“Everybody just calm down!” Daisuke had to shout to be heard over the angry shouts of the Frigimon and the roars of the Mammothmon. “We can explain everything!”
“Just let them yell, Daisuke.” Ken’s voice was quiet, yet it managed to attract everyone’s attention. The Chosen Children had been destroying control spires up in the frozen northern lands of the Digital World when they ran into a group of Digimon who were not about to believe that the Kaiser had given up his plan of conquest.
“We don’t want to hurt you, Chosen Children,” one of the Frigimon said. “But we will if you don’t give him to us. The Kaiser must pay for his crimes against the Digital World.”
“Just leave him alone already!” Miyako added her voice to Daisuke’s. She pushed Ken back a little, making it harder for the angry Digimon to reach him. The group had been taking shelter from the cold in a cave when the Frigimon and Mammothmon had arrived, and they still stood in the mouth of the cave, trying to form a living barrier between Ken and the Digimon. “Ken’s only trying to help you!”
“How do we know that?” demanded one of the Mammothmon. “Maybe it’s just an underhanded trick. He may have clouded your minds, but we will not be swayed so easily.”
“Ken’s not clouding our minds,” Takeru stated. “Can’t you see that he’s truly sorry for what he’s done?”
“And you have no right to hurt him,” added Hikari. “That would make you just as bad as he was.”
“I agree,” put in Iori. “Besides, he’s unarmed and smaller than you. My grandfather always told me that it’s unfair to offer combat to an obviously disadvantaged opponent.”
“So just leave him alone and let us deal with it!” Daisuke proclaimed.
“I don’t believe you!” another Frigimon shouted. “He brought pain and suffering to us all. Do you truly expect us to believe that one so evil could ever be reclaimed?”
“It’s the truth!” Wormmon bounded forward, standing near Daisuke and glancing protectively back at Ken. “I know Ken-chan. He wouldn’t hurt anyone, not now.”
“Ha! And we’re supposed to take your word over theirs?” laughed a Mammothmon. “The entire Digital World knows that you are his loyal servant, a slave to his will. You believe whatever he wants you to believe.”
“It isn’t like that!” Wormmon said raggedly, obviously upset. V-mon walked over and stood beside him, offering silent comfort. “I--”
“Don’t waste your breath, Wormmon,” Ken said flatly. He raised his eyes and looked straight at the Mammothmon who had spoken. The Digimon flinched at his gaze, and Ken almost imperceptibly winced. “They’ll believe.....whatever they want to believe. Let them have me.”
“Don’t be stupid, Ken!” Daisuke whirled to face him. “We’re not giving you up to a bunch of vengeance-crazed Digimon!”
“I’m sure they’ll see reason once we talk to them,” Hikari added encouragingly.
“It doesn’t matter.” Ken shook his head. “They have a point. Reformation or not, to them I’m still a criminal. And a criminal deserves punishment, doesn’t he? Let them have me.”
“We’re not going to and that’s final!” Daisuke stamped a foot in irritation. “Dammit, Ken, stop beating yourself up already! You’ve already paid for your crimes a hundred times over. It’s time we all just moved on.”
“We don’t want to move on,” growled one Frigimon. “We want vengeance! A price will be paid for our pain! Subzero ice punch!”
The attack flew over the heads of the Chosen Children and their Digimon, hitting the roof of the cave. It began to crumble, large chunks of rock and ice plummeting to the ground. Immediately the Chosen Children tried to move out of the way of the falling debris, but Ken, who had been situated farther from the opening as a precaution, was forced to stumble backwards to avoid being hit.
The Frigimon attacked again, nearly collapsing the cave. Daisuke and the others stood safely out of the way of the cave mouth, but Ken was still in the thick of things.
“Ken-chan!”
“Ken!”
Wormmon and Daisuke both ran back towards the mouth of the cave, but just before they could reach it, the entrance became blocked completely by ice and rock.
“Ken-chan!” Wormmon pressed up against the ice, as if it would collapse under his weight and let him in. “Ken-chan!”
“We need to start clearing this stuff away,” Daisuke said, turning to the others. They nodded as Daisuke reached for his D-3.
You’d better be okay, Ken, he thought darkly as he prepared to use the Digimetal of Courage.
It was silent and dark inside the cave. Ken staggered towards the crumbled remains of the cave mouth, looking helplessly in the general direction of the chunks of ice which blocked the light and littered the path in front of him. One hand was pressed to his head, where a falling piece of rock had created a gash on his forehead. The hand was already covered with blood.
“Daisuke?” he ventured. “Wormmon? Can you hear me?”
There was no answer, and Ken shook his head. He knew that they would surely be trying to free him, and for the moment there was nothing to do but wait. He felt his way forward, trying to see in the darkness. He took a few hesitant steps forward before tripping over something and crashing to the ground.
“Ittai...” Ken levered himself up onto his knees, which stung where he had banged them on the ground. His palms were ice cold from the moment they touched the ground, and he was shivering slightly. He felt the area around him and was surprised when his hands closed around something too smooth to be a rock and not quite cold enough to be ice.
Bereft of his eyesight, Ken ran his hands along the object. It appeared to be some sort of bottle, with a round bottom and a thin neck. Ken’s fingers ran up the neck of the bottle, touching the stopper, which felt curiously warm. Wondering idly what might be inside, he pulled out the stopper.
The world suddenly exploded in a light so intense that Ken was knocked onto his side by the force of it. He lay there for a few moments, his brain fuzzy and somewhat addled from the combination of the odd light and the blow to the head. Finally he found the strength to sit up and face whatever it was that had knocked him over.
“Who has freed Djinnmon from his ten-thousand year imprisonment?” boomed an unfamiliar voice.
“Djinnmon?” The creature in front of Ken did indeed resemble the genies from old storybooks. He was glowing red, with a wide chest, crossed arms, and a small ponytail of hair. Ken was suddenly quite certain that he was hallucinating.
“Indeed, that is my name.” The Digimon bowed. “Thou hast freed me from where I was imprisoned in that dreadful bottle. Thus, I shall grant thee one wish.”
“I have the strangest hallucinations,” Ken muttered, pressing his hand once more against his forehead.
“I assure thee that I am not a hallucination,” Djinnmon told him, looking somewhat annoyed.
“Prove it,” Ken said darkly.
“Thou art toying with me!” Djinnmon sounded shocked. “Thou so darest to taunt he who has offered thee a wish?”
“I thought genies granted three wishes,” Ken pointed out.
“I know not of this ‘genie’ thou speakest of,” Djinnmon replied. “I am Djinnmon, and I grant but one wish. Dost that offend thou, perhaps?”
“No, not at all,” Ken assured him. “It’s just....well, that’s awfully cheap, isn’t it?”
“Cheap?” Djinnmon looked mortified.
“Well, maybe not cheap,” Ken hastened to reply. “But....I mean, you were imprisoned for ten thousand years. That’s a long time. I would think you’d be more grateful than to just give me one wish. Not that I mind,” he added, glancing at Djinnmon’s expression. The Digimon glowered at him, then seemed to think about it for a moment.
“Very well,” he said after a pause. “Thou hast a point. Ten thousand years is very long. Thus I will add this to my gift. Thou mayst wish and I shall give thee ten days to see if thy wish is truly what thou desirest.”
“You mean my wish might have consequences?” Ken’s brow furrowed. He hadn’t thought of that.
“It depends on what thou wishes,” Djinnmon said gravely. “What is thy wish?”
Ken didn’t even need to think about it. Immediately, he replied,
“I wish that my brother, Osamu, was still alive.”
“It shall be granted.” Djinnmon created out of a thin air a necklace containing a single green jewel. He handed it to Ken. “After thy ten days is up, shouldst thou decide to remain in the world of thy wish, break this gem and all will remain fixed in time. Shouldst thy wish change, then at all costs the jewel must remain unbroken.”
“I understand.” Ken gravely placed the jewel around his neck. as Djinnmon waved a hand and magic light surrounded Ken.
It will be worth it, he thought, pulse quickening in anticipation. Worth it to see Osamu again, just once.
The light surrounding Ken grew brighter, and he was forced to close his eyes. As if from far away, he heard Djinnmon chanting, though he could not make out the words. Wind swirled up around him, tousling his inky hair and causing it to whip almost painfully against his cheeks. The jewel around his neck began to burn with such intensity that Ken nearly cried out, but he managed to bite his lip and swallow the cry in fear of messing up whatever spell Djinnmon was casting.
The shrieking of the wind grew louder and the light grew brighter; Djinnmon’s chanting rose in pitch and Ken felt as if all his senses were being overloaded. All of a sudden he felt dizzy and sick and thought that he must surely collapse. As his legs slid out limply from under him, there was a bang and a flash of light as the world exploded before all became silent and dark and Ken hit the ground, feeling nothing at all....
“Ken! Hey, Ken, you okay?”
My head hurts. That was Ken’s first conscious thought as feeling returned. Slowly warmth spread to his numb joints and limbs, and his brow furrowed in sudden pain. With feeling returned memory, and with memory, fear.
“Ken!”
Ken’s eyes fluttered, but didn’t open. He was afraid to open them.
What will I see? Ken wondered timidly. Will I open my eyes and find that I really was hallucinating? I’ll be sitting in a hospital bed with bandages around my head, or I’ll be lying on the ground in the Digital World with everyone clustered around me. Wormmon will be crawling all over me, checking me over and acting like a mother hen. Daisuke will glower at me and threaten to do me bodily harm if I ever scare him like that again, and I’ll smile sheepishly and he’ll laugh.
Or will I....will I...
“Ken! Wake up, c’mon!”
Will I see....
“Ken!”
Will I see Osamu?
Hesitantly, Ken’s eyes opened and focused on the face in front of him. Violet-gray eyes, framed by wire-rimmed glasses, spiky light black hair in a style not unlike the Digimon Kaiser’s, a concerned face; a little older but nonetheless one that Ken knew by heart, for it was in his most pleasant dreams and haunted his deepest nightmares.
“Osamu-chan!” As Osamu started in obvious confusion and surprise, Ken flung his arms about his brother’s neck and burst into tears.