-Chapter 39-

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<Digital World Piximon Pocket Dimension> <POV - Tai>

 I shut the door hard grumbling to myself angrily. No one seemed to truly understand the danger everyone was putting themselves in by wanting to use the Emblems to fight Etemon.

 Lost in my insults and complaints, I didn't realize that I had wandered away from the house at some point to find myself in front of a crystal clear lake.

Honestly the beautiful view of the lake surprised me for a moment before I frowned and got close enough to the lake to see my own reflection. I watched myself for a moment before letting out a sigh and sitting on the edge of the lake.

"Stupid Mimi... stupid Emblem... stupid... stupid everything..." I muttered in frustration as I picked up a small stone and threw it against the lake water making it flutter several times until it finally sank to the bottom of the lake.

Despite wanting to just forget about that silly argument my mind always went back to it going over it again and again.

'They didn't see that I simply wanted to keep them safe?'

'Don't they realize the consequences of using the Emblems?'

'Maybe I'm the only one who hasn't lost my mind...'

I continued to throw stones into the lake as I felt the heat of anger slowly but surely fade away.....

... until a familiar voice interrupted my time of peace.

"The others are already on their way to the Pyramid, pi!"

Startled by the voice, I quickly looked back to see Piximon's usual mischievous sneer on his face, I quickly scowled at him as he let out an irate snort. "So what?"

"Just thought you needed to know, pi" Piximon replied with a casual gesture as he approached my position.

We both remained silent as we watched the stone bounce four times before sinking into the lake with a splash.

"You know... the Emblems have a rather curious history surrounding them, pi" Piximon spoke with a strangely serene tone that didn't suit him at all. Unlike before, where the mischievous fairy teased everyone, Piximon remained completely expressionless as he landed next to me staring at me before shifting his gaze to the large lake.

I raised an eyebrow in his direction before letting out a snort and throwing another stone into the lake, I wasn't interested in some silly ancient story or whatever.

"I'm not interested, leave"

I already felt foolish for believing Gennai and his silly story of ancient powers or whatever. I wasn't going to listen to another silly story.

"A long, long time ago the Digital World was involved in a huge catastrophe that affected the entire World as a whole" If the fairy noticed my annoyance, he didn't seem to mind as he spoke in a strangely serious but nostalgic tone at the same time. "The catastrophe was so brutal that several continents were completely wiped off the map and others simply appeared as a consequence of the great powers that fought in that catastrophe."

"...What kind of catastrophe was that?" I asked with disdain as I looked at Piximon with narrowed eyes. "You're not just making up something random are you? Like, making up a story to make me think or something?"

At my scoff, Piximon looked at me with a frown. "I wouldn't joke about this, pi. Although well, this event as such doesn't possess a name, but the few Digimons who know of its existence call it 'The Cataclysm'"

For some reason, just hearing that name caused an uncomfortable feeling in my stomach as I felt the hairs on my body stand up briefly. I couldn't describe the feeling exactly, but I knew Piximon was completely serious right now.

And for better or worse, the little fairy had already gotten my attention.

"It was a huge war between the ancient rulers of the old Digital World -the Sacred Digimons- and the Dark Digimons" Piximon narrated with a slight wry smile on his face, I couldn't help but think of the typical story of good and evil where the good guys always win and the bad guys barely survive the power of friendship. "I don't know how this war went, but I know that 'The Cataclysm' started because of a clash of ideals between God and the Son of God-"

"Wait, wait, wait, God is real? Like real, real?" I interrupted Piximon's story with a quick wave of my hands as my head went blank for a brief moment. "Like Jesus, Zeus, Krat-"

"I don't know who they are...but I'm not talking about the Gods of your World" Piximon let out a chuckle looking at me mockingly before looking up at the sky.

Piximon raised his little hand pointing towards the sky with his finger.

"I mean our God... Yggdrasil, The Creator"

Suddenly, Piximon's hand clenched into a fist before lowering it and looking back at me.

"And Lucemon, the Son of God"

"Oh" I let out a small surprised and embarrassed noise before giving him a small gesture to continue.

Staring at me for a moment, Piximon coughed into his fist before continuing. "From what little is known, Lucemon had an argument with Yggdrasil over the latter's treatment of 'Mortal Digimon'. That is to say, to Digimons that were not Sacred. Lucemon was proposing that they use their powers to help the Mortal Digimons achieve new Digievolutions so that everyone would have a good life. However, Yggdrasil refused time and time again saying that they would only make them dependent on his blessings and that it went against the evolutionary philosophy of the Digimon and the nature of the World itself."

Piximon let out a thoughtful hum before shaking his head, as if he was imagining the scene in his head but failing miserably. "In the end, Lucemon didn't listen to his Father and secretly went to help the Mortal Digimon by blessing them and helping them with his holy powers to reach new heights."

Piximon paused for a moment as he seemed hesitant to continue the story.

I meanwhile, was grateful for the small moment of pause as I organized my head with each piece of information Piximon had given me. To my annoyance, I didn't have Izzy's near perfect memory or Noah's uncanny intelligence despite being a slob so it took me a while to digest it all.

But there was one question I had been asking myself during Piximon's story.

'What do the Emblems have to do with Lucemon and this cataclysm?'

"So... Lucemon is good, right?" I asked hesitantly as I looked confusedly at Piximon, for some reason I felt as if this topic was much more complex than Piximon let on at first glance.

I felt like I was responding with anything to my history teacher.

But to my relief, the little Digimon nodded before grimacing. "Yes, he was good and meant well... but for all the wisdom he possessed, he was very naive."

I tilted my head to the side as I frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"

"One day Lucemon was betrayed by the Digimons he so blessed" Piximon explained with a small frown on his face. "I don't know the reason for the betrayal, but it's not hard to guess knowing the most basic nature of Digimons is it?"

"...They wanted their powers for themselves..." I let out a mumble as I grimaced uncomfortably, a strange feeling of apprehension rose from my stomach to my chest before quickly fading away.

"Exactly, pi! Upon realizing the betrayal, Lucemon slaughtered each and every Digimon he blessed, leaving not a single one alive" Piximon nodded with an uncomfortable smile on his face. I could sense that he was deliberately avoiding that part of the story, but I honestly didn't want to go into details about an extermination of some Digimons. "In the end, Yggdrasil found out what his son had done behind his back and condemned Lucemon to be punished for going against the word of God"

"And this is where it all gets confusing. It's not known if it was because of the punishment, or if he thought his own father also betrayed him or something else. But Lucemon let himself be seduced by the darkness of his sins and his impure desires, which made him make the decision to... betray his father."

I blinked twice before opening my eyes like saucers. "What..."

Piximon looked at me sympathetically as he smiled mischievously before coughing into his fist. "Like I said, not much is known about what happened during the conflict since there aren't many Digimon that old or that survived in the first place. But there are a few things I know for sure that happened during 'The Cataclysm'."

"The first was the Birth of the Seven Demon Lords. The second was the appearance of the Ten Legendary Warriors" Piximon enumerated with a wave of his fingers. "And the last one... was the Fall of the Order of God."

At the last important name, I couldn't help but look at him suspiciously as a small conclusion came to my head. "The Fall of- Wait a minute! So Yggdrasil lost?!"

"Mnnn... it's hard to say" Piximon replied with a contemplative hum, as if he couldn't measure the gains from the losses. "The conflict had escalated so much that no matter who won or lost, the World both sides were fighting for was long gone."

"But if I had to bet I'd say Yggdrasil's Side won, since even after 'The Cataclysm' there remained ancient beings like the Four Sacred Beasts, a few surviving Sacred Digimons or simply reborn again. Also, that nothing has been heard about Lucemon, the Demon Lords or the Nightmare Legion in a long, long time. So quite likely they are dead."

Hearing Piximon's statement, I couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief for some unknown reason. Throughout the whole story I felt strangely tense and uncomfortable, I didn't even realize at what point I had leaned towards Piximon.

"I-I see..." I muttered as I scratched my head. "But where does my Emblem come into all this?"

"Oh right! Pi!" Piximon let out an embarrassed squeal before coughing noisily, blatantly ignoring my blank stare. "Ahem!... During 'The Cataclysm', 10 Legendary Warriors emerged who stood up to Lucemon and his army. These Legendary Warriors were of vital importance during 'The Cataclysm' as they faced Lucemon and the other Demon Lords directly!"

"Woah..." I couldn't help but let out an astonished whistle, if Lucemon was as powerful as Piximon says, then for those Digimons to stand up to him was a real feat.

"Sadly, at some point in the conflict all the Legendary Warriors would eventually die at the hands of Lucemon's forces or perhaps Lucemon himself" Regret and sadness echoed in Piximon's voice as his gaze remained fixed on the crystal clear water of the lake.

The fairy stared silently at her own reflection in the water before shaking her head and turning her head to look at me with a mysterious smile. "However, their legacies live on to this day. When the Legendary Warriors were killed, their remaining Data were taken by Yggdrasil and, along with Yggdrasil's powers, were transformed into incredible artifacts of great power to be carried by future Chosen Children."

"Oh- Huh?" Suddenly a brief but obvious thought crossed my mind. "W-Wait... so the Emblems-"

"That's right! Pi!" Piximon nodded with a mischievous grin before floating up to my eye level and giving me a meaningful look. "Each Emblem possesses a bit of the power of one of the Legendary Warriors. In your case, The Emblem of Courage was forged from the Fire Warrior Data."

I absentmindedly pulled the Emblem out of my pocket to look at it more closely. Inside what appeared to be some sort of necklace, was a small grayish orange tablet with a small drawing of a sun.

...Death... Nail...

I gritted my teeth hard as the vivid memory of being a few feet away from death popped into my head.

"But then why did Agumon transform into that thing?" I couldn't help but ask aloud as I clenched the Emblem tightly in my hand, I couldn't quite grasp it. "I've faced hundreds of Digimons, Devimon, Etemon's minions... so why-"

Piximon let out a sigh, breaking my monologue, before rising up and sitting on my head without asking my permission. For some reason I was surprised I could barely feel Piximon's weight on my head.

"Courage isn't just about facing everything head on, it's about the fact that despite the odds you can still stand up and inspire others to keep fighting, pi. That despite the horrible situation you keep fighting without giving in to your fears" Piximon explained with a strange wise tone that didn't suit him at all. Still, I listened carefully to Piximon's words attentively.

"You have to be like a flame Tai, always looking to burn to stay strong no matter if it rains or not, pi."

'Like a flame...' I muttered in my head as I looked at my Emblem again, I felt my head spinning going over Piximon's words.

A distant memory came into my head, it was from a long time ago when I was barely five years old.

During my birthday my grandparents gave me a small light blue bicycle with little wheels on the sides for me to play with.

I remembered playing with that same bike for months on end. Unconsciously a nostalgic smile crept across my face, even though it wasn't a soccer ball or a video game I had a special affection for that bike.

However, one day I decided to try riding the bike without the wheels as I had seen a couple of kids ride without wheels.

I remembered falling over and over again, scraping my knees and feet countless times, only to cry from the slight pain in mom's arms. But all those injuries and falls were worth it when I finally managed to ride a bike on my own.

I didn't even notice the silly smile that formed on my face at that moment just remembering that silly bike. I shook my head to focus back on the Emblem.

'Never stop burning huh?...'

I let out a wryly frustrated sigh. As much as I wanted to deny it, Mimi was right.

'What have I been doing the last day?'

'What have I been doing to help Agumon?'

'Am I really going to back out over a simple mistake?'

'I'm going to leave Agumon to his fate because of a simple fall?'

'No, I'm better than that!'

Squeezing hard on Emblem, I jumped up causing Piximon to let out without a surprised and frightened shriek.

"Don't you ever do that again! Pi!" Exclaimed the fairy in annoyance as it flew around me with a scowl.

"Piximon!" I spoke forcefully looking the directly into the fairy's eyes with determination, I didn't notice how the Emblem glow returned to its original color nor did I notice the small smile Piximon was giving me.

"I need your help."

Piximon blinked twice before laughing gleefully. "Hihihi... count on it! Pi!"

My mind had only one goal in mind: I want my Companion back!

...

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A/N: Sorry for the delay, I was without internet for a damn week. No promises but to make up for that I'll try to get another chapter out tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, in other news, I already have an AO3 account where I'll be uploading this same FF (now I just have to figure out how AO3 works) although I won't be posting it all at once, but one chapter a week until we get to where we are here. That's all I think, have a nice day and thanks for reading!

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