Frontiers Unexplored

48) Tombs of the Warriors

Koichi couldn't feel anything.

It took a long time for the Warrior of Darkness to finally find a grasp on reality. He felt as if he was floating in a void, but he was grounded at the same time. His skin was numb, detached from the world that he had come to understand. His eyelids were heavy, and the world seemed to pass by around him, as if he was simply watching from some unseen seat within a grand audience of the dead.

When Koichi did finally manage to pry his eyes open, he was overwhelmed with the glow of gentle red light that surrounded him. He checked his hands and arms, searching for any bruises or other signs of harm. None could be seen, and he couldn't feel anything that would be damaging either. His mind was a haze, and nothing prior to his awakening was within the grasp of his memory, instead merely a distant promise that he wasn't quite able to understand. Koichi wasn't even sure if he would ever be able to comprehend what was taking place.

"You're awake!"

Koichi moved his head to the side to see that Nyaromon was sitting beside him. The small Digimon was watching him with wide, anxious eyes. She looked more afraid than any creature that tiny had any right to, and Koichi felt his heart twist at the idea that she had been so terrified.

"I guess I am," Koichi murmured, but the words felt detached from his body as a whole. He didn't feel real, almost as if he was simply playing out the motions that had been dictated for him to enact by some higher power. Still, he did his best to shove this sensation aside as he reached out to cup Nyaromon in his hands. He welcomed the bristle of the cat Digimon's hair between his fingers, and Koichi almost found himself infatuated with the warmth of her body. It pulled him away from his daze, and he was so desperate to escape the fog that had settled over him that he accepted her presence as readily as he could manage.

Nyaromon's anxiety remained prevalent as she continued to speak. "Hinoka and Mayumi are here too," she told him. Koichi briefly wondered how she would have been aware of who Hinoka and Mayumi were, but these concerns were laid to rest when he remembered that Nyaromon had first been taken care of by Hinoka after hatching, and chances were that the Warrior of Water had explained who everyone was while tending to the young Digimon.

Koichi practically jumped to his feet as soon as he process what she was saying, and he found himself dashing in the direction that Nyaromon kept on glancing in. He was positive that Hinoka and Mayumi were there. Sure enough, both girls came into view, stretched out on the surface of the glowing red ground. Their hair was messy, and there were countless flyaways that framed their bruised and scratched faces.

Koichi could feel the sickness creeping up on him again, and he couldn't help but wonder why they looked so damaged while nothing was wrong with him. There were no injures anywhere on his body, but both Hinoka and Mayumi looked as if they had gotten into a fight with the gods themselves. His mind was cast back to the initial battle against the Royal Knights when he had been left undamaged as the rest of the Legendary Warriors were severely injured by their foes, and Koichi felt nauseous all over again. He didn't understand what made him so different from everyone else, but he absolutely hated it.

Koichi kneeled down beside Hinoka and gently placed his hands on her shoulders before shaking as carefully as he could. She stirred immediately, letting out a small whimper of pain before she recognized that Koichi was there. Her eyes seemed sightless, almost as if she wasn't processing anything that was happening.

"Are you alright?" Koichi questioned softly, still not wanting to frighten her too much. He could remember from his days as Duskmon that Hinoka was a jittery person, and he didn't want to cause her any unnecessary stress. This was an awful enough situation as it was. They had no idea where they were, but it was clear that the quartet had wound up far from the location where they first fought against Alphamon.