Chapter 2 : File Island (1/2)

小説 デジモンアドベンチャー〈1〉

いま、冒険がはじまる

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Chapter 2; File Island

① Black Gears

The only certain thing he knew was that they were not in an amus.e.m.e.nt park. It was now almost a week since they had arrived in this strange place and they had traveled for miles without finding an exit. If this expansive area really was a theme park, Kous.h.i.+ro was sure that he would have at least heard about it on the news.

Feeling Kous.h.i.+ro’s gaze, Tentomon looked back at him curiously with his green stare. “What’s the matter, Kous.h.i.+ro-han? Is there something on my face?”

A large ladybug that he could wrap his arms around. Not only that, but Tentomon spoke in Kansai dialect and he could change into a larger being just like how Agumon became Greymon. How could these beings do that, and what prompted them to come into existence in the first place?

However, perhaps because maintaining that form used up a lot of energy, Tentomon returned to his former size after his battles. For reasons that could not be explained, Tentomon would not degenerate further into his smaller form, Motimon. This held true for the rest of their Digimon.

“I wonder why it’s called ‘evolution,'” Kous.h.i.+ro mused, voicing his thoughts to Tentomon this time. “I mean, evolution normally consists of an entire species changing slowly over a long period of time. The changes that you and your friends undergo are more like a transformation. You each transform into something too enormous to be an evolution.”

As they walked, Kous.h.i.+ro asked Tentomon many things about this region and about Digimon. While doing so, he couldn’t help but feel a slight self-derision snorting at him in the back of his mind. Never before had he talked so much to a stranger, even if that stranger wasn’t a human being.

Especially not when he didn’t even know who in the world he was.

Taichi Yagami was one of the few exceptions. Because their school curriculum had a physical education requirement, Kous.h.i.+ro was forced to choose a club. It was a mere coincidence that he chose the soccer club. He wouldn’t have to face people one-on-one if he was in a club emphasizing teamwork rather than individual achievement, and the positions in soccer appeared more vague than they were in baseball. He felt that in the soccer club, he wouldn’t have to go out of his way to engage with other people.

If Taichi hadn’t invited him, Kous.h.i.+ro was sure that he would have never gone to summer camp.

They walked while keeping the steep tower of a mountain the Digimon called “Infinity Mountain” on their right and the ocean on their left. The direction of the sun had changed during their journey, so they knew they had been circling the island: That is, if this place really was an island. If they a.s.sumed that the sun rose from the east, than they should be at the northernmost part of the island right now. As if the land wanted to give physical proof, the temperature had dropped greatly and they came to an area covered in snow. They had only walked several days from the beach, which they had believed was on the south coast, to reach a snowfield. Did such an area ever exist on Earth?

Only Mimi and Takeru, because they wore slightly thicker clothes, rejoiced as they played within the snow. The plant Digimon, Palmon (who was as big as a baby and could walk on two legs) as well as Patamon (a hamster the size of a cat, with large ears that flapped like wings but made him move slower than if he was walking) were with them. Palmon was Mimi’s Digimon, while Patamon was Takeru’s, and their personalities with their humans was very similar. In other words, both of them were like children without a thread of apprehension in them about their situation.

The emergency food supply that Jou was carrying had been eaten up long ago. Immediately after the incident with Sh.e.l.lmon had occurred, all of the food had been used up to nourish everyone.

The Digimon were very familiar with this kind of food and the children never had trouble having things to eat and drink every day. Of course, if they didn’t have their Digimon’s knowledge, they wouldn’t have learned of this so easily. Jou couldn’t exactly remember what he had gleaned from reading all of those young adult books on island survival, so he was secretly grateful to the Digimon for their help. But now…

Oh no, I’ve said too much. Before Jou’s conscience had time to catch up with his mouth and throttle it for being so harsh, Mimi began to cry.

Mimi continued to sob until they heard Sora shout that she had found food. It took the breath out of Sora’s lungs, to raise her voice loud enough to be heard over Mimi’s cries.

Even during dinner, Jou kept silent.

Bright sunlight shone through the opening of the cave they had slept in, showing that a new day had arrived. The snow that was piled up outside made things appear brighter than normal. As the seven children had burrowed deep inside the cave last night to huddle together from the cold, it didn’t take long before they realized that two of their comrades were missing.

Everyone’s eyes shot open at once. It was Sora who found the letter placed near the opening of the cave. A rock had been placed on top of it so the wind wouldn’t blow it away.

Infinity Mountain towered before their eyes from the snow field they were in now. Because it looked like a steep tower, it had appeared drastically tall, but now that they were closer to it, they could see that it wasn’t as high as they’d originally imagined. Even so, that didn’t mean it was an easy mountain for Jou and his small Digimon, who was yet unable to evolve, to climb successfully.

Whether he heard her or not, Taichi said, “Anyway, it’s dangerous to be up there alone. Let’s go help him. With Sora’s Digimon, me and Agumon can get there quick. You guys can catch up later.”

“Piyomon, evolve! Birdramon!” Sora’s pink-colored bird Digimon, Piyomon, always acted like a pampered child, but now she changed shape into a large and fierce fire bird Digimon.

Hanging, with Agumon, onto one of Birdramon’s legs as if he were riding a ski lift, Taichi looked behind him and yelled, “Well, Yamato, I’m counting on you to take care of them!”

Infinity Mountain loomed above their sights.

But in reality, the mountain incorporated a long, well-worn road all the way up to its apex, and it wasn’t impossible for even an elementary school grader to climb it. Gomamon jumped steadily alongside Jou. His white body was exactly like that of a seal, including his flippers, so his form didn’t appear as if it was well-suited for this rocky environment. However, he made no sound of a complaint as he climbed. In fact, he kept up making saucy comments like:

“You’re one to talk. I’ll leave you behind if you slown down,” Jou shot back, while silently thinking that he had never spoken so impudently like this towards friends in his cla.s.ses and in cram school. “Anyway, it’s great that it’s started to get warmer ever since we started climbing this mountain.”

The pair kept poking at each other all throughout their climb. Jou didn’t know it at this time, but the one thing that distracted him from feeling discouraged at climbing an unfamiliar mountain all on his own was Gomamon’s constant chatter.

A part of the mountainside split open without a sound.

Something black came rus.h.i.+ng out from inside, and the split closed silently once more. The seam could not be seen anywhere.

Gomamon noticed them first. “Hey, look.”

None of the children knew where the black gears had come from and what their purpose was, but now Jou said, “They flew over from this mountain…”

“I’m not stupid enough to wait for one of those things to stick me,” Gomamon said, answering the unspoken worry that Jou felt. He turned. “Well, let’s go, Jou! There’s still a long way ahead of us.”

A gear pierced through clouds as it flew at mid-height of the mountain. With a sharp turn, it punctured the back of a Digimon who was in the middle of descending from the skies — so hard that half of it stuck out from the Digimon’s body.

The black gears may not be made completely from some solid substance. The Digimon’s back gave no indication of a wound or even a spurt of blood. The only thing that changed was that the Digimon’s eyes (although one could only see gla.s.s because it was wearing something similar to a welding helmet) glowed with a strange light that looked very evil.

No matter how worn the mountain path was, it was still very steep. However, not even Mimi gave a peep of complaint — there was no mistake that all of them were thinking about Jou. Each of them was aware that they were the ones who had pushed him so far that he felt obliged to make the climb on his own.

“Look over there! Birdramon’s about to fall!” Takeru, who was ahead of them, screamed.

Among the gaps in the trees, they could see Greymon aim a ball of fire in the air above him. But the narrow mountain path was not wide enough for him to gain a foothold and support his large build.

Greymon lost his balance and fell.

As Greymon scrambled, he landed in a lower place that was much wider than before. It was there that they saw the fiery wings of Birdramon. Glowing, she became smaller and returned to Piyomon. She must have exhausted a colossal amount of energy to reach the mountain.

“Gab.u.mon, let’s go!” Yamato called out to his Digimon. When evolved, Gab.u.mon had enormous fighting strength but — at this, Yamato hesitated — he couldn’t fly. It wasn’t certain whether or not they would make it in time, and there wasn’t a chance he could leave Takeru and the others alone.

But there was still one problem. If Takeru was to be taken along with Yamato’s Digimon, Kous.h.i.+ro would have to bring Mimi and Palmon. This addition would greatly reduce Kabuterimon’s offensive ability. After all, that flying horse moved at a very slick speed. Kabuterimon wouldn’t be able to deal with it effectively if too many people were balanced on his head.

Mimi, who had been staring in blank amazement above her now raised her voice. “Ah! There’s Jou-senpai!”

“That’s too reckless!”

“He’s trying to take out the black gear!”

Now Gomamon leapt off the cliff. Light shot out from somewhere that the children couldn’t see, and when it reached Gomamon, the light radiated from inside him and he changed into a bigger shape.

“Ah! He shot out a horn!”

“He did it! Jou-san’s Digimon is so cool!”

As Takeru and the others rejoiced, they turned their gazes back to Jou to find a new horn had regrown on top of Ikkak.u.mon’s head. They couldn’t see Jou’s expression, being so far away, but they were sure that he, too, was wearing a joyous look on his face.

But by the time the children met up again, Jou was looking more depressed than they had ever seen him before. When Yamato’s group had finally rejoined the others at the summit, Jou was on his knees in the dirt.

The mountain peak was as wide as a gymnasium and they could see all of their surroundings from there: What they’d walked through as well as the opposite side of the mountain. No matter where they turned, the sea stretched endlessly towards the horizon. They could not find any continents or other lands out there.

“Anyway, we should climb down. There’s no way we can sleep here for the night,” Taichi said as he peered below him with his only possession, a mini-telescope. “Ah! There’s a house! It looks pretty big.”

“Oh, you don’t trust me, do you? I’m telling the truth. There, look.” The minute Taichi lifted the mini-telescope from his eye, he couldn’t find where the house was again.

He showed no signs of standing up. Both Takeru and Mimi hadn’t recovered from their climb up the mountain either. Agumon, Gomamon, and Piyomon were eating to refresh themselves after their battle.

“Gwehehehehe!”

“I’ve finally caught up with ya. You’re all dead!”

The sound it created was like an explosion. Hearing that sound, the children began to move for the first time.

They didn’t know what sort of guy the demon was, but they knew beyond a doubt that he was after them. Heading towards the opposite end of the summit, Sora shouted, “There’s a path over here!”

“Gab.u.mon, you can evolve anytime, right?!”

After running for only a little while, they saw Sora and the others had stopped ahead of them.

“It’s Leomon!” Seeing Takeru’s worried look beside him, Patamon fluttered his ears as he said comfortingly, “Don’t worry, Leomon is a Digimon of justice!”

So he wasn’t a human but a Digimon. What’s more, a good Digimon. Sora and the others smiled with relief…

The words were spoken in a low, withered voice, but Sora could hear him plainly. Pulling out his sword with an underhand grip, Leomon made a wide stance.

Speaking of which, the green demon was closing in on them from behind. There was no way to escape from the mountain. The sound of the club hitting rock again and a coa.r.s.e laugh could be heard behind them, while the Leomon in front began to advance towards them. Leomon’s sword gave off a dull glint. His pace was surprisingly slow.

“Agumon, evolve! Greymon!”

“Palmon, evolve! Togemon!”

“Gab.u.mon, evolve! Garurumon!”

“Gomamon, evolve! Ikkak.u.mon!”

With the odds of six against two, even Leomon and the green demon stopped walking. Each of the children’s Digimon was larger than the size of a human. Even the smallest of them all, Togemon, was twice as large as Leomon.

Greymon shot out fire, while Garurumon let fly a long spray of pale flames from his mouth. Birdramon spread her wings grandly, shooting out a number of smaller fireb.a.l.l.s. Ikkak.u.mon released a consecutive stream of explosive horns, while Kabuterimon formed a ball of strong electricity with his set of three legs before shooting it out. The rocks close to falling on them dissolved into fine pieces. One large piece that had escaped the barrage of attacks and was heading towards the children was deftly flown to bits with one rapid punch by Togemon. She was wearing bright red boxing gloves on her hands.

“Are they… gone?” Jou asked as he repositioned his gla.s.ses up his nose.

② The Deceptive Mansion

Night was approaching by the time they reached the foot of the mountain. Everyone thought they were lucky that Taichi had discovered the house within the forest. All of the children were bone-tired and even their Digimon, who never appeared to run out of energy (as long as there was enough food), seemed to be drooping on their feet after their evolutions.

Opening the heavy front door, they stepped into a large hallway lit brightly by a magnificent chandelier. That much was expected, but what caught them off-guard and made them rush restlessly to the dining hall was the smell of delicious food that floated towards them. After eating half-cooked barbecue and washed fruits day in and day out on the island, the freshly cooked food made their eyes widen. It was filled with platters that certainly “would not have looked out of place in a movie.”

What was most baffling was that, despite all of the preparations that must have gone into this warm reception, not a single human figure was in sight.

There were eight beds total in the large room on the third floor. The sheets were soft and clean, as if they had just been washed, and the beds were big enough for even an average adult to fit in them that each child and their respective Digimon climbed in together to sleep.

It was the first time since the seven children had arrived on this island that they had ever felt this comfortably satisfied. For a while after they burrowed under the covers, their cheerful conversations continued.

“I wonder how Mama and Papa are doing.”

“It’s been a week, hasn’t it? Since we’ve come here,” Taichi whispered.

“Well, we can’t be sure of that,” Kous.h.i.+ro said. “After all, this place is…”

“Yeah, I agree,” Jou said as he took off his gla.s.ses and placed them on his bedside. Not even Gomamon, or the other Digimon who had been laughing joyfully with them only moments before, could break the heavy silence.

Everyone heard Takeru murmur into his pillow. He might even be crying. That one word shut everyone’s mouths and they quietly pulled the covers over them.

As Taichi looked at the two blonds sleeping in separate beds next to him, he thought back to when they had arrived at the campgrounds. At first, he hadn’t known that these two were brothers. For as long as he’d known him, Taichi had always believed that Yamato was an only child. It was only after they had come to this island that he found out the younger boy unknown to him was Yamato’s brother.

Wait a minute. I think I once asked someone if Yamato had siblings, but they dodged the question. Was it Sora?

“Taichi…” Agumon whispered to him. “I have to go to the bathroom.”

They had to walk down the stairs to get to the bathrooms on the second floor.

“Geez, at least go to the bathroom by yourself,” Taichi grumbled, and he looked down the hallway.

“Huh?”

“Isn’t there supposed to be a picture of an angel there?”

“It’s pitch-black.”

He tried leaning over the corridor railing to get a better look but pulled back quickly in alarm. The railing had made a nasty creak under his weight, even though it was made of thick wood and looked stout. Why would it creak as if…?

His eyes grown accustomed to the dark, Taichi looked around to find that everything in the mansion was decaying. When the orange light of the evening sun had shone on it earlier, everything had seemed to glow… but now the entire place was covered in thick dust. He could even see the footprints they had left behind in the afternoon. It was as if hundreds of years had pa.s.sed ever since they had entered the bedroom.