Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Dark Diaries ❯ Phelesmon the thief! ( Chapter 20 )

At times, the world seemed to be something large and out of reach to Jack Wolf, while at other times so small and in the palm of his hand. As an agent of the government, and even during his college days, Jack had seen many things he never thought he would before, even things he never knew existed.

This was why days where nothing was happening were among Jack's favorite. Lying on a patio chair behind the orphanage, the agent was enjoying the piece and quiet for once. Beverly had taken the children out for ice cream in town, leaving him to his own devices for awhile, and while he loved the children dearly, he wasn't complaining one bit.

"This is the life… A house and woman to come home to, children to play with and help, it doesn't get much better then this… Wonder if I can request retiring here?" Jack mused to himself, adjusting his sunglasses as he lay only in a pair of swimming trunks. "I bet Bev would have a heart attack if she heard me say that…"

Laughing to himself, Jack blinked as a loud crash from inside the house caught his attention. Reaching for the small gun tucked away in the folded clothing next to him, the agent stood and walked into the kitchen, trying to figure out just where the noise had originated.

'Hope it's not another one of the mob idiots… The blood from the last one took forever to clean.' He thought to himself as he slipped into the dining room. There were still no signs of anything wrong, although someone breaking and entering in the middle of the day was suspicious enough for him.

Starting to walk down the hallway, Jack finally heard something new, being able to hear someone talking. Unfortunately it was too low for him to make anything out besides the low buzz of the voice, but the small banging around made it easier to track as it led him to Beverly's study.

Kicking the door open, Jack turned into the small office with his gun in front of him. He blinked for a moment, the sight of Witchmon trying to help a teenager with brown hair off the floor was more then a little surprising. The fact that the arm not around Witchmon's shoulders looked like it was covered in bruises, as well as more injuries covering the boy's body, made it even weirder.

'Something new every day… I own Zan a beer…' Jack thought to himself as he moved to help the digimon.

***************

Dark Diaries

Entry 20 "Phelesmon the thief!"

Written by Rocker Starlight

Permission from Lord Archive

***************

Jill ran through the house frantically, trying to grab as many things as she could carry in her arms. After returning home to find Erin and Witchmon both back, the sight of her older brother had nearly given Ms. Klink and herself a heart attack! While her caretaker and Jack tried to get Erin comfortable, Jill had grabbed all the bandages and other items for injuries she could find, finally getting back to Witchmon's room with them.

Lying on the bed so his left side was away from the wall, Jill noticed Erin still hadn't moved. With his head and left arm out from under the sheet, he barely seemed like he was breathing either. Setting the items on the table next to him, she stood over the bed, unable to see how he could sleep so peacefully when his body looked like it was hurt so badly.

"He's a tough one." Witchmon said, surprising Jill as she stepped up behind her. She wrapped her gloved arms around the young girl's shoulders, looking down at the teen in her bed. "I'm still surprised after Miragemon was able to heal him up again, he came out this well. Most who go head to head with Lord Mystimon aren't so lucky."

"How can you call this lucky…?" Jill asked softly, hugging the arms around her. "He looked like someone tried to run him over or something…"

"Not a bad assessment of what happened…"

Jill shot a soft glare back at the flippant response, sighing and holding the arms to her tighter as she looked back to Erin.

"Ms. Jill? Ms. Witchmon?"

Witchmon's arms slipped from Jill as they turned around, finding the three younger children of the orphanage standing in the open doorway. Pushing the slight annoyance at herself for forgetting to shut the door, Jill smiled softly, keeping herself between the bed and the children. "Yes Mary? Can I help you?"

Mary shuffled her feet a little, standing in front of Angela and Darien. "Well, um… We wanted to know…"

"What happened to Erin!" Darien blurted out over Mary's shoulder, his impatience obviously making him jump over the shy girl verbally.

Jill forced herself to continue smiling as she watched the three, seeing the concerned and worried looks on their faces. "Erin needs to rest. If you want to know anything, you should go ask Ms. Klink. Now off with you, Ms. Klink said no one is to disturb him."

Jill stepped past Witchmon as the Adult moved to the side, starting to try and motion the children out of the room. As she almost had them out, Darien burst past her, running up to Erin's side and staring at the injured teen.

"Darien, come on." Jill said firmly, although leaving an opening in her attention for Mary and Angela to rush past and alongside the young boy. "Hey, Ms. Klink said we need to leave him alone, come on! Everyone out!"

"What's wrong with him?" Angela asked, her small fingers brushing the sheet next to the bruised arm, being careful not to touch it at all.

"Erin got hurt while he was gone, now…"

"Who did it?!" Darien nearly yelled, clutching the sheet tightly in his hands as he stared at the older boy.

Jill winced slightly, kneeling down behind the trio. "Darien, you need…"

"Who hurt Erin, Jill?! Why would someone do that?!" Darien interrupted her again, turning around to face the blonde.

"An old friend of mine…"

Jill blinked, turning her gaze to Witchmon as she spoke, as well as the three children.

Witchmon leaned against the wall behind her, crossing her arms under her chest. "Well, maybe not a friend now… In my old home, some people told lies about me, and made a lot of my old friends think badly of me. Unfortunately, this reflected on Erin and one of my friends beat him up."

Darien ran up the to Adult, looking up at her with angry and tear filled eyes. "Didn't anyone stop him? Your friends let him get away with that?"

"My friends… Well most won't get in his way with he's angry, and the rest don't care enough to say anything." Witchmon said softly.

"But that's not fair! Bullies shouldn't get away with that! Someone should make him have a timeout, or something!"

"Darien that's enough!" Jill said sternly, finally taking the boy's from the digimon. "I know your upset. We all are. But we will discuss this somewhere else. Erin needs to rest to get better, and yelling and running around him won't let him rest."

Placing her hands on her hips, Jill ran her gave over all three children, watching the girl's look away in embarrassment, while Darien just stayed quiet. "Now, I want you three out. Go to one of your rooms and stay there for now. Witchmon and I will see to bandaging Erin so he can get better, then we'll get Ms. Klink and talk all about this."

Jill watched the trio exit, blinking as Darien quickly stuck his head back in for a moment. Before the girl could say anything, the young boy quickly dashed off, the angered look still on his face.

"You do that well," Witchmon said softly as Jill finally let an exasperated sigh come out. "I think Ms. Klink would be proud of how well you imitate her"

Jill blinked at the comment, giving a small giggle as she realized she had been reacting the same way her caretaker would have. "Well, we wouldn't be able to bandage him, if they don't leave us be… Besides, maybe Ms. Klink can say something better to comfort them…"

Witchmon gave the girl a comforting smile, slipping closer and kissing her forehead. "Leave it to me… I think you need some rest yourself…" The digimon stroked her hands along the young girl's arms, nuzzling her forehead a little.

Giving a small sniffle, Jill wiped at her eyes slightly as she slowly pulled away. "N…no, that's ok. Erin needs to be bandaged, and I'll make sure it gets done too." Turning away from her friend, Jill quickly grabbed a bundle of the bandages in her hands, quickly setting to her task as she focused on it.

As Jill finished the first roll, about half way up Erin's arm, Witchmon held out a couple more, smiling softly down at her. "Well then, you'll need more then that one bandage."

Jill smiled softly, nodding in agreement as she took another bandage and continued wrapping.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"So then, he's a run away?" Alice asked.

Witchmon groaned slightly, having heard the girl ask that question for the third time. Instead of just the young children, Ms. Klink had decided it was best to have everyone involved in the conversation. Unfortunately, with the older woman trying to avoid voicing everything in front of Jack and Alice, despite how much the agent seemed to know already, it left the whole thing one big guessing game on what to say.

"It's more like, he's a special case…" Ms. Klink said, giving a glance towards her old flame as she spoke. "He had to leave for a time, and now he's back."

Jack shook his head with a sigh as he leaned back in his chairs, giving an annoyed look from the woman. "You said that already, but you're a horrible liar, Beverly. Why not just explain it to her simply? It's not like she doesn't know about digimon, since Witchmon and Piyomon have been here since she has."

Witchmon watched Beverly's glare deepen, while Alice's cheeks flushed slightly. Smirking slightly, the Adult stroked Neko's back softly, watching it all with a slight bit of fascination, although it all seemed like everyone was trying to overly complicate things to her.

'Erin took off assuming the human government wanted him, thus why Klink doesn't want Jack knowing anything.' Witchmon thought to herself, watching the conversation continue running in slow circles. 'Since Alice is child of the guy who kidnapped Jill, she wants her left out too.' It all seemed rather complicated, although over all, most things humans did seemed overly complicated to her.

"Anyone want something to drink?" The witch digimon asked, watching as the majority of the room ignored her completely in its continuous loop of arguments. Giving a sigh, she saw Jill was watching her as she moved to leave, tilting her head slightly. *What, you want something to drink?* She asked telepathically, more then content to ignore the rest right back.

Jill gave a quiet giggle as she heard the question, shaking her head no. *Would you check on Erin for me? I doubt I could get away as easily right now…* The young girl glanced at her caretaker sitting only a little away from her on the couch, once again trying to point out that Jack should keep quiet.

Witchmon nodded and quickly walked from the room, giving a sigh of relief as she heard the talking fading behind her. Getting a glass of water, the digimon was still a little confused about how the arguments had started. Originally, it had been to try and explain what was going on to the younger children, but before Witchmon could blink, the orphan's caretaker had started into some weird loop over covering up, trying not to say with Jack, Alice, or even Bobby around.

"Bobby's should be the last of her worries. He probably has the best idea of what's going on, out of everyone besides Erin and myself." Witchmon said to herself, setting the now empty glass down on the counter. "I mean, at least he's not pestering her about it…"

Hearing a sudden yell of anger from the older woman all the way in the living room, Witchmon jumped and peeked into the hallway. Not seeing anyone exiting the room, she at least assumed no one was injured. At least no one besides Jack anyway.

Walking down the hall, Witchmon found herself humming one of the human songs that Jill was always listening to. She couldn't recall the name of it, but it was by someone named Christy Angelo or something to that extent. She could remember it wasn't so bad, at least for human music. It was a lot better then listening to a Gekomon play, at the least.

Opening the door to the room Erin had been resting in, Witchmon's hum turned into an off-note whistle as she blinked in surprise. The bed was empty, bandages thrown all over in a mess, and the clothing Erin had been wearing before was gone. If not for the bandages and her own memory of leaving him here, it was almost as if Erin hadn't been in the room at all.

'But where could he… Wait, he wouldn't!' Ending the thought abruptly, Witchmon bolted back down the stairs, running away from the living room as she ran to the office where the computer normally was, bursting in quickly.

As the Adult had feared, the Digital Gate was active on the computer screen, having already closed. Muttering a few curses, she sat down and checked the computer programs, finding the message board and e-mail service for the partner humans shrunk on the screen.

Witchmon was more then a little surprised to find a couple posts asking why a few gates had been opened from the computer, quickly explaining the return from the Digital World and Erin's reentry in as few words as possible as she tried to decide what to do. Going after the boy seemed the logical choice, but Jill would probably let nature call in her panties if she found out Erin and she both were missing.

As her muddled thoughts tried to think of a plan of action, the appearance of a small box on the screen distracted her for a moment. Reading the message from the person, Witchmon's mouth smirked softly, typing a quick reply and adding the gate that Erin had apparently opened.

"Well, she should certainly get him back here. Least now all I have to do is worry about explaining how he ran off again…" Witchmon sighed as she slumped in the chair, realizing she probably had a more difficult task then the girl going after Erin did.

*~*~*~*~*~*

The blades of grass blew softly in the wind, giving the plains a wavelike appearance. With the clear skies, the ground seemed to just go on forever, a large lake far in the distance the only thing that seemed to be the only thing that broke the sea of green stretching out across the sparsely wooded lands.

'I lost…' Erin thought, forcing his legs to keep moving. Despite the aches and pains, his body was still feeling, most of the major problems seemed to have already healed up, leaving himself with a bruised and weak left arm, as well as a sluggishly moving body.

No matter how often he ran the fight over in his head, he couldn't seem to figure it out. He had finally begun to get the upper hand, his renewed strength from Miragemon's healing letting him nearly fight on par with Mystimon. It had seemed in his reach.

'Then he smacked me down like a bug.' Erin thought with disgust, turning and walking towards the sparse tree line and sitting against one of the trees. 'With that kind of power, he could have beaten me at any time. I wasn't even a challenge in the end… Just something to amuse Mystimon for a short time, until he got tired of playing…'

"Maybe I'm not cut out for this… No matter what I try, it just turns sour…" Erin muttered to himself, closing his eyes as he leaned his head back. Feeling the breeze on his cheek, he tried to not think about his problems, focusing on the peacefulness of the area he had gated to.

In all honesty, the teen couldn't seem to think why he had picked this specific gate. When he woke up to find himself in a bed of the orphanage, he hadn't wasted any time unbandaging himself and sneaking to the computer. But the minute he had the gate open, it was almost some soft urge in the back of his mind that seem to start up, nudging him until he picked the gate he had entered. It wasn't as if he knew where he was, after all.

"Maybe that's better…" Erin said softly, opening his eyes a little as he looked up at the clouds in the sky. "Maybe if I'm lost, I won't be able to trouble anyone…"

"You stop that talk right this second, Erin Storm!"

Erin blinked at the voice, easily recognizing it but no less startled. Turning his head, he was surprised to see how close his company had gotten without him noticing. The largest of the trio was a centaur digimon that was acting as the ride for the pair of girls. Small circular plates on random places of his body, with a helmet sitting on it's head, showing a T-shaped slit that seemed to give the single eye it had enough room to move around freely.

"Hello to you too, Mimi."

Sliding off the digimon's back, Mimi's face was quite different from the last time she had seen the teen, giving him quite the stern look. Although with a snug flag colored shirt, a large star on her chest, and a pair of jean shorts, it was hard to completely take the brunette as a threat.

Placing her hands on her hips, Mimi walked right up to Erin, standing at his feet and looking down at him. "Don't you hello me! Now why aren't you at the orphanage healing? Witchmon said Jill's in a fit right now from your disappearance!"

Grunting softly, Erin glanced back to the centaur digimon, noticing the second rider better. Wearing a simply black T-shirt and jeans of her own, the other girl was definitely more American looking then Mimi, although with the tanned skin and shoulder length black hair, he wasn't quite sure if he could say for certain. As he stood, he could make out a small white cross hanging from her neck, showing the girl was at least some form of Christian, by Erin's guess.

Just as he righted himself, still leaning against the tree, Erin was surprised as a hand cupped under his chin and turned his face back towards Mimi, the girl's brown eyes looking directly into his own red ones.

"Don't ignore me by gawking at Maria, Erin. Now why did you leave?"

"Because it's better this way…" Erin shook the hand from his face, watching Mimi fold her arms as he rubs his left arm absently. "If I'm there, someone will attack. And with how useless I am, it'd only leave everyone in danger."

Mimi blinked, staring at the boy as he spoke. "Useless? Since when are you useless?" She asked, her tone showing her strong disbelief.

"Mystimon whipped me around like a child…" Erin said a little gruffly, pushing himself off the tree, stepped so his should was even with Mimi's. "How am I supposed to protect anyone, if I got beat so soundly?"

Mimi's eyes watched the boy, giving him an exasperated look for a moment. "THAT'S all this is about? You lost a fight, and now you're ready to just quit?"

Erin wrinkled his nose, turning and starting to walk again.

"I thought you were made of better stuff, Erin Storm. Leaving your family and friends alone, when they need you the most." Mimi called out, her tone relaying her disappointment.

Stopping, Erin glanced back over his shoulder, giving the girl a look as she spoke. "What are you talking about? Their better off without me…"

Mimi frowned, not moving as she continued. "I'm talking about this sudden urge to run. You know even without you there, digimon will still appear trying to go after Witchmon. Like that FlaWizarmon she told me about. So what happens?"

"Bobby will help protect him." Erin turned slightly back to the trio, his own frown having returned to his face. "And Witchmon can still fight."

"Bobby will be going back to Oklahoma soon, you know. Besides that blackout you had, there hasn't been any activity, so he won't be staying forever. And what if the digimon that comes is a Perfection, and only Witchmon is left to fight it?"

Erin frowned further as he listened, looking down at his feet as he stood with his unhurt side to them. He hadn't thought about when Bobby would be leaving, but he knew she was right about Witchmon not being able to handle a Perfection on her own.

"You know…" The teen turned his head slightly, hearing Maria speak up as the digimon walked up alongside Mimi. "I always heard if you lose at something, the best thing to do is learn from it and try to do better afterward."

The digimon turned his head back, speaking up with an almost gentle voice for such a large creature. "That is true, Maria. Learn from your mistakes and loses, so you may become a better person from them."

"See Erin?" Mimi smiled softly as she watched him. "Maria and Kentarumon are right. You shouldn't let something like this make you decide you can't do it anymore. After all, you were picked for a reason, meaning only you can do whatever fate has in store."

Erin spent a full minute in silence thinking over the words as he stood there. "Alright… I'll go back." He said softly, getting a small cheer from Mimi over it. "But after I check something out."

"What's something?" Maria asked before Mimi could, the trio moving closer to the teen as he rub his arm a little more.

"I'm not sure…" Erin said softly as he looked back over the grassy plains. "I just… had a feeling, you know? I need to find out what it is."

"Then we'll go with you!" Mimi volunteered.

Erin blinked, as he looked back, Mimi already climbing back onto Kentarumon's back. "Wait a minute, you don't…."

Mimi looked around the centaur's shoulder, her lids low as she gave a look similar to the one she gave when she first arrived. "I said we'll go with you."

Erin stared back a second, finally nodding, which brought a cheer and smile from Mimi again. Giving a soft sigh, the teen started walking again, soon flanked by the trio.

"Erin?" Looking up, Erin watched as Maria sat behind Mimi, looking down at him as she held onto the older girl's hips. "If you want, Kentarumon has enough room for you."

Shaking his head, Erin gave the young girl a soft smile. "No thanks. I feel like staying on my own feet for the moment."

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Dang, my feet are sore…" Erin muttered softly.

Having spent a good portion of the day walking, making their way around the lake finally and coming close to a hilly area, Mimi had finally asked for a stop, pointing out that nature was calling. Taking Maria with her, Erin and Kentarumon had been left back on the edge of the forest as the girls took the moment for themselves.

Sitting against one of the tree, Erin rubbed the soles of his feet with his shoes next to him. He was started to regret not accepting the offer for a ride, but he felt too stubborn about it, always feeling sure the feeling he was following was close, no matter how much ground they covered.

'Maybe I'm just imaging it. Something to take my mind off the fact of what happened with Mystimon.' Erin mused with a sigh. While his mood had been slowly picking up with the conversations of the two girl's and Maria's partner, he was still having issues about his defeat.

Finally slipping his shoes back on, Erin glanced up, noticing Kentarumon was staring at him with his arms crossed, just as he had been when Maria and Mimi had walked away. "What, is something wrong?"

"I'm making sure you do nothing to Mimi and Maria's virtue."

Erin almost fell over at the comment, looking up at the centaur digimon with a look of bewilderment. "Their virtue? What would I do to their virtue?"

Kentarumon sniffed slightly, moving a little closer as he put himself more between where the girls had gone, and where Erin was. "Human men seem to have a preoccupation with trying to see females with a lack of clothing. After listening to a Steve discussing this with Michael once, I knew I must watch males when Maria is around."

Erin rubbed his forehead slightly. "So, you're worried I'll go peep on Maria and Mimi?" He watched the digimon nod in agreement, sighing as his frustration continued growing slowly. "Look, I personally like me skin, which I would lose very painfully if I tried something like that. Don't worry about it, trust me…"

Sitting back against the tree again, Erin shook his head, noticing Kentarumon hadn't moved. If the digimon was convinced he would try and look at the girl's, then he could just sit there, for all he cared.

The waiting didn't last too long, as Maria's voice echoed through the forest, giving a piercing scream. Erin stared back at the forest in shock as he jumped to his feet, trailing behind as Kentarumon leapt into the forest, barely missing a step. Keeping up, Erin followed the digimon into a clearing not too far from the edge, stopping behind the centaur as the pair surveyed the area.

"Eeek! Get out of here!" Erin barely registered what was going on as piece of fruit smacked him in the face. The pair blinked for a moment, finally seeing Maria hiding behind a guarding Mimi. As the realization that a pair of jeans were sitting about a half a foot from the girls, Erin felt his cheeks redden, turning around quickly and moving behind a tree, seeing Kentarumon following suit as the digimon slipped back from the clearing. If Erin didn't know any better, he almost thought he could see a faint red flush inside the helmet. After a few minutes, Mimi walked out from the cleaning between the teen and Digimon, Maria following with a soft flush on her cheeks and her clothing back in place.

"Don't you boys knock? You almost scared Maria half to death from embarrassment." Mimi scolded, as she helped Maria up onto Kentarumon's back.

Kentarumon looked back at the girl's, waiting for Mimi to get on in behind Maria before he spoke up. "But, we heard Maria scream. We worried something was attacking you."

"I just saw someone peeping… When I saw them from behind one of the trees, it startled me…" Maria answered, clinging tightly onto Kentarumon's back as the digimon began walking back out of the forest.

Erin smiled softly, resisting not laughing at the embarrassing moment as he followed along, rubbing his left arm as he flexed it slightly, feeling it move a little easier then before.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Is this it?"

Erin nodded to Mimi's question. With the evening starting to settle in, the feeling in the back of the teen's head had finally stopped being vague. With a large field stretching around the large hill, a temple stood at the top, the shadows from the setting sun beginning to play around the entrance facing them.

"No doubt about it… It's here…" Erin said, more to himself then anything.

As Kentarumon began to walk towards the temple, Erin held his hand up to the trio. "No. You guys can go home."

"We said were going with you, didn't we?" Mimi protested to the red eyed teen.

"And I appreciate it. But I'm going in on my own. Please, just trust me on this."

Mimi opened her mouth again, her face showing her urge to protest further, before Maria stepped in. "We shall wait. We still have time before we need to be in bed. You go ahead, and we'll wait for you here."

Erin looked back at the pair, seeing Mimi obviously still wanted to argue, but felt grateful when she simply sniffed in assent to Maria's words. "I'll hurry, I promise." Not wanting to give the brown haired girl a moment to decide to change her mind, the hybrid teen leapt into the air, using some of the extra strength and energy his fused state granted him to cover the last bit of ground between him and the temple.

A trail of steps raced from the base of the hill, running straight up the large entrance to the temple. Despite the length, the adrenaline from finally finding the source of this curiosity helped Erin sprint up the stairs in record time. Around the frame, odd patterns seemed to be etched into the stone, many looking familiar from place where Hilary had found her Digimental, although it didn't help him at all in knowing what it meant.

'Something… It's calling me still…' Erin thought, as he glanced down the large corridor. With pillars lining the way, he began walking, the light fading from the doorway, to a small glow seeming to come from everywhere. Following the feeling tugging at his mind, he began turning and twisting in the temple's corridors, changing hallways and walking down stairs, making sure to mentally track the slowly descending path we was being called down.

"You've come…"

The female voice made Erin stop in his tracks, looking around the identical hallway in an attempt to find the source. "Are you the one who called me?" Despite the glowing filling the hall, no shadows seems to be coming from anything out of the ordinary, simply small ones for himself and the pillars.

"I am… Please, continue… You are almost there…"

Frowning slightly, Erin began to walk again. He could feel that tugged, something beckoning him, at the end of the hallway he was in. The worry of a possible trap continued to play in his mind, hoping he was falling for something so obvious, as sound of his own footsteps echoed around him.

Eventually, the apparent goal of Erin's searching came into view. A tall pedestal, almost as high as his chest, stood in a circular room, ending the hallway. On it, the glow that had filled the temple's halls seemed double in strength, soon showing a small, white orb that radiated the light in the small room. Finally getting within its reach, Erin could almost feel a gentle heat coming off the glowing item.

"Sit… And rest…"

Blinking for a moment, Erin rubbed his hand over his face. He did feel a little tired, after the walk here and everything else. Sitting down against the pedestal, the teen rested his head on the stone's surface, staring at the ceiling for a moment. After all, a small nap couldn't hurt…

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Awake, Dark Guardian…"

Erin's eyes flew open, the voice catching his attention quickly. As he glanced around, gray filled his vision, surrounding him completely as he floated in the seeming endless void. His clothing remained intact, despite his lack of notice, as he searched around for anything aside from himself.

"Where have you brought me?!" Erin's voice almost came out in a growl, red eyes darting from place to place, nothing but gray to be found as he searched. His fists clenched tightly, sure his worry over falling into a trap had been founded now, as he spun in the nothingness. "Who are you?!"

"I am… That is all you need to know…"

Erin's growl gained a bit of volume at the cryptic answer, the voice coming from all around him. "Then why I am here?"

"I must be sure. Sure the path you follow, is the one you wish."

"Path?" Erin blinked, giving up his futile searching as he began just casually glancing around as he spoke. "What do you mean?"

"The path you follow, is not an easy one." The voice echoed faintly, no longer seeming to fade off as it had before. "If you wish to follow it, you will be forced to deal with things you may not wish too…"

Crossing his arms, Erin gave a small snort. "I've already had to… So what would be the difference?"

"Death…"

Erin tensed at the word. "My death?" He said, a little surprised at the bluntness. While the fights he had been in had well shown he could die in almost any one of them, the teen had still not really given the thought of his own death too much of a thought.

The female voice paused for a minute, before giving the shocked teenager a response. "Your death… Others as well… Loved ones… Friends and family… Even strangers… All could result, from the decision you must make…"

Frowning, the hybrid boy looked up above him some. "And just what is that decision?"

"To continue on as the Dark Guardian… Or not…"

Erin blinked. "You mean… Whether or not to give up being Black War Humon?" He asked back.

"Yes. If you wish to continue down the path, you must be sure… Hesitation could be disastrous… Thus, a decision must be made…"

Crossing his arms and legs, Erin let himself slowly spin in the void as he mulled over the thoughts. On one hand, lay the path as his hybrid alter ego, with battles and possible death… While not exactly easy so far, he has always assumed he had no choice in the matter of walking it. On the other hand, now he had the chance to just be a normal kid again. No digimon battles, no walking a razor's edge to try and stay alive, as one thing or another comes after him. Just a normal, everyday, life…

Erin's eyes widened as something else entered the void, almost sounding like a scream. Straightening himself out, he looked around, sure the source was from outside of… well, wherever he was. "Hey, what was that?"

"You must decide now. Once you have chosen, there is no turning back…"

A soft growl escaped Erin's throat, hearing that scream again, barely on the edge of his hearing. He looked down at his hands, his thoughts barely able to keep a straight thought as that wrenching noise continued ringing in his ears as he tried to focus. To continue on as Black War Humon, or to simply be Erin Storm… Which truly was the path he wanted…

*~*~*~*~*~*

Mimi glared softly at the Bakemon, watching the overly large ghosts circling around them. While they had continued to wait for Erin, the numerous group had almost appeared out of nowhere, attacking without provocation. At while the blue fists flying out and slamming occasionally into Kentarumon were keeping her and Maria from getting back onto the centaur digimon, the japanese girl was at least thankful Bakemon as a whole weren't very strong.

"Won't you at least tell us why you're here?" Maria questioned to the ghosts. It was her third time trying, still apparently unsuccessful as the laughter and circling continued. Frowning slightly, Mimi was wondering the same thing. Aside from one story she had been told about, back from her own first adventure, it didn't seem normal for over a dozen Bakemon to be working together in such an organized pattern.

Several minutes passed, the occasional fist from the ghosts slamming the centaur for a moment, before they simply resumed moving around them. 'I wish I had gotten a hold of Palmon to come with us now… At least then, we might have been able to do something more…' Mimi thought as she stepped back a little, feeling Maria right behind her as they stood at Kentarumon's flanks. 'Hope Erin's alright too…'

Finally the circling stopped, as two of the Bakemon near the forest parted, allowing a new figure to come into view, much to Mimi's dismay. While the Bakemon's white, and slightly raggy, covering had merely given Mimi a feeling of annoyance, the dark clothing and red hood of the new specter was a much worse feeling. The gleaming coming off the golden scythe didn't help the brown haired girl's feeling, while the crystal eyeball hanging around it on a chain just made the Phantomon look creepy, if nothing else.

"Now, this is a treat…" Mimi could tell Maria and Kentarumon were both looking at the Phantomon now, as she kept herself between the younger Digi-Destined as the apparent leader of the organized Bakemon. "Lord Phelesmon told us we may run into one human, but not two… Of course, one being a Digi-Destined makes this all the better…"

'Phelesmon? The one Erin's having a problem with?' The Japanese girl thought, as she put herself a little more between Phantomon and Maria. "Look, we were just passing through?" She said cheerfully, smiling sweetly. "If you don't mind, we kinda need to get home, before our dinner gets cold."

As Mimi tried to move Maria towards Kentarumon again, the blade of the scythe appeared in front of her, blocking her path and bringing her attention back to the blade's owner. "Oh, I'm afraid you'll be late for more then dinner…"

Mimi frowned at the digimon's words. She had really hoped it would be simple at the Bakemon had seemed, but unfortunetly it wasn't, quite obviously. While jumping on Kentarumon and simply running was still an option, the chance of making it away was even less with a Perfection around. And with her inability to simply leave Erin here, his lack of appearance was another problem to the whole equation.

'Wait…' Mimi blinked, glancing back at the temple as she felt… Well, she felt something moving inside of it, coming closer at a fast rate. Grinning a bit, she turned back around, she smiled sweetly up at Phantomon again. "I think it might be a good idea to just let us now." She offered politely.

"Really now…" Phantomon laughed a little, the Bakemon following in turn before the leader's cloak covered arm moved to stop them when he did. "And why should I do that?"

Mimi's smile never wavered, as Maria and Kentarumon looked up to the temple themselves. "My friend won't like you threatening us. And he has slight anger management issues."

The laughter kicked up again as Mimi glanced back to the temple's entrance, watching it for a moment longer, before a flash of black flew from the doorway. "I warned you…" She said softly, as the armored form of Black War Humon slammed into the ground in front of her.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"You didn't have to kill them, you know…" Mimi grumbled as they walked along the temple corridor.

Shaking his head, Erin groaned softly, having been listening to the argument over his actions for over ten minutes. "Look, can we just drop it? They weren't gonna let us go, and I wasn't going to let them just do whatever…"

"Still didn't have to kill them…"

Sighing, Erin looked down to Maria, holding her Patamon, Kentarumon's Child form, in her arms. Walking down another flight of stairs, the teen rubbed the back of his head, retracing his way back into the temple. While he his memory was feeling a little fuzzy still, he was fairly certain that they were almost to the room with the orb. 'Hopefully, that voice will give me some answers this time…'

Two more turns followed, Mimi still obviously upset at Erin a bit from her mutterings, as they neared the end of the trail. Upon walking down what Erin was certain was the final flight of stairs, he stood in surprise at the black passage before him, darkness filling it, as the girl's bumped into his back in surprise.

"This isn't right… There's supposed to be light in here, the same as the rest of the temple…" Erin frowned, his eyes adjusting with the bit of light coming from the top of the stairs, letting him be able to look down the now quite creepy looking hallway.

"Maybe someone took out the battery?" Mimi offered from behind the teen.

Erin flexed his hands slightly. "Wait here… I'll be back in a minute…" Not giving much of a chance to respond, the red eyed teenager walked swiftly down the hallway, able to make out the pillars on his sides as he went. Soon enough, he reached the end, stopping as he bumped into the pedestal. With the darkness thickest in the small room, Erin felt over the surface, finding a small indention in the center, with a pattern etched into it.

"Gone…" Erin growled in frustration.

Manaical laughter echoed in the temple, making Erin jump back from the pedestal in surprise. The voice was unmistakable to the teen, as the laughing finally began to die down.

"Did you really think I would leave such a find, little hybrid?" Phelesmon's voice echoed, similar to the woman's voice before.

"Where's the orb, Phelesmon?! Give it back!" Erin yelled into the darkness above him, for lack of anywhere else to focus his anger.

Laughter rose up again for a moment, before the demon continued. "If you want it so badly, I think not… After all, one does not run across a holy orb everyday… A Phantomon and some Bakemon are easily worth the price of such a relic"

'Holy orb?' Erin thought curiously.

"How can you just casually brush them aside?!"

Erin jumped as Mimi's voice yelled right in his ear, finally hearing a small clacking of hooves on the temple floor. He could tell Kentarumon was obviously back, although apparently Mimi wasn't riding him, as she continued her berating of the demon's voice. "Even if they weren't good, they were loyal to you, how can you just push aside their death so easily, especially for a simple item!"

Phelesmon's laughter grew back to the maniacal laughter from the start as he listened to the Chosen speak. "I have no care who dies, as long as I get ahead… I can't see why he worries over Chosen and Digi-Destined so much, if this is how they act… It's a wonder an Impmon can't rule the Digital World, with this kind of protection…"

Putting his hand on Mimi's shoulder, getting the girl to stop before she shot back, Erin glanced around the dark room, still unable to make anything out. "If it were so easy, you wouldn't be hiding… Or are you really scared?" Erin smirked slightly, listening to a response.

One, however, never came. After a few minutes, Erin gave a small growl of frustration, assuming the demon had taken the chance to run, and taking the Holy Orb with him. Shaking his head, he turned his thoughts back to the matter at hand, trying to feel the indention of the pedestal, to figure out what was etched into it. Just as his fingers felt the pattern, a sharp light flashed from nowhere, making him clutch his eyes in pain.

"Sorry…" Maria offered sheepishly as she handed the small flashlight down to Mimi. "I thought you heard me, when I warned I was turning it on…"

Erin took a minute to blink the stars out of his eyes, before he saw Mimi and Maria had joined him at the pedestal. With the flashlight on the place where the holy orb has been sitting, Erin could finally make the etching out, seeing a small circle at center of it, with small points around it, almost like a star pattern.

"The Crest of Light…" Mimi said, sounding a little surprised as she traced the pattern. "It's the same symbol. But, I know Hikari's never been here…"

Erin frowned slightly, remembering the various symbols Hilary had described when they had found her Digimental. "The same as the Digimental, too… Maybe it's because of the holy orb Phelesmon stole?"

Mimi ran the light around the room, not seeming to find anything as she finally began walking back towards Kentarumon with Maria behind her. "Maybe… But it seems odd to find the symbol AFTER the item was gone… But anyway, we should head back. Everyone will worry, if we're all not home soon…"

Hearing Mimi and Maria get onto the centaur and start back down the hall, Erin traced his fingers over the pattern for Light etched into the stone. Finally, he turned and followed along as he heard the girl's calling him to lead the way out.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Rocker ~ So ends another chapter.

ToyAgu ~ Yea, eventually…

Flora ~ Oh, your just pouting because of where the fight scene cut off…

Rocker- Yea yea… I think he'll manage…

Flora ~ Well, next time, Erin's trying to adjust to living in the orphanage again. But when a hint of a possible Phelesmon sighting makes him leave, just what could happen? What? The sighting was in California?! Stay tuned tuned next time, for "Happy Reunions, Demon's Return", on the next Dark Diaries!