Digimon Adventure Tri: Echo

35) Undeserving Kings

When did everything go so wrong?

Somehow, that was the one question on Ken's lips again and again each day. A week had passed since Daisuke was attacked, and it still felt as if everything was both barely real and all too real to Ken. The world was in a distorted stain glass box, but it was shoved into Ken's face at the same time. He couldn't figure out what it was he was supposed to feel, though he supposed that he wasn't meant to know the answer. Was he ever going to figure out what was going on? He didn't know, but he hoped that he did soon. 

Daemon's voice had only gotten louder. The barrier between Earth and the Dark Ocean had only grown thinner thanks to the official intrusion from Daemon and the Deep Ones a week prior, and that made it all too easy for Daemon to reach though and make sure that his voice was heard even while they were in different worlds. Daemon had been honing his abilities, and it seemed as if this was one of the newest tricks that he had up his sleeve. 

The nightmares were the same as ever too. Ken was used to hearing Daemon's voice, calling for the Dark Seed that was resting dormant in the base of his neck. He was just as used to Daemon narrating one of Ken's deepest traumas: the death of his brother. The anniversary of Osamu's death was steadily approaching, and while it had been years since his brother passed away, Ken still struggled at this same time every single year. He didn't know if it was ever going to get easier, but he sure as hell wasn't going to be recovering as long as Daemon was continuing to taunt him in the silent moments between major activities. 

Ken had darted home quickly as soon as school ended, and from there, it was just a matter of picking up Wormmon before heading out to the hospital. This had become part of his routine; he visited Daisuke when the chance arose, just as a way of soothing his concerns and fulfilling a desire to be around others. Ken had neglected to ask Takeru and Hikari if they wanted to join him; he needed a few moments alone before he crossed paths with Daisuke. He had to compose himself given that he felt like his heart was being clawed at and torn out of his chest again and again with each passing second. 

Once again, he asked when everything had gone so wrong. 

The answer was a complicated one. He couldn't pinpoint the exact moment where everything fell apart because there hadn't been just one point where his life began to descend into chaos. There had been groundwork being laid for ages, and this was just the time when he became intimately aware of what was going on in the back of his head. Ken did know for sure that he wanted it all to stop as soon as possible. He had seen more than enough, and he wanted the Dark Ocean to either freeze over or turn to steam on the wind. 

Of course, he said none of this as he reached for the doorknob to the hospital room. Wormmon was sitting on his shoulder, and nobody had bothered to ask why he was there as Ken entered the hospital again day after day. He was glad to not have to explain himself; he was tired enough as it was, and if there was any way for him to lessen the amount of activity he had to deal with, then he was going to take advantage of it. 

"Ken!" Daisuke exclaimed once the door was opened in full. He was sitting in the same position that he had been the day before, waving enthusiastically with a smile that was so completely Daisuke in almost every way. The small changes were the parts that scared Ken the most; the differences were still there whether he wanted to admit it or not, and he hated that Daisuke was being put in this position in the first place. Veemon was sitting in a chair beside Daisuke, and his grin was almost perfect in every way with just a few cracks at the corner. Once again, Ken hated it. 

"How are you feeling?" Ken questioned. He shut the door behind himself and sat down in the other chair in the room. Wormmon shifted to rest on his thighs rather than his shoulders, watching Daisuke with his wide and curious eyes.