Frontiers Unexplored

53) Yin and Yang

Takuya had seen too many flashes of consolidated white data to properly count, and he couldn't help but wince as yet another egg appeared in his field of vision. They had been moving towards the Dark Heart of the Digital World for a few minutes, but everything had already gone terribly wrong. Takuya felt as if anything that was left in his chest had been torn out and then stomped on without any sense of mercy. 

The three moons had crumbled not long ago. Takuya had watched with wide, stunned eyes alongside the rest of his companions as Rubrum, Caeruleum, and Flavo all disappeared from view, sucked towards the Dark Heart without a moment of hesitation. Eggs had started to swarm after Flavo vanished, and Takuya felt his heart snap in half. He prayed that Swanmon was alright, but there was something deep inside of him that said Lucemon's actions had already caused too much damage for her to escape. 

Without any place to return to, the eggs of the Digimon who had perished in the suction of the Digital World were left to float aimlessly in space. None were drawn in by the gravity of the Dark Heart due to how far away they were, and the core of the Digital World was simply too small to pull anything too close. The horizon was dark aside from the presence of the Light Heart, and Takuya couldn't help but feel sick as he realized just how endless the vast expanse of space was. He could see nothing but purple and blue swirling with the blackness as far as his vision could reach, and it was absolutely petrifying. 

"We're here," came Saki's voice, cutting through Takuya's silent trance. He turned towards them and saw that the Dark Heart had grown far closer than it had been before. The surface was constantly shifting with an ominous sense of terror that struck Takuya to his core. There was a single flashing light on the far left side of the Dark Heart, but it was too far away for Takuya to properly identify it. He decided to not bother, and his attention had been pulled away from it the instant that he focused on the Dark Heart itself again a few moments later. 

"How are we going to get inside?" Izumi questioned. "The Dark Heart looks awfully solid, and I don't know if we're going to be able to break through that... I don't think it would be a good idea for us to wait until Lucemon breaks out of there himself, but..." Her voice trailed off, and Takuya saw her arms snaking around her stomach. She seemed far paler than usual all of a sudden, and he glanced away to keep his own nerves from getting worse. 

"The Digital World isn't keeping the Dark Heart stable anymore. If we breach the surface with our current cube of energy, we should be able to get inside," Saki explained. "That's what I'm hoping for, at the very least. I agree that it would be a poor plan on our part to leave Lucemon unattended until he breaks through the barrier, so we'll just have to take the fight to him. That would put us in the advantageous position anyways."

Takuya nodded to himself, and he reached out to touch the cube's surface. The energy had been warm and refreshing up until then, a gentle filter that kept out the terrors of the outside world, but the face of the shape that was closest to the Dark Heart had gone eerily cold. It was a chill that sunk deep into his bones, breaking through the natural heat that he gave off as a result of his element. For the first time since arriving in the Digital World, he felt cold, and he absolutely hated it. 

The cube moved forward, and Takuya's hand found his D-Tector once again. They were so close to Lucemon. Part of him could sense the presence of their foe, and it was nauseating in a way that he hadn't anticipated. That didn't mean that he was going to back down, but it was still upsetting. He had made up his mind quite some time ago, and Takuya refused to surrender no matter what happened. He simply wished that the battlefield was in a more favorable location. 

The Celestial Three ducked into the cube, managing to pass through weak spots in the barrier that Takuya hadn't even realized were present. They pressed on once again, and the surface of the shape brushed against the Dark Heart. It appeared that the core of the Digital World was made of a liquid of some sorts, and it parted for the group as they began to move through its writhing outer layer.