digimon and placed a hand on its head.
"Are you baptizing that little thing?" Takuya asked, staring at you curiously. You ignored him and reached into your wellspring of Light and allowed the Light to flow into the baby Digimon. Nyaromon glowed a bright white as it evolved into Salamon and then to Gatomon. You blinked once.
"Can I have the Digi-egg of Love, please? I have to resume my duties," Gatomon said, pointing a paw at the Digi-egg of Love that was resting on your lap. You handed it over. You channeled more Light to Gatomon. Gatomon gave a sigh as she glowed white again and took the form of a swan. You lifted your hand off Swanmon's head and sighed. "Thank you for returning me to my rightful place and thank you all for helping to save this world. We can rebuild the place again once the menace is gone," Swanmon said, turning to the others and looking at them through grateful eyes.
"May I ask something?" Koji asked. He was standing near the back of the group when they had crowded around to witness Swanmon hatch and evolve. Even JP managed to wake up in time to catch this once in a lifetime 'show'.
"Yes?" Swanmon enquired.
"How did you get deleted?" Koji asked, with agreeing murmurs from Koichi.
"I got destroyed with the rest of the eggs when Lucemon came," Swanmon explained.
"Lucemon? I thought we took care of him before," Takuya exclaimed. The rest gave murmured agreements.
"Yes, you did. But this time, this Lucemon felt different. Sure, it was powerful but he doesn't give that speech about taking over the worlds or anything. He just destroys everything without a word," Swanmon replied. You became serious.
"Virus," you said simply. The others looked at you. From their expression, they had finally come to accept what you had told them earlier.
So what are we going to do? Tommy finally asked, his voice breaking the silence.
