Digimon Adventure Tri: Echo

50) Where the Stars Glow

Hikari didn't want to be there. 

That felt like the most obvious thing in the world though; of course she didn't want to be there. Everything had fallen so far out of her control that she couldn't even say that she resembled what it was that she was going for, and her throat felt like it was going to completely close up on her and try to drown her once and for all if she allowed herself to think much more about what was taking place just in front of her. It felt like the world was ending, but somehow, she was the only one able to see such a fact as the truth. 

And yet, Hikari couldn't stop thinking about it all. How could she? Dagomon was right there, and she had felt as if she was staring death in the face for at least the fiftieth time, and it certainly wouldn't be the last time it happened either. Dagomon had raised his hand to attack the Chosen Children because he was trying to get to her. He hadn't explained anything as to his motivations, but it didn't matter in the slightest. Hiraku's message explaining everything had already told Hikari everything that she needed to know. Dagomon wanted her Crest of Light as a way of fusing the power that he had over darkness thanks to being the ruler of the Dark Ocean, and from there, he was going to use it to take over everything that he had lost when Daemon was still alive. 

Hikari didn't even realize that her arms were starting to wrap around her body until it was too late and her fingers were already starting to dig into her arms. She felt as if everything was falling apart, and she didn't know how she was supposed to fend off this feeling of debilitating helplessness. Was it even possible? 

Hikari found herself staring down at the sand below, and her vision was in such a state of tunneling that she seemed to be able to block out the feet of her companions without putting in even an ounce of effort. That wasn't even factoring in the sounds of the battle nearby as the Digimon fought with everything they had even in their weakened conditions. Everything was falling apart so steadily, and in some way or another, Hikari couldn't help but feel like it was all her fault. How could it not be? She was the one that Dagomon was after, so this had to be on her shoulders. There were no other explanations. 

Hikari's fingers were starting to dig into her arms to the point of forming small crescents where her nails had made such rough contact with her skin. Nothing else seemed to matter aside from the fact that Dagomon was there for her. The Digimon were starting to make significant headway against the Deep Ones at long last, but none of that mattered compared to everything that was going on in the back of Hikari's mind. 

She had been so out of it that she didn't even notice the fact that there were hands on her shoulders until a few moments after they had arrived there. Hikari's eyes went wide as she slowly shifted her attention upwards to where Miyako was standing in front of her, watching her with intensity and a pleading gaze that seemed to be praying for Hikari to listen to her for just a few moments longer. Hikari could only hear the distant sounds of the waves hitting the shore, the same gentle static that had lived in her nightmares so many years prior when the Dark Ocean first entered her life all that time ago.

"We need to talk," Miyako said firmly, her words just as rough and haphazard as they always had been when she was overwhelmed and didn't know what to do. Miyako's anxiety was all Hikari's fault, wasn't it? She was the reason that this was happening, and if she was responsible for Dagomon's attack, then she was the reason behind Miyako being so terrified too. That was just the natural order of things, wasn't it? 

"I-I don't--" Hikari tried to say, but she wasn't able to push the rest of the sentence out from between her lips no matter how hard she tried. The thickness in the back of her throat was growing worse, and she wondered vaguely if there were tears in her eyes. Deep down though, she already knew the answer.