Frontiers Unexplored

41) Rebirth of Light

Takuya has long since lost track of the passage of time when the Trailmon finally slid to a stop. He felt the movements around him slow, and he managed to pry himself away from slumber with a little bit of effort. He still felt absolutely dreadful, but the added rest had helped him an unprecedented amount. When Takuya tried to rise to his feet, he actually felt as if he would be able to support his own weight. His eyes were still droopy and heavy, but he was still more than willing to accept the fact that he could stand at all as an overwhelming positive. 

Takuya walked out of the Trailmon slowly alongside the rest of the group. Hinoka and Yumiko both walked to the front of the train to give the Digimon their thanks and apologies as the rest of the group examined their surroundings. Takuya felt as if his initial judgements about the space couldn't have been more wrong. With the crystals and delicate sunshine that thrived around him, Takuya felt as if he had been sent back to Evergreen Dawn. He knew that it wasn't possible since Evergreen Dawn had been destroyed ages ago, but he still couldn't eliminate the idea of how similar the space was to Seraphimon's domain. 

A gasp from Mayumi earned Takuya's attention, and he glanced over to see that she was grinning brightly. "This is Abraxas!" she cried out, turning to face Haroi. She grabbed onto his hands firmly before starting to bounce up and down on her toes and heels. "Haroi and I wound up here when we first arrived in the Digital World!"

Takuya nodded to himself at Mayumi's words. That most certainly made sense. Mayumi and Haroi had described Abraxas as being a crystallite space when they first joined the team. It was almost uncanny how similar the area looked to Evergreen Dawn. Part of him wondered if perhaps Rose Morning Star had once looked the same way before Cherubimon fell to corruption. 

The Trailmon began to slip away from the station as Yumiko and Hinoka fully joined the rest of the team. Takuya glanced over to them before turning his attention back to his feet. He didn't know what to do since they had managed to escape the grasp of the enemy. It was only a matter of time before the Royal Knights returned, and he wasn't looking forward to it in the slightest. 

"We should try to come up with a plan," Saki declared, and Takuya looked up at them with a frown. As much as he hated to admit it, they were right. Takuya wanted nothing more than to rest until they were feeling up to fighting once again, but that time would never come. The group had been running off anxiety, exhaustion, and desperation since they first arrived in the Continent of Darkness. The Royal Knights were simply the straw that broke the camel's back, and the Legendary Warriors were left to crumble under the weight of the strength that the Royal Knights had displayed. 

Mayumi and Haroi took the lead in leading the group into the main area of the castle from the Trailmon station. Haroi gestured for everyone else to follow them as Mayumi continued to speak. "I didn't even know there was a Trailmon that came in here directly," she commented. "When Haroi and I first got here, we were dropped off at a nearby station, and we had to walk here on our own terms."

"It would make sense that there wouldn't be a Trailmon directly from Earth to here. After all, the last thing that anyone would want would be for someone to stumble into Ophanimon's castle and disturb the peace here," Haroi pointed out. "Everyone was gone by the time that we first arrived because Cherubimon frightened them into hiding, but... I imagine that this place is rather lively and bright when everyone is here to enjoy the space and its energy."

Mayumi and Haroi led the group through a grand entryway before moving towards a library that existed off a side hallway. Takuya's jaw practically dropped as soon as he saw the countless books that lined the walls of the room, and he wondered if perhaps Seraphimon had once possessed such an impressive library. Evergreen Dawn and everything inside of its halls had been destroyed, but he still wished that he had been given the chance to explore the palace on his own terms before it fell to Cherubimon's influence.