foreverwingless | this musebox's name is so appropriate

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this musebox's name is so appropriate

She knew it was wrong. That this was wrong. That she had gone too far for once.

Kyouko was just sitting in her current hangout - a sheltered part of an alley where she had gathered an old matress to sleep on for the time being. She was sitting on one of the nearby garbage cans, but she looked.. almost idle. Completely unlike herself. Normally she would grin even if she was on her own, just push herself to have fun despite the loneliness she felt deep inside most of the time, but this was different. She couldn't bring it up anymore. The past few days had been the 'anniversary' of the day her father snapped and killed her family, and that thought made her unable to deal with anything. She didn't feel like even using the community, and luckily enough for her it decided to leave her alone in general for a few days. She hadn't even visited the arcade, she had just taken out all her pain and anger by fighting those witches.

But maybe.. it had been a little too much. A few too many fights, a few too little Grief Seeds, a little too dimmed Soul Gem. And even Kyouko realised that. Another fight with a witch soon might not even help this much, she probably wouldn't even have enough strength to take that witch down like this before her Soul Gem would give out.. and what would happen then? She had no idea, except that it would be something bad. Maybe she would just die.. ... hah, finally she would join her family then, right? And it wasn't like anyone would miss her, so..

The gloomy thoughts took over her mind once again, as the unopened package of chips lying in front of her was completely untouched.

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He was out of breath, desperate, searching for her as he ran through the streets. He hadn't seen her around for a few days and he felt like something was wrong- something was just....off. He mentioned it to Kouichi one time, since they were siblings he could feel it when Kouichi was in pain or suffering through something.

This was the same, she wasn't his sibling through blood- but the bond they shared might as well have been.

As he ran he quickly glanced over to the side and spotted that alley, his deep blue eyes found themselves gazing upon what looked like a girl- alone in the alley and looking utterly defeated. He stopped, practically having to skid to a halt and he jogged up to the girl. His heart ached for some reason... he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He might have been young, he might have been naive, but Kouji had always had a gift for telling when his friends were upset. He pretended like he didn't care- but he was probably someone that cared more than anyone else...The young boy swallowed, attempting to regain his breath. He was now standing in front of her, looking her up and down and noticing she wasn't even eating.

"K....Kyouko nee-chan?" he managed to speak, but even his voice was a little weak. He reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder, "...I haven't seen you around are you alright?"

She stared at him when he arrived, but even that was.. slowly, really, as if she was reacting to everything with much less spirit than she usually would. In fact, it was almost like it took her a few moments to even recognize him, to put a name to that face, but.. of course, Kouji, she had already met him even in person, of course she remembered him even in this state where her entire mind seemed almost clouded over. God, why did he have to come here now of all moments..

"I'm fine." She tried to sound casual, and at least she succeeded in that much.. but it didn't mean much as long as she couldn't muster up her usual expression. Her normal grin was nowhere to be found, instead replaced with an almost energyless expression as she eyed him, feeling his hand on her shoulder.

Well.. Yes, she was happy to see him in a way, happy to not be alone, but.. at the same time, she didn't want him to be here, not right now, not when the had no clue what was going to happen to her Soul Gem. "Is it such a problem if I don't show up on the community for a bit?"

Kouji opened his mouth to say something- but for some reason no sound would come out. He was worried, he really was... she wasn't acting like her typical self. Sure, they hadn't known each other that love but- is it so wrong for him to feel this close with her in such a short period of time? No, it wasn't wrong...

He placed his hand on her other shoulder, both of his hands clutching at her sweater, "....I guess it's... not a problem but..." he missed her the days she didn't show up to bother him, he missed seeing that obnoxious grin of hers and always having to listen to her munching on food. She wasn't doing any of that now, she wasn't eating and she wasn't grinning- her eyes looked glazed over if anything.

After a moment he took a hand off of her and reached down to grab her hand, trying to get a closer look at that ring of hers, "let me see it," he practically snapped at her, "let me see that.... gem or whatever."

And he just had to be on to her about what was wrong with her too. This situation practically wouldn't get much worse, but.. maybe there was some way to at least get him away from here, as long as she could just pretend enough that she was fine, if she could just convince him to go home.. She didn't want him involved in this, in whatever was about to happen. If she was going to die, she should at least do it alone, the way she had always lived. He shouldn't have to see something like that-- no, maybe she was just a little protective of him in general with the way he was always calling her 'nee-chan' and through that she had somehow actually taken up the role of a surrogate big sister of sorts.

Kyouko quickly drew her hand back from him, determined to hide the sign of what was truly wrong with her. But she still had to think up an excuse of why she moved her hand, dammit.. "Why the hell do you want to see that, Kouji?" Yeah, she was being a little more snappy than usual too, mostly due to the fact she couldn't think up a good excuse for her behaviour and her behaviour itself was caused by her mind feeling so.. weird and heavy.

"Is that what ya usually do? Run into the places where people live and demand to see their personal belongings? Some people would call that a crime, you know." It missed its usual humor though, definitely.

He back away a bit, looking at her with a determined stare, "now isn't the time for jokes nee-chan...." he couldn't shake this feeling no matter what he tried to do. He had been trying to ignore it when he was in the Digital World, he tried to just keep going as if it were nothing but- now he knew that he was feeling this way since it was her that needed help.... if only she knew how to ask for help this would be a lot easier. They were both fools, both refusing to reach out for people but never wanting to be fully alone.

They were two of a kind, that was for sure.

Kouji waited, still refusing to leave until he saw that Soul Gem of hers. He wanted to see... she said something about her using up too much power was bad- right? Maybe.... he could purify it somehow...

"....If you need someone to get Grief Seeds for you I can help. I'll go fight the witches and you can stay here and wait for me," he was willing to risk it all, when there was someone in danger in front of him he can't just turn his back on them.

"No!" The reply came out as a near shout, far too quick for it to still seem natural. Because it wasn't natural at all, it was a fierce and almost instinctive denial. She didn't want him to go out and fight for her, not on his own, not again witches. Fighting alongside him.. she had done that before, and she knew his fighting skills were good, but she still didn't want to let him take on any risk by himself, she felt much too protective over him to let him do that. Besides, she was bad enough at asking help in general - that much was right, they were exactly the same in that way.

She cleared her throat, trying to compromise for the earlier yell but it was all no use. "I-- I'm fine, okay? You don't need to go out and do anything for me, since there's nothing special up."

But of course words alone weren't going to make him trust her on this. She would have to show her Soul Gem, and show it was shining-- god, that was practically impossible like this though. But she had to try, it was the only way to get his mind off this ridiculous plan. "Look, you'll see." She held out her hand with the ring again, and with a blob of red light her Soul Gem appeared. Kyouko grit her teeth, trying to focus on it the best she could and.. yes, it started glowing with a very bright red light, to her relief.

... But only a few moments later, the glow died down just as soon as it had started, and it was almost as if black clouds were swirling through the gem. It was showing its actual state now.

"....Wh....what does this....?" He couldn't even finish his sentence to ask her what it meant- even though he knew only the basics of her world anyone would be able to tell that something was wrong here. Was it always that black? Was it always darkened like that with the swirling black clouds engulfing more and more of the red color? No- the times he had seen it.... it hadn't been anything like that.

He stepped towards her again, reaching out to touch the gem. He didn't know what he could do- she didn't want him to hunt alone but he knew he had to, he needed to do something for her, anything. If it meant it was all useless... then he would at least be here for her when that bad something finally happened.

"....This isn't good is it," it wasn't a question, he said it as a matter of fact, "Kyouko nee-chan you have to get those seeds! C'mon let's just.... I'll just go! Stop treating me like such a kid and let me help you for once!" it was his turn to shout now, but he had a feeling she wouldn't listen.

Shit-- she just screwed everything up more now. For a few moments Kyouko could only stare at her Soul Gem too, since this was far worse than she had ever seen it. All those fights against witches, those negative thoughts, her feeling of loneliness and her longing for her dead family, her guilt over what happened to them.. It was all coming together in this, causing the black clouds to swirl around more and more inside the gem, completely hiding its usual shine.

At first his words didn't even really reach her, she was just sitting there and staring in her own surprise too. But after a few moments it did dawn upon her. Ah, he was still talking about helping her and all, but.. somehow she could feel like it was already too late. Her Soul Gem wouldn't be able to recover from just this, it was already too gar gone - she was already too far gone. No matter how good his intentions were.

... Softly and slowly, she shook her head. This wasn't just some stubborn refusal of his help just for the sake of remaining strong, independent, doing stuff for herself.. this was just a hopeless case. She knew it. ".. That's no use now, Kouji. Even if ya'd go and hunt me a hunderd Grief Seeds.. it won't help this anymore." There was a smile on her face, but it wasn't a real smile - it was more.. almost bitter amusement at the irony of the situation. "I can feel it."

It was his turn to block out what she was saying, but he wasn't doing it by choice- it was due to the fact that his heart was beating so rapidly in his chest. He could barely hear, his head was pounding- throbbing, and that ache in his heart only grew. It was too late? She just knows...? No, that's stupid talk, no one just knows.... there has to be a way to change this, there has to be.

Kouji took both his hands and closed them over the one that held her Soul Gem, he squeezed her hand tightly, throwing away that stubborn attitude of his and just focusing on her, on his sister, "...we don't know that right?" he was desperate at this point, the thought of him leaving her was enough to make him sick.

"Nee-chan you can't give up yet....!"

Yeah, she knew.. She shouldn't give up yet, she should fight for it, but.. this time it was really hopeless, right? Kyouko wasn't one to give up quickly in general, she would usually fight until the bitter end, but this felt different. There was nothing to fight this time, nothing but the inevitable. And he was standing there in front of her, holding her hand, and shouting that desperately.. This was why she shouldn't have gotten involved with people in the first place. It would only hurt her in the end, and.. it would only hurt others too. If only he wouldn't have gotten involved with her, this wouldn't have been a problem. Then no one would have cared about what happened to one more or less homeless kid, then he wouldn't have to look at her with that kind of expression..

Normally she wasn't one to do this quickly at all with all her tsun, but she just couldn't stand just seeing him there with that expression, and somehow she felt that if she wouldn't do it now, she would never have the chance anymore. That expression of his' was enough to trigger just something protective in her, and she quickly snuck her free arm around him to pull him close to her before he could protest against it, hugging him like that. As if she was trying to protect him from something that wasn't even there. She should have protected him from herself, but.. it was already far too late for that.

"... Sorry." Her voice was a bit softer, since nobody but him needed to hear it either way and she was already holding him close. "I wish I could say it differently, but.. there's nothing to be done about this."

...As if he could resist, as if he would pull away from someone that meant so much to him. She was someone he had met though some weird community where everyone was from different worlds, and out of all the worlds they had somehow found each other. Kouji let go of her hand and wrapped both his arms around her, tightening his grip around the girl and wondered he was suffocating her. He grit his teeth, not wanting to let those tears fall that had appeared in his eyes. No- he had to be strong, she didn't like weaklings, right?

But he was just a kid even though he tried so hard to act mature, he was just eleven years old and he had to go through losing someone? That was just too messed up for him. He was angry at this system in her world, he was angry at himself for not realizing this was happening to her sooner and getting those Grief Seeds to her, most of all he was angry at whoever turned her into this magical girl.

"...I can't...." he buried his face into her sweater, his voice muffled against her clothes, "I can't lose you..."

He was squeezing rather tightly, but she didn't mind. Somehow it kept her rooted a bit, even though her Soul Gem was already in such a stage.. as long as she could still feel with her body like this, feel his warmth and hold, then it was okay, she could hold on for a little more. She could force herself, either way - Kyouko was tough, no matter the situation, and even now while she was actually the one in danger, it was easier for her to not think about that and instead focus on helping out the boy who seemed to be on the verge of crying.

Her own hold wasn't as tight, but it wasn't exactly loose either - just enough to make sure she would be able to keep holding him like this for now no matter what. Her body was starting to feel weird, almost.. heavy, even, as if it was just some sort of husk.. it was a really weird feeling, but more than that, she focused on Kouji, resting her chin on top of his head.

He.. couldn't lose her, huh..? It was strange to hear that to her, really strange. It was only thanks to the community that she learned again what it was to be cared for. Before that nobody had cared about her, nobody had even known her, and she had pretended to be okay with that even though she actually wasn't. Because she knew that with care came hurt, and.. that was evident now once again. When he was like this, burying his face into her sweater, she couldn't help but think of Momo and.. for a moment it was like he really was her little brother. Someone for who she just wanted to take away everything that was bad, everything that could hurt, and just protect them from it, but.. she had already failed at that before, when that girl and the rest of her family died. And now again, there was nothing she could do to stop him from hurting.. "Forget about me, Kouji. ... I know it's actually not that easy at all, but.. after this, you just gotta forget all about me, okay?" She wasn't sure what was going to happen to her, but she sure as hell didn't want him to get some sort of trauma because all of it.

Forget about her? What a joke, it was such a sick joke he felt like he could actually laugh bitterly at that. He didn't though, he just continued to hug her- holding her close and never wanting to let go. He hadn't opened up his heart like this for anyone, not for a long time. Maybe even... ever. Ah- he tried to recall the last time he held someone like this, just wanting them to be around him forever. Maybe.. he held his mother in a similar fashion before he was ripped away from her and forced to believe she was dead.

Dead. That word echoed through his head and it only made him hurt even more. The thought of her dying, the thought of Kyouko leaving him- it was too much for the young boy. Some might say he'll get over this since he's so young but.... who could get over such a thing? He'll carry this burden for the rest of his life, remembering Kyouko and never forgetting the bond they once shared....no, the bond they'll always share.

He was stubborn, he refused to forget about her. Kouji finally pulled away from her, and before that horrible thing that was able to unfold happened- he reached up to his bandana, taking it off. He quickly tied the fabric around her arm before she could say anything else.

"Whatever happens," his voice shook slightly, but he managed to keep it together, "you'll be able to see my bandana and think of me, right?" he was such a child, actually believing that such a method would work. Deep down he knew it wasn't that simple.... but he had to hold on to any trace of hope that she would never forget him.

"I love you nee-chan," that one sentence was said without any wavering, without any other feelings mixed in besides the ones he wanted to convey to her the most.

She was a little surprised for a few moments when she suddenly felt him slipping from her grasp like that - what was he doing? But she didn't quite even notice what he was doing, really, everything about her reactions was so slow with how strange she was feeing, but she was trying to fight the feeling as much as she could still. Because of that Kyouko didn't even notice what he had done until the bandana was already around her arm, and she stared at it for a few moments. ... Yeah, he really was naive if he thought something like that would be enough to work, that just that would never make her forget about him, but.. ah, the idea was nice too, in a way. And she was determined to make sure she wouldn't forget, no matter what would happen. If she'd fade away or die now.. then she still wouldn't forget, even in the afterlife.

"Yeah. I'll never forget, it's a promise." She said it but.. she wasn't even sure if she could keep a promise like that, really. She was going to damn well try her best though, and she managed to swallow thickly, hoping that she would at least sound convincing and somewhat reassuring to the younger boy.

God.. If this is the end for me, then at least let me remember this happy dream..

Kyouko wasn't one to easily cry, but dammit, she could feel her eyes starting to water up the more she looked at him and heard those final words. Just what she had wanted to hear from anyone at all since her family died, the few words that could break through her loneliness.. This was all she had wanted, all she needed. It just happened to come a little bit too late, huh?

Slowly - it took a lot of effort by now - she managed to raise her arm, enough at least to be able to reach out to him and slowly and softly pat him on the head, ruffling his hair a little now there wasn't a bandana to cover it anymore.

Kyouko smiled, but the tears came out at the same time too.

"Love ya too.. lil' bro."

But then she couldn't keep it in anymore. Her Soul Gem appeared from her ring again, the black swirling and swirling until it finally completely started to take over the entire jewel, turning it black. And Kyouko gripped at her head, as if she suddenly was in massive pain, the same words her father had told her right when he snapped and killed their family pounding over and over in her head - nothing but a witch, nothing but, nothing - but before Kouji would be able to intervene with it, a bright light shone out.

When the light faded, the surroundings had changed. This was no longer the alley, but it was part of the new-born witch's dimension. The wall seemed to be completely black with a little red here and there in the background, a pattern reminiscent of the barriers Kyouko sometimes used, and black mist swirled all around. For a moment the space seemed completely empty..

... Before the witch emerged. Kouji might not even have associated this witch with Kyouko if the same bandana wasn't still stuck around the witch's arm, indicating they were the same person. The witch sat on a black horse, and said witch actually did still have somewhat of a human shape - wearing a long robe and carrying a weapon that looks like a staff of a spear. The main thing about it that didn't look human was the fact that the witch was missing a head - instead there was a large candle on the place where the head should have been.

It was Ophelia. The witch Kyouko had become after her Soul Gem became corrupted.

He didn't even have time to say any words back to her- she was already gripping her head and yelling in pain. He wanted to help her, he wanted to do anything- he would have ran and gotten all of the damn Grief Seeds he could find if he had enough time... there was no time left though, he knew that. He had barely been able to say goodbye to her, he had given her a parting gift and said he loved her- it was all true, she was his sister after all.

And then there was a blinding light and he soon found himself being blown back by something. Kouji grunted at that, his back hitting the ground and he rolled over on to his stomach, looking up and trying to determine what had just happened.

...A witch? There was a witch here? And more importantly it had dragged him into it's barrier, not wanting him to leave by the looks of it. Slowly the boy hoisted himself up so he was kneeling and he surveyed the area. The witch looked familiar- and his suspicions were only confirmed when he noticed his own bandana wrapped around it's arm.

It was Kyouko.... it was his sister.

Slowly the boy shook his head, trying to get his thoughts in order. No, not again, yet another sibling of his had been turned against him by some evil force and wanted him dead. Why...? Why did this always happen-?! It happened to good people too, people that were much better than him. He grit his teeth, standing up.

"Kyouko!" he called out to her, hoping she would respond, "Kyouko nee-chan!" there was nothing... no sign of her... no hope left...

He would try and talk to her still, distract her and maybe find a way to reverse this. He reached into his pocket and took out his digivice...

He had no time to react, he had to hurry up and evolve before this witch... no- before Kyouko took him out and attacked him. He had handled one before in her world, they had fought alongside each other to get rid of it- ....who did he have to fight with him now? He was alone again, and he was forced to be the one to take her out. Kouji gripped his digivice and soon evolved.

After he was done transforming he still stood in the same spot, searching for any sign of her, any sort of indication that maybe she won't attack him...

No, there was no sign of recognition at all. It was obviously difficult to tell much about what the witch thought or felt, with the lack of face, but somehow despite the head being a flame there was almost something cold about her, distant as the witch on the horse just stood there still even as he evolved, as if it was just watching him. Even when he called out to her, called out Kyouko's name.. it was no use. A witch could no longer recognize it or react to it, could no longer feel anything but their own despair that drove them to become this way. They could feel nothing but the instincts that a witch had, like the instinct to destroy anyone who came inside their barrier, magical girl or not.

And this boy definitely had entered her barrier, even if it hadn't been voluntarily.

Slowly but surely the witch raised her staff, and something-- no, some things started to move in the room, the witch's familiars. They almost looked like some kind of geishas or traditionally dressed women, but they were much smaller, more deformed, more unnatural. The familiars wasted no time at all in moving towards him, trying to mob him if he wouldn't react quickly enough.

Garmmon let out a low growl when he noticed the witch letting out her familiars. This was how it was going to be between the two of them- she wasn't Kyouko anymore... he had to keep thinking like that, his sister was gone, no more- she died along with her Soul Gem..

....No, that was wrong, that was so very wrong- he wanted to keep hoping that somewhere deep down he would be able to reach her eventually and then he would be able to save her and they wouldn't have to deal with all this pain....

The Digimon lowered the wheels on his heel and soon took off- the blades on his back lowering and moving out to each side, he intended on roaming by and taking out all these familiars at once. He rushed forward, managing to zig zag between the line of geishas and hitting a few of them- destroying some upon impact.

There was something almost dissatisfied about the witch at that - it was difficult to tell from the witch herself, but the horse clearly showed it, jumping up on its hind legs for a moment while letting out a loud roar. This wasn't anything the witch was used to, after all, something this strong entering her barrier and being able to fight back.. clearly she had underestimated him at first sight.

The witch wasn't jumping into the fray herself just yet, though, she was still standing back even when the horse landed again so it was standing on four legs. Instead, she would let her familiars rough him up a little first before doing anything herself. With another raise and then swing of the staff a few of the creatures jumped back and opened their mouths, only to fire fireballs at him. Slowly more and more jumped in, so they were trying to fire those fireballs at him from all sides, making it more difficult for him to escape them.

He noticed the witch growing more and more irritated as this went on- and yet it still wasn't attacking him yet. He would still hope, he would still fight, he would do everything in his power to stop this madness and bring back his sister, even if it meant sacrificing himself to do it. He cared for her even if no one else did, he refused to stop until he found a solution to this problem.

Garmmon skidded to a halt, taking a moment to see just how these familiars were going to attack. Fireballs..? It was a good thing he was used to attacks such as these, Agnimon would fight alongside him and his element was fire. Kouji was the warrior of light, and he would bring Kyouko back from the depths of darkness himself- he had to find a way.

The Digimon took off again, starting to zig zag between all of the fireballs, having to jump out of the way of some- when he attempted to dodge to the right a fireball had come out of seemingly no where and hit his side. He grunted but he managed to recover from such a hit and then he turned and unleashed a burst of light from his mouth- sending it towards the familiars.

If it had been regular Kyouko, she definitely would have reacted at him getting hit. She would have run up to at least block further attacks from reaching him, or maybe even to drag him away from there, from the danger, but.. the witch did nothing but stand there, a distance away as she watched the Digimon and her minions. This wasn't the regular Kyouko anymore, she couldn't even think the way Kyouko used to anymore. To think that she was the one hurting him now.. she definitely never would have imagined a scenario like that, yet it was happening now.

The minions started to skitter away from him at the blast of light, but some of them were too last and were hit by it, vaporizing in an instant with high shrieks. The witch, however, seemed to take this moment to jump to action, fed up with how her minions couldn't exactly keep up with him. She was a rather powerful witch, after all, nothing like the one Kyouko and Kouji had fought before together, that one had practically been premature compared to a witch that came from a magical girl like Kyouko, who had already been fighting witches herself for well over a year before this..

The horse started running towards Garmmon, and the witch raised her staff to attempt to beat him with it at a fairly high speed.

Garmmon was fast- but he needed to be able to be more agile here if he were to try and escape the clutches of this witch. A surrounded light of data engulfed him and soon he had transformed from Garmmon into Wolfmon. He reached back and took out his two sabers and just as he had finished that he noticed the staff that was coming at him.

Wolfmon raised his sabers up to try and block the hit but he was sent flying when the staff collided with him and he hit the wall of the barrier. "Dammit..." he grunted to himself and managed to push away from the wall and he took off running, wanting to slice that staff up and attempt to get closer to her. He ran and jumped at her, bringing one of his swords down and tried to slash at her shoulder.

The witch just stared - more or less, considering she didn't have an actual face - as he was sent flying backwards by that. There wasn't any surprise at him changing forms, but whether that was since she simply couldn't express it or since Kyouko had seen him doing it before was still up in the air. But then again, if this was Kyouko she would have been at the very least laughing happily and gloating (if she would have been sparring with him in the first place) rather than remaining there silent and motionless, almost cold and distant just by the exterior.

When she noticed him jumping at her, she was trying to dodge though, but-- the horse was just a little too slow in said dodge, so the sword put a tear into the witch's long traditional dress. It didn't seem to really hurt her though, or at least not enough to make any indication of pain show up. Instead the witch backed off a little, and it was almost as if she disappeared into the mist that was hanging heavily around the barrier.

But then the witch slowly popped up to Wolfmon's side in the mist - but if he would look there, she would already have disappeared and appeared by his right instead. And after that it was almost as if she was everywhere, as if he was surrounded by multiple versions of the witch, although the truth was that all but one of them were actually illusions. That power of Kyouko's that she had surpressed because it reminded her too much of the loss of her family, but.. the witch had no feelings, no qualms in using it.

It was true- everywhere he looked it was as though the witch was surrounding him. He looked to the side and every time he did the damn thing disappeared and soon appeared in another area. What was this...? It was just... an illusion, right? Wolfmon couldn't help but feel disoriented from all this- but he had to keep going, he had a mission and he needed to see it through. The Digimon stood his ground and he brought up his arm to aim at the witch's illusions each time they appeared.

"Licht Kugel!" he shot more beams of light from his arm- trying to at least hit something and see which one was the real one but, the mist was too thick, it was hard to focus on anything. Even as a Digimon his senses are heightened but he found it difficult to focus, this must be what the witch's barrier can do to someone...

...It didn't help that his heart continued to ache as he fought against her.

It was no use. No matter what he did, the beams never really seemed to hit one of the witches, and when they did the witch just disappeared and reappeared somewhere else. It was an illusion that was very difficult to try and break through, if not just impossible for someone who was focused on more things rather than just trying to plain on fight her.

So after the witch made sure he wasted energy and time on trying to hurt the illusions, she started to prepare her own attack, much bigger than just trying to hit him with her weapon. This thing here in her barrier was a pest, annoying, trying to hit her like that, and she just.. had to take it out in one go. There was no more time to be wasted with just fooling around or whatever.

So the witch raised her staff which promptly changed into a spear - much like Kyouko's, only much larger and practically bursting with magical energy. And that was the moment she drove through the illusion on the horse as quickly as she could, breaking the illusion that way but by that time she was probably already too close for him to react. She swung the spear, hitting the Digimon and making him fly backwards, and even then she chased him on the horse to hit him a few more times, not stopping the assault even for a moment.

He was too late.

Before he could even react the witch had broken through the mist and attacked him, hitting him and making him fly back. He planted his feet and soon recovered- but then there was yet another strike, and another, and before Wolfmon could react he was being hit with a barrage of attacks from that spear she now held. It was like Kyouko's... it was just like his sister's and that's what hurt the most from all this.

He wasn't in pain from the attacks, that hurt was nothing compared to the aching he felt in his chest from each passing moment. This was too much- he wasn't strong enough... he wasn't determined enough to beat her.. he kept clinging to this hope that she would return or that she would see him being hurt and stop the attacks. That was hopeless, she wasn't coming back- she wasn't his sister anymore.

Yet another strike by that spear and he yelled from the pain, soon the data around him disappeared and he was sent crashing into the ground, sliding across the floor before stopping. He was just Kouji again, his bandana lost and still around the witch's arm. Slowly the boy tried to bring himself on all fours, but even doing that much was painful.

Everything hurt... he was in pain all over... but even so he refused... if he couldn't bring her back then he just had to defeat her and stop her from harming others, that would be what she would have wanted- right? She didn't want to hurt innocent people...right? She was a good person, the two of them bonded over that loneliness they felt at one point in their lives. Slowly that feeling of being completely alone dissipated for him and he hoped she had felt the same before turning into this monster.

Kouji hung his head, staring down at the ground and feeling worthless in this moment. He grit his teeth, the tears welling up in his eyes yet again and threatening to fall. This time a few tears did drip from his eyes, wetting the ground hiz gaze was fixated on. Suddenly all the memories of their times together began flooding back to him, when they first met she was so obnoxious and confident in herself, telling him he just needed to fight for himself. He couldn't accept her words how many times she repeated them, and eventually he grew to like her- feeling closer with her than anyone in a long time. Kouji called her nee-chan to bother her at first but soon the words just felt natural, they felt right.

"Nee-chan...." he couldn't stop himself, he felt like these words had to be said, "I'm sorry... just... come back to me please... I promise I won't waste food... I know you hate that..." he closed his eyes, more tears falling from his face, "when I got back to the human world... I was going to ask you to stay with me you know....! I would learn to cook if I had to... make you things... let you sleep in my bed... anything to get you to spend more time with me..."

A muffled sob escaped him but he kept going, "we never got to play at the arcade either...! I wanted to get you a cake for your birthday too...! This is too much, nee-chan!" he shook his head.

Ah... if he continued to talk like this then the witch would just finish him off and then where would he be? Dead. He wouldn't be the one to finish her. No, he had to be strong. After another moment he let out a breath and soon rose to his feet. The tears still stained his cheeks but he had a determined expression on his face.

"Leave it to me..." he whispered to himself and he clutched at his digivice again, fully prepared to be the one to end her here. Another stream of data surrounded him and he transformed yet again, this time turning into something that he was positive would win this time.

He stood there for a moment and then he flew up, circling the witch and getting ready to attack once more.

If it had been Kyouko standing there, if she could somehow have heard all of that.. those words definitely would have been too much for her. She had been so lonely ever since her family died, especially since she started to isolate herself from people only more, but.. somehow that had changed every since she had discovered that community, things had changed for her. Slowly but surely she had started to care about people again, at parts even against her own will, and she had to come find things fun, even. Playing games with people, talking to them, having people who cared about her and who she could care in return for.. about Kouji, too, no.. especally about Kouji, that young boy who had truly grown close to her enough to be like a real sibling. Doing all sorts of crazy actions and even going out of her way just to try and make him happy, make him smile, to protect him the way an older sister would.. Yeah, that's what she had been doing, even if she had denied it to herself at times.

But right now.. those feelings were already all lost. There was only the witch, who could no longer be reached by words. The only thing that was left was sheer witch instinct to kill, and unless she would be taken out now she would definitely go and kill as much people as she could, even if Kyouko herself wouldn't have wanted that. She was different now.

There was something different about that transformation too, though, the witch could sense that much. But her general instinct still told her to fight, so she wasn't about to back down - before the Digimon attacked, she already foolishly charged at him to attack hime first.

It was foolish- Mangagarurumon was quick and he had the ability of flight as well. When that witch came towards him he had maneuvered out of the way and soon he aimed his weapons at her. He aimed his longer weapon at him that could only be described as a Sniper Phantom and he unleashed a barrage of missiles towards the witch, flying around her and unloading every last bit of ammunition towards her.

He had to keep reminding himself that this wasn't Kyouko anymore, this wasn't someone he could laugh along with and tease, she was gone- he wouldn't be able to see her anymore. The very thought pained him but he had to keep going, he couldn't stop now- he was determined to finish her off for good and let her rest in peace.

After unleashed all the ammunition from his sniper, he had dropped that gun- letting the weapon fall to the floor. He still had his armor and his remaining Strike Phantom, he just wondered how much more the witch could take before she was finally destroyed.

The witch had practically left herself wide open for that attack. She had become so confident after her earlier beating on him that she just charged right ahead, but.. she hadn't counted on the missiles, and they all hit the witch one by one with much more power than before. If she would have been more careful and guarded instead of attacking, she could have defended against it, but like this it was too late. By the time the last ammo was fired, the witch couldn't take any more and the barrier slowly started to crumble down, familiars practically fading away into dust and the walls starting to tumble down.

But it wasn't just the barrier itself, the witch was also dying. The frontal direct attack had been too much for her, and the candle's fire started to grow larger and larger as if she was starting to burn herself up - and that was exactly what happened. The entire witch, including the horse, burst into flames with a bright light. But if he held on just long enough, if he managed to look into the light despite its brightness, then in the final moments of the burning witch he might almost have seen Kyouko again. Just for a moment it was like it was Kyouko sitting on the horse, in the middle of the flames, her hair just one big flame as well and wearing the exact traditional dress the witch had been wearing too.. And she was crying. The tears were rolling down her face, and not from the physical pain of the fire or whatever, since it was more a vision in the witch's dying moments. No, she was crying for everything she could have had but didn't, for everything she ever came close to.. and she smiled even in the middle of those tears at him, nodding as if she was thanking him, for this, for everything.

Edited 2012-03-12 20:23 (UTC)

But it was nothing more than a vision of a split second, and then the bright light became too bright for anyone at all to look into. When the light faded away, he was just standing in the alley again where Kyouko had sat before.. but now the girl was gone. Well, not fully, but.. all that was left was her body lying on the ground, slightly ruffled but otherwise looking completely fine aside from the fact that she was dead. Next to her on the ground was a small black sphere - the Grief Seed, her Grief Seed. The thing her Soul Gem had turned into.

If he would bother to look more closely at her though, it was almost as if, even in death, even though there wasn't a soul in her body left.. she was smiling, just a little, since in her final moments she finally got to have what she never did before. Something-- no, someone to care for. Someone who cared for her.

A new family.

He saw it. For the briefest of moments he saw her.... sitting atop that horse and crying- but she looked at him with a smile that told him she was thankful for what he did. He had defeated her and everything had disappeared- when the barrier dropped he too reverted back to being a human, his Digimon form much too large to stay in that alley. Kouji glanced down, looking at her body as it lay on the floor.

For a moment he was still, completely frozen, his expression hadn't changed from that hardened gaze- looking almost like he did back when he first joined the community, someone who was rude and didn't talk much. He had grown up a lot since that first day, and he wanted to grow more... along with her, along with his sister.

Suddenly all the emotions he had been holding in flooded back to him and he felt his knees grow weak. Kouji's knees hit the ground and he just continued to stare... it was like the world around him was gone and the only thing he was focused on was her, Kyouko's body as it lay completely still. Slowly he crawled over to her, looking her up and down. She looked completely fine, but he knew she wasn't just asleep.. there was no way... he reached out to her and touched her face, noting it was still warm under his touch.

"Nee-chan..." and the tears started to fall yet again. He wanted to hold them back and be strong for her, but it was useless- he couldn't... he couldn't be strong right now... Kouji reached down to her body and picked up her upper half, holding her against him as he cried, "Kyouko...!"

She was gone, she had left him... just when he felt like he was becoming closer and allowing people into his heart this had to happen. This was exactly why he never let anyone in, he never dropped that barrier of his since he always just got hurt. He was too soft- much too soft... he vowed he would close his heart again, not even letting Kouichi in. No, if he lost Kouichi too he wouldn't be able to handle it. He would stay with his brother but never let him get close enough... never wanting to be hurt again...

Kouji cried as he held her, his cries falling on deaf ears- for the only one he wanted to hear him was now dead.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

this musebox's name is so appropriate

lmao we only rp angst that's why

LMFAO EXACTLY wingless should just be embedded on all of our musebox pages

PUKES BLOOD

GOD KOZ ON MY SHOES

i read that as kouji on my shoes

why is kouji on my shoes

lays on her shoes

IS HE A PUPPY TOO NOW?!

HE'S A WOLF SO YES

o-oh, come on, lil wolf bro.. ;;

howls owo

fgkfjghkdf THAT MENTAL IMAGE IS STRANGELY ADORABLE..

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