Fan:Longest Novel Fall of the Republic Chapter 3

In August 1986: A sixty six year old man was coming home one day after his long shift at work, and quite frankly, he was tired, and didn't really feel the mood to be dealing with many more issues that day. Especially when he was considering what he was thinking about doing that night when he was finished with eating his dinner, and finally settled down for the evening. What he had felt like he had to do, in order to finally bring a certain level of peace to the issues that he was feeling in his mind.

He had heard news reports about there being monsters attacking the town. All over again, and making a giant wreck of things. The entire time that he was hearing this news, and he was hearing the reporter next to him just yelling out the information as if that would keep him safe, this man was feeling like he was cursed with the knowledge of knowing the truth of what was happening here. The truth that this was something that had been going on before, and been going on not only before this, but when it had happened before, the damage was much worse, and it was far more wide spread than anything that had been reported going on this time around.

It was something that he thought he would have been able to brush off for the rest of his life. And for fifty years, he had done a decent enough job at it. Just pretending like what had happened was just nothing more than a horrible nightmare that he had just not been able to fully wipe away. To any other person, that statement would have been the truth, and not just some lie that he was telling himself in order to just pretend like he would be able to repress things greater than ever before.

When he was going to be home that night, he was going to finally reveal to people, mainly his own family, who he had a feeling knew about this as well, what his prior knowledge to the subject was, and he was going to be able to sort of help them out with planning ahead in the future. Planning on how to get through this effectively. Because even if this was still lighter than what he had to deal with fifty years prior, it was still a bit deal on the long run, and he was thinking that he would not ever be able to fully forgive himself if he did not help them for the sake of him pretending like he had no idea what was going on here.

The whole issue was something that he felt like would be his final great contribution to the media before his retirement. The retirement that he had long awaited for since the day that these attacks had happened, and he had to pretend like this never happened to avoid getting attacked and getting killed. And him building up a life in a town that he had truly called home away from home, only to leave again and be stuck here, where he felt like he was never able to contribute anything at all.

He was getting inside of his house, and the entire time that he was doing this, there was that small part of him that was wondering what he was even going to actually accomplish when he was alone. What story he would actually tell. What story he was wanting to even tell. He had truly thought when he was actually truly on his own, that something like this was just going to be really hard for him to truly put together. In a way, he was almost thinking that this was just what life was meant to be like. Some fucking punishment to everything that had been thrown at him in his life.

He sat down on the chair of his living room table, and he was just placing his hands on his face, rubbing the eyes for a few seconds, as if trying to finally put to mind how insane his entire plan had truly been. How insane it was that he was going to be trying to find a way to tell the worst story of his life. The one story that he had never been able to fully get over, and the one story that he had felt like was going to be haunting him until the fucking day he died at the way he was heading.

He pulled the messenger bag off of his shoulder, feeling like this was just going to be a good start. Then he was opening it up, and pulled out a empty note pad that he had taken when he had left work that day, in which he was going to be writing his long and awful story on his past. When he placed his note pad down on the table, and pulled out some pens to get him started, he was smiling at the thought that if for nothing else, he was going to have a chance to at least put the memories behind him. So in a way, he had been thinking that something like this was actually what he was needing. And if he would put it behind him, and tell it to his family, who could have a chance to pull through on this themselves, he felt like it was even better.

There were several loud noises going on around him in the back ground. As he was hearing those, he was aware of the fact that this battle was setting off, and it was just getting even worse around him. Despite what he was hearing, and what he had told himself earlier, he could not help but worry about his family.

Sure his two sons got along with their mother a bit better than him, and his wife and him certainly had their own problems, but he was still feeling like he would be a heartless bastard if he did not care about what was going on with his own family. He wanted their safety, more than he cared about his own.

He knew that if his children were going to make it through this, they deserved to know the entire truth. They deserved to know the truth behind the forgotten legend that was of the tamers. If that legend was even something that people wanted to consider to be real. The legend of the monster attacks in New York City, and the legend that he had witnessed slowly becoming more and more real as time went on, no matter what he was thinking of the matter. Even if he was not ready, there was no way that anybody could have been at all.

He started writing a little bit, to see if these early sentences were going to start to do it for him. "Hi, my name is Kazu Shioda, and I am a father of two, and I have been living in Wayside, Minnesota for roughly three years now. Before then, I had lived out a large portion of my life in the state of Indiana hiding from a horror that I had witnessed decades ago. A horror that the government had done an amazing job hiding up because if the public knew of the truth, then there would be chaos. There would be no form or order to anything that would have been going on in this country. So in order to make it seem like everything was fine, there was nothing that would be too overtly covered.

Fifty years ago, there was a monster attack in New York that nearly cost us all our lives. If this monster had won, the entire last fifty years would not have been allowed to happen at all, and there would have been nothing that we could have done about it. I had witnessed several of my friends fighting along and trying their best to make sure that this did not grow any worse. Many of them would be willing to do everything possible to make sure the world would not fall to this attack.

Only really looking back do I appreciate how much danger we had been in the entire time. Only looking back do I realize it is a miracle that I lived to see the end of the day. But I guess that this is something that comes with age, and something that comes with hindsight.

I have been hiding the truth for fifty years. And now at this time, I feel like it is time to understand the truth. It is time for me to be open about what is going on, and I will tell you the entire story. The legend of the Tamers." The man started, and figured that this was an okay preface, and that it would have to do. Then with that, he started to tell the real story. And this time, now that he had started, he was not going to hold back.

...

Chapter Three: The Forming of the Tamers

The story starts with a young teenager named Takato sitting in his room one day. Minding his own business. Wanting to go out and find something that could make the time at the city even more interesting. Despite everything going on, it was hard for him to really get any fun outside of school. He would usually walk to school every day, do his daily homework, and then go back home, and sometimes hang out with his friends for an afternoon to just pretend like homework was not all that big of a deal. He wished that something like this could be done more easily, considering how boring homework really was, and how much he would rather be working at his parents bakery than dealing with that, which was really saying something.

He had felt that the only really redeeming quality about working at the bakery once every week like his parents wanted him to was that every time he was finished, his parents would pay him a quarter for every hour he had worked. Which was a really exciting amount for him and would give him something to lay down with when he was going out with his friends and stuff.

He was never very good about keeping the money though. He would always blow it within that weekend by hanging out with his friends. The two days of the week his parents didn't nag him about doing homework first before going out. The two days of the week they seemed to understand that school should not even be a word around in the discussion due to how much he would freak out over the very mention of it.

But despite what he was feeling about the idea of doing school work and stuff, he was also telling himself that the worst that could come out of doing that was that he would have to wait another hour or two before going out to school. He never really did all his work, which was something he never told his parents. He always did enough to make his parents seem like he dedicated a good amount of time to it, and then he would be able to use that as his chance to get the fucking hell out of there. Usually before he would go bed, he would speed the rest of it, and then pretend like everything was fine.

He was not a very great student when it came to academics, but he was still doing better than some other people he knew. Such as myself if I had to tell the truth. I literally just rushed my homework every morning before school and just pretend like I actually did something, and then I would turn it to the teachers when they wanted. It was not very healthy of me, but it was a habit that I liked to do since I fucking hated going around and studying for hours on end.

Anyways, let's get back to the matter at hand. So Takato was standing up, after he had finished everything that he had needed to do, and got out of his room when he shoved it all in his back pack. Then with that, he was going by his parents, seeing them just discussing random things such as political events. Being around the election season that year, you were lucky if you went a twenty four hour period of time without hearing about politics. And with New York City, when even that early, the area was blood red democratic, everybody in the area was a Franklin Roosevelt supporter. It was just the natural order of things in those days.

Which was no surprise when every time Takato would walk out of his room, and he would see the outside entrance of the bakery, he would see a 'Roosevelt-Garner 1936' sign, and while he felt like it might be bad for the business at first, he realized over time that it really was not all that big of a deal. Like literally nobody ever even brought it up.

As he was at the door to go outside, his parents were calling out to him. "I hope you have a good day, and remember to be back before it gets too late." His mother said, and despite how annoying he found it when his parents told him that, he knew that they were trying their best to be nice, and that they were really not that bad of people. So with that, he nodded, and left the house, just so he could finally get to doing the things he was actually wanting to. So he would be able to make use out of the remaining hours he had before he had to go back into the eight hour grind the next day.

As Takato was out, he was going to be going to hang out with his two friends that he usually hung out with after school on the prospect that they were the easiest to hang out with in general, and they lived the closest. These two being Kenta and Kazu. They met back in third or fourth grade, so they had known each other for a few years. Takato did not think he would be friends with them at first, but they seemed to be decent enough to him that their general differences on certain issues did not really bother him all that much in the long run.

Kazu lived the closer out of the two, so Takato figured that he would try and go there first. Figuring that maybe when he would talk with him, they could get a few minutes to talk and hang out before Kenta would show up, and they were hang out then as a trio. It was due to them being closer that Takato ended up spending about maybe an hour to ninety minutes more every week with Kazu than Kenta, which means that if he was forced to choose a best friend, the higher amount of time would probably make Takato pick him.

"So Takato, what were your parents like with homework this time? I can't even imagine what it would be like for my parents to be constantly getting in the way of my time." Kazu said, and then after he had said that, it was moments like this when he was thinking that he had the coolest parents ever. Just the way that he presented himself made it very obvious that was the thought set that he would be having.

"They just basically made sure that I did my homework, and that I did not flake on it. I am used to that by now. Does not mean that it is any fun when they do that though." Takato said, and he was thinking about what it would be like if his parents were a little cooler on it. Not so much in his face. But he felt like he needed to not be too stuck up about such a thing.

"I think that your parents need to relax. I mean, what is the worst that is going to come out of failing a class? Repeating it? I mean, come on, it is not like that is the worst thing in the entire world. We still have a couple of years to mess around with it." Kazu had said, and then he was thinking that perhaps Takato was going to try and act like there was something of sense to what his parents were doing, but he decided not to say anything.

"I don't think that I am going to really make them change their personality. If they want to make a big thing out of school, they will. It is not like it will really matter too much. But what I think is more important is how annoying that they are about it." Takato said, thinking about what this whole thing would be like if his parents would finally give him a bit of a fucking break and stuff. If such a thing was even fucking possible and stuff.

"I mean, any amount of them doing that would be making me annoyed. So that already shows that you have a higher tolerance to this than I ever would probably." After Kazu said that, he was mildly sounding like he should be changing that about himself, but that this was something he did not really fucking care about at all. He was thinking that if anybody was going to make a huge issue out of it, then that was their problem.

"As long as they do not tell you that what you are doing is a problem, then it is probably nothing that is going to get you into too much trouble. I would only fear it if they confront you on the matter." Takato said, and he was actually meaning what he had said. He was thinking there was no way in hell that this person would be so serious on the fucking matter now.

"Yeah, exactly, I think that you get exactly what I mean right now." Kazu was saying, and then they were eventually knocking on the door to Kenta's house. "I mean, the worst that comes with this is just every few months my parents might have to talk to my teachers about my work not being all that good. And to be honest, that is something that I can be able to live with."

Eventually, Kenta opened the door, and he was looking right at them. "I was wondering if you guys were actually going to be showing up here." He said, slowly closing the door and looking like he was excited for that hang out that day. As if what he was going to be showing them was really going to be a lot of fun. This was making Takato and Kazu a bit more interested in learning what was happening. Kenta was looking like he was putting more focus on his pockets than he had usually done. This would make it very obvious to him that there was something going on in there, and Takato was more determined to learn what that was.

"It took just a little bit longer to do my school work than I had expected. It was nothing too bad. Just wish that our teachers wouldn't mind giving us one or two classes every once in a while just to relax and not deal with that bullshit." Takato said, and he was sort of thinking about how it was a bit annoying. But in the end, it was nothing that he could not live with. "Besides, you look like you are wanting to show us something? Would you mind letting us just know what it is?"

With that, Kenta instantly got an embarrassed look on his face. As if he did not want to be exposed right away or something. "Well, yeah, I do. But I will wait until we are in a more secluded place. I don't want to give away what I have been looking into so far. Would really ruin everything." After Kenta had said that, he was looking like this was the most important piece to the whole puzzle. As he was saying this more and more firmly, Takato was looking right at Kazu, and he was feeling like this was something that was just going to really be bugging him the entire time they would be talking.

"Well, there is that one hut near the school. That is the only secluded place that I can think off." Kazu said, just trying his best to sound helpful. "There is no real reason for you to hide this. I mean, nobody is really going to be going off and speaking out about some random giant secret that you are wanting to show us." Despite what he was saying being truthful in his eyes, Kenta was still not convinced, and was starting to walk towards that hut, ready to show them whatever this was.

As they had been starting to head on towards the school, Kazu was feeling like perhaps he could slowly get Kenta to explain to him what the fucking hell was going on. "So, what is it that you are even wanting to show us? I mean, if it is so secretive. Is it like a porn magazine?" After he had asked that, Takato did find a mild form of amusement in the statement, although he was thinking that it would not be porn as it would be too small to fit into his pocket.

"It is not a porn magazine. Although that would be a lot of fun to be totally honest. But I doubt that we will be getting something like that at all. My parents are like super strict on that shit. If there was porn at the house, they would be freaking out the minute that they had found out." He was laughing as he had said that, as if remembering something that had happened back in the day, and something that would probably ruin their trust in him for quite a while, which would not have been all that fun. And was one of the main reasons he worked at school the way he did, that way they can slowly be able to gain some trust in him and get off his back for what had happened earlier.

"Damn it, if it is not a porn magazine then I really want to know what it is. I mean, there is nothing worth hiding more than porn." Kazu was trying to sound like this was very funny to him, but he just really wanted to know, and the wait was just killing the fucking hell out of him. And that if he did not know the truth, it was just going to be driving him insane.

Eventually, they were getting closer to the hut, and Takato was just sort of looking like he was wanting to see what was going to even be happening now. He had felt like the faster he would be be getting up this hut, the faster that Kenta would show them what he was hiding, and the faster that they would be able to get this shit over with. Since in a way, Takato did just kind of want this whole thing to be gotten over with. He was wanting to know just as bad as Kazu, the only difference was that he was being more calm about the whole situation.

As they had gotten up, Kenta was looking like he was feeling more and more at peace for what was happening. Kazu was looking like his patience was killing the fucking hell out of him, and Takato was just simply more eager than he was wanting to admit, but still not wanting to make Kenta uncomfortable unlike Kazu probably would have done if he did not hurry up with it.

Then he was pulling it out of his pocket. As if he was feeling like both of his friends were going to stop pulling a fucking prank on him the moment that he showed them what he was holding. He knew that this was just something that they would never really fucking forgive him for. But then he was showing them a stack of cards. As he had showed then the cards, Takato was looking right at Kazu, and he was just sort of unsure of how to be reacting at that moment. It was just too strange for him to fully process why Kenta had made such a deal out of it.

"Listen, I know you are probably going to be acting like this is really stupid, and that I am wasting your time, but this is a game that has never been shown in the media before. I think that I might be onto something when I had found this. That I could be able to find the next big movement." Kenta said, and he was still rubbing the box a bit, as if feeling like this was his biggest contribution he had made to the group. Kazu was just looking like he had enough.

"What is it? Maybe you can explain what the value of it to us is, and we might be able to really know what to think then." Takato said, trying to make himself sound reasonable. As this was going on, Kazu was just telling himself that Kenta usually did a good job on this so far, and that maybe he really should be giving Kenta a chance first. So with that, he waved his hands as if to indicate that he just wanted to get this whole thing over with.

"It is a game called Digimon. It is like you have a bunch of monsters, and you try to control them with various actions. They have different power levels, different things that they can do. You know, sort of like a army that you could be able to control if you tried hard enough. I mean, I barely looked into it myself, since I wanted you to see what you would think of it. I think it could possibly be a kind of interesting game to at least try out." Kenta said, and he was looking like he was just really hoping that Kazu and Takato might be able to share the same sentiment as him.

"And it is just one game. The worst that is going to happen is that we feel like we just kind of wasted our time. I mean, it's not like we have done even bigger wastes of times as our activities before. So I think that this will be fine. I really think that it is something that is worth a try at least." After he had said that, the other two guys were looking more and more like they might as well give this a go, and just see if it was worth all of this debate in the first place.

The three young teens were starting to play along, and as they were getting into this game, despite none of them wanting to admit it, they were actually finding some real enjoyment out of this. Takato was slamming a card down when he was feeling like he had come up with a winning hand, with a small style smug look on his face. "Of course I would win." He said, trying to make it sound like it shocked him, or like he was feeling bad for them for the fact that he would beat them.

The more that he was looking at his card, Kazu was slowly starting to see that maybe he was actually having some form of a winning hand. Seeing something like this was really exciting to him, and as he had been looking at the card, he realized this was just the one chance he would have to get Takato to have a not so over confident reaction anymore.

Despite being low key unsure of if he was going to win, he was figuring that he would just try though. So as he had been telling himself that the worst that would come out of this was the fact that he would just not understand a card game that he had only learned about. He placed the car down, and both Takato and Kenta were looking at it. With Kenta having given up on winning the game in the first place.

Takato was sighing a bit, and then he was hanging his head. "Damn it. I thought that I had a chance of winning the upper hand. But I guess that it does not matter all that much." Takato said, and then he was looking right at Kazu and Kenta. "So I guess that maybe I don't really know how to handle this game quite yet." But then he was starting to look like there was a slightly more positive look on his face. One that he felt bad for having, considering the context behind it.

"Honestly, I have to admit I did feel like that was pretty fun. I did not really think that I was going to be enjoying that as much as I did. But I don't really think that it should be a game we continue playing, you know to avoid getting made fun of by our classmates and stuff." After he had said that to his friends, he was still feeling like he was caring somewhat about his popularity.

"I have to admit that I enjoyed this much more than I ever thought that I was going to. But in all honesty, I think that it is something that I would only be doing once or twice. I think that it would kind of run out of its style after a while. So I will be leaving it alone." After Kazu said that, he was kind of looking like there was something else that he was wishing to say now.

"I have to admit though, I did enjoy winning that game. That was something that I never thought would happen. So I guess that maybe something like this might be not so bad after all." After he had said that to his friends, he rubbed the back of his neck, and then he was starting to calm down a bit more than he was wishing to before.

"I mean, I doubt that our classmates would ever really even know about this game, so we probably would not even get made fun of if we were to continue playing along with this game and stuff." Kenta tried to defend the situation, and as he had said that, both Takato and Kazu were looking like they had been just wanting to go along with this idea. Then they were both sort of looking like in a way, it was a fucking game.

"Yeah, you are probably right. I mean, this is a random hut near the school that most people probably do not even come by and stuff. So I would not be worried too much about it, as long as we do not bring it up at school. Is that fair?" Kazu asked, and he was looking out the hut, as if trying to find something else to say, but felt like he had made his point. He was too scared about the reputation and getting even less popular than he had already been.

"I guess that I am not going to argue you too bad on this. But what should we do now? I mean, aside from possibly doing just another game or something like that." Takato was saying, and then he was starting to give Kenta the cards, just to let it be clear with him that he was not going to be continue pushing this whole thing any further. That he was going to just let them go along and do other things now.

Eventually, the three of them were jumping out of the hut, and then Takato looked right at Kazu and Kenta. "I mean, I guess that we should just go home. I mean, I do not want our parents to be getting annoyed with us or anything like that." Takato said, and he was just trying to sound like the good son here, because he was tired of his parents always getting in his case about every single thing that there could possibly be.

"I don't really think that it is too late to justify that we should be going home. I mean, we have barely been out for more than an hour or two." Kazu was telling his friends, and he was just hoping that this statement could appeal to their sense of reason, since this was just something that he felt like they were not going to understand what the hell he was even feeling now. Kazu just wanted to stay out for an extra hour or something.

"Yeah, it's not that late. I bet that we can be able to find something." Kenta said, and then with that, Takato was holding his hands in defeat, as if sort of thinking that he was defeated, and that there was no real reason for them to try and rub it in anymore. Then with that, they were starting to walk around, trying their best not to be too bothered the constant noise going on around them. It was something that hurt Kenta's ears, but he did not want to admit something like this to them.

As the three of them were walking along, they were just sort of trying to try and find something else to be doing their mean time. Eventually, they would be seeing one of their class mates as she was going around town, and she was looking like she was wanting go around and be with some friends at the moment. Which was hard for her to, since she was an even more socially rejected person than the mildly popular Takato, Kazu and Kenta. At least with the three guys, despite them being nowhere near the big group at the school, at least people could be caught talking with them, and they would not be made fun of. This girl would make people question somebodys standards if they had been caught hanging out with her.

Despite all of this, and him not wanting to admit it to the point where if flat out asked, he would lie on it, Takato did harbor a secret crush on this girl. She was somebody who on the very few times they had interacted was honestly a nice girl. She was a bit hard to talk to, due to her hard time forming long sentences, but she was not mean under any case and stuff. "Hey Jeri, Takato said, and she was looking up at them. Both Kenta and Kazu looked like they did not want to be doing this, but they were also thinking that Takato was just not going to be rude to her under any case.

"Oh hi, I did not expect to be seeing you here. I thought that you were just going to be too busy hanging around with your friends to be wanting to talk." Jeri said, and she was looking away from him, as if thinking that he was just too good for her. Takato was just trying to look like he was wanting to say something, but did not have anything that could justify himself.

"Listen, I was just hanging out with them. I did not think that you were going to be taking it any way. I mean, you're a nice person." Takato said, and he was just trying his best not to be stuttering with what he was saying to her. Almost thinking that if he wanted to make it sound like he was going to make her see his perspective, but he knew that something like this was just not going to come together, and he might as well give up.

"I mean, if I had hung out with you more often, there could have been more of a chance that I would be able to have chosen to see you. But it is just too much for me to be sure off. A lot of stuff that I already have to juggle. I mean, I am sorry for that." Takato said, feeling worse for it as he was saying it, even if at the time he did not think he did anything wrong. He was just seeing Jeri slowly getting to look at him, as if she was just trying to pretend that she was able to see where he was coming from and stuff.

"Do you feel bad for what you had done? I mean, I was starting to finally grow to like you as a friend. And you decided for the sake of popularity to not see me anymore. I mean, do you know how shitty it is to have people tell you that you are not popular, so you are not worth going out to hang out with." After she was telling Takato that, he was placing his fingers on the in betweens of his nose, just trying to wash out that incident.

As she was saying all of this, and she was wanting to see what Takato was going to say, she quickly saw a glance of Kenta and Kazu, and she was just wanting to see what the look on their face would have been. She was taking mild satisfaction in the fact that she was seeing them look like even they regretted this. She was seeing Kazu just looking at the wall next to him instead, and Kenta was putting his hands in his pocket, as if being casual was all that he could.

"Please, I did not think about how much this was going to bother you. I thought that you would have been fine with this. I did not think that it would in any way actually matter what I would do or say." Takato was saying, and he was holding up both of his hands, and he was just hoping that reason could break to her. "I mean, besides, I did not actually think that you would be in any way interested in hearing what I would be saying. I thought that you were just sort of on your own and stuff. So I hope that you did not blame me for what I had felt."

As he had finally finished what he was saying, he was seeing Jeri looking as if she was just not able to find any way to go along with what he was saying and stuff. "I was starting to get interested in what you were saying. But I did not think that it was going to be all that big of a deal if I was just going along on my own. I guess that maybe it does not matter what I say now. You want to act like we actually have a chance to make it work. I am not sure." She had said to Takato, and as she had said that, there was a spot of her that was seeming to sort of be accepting what she had said, and that she did not feel the need to try and deny things to herself anymore now.

As he had finally started to find himself into wanting to say more, and he was seeing both Kazu and Kenta starting to show a mild form of empathy in the way that they were looking, almost like they were silently conceding that she needed more of a chance, Takato was looking at her again. "I mean, I understand if you are going to just say that you do not want to deal with seeing me anymore. That I have just hurt your feelings too much... But would it really hurt to try and give it one more chance? To see if perhaps there is something that was there, if we would just go and look hard enough." Takato finished, and he was just feeling like he was sort of done with it all. He was tired of this, but he was finally wishing to see what she would tell him here.

Despite the fact that he was low key confident that she was going to just be telling him off, she was slowly thinking about it more and more. She was slowly finding herself actually trying to be reasonable about the whole issue. But then after she was seeing that Takato was starting to feel a little bit bad about the way that he had acted, she was starting to think that maybe he was not a huge asshole after all. So she had felt like she needed to just be a little bit more reasonable on it all. "Alright, I guess that I will forgive you. I guess that I am able to give you another chance. Besides, I don't really think that I would be able to be angry at you forever." Then with that, she was still not having a smile on her face, or anywhere close to it, but she was starting to feel like she could at least look at him, and not being totally pissed at the idea of doing this.

After she had told him this, Takato was just giving Kenta and Kazu a look. They had been just slowly looking like they were just trying to find a way to be accepting what had been happening now. They were looking like they were starting to think that maybe Jeri was somebody who was not all that bad. After all, she had the courage in finally stating the way that she had felt on a issue. She was finally able to have the guts to say something that had been bothering her, and that she was just wanting to see what the people who had bothered her were going to be reacting in order to defend themselves. "Hey Jeri, I know that you might not want to be jumping to something like this right away, but I was wondering if maybe sometime, you could be willing to go on and hang out with my friends and I. I just think that this whole thing can be a good starting point to make something work."

Kenta looked at Takato, as if thinking that perhaps this was jumping too far into the situation. That despite the fact that they were sort of willing to admit that they were sort of a asshole, he was not really wanting to actually go on and hang out with this girl. He had felt like something like this would just be a problem mainly due to the fact that they were not really having too many common interests, which would not be too much of a problem if it were not for the personalities. "I think that it is the least that I can do to be nice to you. If you are willing to even let something like this work." Then when Takato was done, he was seeing that Kazu was just placing his hand on Kenta's shoulder, as if telling him that this was a time to be keeping the opinions to himself and stuff.

Then with that, Jeri was slowly starting to nod. She was almost just thinking that while the transition was a bit strange, and even arguably a little bit dishonest, she was thinking that if he was really meaning what he was saying, then there was no reason not to be giving it a go. After all, despite the differences between the two of them, she was also thinking that she would rather have a friend who used to be a asshole to her than nobody at all. She was thinking that as long as she would have somebody at her side, she was thinking that it was a chance to get something going. "Yeah, maybe something like this would not be so bad after all. If you are actually meaning what you are saying." She just was trying her best to be looking happy, but was still having a relatively hard time to be doing this.

Despite the fact that Kazu and Kenta were still not wanting to go on and try and act like they were going to be friends with this girl, they were still truly thinking that this was something that she deserved. And that if for nothing else, if this failed, it would just be something that they could say was not going to come together. "What would you like to do now?" Takato asked, and he was seeing her looking like she was actually even a bit shocked that he was going out of his way to offer her stuff. So with that, she decided that maybe she could show him some stuff that she found to be a bit interesting.

"I guess that I can show you one of the places that I like to hang out at when I am alone. You know, when I want to just stay out for a little bit before I have to come home and stuff." She said to the three guys, and none of them really knew how they were going to feel about being caught dead hanging out with her, but then it was after school, and some of them were feeling that as long as they were not at the school, it would not be all that big of a deal.

"So, do you get along with your parents." Kenta asked, having a mild amount of interest to what he was saying, but at the same time, there was still that part of him that was largely doing it to be nice, and did not really feel like he was wanting to make her just think he did not care. "My parents are nice to me. They just do not really get in the way of what I do normally, unless if I was really just not doing any work at all. Like if I was totally bombing out of school and shit."

"I don't really want to talk about my parents." Jeri said to the point, and it wasn't even what she had said, but the way she had said it that bothered Kazu and Kenta. With utter conviction, and with a level of anger that would show that she was not even wanting to think about this at all. And that them trying to talk about her family was almost making her feel like it would have been better to not have them around.

"I mean, it is not a nice subject, and it is something that the less that I think about it, the better it will all be for me." Jeri said, and she was done with it, not even wanting to try and think about it anymore. But after she was done saying that, both Takato and Kazu and Kenta were thinking that perhaps it would be better to just listen to her, and that the longer they would leave her alone, the better she would be willing to work with them.

Eventually, as this was happening, Takato was sort of wanting to say something else. To talk about something that he had felt like was going to be getting to get her to want to continue talking now. "So Jeri, what do you like to do after school, if you are not somebody who has very many friends and stuff?" He was trying to not say it in a way that would be giving off a bad impression, but at the same time, he knew that if he were to try hard on this, it would just make her feel like there was a total level of dishonesty to it all.

"I just like to hang out around town. Usually until sun down, which is nicer to do on the later parts of the year. I like to stay in my room, and draw some of the time. Just to be getting my mind off of certain matters. I mean, it is not all that big of a deal as long as people don't try to get in my way here." She said, and then after she had said that, she was starting to look like thinking of her art was giving her a small level of satisfaction. "I mean, I feel like I am getting kind of good at this stuff. I mean, my art is the one thing that I feel like I am getting better on over time."

"Do you ever feel like you will be showing people what your art is like? See if you can be able to get somewhere from it?" Takato asked, and then after he had asked Jeri that, she was almost looking like she was just thinking that the guys were giving her too much credit. But she was going to take the moment as it was going along.

"The thing is that I doubt many people are willing to actually give the idea of really looking into art, to see it for what it is. I think that people are just sort of fine with thinking that they are better than anybody else." Jeri said, and she was just trying to sound like she was sort of not wanting to let her anger come in on this. Her anger on the fact that the people in this town seem to not really give a single fuck in the world about the people who are actually showing some form of talent.

Despite the fact that she was feeling like this, there was a part of her that knew that she was being ridiculous. "I mean, I think everybody has a talent." She said, trying her best to be going around this subject in the nicest way possible. Thinking that as long as she was calm about it, then the people she was talking with would not feel like she was going too far with this whole thing. "It is just more of a matter on which people are finally able to see what the talents are, and how they are able to go through with it. I hope that people don't have to make anybody else suffer from their reluctance to see the truth."

"Do you feel like maybe people are just not sure on what they would even want to do to embrace their talents if they were to truly see what those talents were? Maybe some people don't really want to be thinking about having these type of talents because the less they think about it, the less that they will feel like they have to try and go through with them, giving them more chance to have some fun on their own." Kazu said, and he was saying it in a way that he was just trying to make it sound like there was nothing bothering him, but he was truly feeling like there might be some talents or something that he wanted to hide for his own sake.

"People need to embrace it. There is no reason not to. Anybody who tries to act otherwise is wrong." She said, and Kazu was looking away, and just decided that he was going to be leaving the subject alone. He was thinking that he was tired of not showing any real talent, but thought that if he were to ever show some talent, he would be over it. The stuff he was thinking about was not related to the card game, although he did think that he might be able to pull something on that if he were to try hard enough.

"If you try to show your talents, do you hope that people will be able to just fully embrace them for what they are, and not try to force anything else onto you and stuff? I think that something like this would be a valid concern to be having right now." After Kenta had asked that question again, Jeri was thinking about it a few seconds. But despite the fact that she was not a big fan of going back to that question again, she knew that Kenta was just a bit more curious than anything else.

"It would be great, but I doubt that it would happen. I think that people will accept things when they want to. There is not much that you can do about it until you get to that road. So I think that you just have to be taking things slowly, and that is all that I feel like can really be done. Besides, people are just not really ready to accept something if they feel like it is a step below what they feel like you can do. That is just a fact." Jeri said, and after she had said that to them, they were seeing a person in the area that they felt like they might have gone to school with before.

Eventually, Takato was thinking that he could try and speak to that person. "Hey Jeri, thanks for talking to us a bit. I know that you might still not be believing in me, but everything will be fine. We can talk later." Takato was saying, and Jeri was confused, and wanted to know what was fucking happening. But at the same time, she felt like there was a level of sincerity to what he was saying, that he was not actually lying to her this time.

"What is going on? Are you supposed to be doing something else right now?" She asked, and Takato was just feeling like talking to that one person was going to be a fine enough reason to be doing this. In his mind at least. Although he knew deeper and deeper as he was thinking about it that something like this was just not actually making a whole lot of fucking sense.

"Well, there is somebody over there who we go to school with." Takato said, and he was also pointing at the girl who was a bit in the distance, and he was feeling like he was just wanting to see what she was doing. But then he was thinking about it for a bit, and then decided against it. Feeling like maybe he was just being a bit silly for what he was saying. "But maybe she might be fine on her own. I don't really know."

"She is a bit strange. I mean, she is also kind of mean to me on the few times that I have talked to her instead." Kenta was saying, and he was just unsure of what Takato was even trying to accomplish there. "Besides, I think that even if we were to try and talk to her a bit more, she would probably just tell us that she wants nothing to do with us." But then he was thinking about what she would say to him if he were to say that in front of her face.

"I don't know what her main problem is. But maybe she has something going on at home and stuff." Kazu said, and then that was pretty much the most that he was really willing to go through with this whole thing. But he did not really think that he needed to say all that much on it. He was feeling like he was already sort of gone on far enough with talking about this girl, and that he had already made his point in the fucking matter. He was almost wanting to say something, but he was just feeling like when he would try to say more, there was going to be a part of him that would feel like he was being a little bit of a asshole and stuff.

"Oh come on, it would not hurt to go on and check it out. So I think that we should go and see." Takato was saying, and then after he had said that to them, Kenta and Kazu did not say much. Even Jeri was thinking that something like this was just not going to be worth it. But then after she was giving Takato that look that maybe this was going to be something he should not even bother with, Takato was sort of thinking that they could have been onto something there. If they were all looking that way about it.

As they were finally convincing Takato to be giving up on the whole issue, Takato was just thinking that they should all be going along, and just sort of leaving her alone for a while longer. As they had been walking a long, the girl was sitting down on her chair, sort of just minding her own business, not even really knowing that just several meters away, four people were talking about her a bit longer and stuff.

She was sitting down, looking down on cards and stuff, as if trying to find a way to find out what she was going to be doing with these cards. She was needing to find a way to make her companion to be a bit stronger, and she was wanting to find a way to be able to win all of the games that she had been going through so far. Despite what she was feeling at the moment, there was just something that she was needing to work with it.

She just felt like there had to be something that would make sense out of the stuff she was looking at. "There has to be something. I mean, this whole thing is too much to handle. I can't fucking understand anything about this game." She was saying, and she was just starting to rub her hair a bit, as if trying to find a way to not lose her mind on the whole issue. In a way, she was wanting to just throw the cards on the ground, and then just leave them alone, and then be on her own. In a way, she was wondering if any of this was going to be worth it.

She was then starting to put her cards in her pocket, and then she was thinking that when she would be going home, then everything would be starting to come together. Everything would be better, as long as she would just go on home, and then maybe try to find some answers there. The entire time that she looked at the cards, one of the things she was telling herself was that the cards were too hard to really comprehend.

In a way, she was wondering what the fucking hell was point in doing any of this. She was sort of telling herself that whoever made this fucking game needed to take it much easier, and not be going out of their way to do something that she would be able to go along with what she was actually wanting in a certain regard. She had thought that if she had made the game, she would have done it in a way that most people would have been able to understand. Or at least to where she would have been able to understand it from the start.

The longer that she was walking along, the more that she was sort of just thinking that when she was home, she can consult her companion on this whole thing. She was sort of feeling like maybe her companion was going to help her understand what the heck is going on in the first place. If any of this was even going to matter much.

Eventually, she was getting inside of her house, she was sort of just wanting to act like she was just needing to see what they would be saying to her. To see if they really had any idea on what the hell was going to be happening and stuff. She was just heading right towards her room, and then as she was going to her room, there was a voice that called out to her. This was her mother, and she was sounding like she was mildly concerned over the fact that her daughter was staying out for such a long period of time and stuff.

"Rika, what were you doing out so late? You were scaring me really badly when you did not return home for such a long time." She said to Rika, and then Rika was closing her eyes, as if trying to make it act like she was not pissed at the way her mother was speaking to her and stuff. But then she was telling herself that maybe the worst that would happen out of playing along with this would be that she was just going to have to admit that her mother had noble intentions in her eyes.

"I was just out trying to do some work. Nothing very important. I think that it was just something I needed to do in order to be ready for school tests and stuff." She responded, and then she was placing her back pack on the ground. As she was starting to sit down on her bed, her mother was calling out more towards her, trying to speak to her in a way that would make the two of them start to connect a bit more. But she could tell from the way that Rika was looking that she was probably not going to be very interested in what was going on. But she was thinking that she had to try and speak out to her.

"Is there something going on that is bothering you? I can always talk if you needed it." She said, and she was ready for Rika to be telling her off, to be acting like she was putting too much onto her and stuff. But the way that Rika was looking, in a way, the way she was almost like trying to press her on stuff, she knew that in a way, she would not care what Rika was going to say at this.

"I am fine. Nothing is bothering me. I am just trying to pass my school assignments. I don't think that any of this is a bid deal. Don't want to fall behind on my studies and stuff." Rika was saying, and her mother was looking down, almost as if feeling like there was just no point in even trying anymore. She was already making her mind up, and that was all that there would be to the matter. Rika's mother was looking away, and gave up, and then went to her room, feeling like Rika was going to open up sooner or later.

She was laying down on her bed, and she was looking at the corner of the room. Rika was kind of annoyed, but figured that she needed to talk with her companion a bit longer. To see if she was going to be able to get them to have a reaction, and perhaps even explain some things to her that she would not fucking understand. In a way, she was pissed, but she was still hoping her digimon would be able to explain some things to her here.

"Renamon, what is so hard to understand about this game? Why are you not able to help me out figuring this situation out?" She asked, and then after she had asked her companion that, a standing fox was walking right out and was ready to try and speak to her, and try to have a level headed response, to not make her even more pissed at them and stuff. The fox and Rika had a hard time getting along on some cases, but the fox did not want to make things even worse by being rude to her or anything. They had felt like if they had done such a thing to her, Rika was never going to forgive them. Rika was going to hate them even more now.

"I do not know what to say to help you out. I do not much understand that game myself. I hope that you will be able to understand what it is trying to present to you. Because my knowledge of it is very limited." Renamon had said, and then after she had told Rika this, they were hoping that perhaps Rika was going to be fine with this answer. Renamon did not want to be getting Rika on her case about what was even happening now. Despite the fact that they were a monster fox, and Rika was only a mere human, their connection, and the way that Rika spoke, always made the fox a bit scared of how Rika could easily ruin their lives with a single request.

"I hope that you will be able to help me out. I need to understand if I am going to have any chance of being able to be able to win this game in the future. So you better find out how this is gong to be done, for both of our sakes." Rika said, wondering what the fox was going to say. In a way, she was wanting Renamon to be giving off a slightly altered reaction dependent on their mood.

"You are the best one at the game that I have seen. You probably do not need to worry about this as much as you have been." Renamon was telling Rika, desperately hoping that the way that they would compliment Rika that she was going to give them more of a pass, and make them actually think that Renamon gave any care for what was going on.

"I do not need to be the best from your observations. I just need to be the best flat out if I am going to have any chance to protect myself." Rika said, and this was her showing her slight fear more and more. She did not want to be pushing herself to this extent, but she knew what this world was like, and she had to think more about how she was going to simply survive. And in order to survive, she had to press herself to a level that she might not really want to go. It was the only way that anything can be done.

"What are you trying to protect yourself from?" Renamon asked, trying to finally understand what Rika was on about. Despite their problems, and despite their differences, Renamon did deep down care for Rika. They were wanting to show Rika that they had a chance to just talk with somebody who would actually listen. It was just more of a matter of if Rika was going to be taking the cue, or if Rika was just going to be telling them off, as if what Renamon was saying was not really anything that they wanted to hear.

"I have been having some nightmares. And I have a feeling that these nightmares are going to be coming true." Rika said, as she was looking right at Renamon, knowing how silly she was sounding, but feeling like maybe Renamon was going to be able to understand what she had meant. "I mean, I feel like there are actually monsters out to get me. You know, that digimon besides you are going to be coming along. And I want to try and protect myself. Protecting myself is the only thing that I can focus on."

The silence for the next several second was getting to Rika. She could not be able to take it anymore, hoping that she could be able to understand what Renamon was being silent on. "Are there other digimon? Are they going to be able to come to this town, and hurt me? Are digimon becoming real as a result of these fucking cards?" Not knowing the truth was driving her insane, and it was the one thing that Renamon just needed to be honest with. Renamon looked down, and then this was when Rika had felt like she was needing to be more stern with it. "Tell me the truth. I don't fucking care what you say."

"Digimon are real. Not just me. There are more of them here. But I do not know what they are going to be doing with earth. if they ever really plan on coming back to earth or anything like that. I am just as lost as you on that regard. I hope that if something were to happen, you can be ready for something like this." Renamon had said, and then after Renamon had said that to Rika, she was seeing her human companion looking like the confirmation of more digimon being real was just getting to her.

"If digimon are real, then is there any way that I will be able to defend myself at all against what is going on here?" Rika asked, just scared of what her digimon was going to be saying. She knew that they must have been real, because of Renamon, but she did not want to believe in such a thing. Thinking that it was just going to be a bit much for her to handle. It was not really anything she wanted to truly think would be coming in her way.

"They are something that you can't really be ready for, due to how powerful that they really are. You just have to sort of go with what you can, and make sure that they are some of the weaker ones that you will be able to defeat easily. Every single time you defeat one, their power comes into that digimon or person who defeated them, and that is able to make them more powerful, and slowly able to destroy stronger ones. That is how I was able to survive as long as I have. Being able to fight some when I was in my native world." The digimon had said, wondering if Rika was going to understand what she had said.

"If you are going to be seeing them, will you actually fight them? Will you make sure that you can be able to survive without getting killed, and that can be able to protect me." Rika asked, and the more that she was looking at Renamon, the more that she was feeling like this digimon was going to be the only thing in the world who would keep her safe. The only thing that she was going to have with her. And this was something she was both used to, but also scared about in a way. The fact that her only helper was a digimon. One of the very things she had feared.

"I will do what I can. I don't know if I will be able to promise you anything at all. Such a thing is going to make me feel like I am lying to you. And despite our disagreements, I would never want to be lying to you." Renamon told Rika, hoping that it was enough to make Rika want to be a bit more open with the stuff that Renamon was speaking of here.

"Trust me, if you can be able to help me out, and give me some peace, it is the one thing that somebody can do that would make me feel better. It is the one thing that somebody can accomplish that would give me any form of feeling that I will have a chance to move on from this." Rika said, wondering what Renamon was going to want to even say at this point. As she was saying this, her expression was ranging from fear to hope, on so many different levels.

"I'm tired of this shit already, and it has just started. I do not want to be forced to deal with even a single ounce of this bullshit." Rika had said, and then she was just trying to find a way to be nice about it. But there was no way that something like this could be possible. She was feeling like if she wanted to be presenting herself in a nice way, then she was just going to be telling people about the fears that she was having here.

"You will have people who will be able to help you, even if you do not get it, or see it happening for yourself, you can see it happening sooner or later. I think that this is what you truly need." Renamon said, and she was just doing her best to be making Rika feel like she was not hopeless or anything like that. But despite what the digimon had been feeling, they were almost certain that there was going to be no way in hell that they were going to make Rika see that there were things at her side, as long as she just reached out, and tried to make something work.

"I doubt that anybody can help out from pure fear. I think when you are utterly scared of something that is going to happen, you just have to sort of be ready for it. I think that when life comes to a head, you just have to go with it. I mean, life is rough. And when you are somebody who is dealing with things that are vastly superior to you, then I think you will finally understand how I am able to feel the way that I have, and in a way, you might actually support my statements right now." Rika had said, and she was wondering what the digimon would say. In a way, she was honestly curious on if Renamon ever had to deal with such a thing themselves or not.

"We do know what it is like. Humans are better than us. You might not be able to fight as strong, but you have a stronger grit, and you are able to discuss things with people. You are able to make weapons that can destroy an entire world. You might not realize how scary such a thing is, but I think that deep down, you probably can see what I am meaning on my perspective." Renamon said, and they did not try to say that to make Rika feel better. The idea of what human kind can accomplish was one of the few things that made Renamon actually fear.

"In all honesty, it is not nearly the same. I think that when you try to say that we are the same, you do not really realize what you are going in for. I mean, monsters are here. Digimon can destroy entire cities in a matter of minutes, if what I fear is true. I think it is much different from what you fear." Rika said, truly just unable to see where Renamon was coming from.

"You may not see how they are the same yet, but they are much more the same than you really want to believe. And when you see how similar it really is, then I think you will be able to know what you should be expecting in the long run. I want to help you, but I do not know how I will be able to do it if you are unable to fully understand some connections." The digimon told Rika, and she was just looking right at the digimon, as if sort of just trying her best to be getting it. But at the same time, she was sort of unsure of if she was able to at all.

"If you feel like I will not be able to understand it, I think that maybe you need to try and explain it to me." Rika was saying, almost scared of what the digimon would be telling her. In a way, she was just truly wanting to see the truth. But in a way, knowing the truth was going to be opening her mind up to things that she was sort of unsure of if she was ready to go through at all. "I mean, is there something you know that I don't have any clue of."

Renamon was sort of thinking about how they were going to try and talk to Rika in a level headed matter here. "There are a lot of things that humans can do. Digimon have had to on many cases see what you are capable of, and more often than not, we have been forced to just pay the effects of your abilities. You might not have due to your age, but us digimon have been barely able to truly defend ourselves." After Renamon was done saying that, there was a part of Rika that wanted to question more, but decided that for her own sake, that she was just going to pretend like Renamon was able to just leave it alone here.

"Renamon, if you are telling the truth, I hope that I will not have to deal with what you are saying in person. It sounds like something that I will not be very ready for." Rika was saying, as if just thinking that her statement was the best that she was going to do. And that as long as she did not force anything too much onto the digimon, they could expand her mind a bit.

"We may not know when we see something like the truth coming to a head. When it does, I can try and be ready for it. But I do not think that I will be able to make any true difference in the long run." After Renamon had said that to Rika, this was when Rika decided that she was just going to remain silent. The underlying tones slowly getting to her in more ways than she wanted to actually admit here.

"Thanks for that. I don't want to know what it will be like if what you are saying is true, and what I will have to do to try and be fully ready for something like this." After Rika was saying this, in a way, she was sort of just telling herself to be going along with it. But at the same time, there was also something that she was feeling like she just needed to try and understand. Something that was going to get her to sort of see what Renamon could do.

"Are you going to be able to be here and survive? If you gets stronger, and you are able to fight longer, then shouldn't that mean that you will be able to help me along when I really need this the most? I think that I just really need to know if I am going to be fully ready for anything at all." Rika asked, Renamon was looking a bit sad. As if thinking that they were not able to make them feel better. That trying to say anything to console Rika was going to be really fucking hard, and that maybe there was just something to avoid by doing something like this.

"I can try to survive. But as digimon know, fighting is something that can only really help put on certain doses. Fighting is something that can only guarantee you an extra day of being around. You never know when the say is going to be that you will find something that will be stronger than you. And when you do, you are just going to have to find a way to support yourself going forward." Renamon was telling Rika, wanting the girl to be aware of how things were like when looking at the grand scheme of things. How things were always going to be.

"As long as you at least try. And as long as you promise me that while you are here, you can try and make things work out the best that you can, then maybe I will not be able to hate you." After Rika was saying this to Renamon, she was hoping that the words she was saying was going to sort of help Renamon feel like there was more to help her out than they expected.

"I can see what I can do. Maybe it will work. Maybe it will not. But I do know that as long as I put in the effort, I can't be angry at myself, and I hope that others will be able to forgive me. For anything that I have been lacking on. As much as I may not like to admit it." Renamon and Rika were both left thinking about what to do now. Neither one of them knew what the future would hold. And neither one of them knew that they had wanted to see the truth.

That night, heading on towards his house, there was a guy with blue hair just sort of minding his own business. Just trying to focus on the path ahead of him, and feeling like he needed to find a way to focus his attention on the things that are going on around him. In all honesty, he had no idea how he was going to get the people who were with him to fully understand his situation. Considering the fact that in a large way, he did not really know if he fully believed in it either. The fact that he was pretty much forced to fight for something that he did not even know actually exist.

He had just been thinking about the conversation that he had with this older man who he had talked with for a much longer period of time than he had wanted to actually openly admit if somebody were to be asking him. The man was named Davis, and he was an eighty five year old man that he had to help for some form of community service when he was dealing with his own high school work on a project.

He had sat down next to the man, feeling like he was just needing to be ready for what ever this man was going to ask him to do. "Sit with me young man, I have along story that I want to tell, and I hope that you are ready to listen." He said to the teen, and then this young man sat down on the chair, ready to listen to Davis, and see what he was going to tell him in the first place. "What is your name? Let's start there. That way I know who I am going to be hanging out with." The older man had said, and then the teenager responded to the question.

"My name is Henry. I am in the middle of doing a school project, where I am supposed to try and learn about one of the senior citizens at town. I was hoping that you could be able to help me out and tell me your story." Henry said, and then he was feeling like this was going to be a long ride, and he was feeling like in a way, he was going to be kind of wasting his time doing this, but he was telling himself that the old man was probably going to appreciate it if he did not show his public feeling on the matter.

"Alright, I will tell you what I want you to know. It is going to be a hard and long story for you to be hearing, and it will be taking multiple sessions, but I think that when I tell you all about it, you will appreciate the fact that I have been able to let you know about it beforehand." Davis was telling Henry, wondering what Henry was going to say to this comment. He was remaining quiet, as if hoping that this Davis was actually telling the truth, and not lying through his teeth on saying a interesting story.

"It is a story about wild imagination. I was a kid when it started. I guess that all stories are like that. When I was seven years old, still barely able to really understand the world that was around me, I was hanging out with this one girl who lived near me down in southern Georgia. We were just off doing our own thing, barely even aware of the fact that there was going to possibly be a war looming over that was going to be led by our side." Davis said, feeling kind of awful for what he was saying, but at the same time, he also knew that it was not his fault. How could he have known? He was just a kid at the time.

"Our first time hanging out, we were talking about a world that we had wanted to create. A world with monsters, and a world where we could simply just be able to get our imaginations running for hours on end every single day. We just wanted to have some fun, and it was the best method that we could be able to come up with." Davis was saying, and he was looking at Henry, who was still looking like he was not too confused at the story so far, and was able to follow it all.

"We were making stories every single day, writing what we were able to agree on down on paper, and just simply trying to see how far this was going to go. I had no clue what was going to be coming out of this. I was telling her about some heroes I had in mind, some wars we had created, and before we knew it, we had a hundred pages. A hundred pages of a wild story that we did not really have connected. Just a bunch of five page stories that were unconnected, but were coming along well." Davis continued, as if sort of not regretting what he had been saying, and thinking that if he were to regret what he had done, it would be regretting the very friendship he had with this girl.

"As time would go on, our stories would become much more in depth, starting to actually contain real stories, actual characters are you may be thinking, and over time it actually seemed like it was something we could be able to have a power on." Davis was going on, and Henry blurted something for a moment.

"What came out of all of this? Did you really get any fulfillment out of it? You know, besides hanging out with a friend that you enjoyed seeing and stuff." Henry did not know what else he was going to say, but he was feeling like this was a good starting area. Davis looked at him, and he was feeling like Henry might not be patient.

"I was going to be getting onto that soon enough young man. The stories that we had created would soon into small books, and soon enough it would become everything we had ever truly wanted. You see, the war was starting, and neither one of us were really caring too much what was going on. We only cared about one thing: Expanding the imagination that we had been having, and showing off the fact that we had created a world. We even made a world map." Davis was starting to smile at the prospect of his world map.

"At the time, it was the biggest thing that I had been able to accomplish. Granted in a way it was my only accomplishment at the time. But it was still something that I enjoyed. I would come up with the places, and Tara would come up with the outlines of the physical world as she would draw it. A lot of the areas looking like borders of states and stuff. Like South Carolina for instance, since that was the one that was right next to us. Then Alabama, then Tennessee, and we were slowly expanding. We were just going with what we were able to have, and we were slowly getting to a point we had felt like we could not be stopped." Davis was thinking even to himself that looking back it was nothing too impressive, using the world map, but when they were kids, it was the best they could do.

"We used each one of these states as a sort of border for the countries in our world. Having each state being a sovereign nation that would be having their own rules, different regulations, and ideas that would drive them forward. These ideas were simple at first. Stuff like good and evil. But over time, we would fully have stronger outlines for each of these nation states, and then we would make our next one and with each state, our knowledge would become stronger, and then we would have to update the previous ones before we would move onto the next one." After Davis said that, he was taking a long breath to think.

"Our one for Georgia took only a few days, then the South Carolina took about a week, and then we updated Georgia which took more days. Then eventually each new state would take about nearly two months before we would finally move onto the next one." Davis said, and Henry was wanting to know what to say next. There was something about his rambling that he shockingly found to be kind of interesting.

"What happened next? If you do not mind telling me." Henry said, and then Davis was thinking that Henry asking him this was finally making him feel like somebody appreciated his life for what it was. And with this, Davis started to tell the true story, and he as going to go as long as he felt like he needed to for it to all be done.

"Thanks for showing me at least some interest in knowing what the truth behind this town, and behind my life actually are. I will let you know the story as well as I can be able to, knowing the fact that you so politely asked me. The story went a bit stranger than you would have expected, and than I would have expected. And a bit more tragic. Such as about half way through the war, our town was attacked during a raid. Something that we were not really ready for.

I was running to try and escape. I was wanting to be safe, no matter what the cost was going to be. But that cost was something that I did not think that I would ever really be ready for. Tara died during that attack. It was something that broke me for a while after it had happened. Made me resent the world. Made me feel like everything was unfair, and that I should have been allowed to try and go on and save her. I felt as if I was cheated on the idea of being a hero.

I was cheated out of something that I should have never been forced to do in the first place. I should have never been forced to be there for her as she was bleeding to death from a fall that she had faced when we were inside of a forest. I was holding her, as she was laying on my arms, and she was forcing me to make a promise with her. One that I did not know if I could keep, but I never wanted to make somebody a promise if I would break it. So I decided that I would at least try.

And if you are wondering what the promise was, I will let you know right now. She made me promise her that no matter what was going to happen, I was going to at least try and keep the world that we had imagined to be going. She wanted me to at least try and see what I can do to keep the small legacy that we had been building up alive. I was unsure if I was really ready to do this, but I knew that it was something that I had to at least try my best to work with.

I hid in that forest for several minutes afterwards, and when I was there, trying to keep away from other people, who were going to attack me, under that bridge, I was telling myself that I would try to give myself a proper burial. I was going to try and live up to her wish. Because she deserved something more than what she had been given, and I was going to at least try and give this to her.

When I had gotten out of the forest, I was unsure of what I was even going to be doing now. I was feeling like there was going to be a great burden on my shoulder forever. The fact that I was going to have to accept the fact that there would be somebody who I was going to have to try and honor, as well as the fact that I was just needing to try and survive long enough to even remotely have a chance to do something like this in the first place. It was a lot to handle, and I was unsure if I was going to be able to.

Despite my feeling of uncertainty, I was back at home that night, trying to act like I did not know what was going on, and what was going to be the new life that I was going to be living, I was home seeing my father scared. He was looking like he had witnessed one of the most scary things he would have ever imagined. And I realized even at my much younger age that maybe in a way, he actually had done just that. I did not think that I was ever going to fully get it. But I was able to understand it even then, despite how much I did not want to admit that I did.

One thing that I was unsure of at that moment was how I was going to tell my father what I had known, as well as Tara's death, and there was a part of me that was feeling like I just needed to keep that information to myself. That the longer that I would keep that away from him, the less that he was going to think that I did something wrong, and that people could just assume that she died from the attack normally.

The next several months went by slowly easier. Every single passing day, I was getting along better and better. Every single day that had passed, I was feeling like I had a chance to be able to act like none of this ever fucking happened. I was even slowly starting to feel like I would be able to go back to the forest again, and maybe even enjoy what I was doing. So this was the route that I decided that I would be taking when I was going to get into the final stages of the war.

As I was inside of the forest, I should have thought better than to do it during the late night, but I was too young to think about the stupidity of that. Or too uncaring for my own life, and my own moral value system. Maybe a bit of both. But I am unsure of what was keeping me from actually doing something smart. And that would have been just staying home when it was not during the day. Or maybe I was just wanting to see what was going on there, to put this whole mess behind me again.

I was just going along, trying to keep myself presented in a way that I was not scared. But there was no words to describe how scared I was. Eventually, I was encountering a darker version of myself. Like pure black. With red eyes. I only knew it was supposed to be me because of the way that the shape was outlined. I did not know what I was supposed to do when I would see them, but I was telling myself that I was just going to have to fight and be prepared for what was going to happen next. Despite the fact that something like this seemed fucking impossible. I knew that I had to try.

I was forced to fight him, because if I would just try and go away, they would probably fucking kill me, and I did not want my town to be going with any more death, to be going with any more grief. I knew that I had to try if I was going to make my town and my father feel like he was going to have at least some form of peace with what was going on around his own home town. So I defended myself as much as possible, fighting them a little bit at a time, slowly taking them down more and more the longer that we had been fighting.

They had fought me for a while, and the entire time that they had been going at me, and trying to kill me, I would just continue to fight back. The lasted probably about ten minutes before I had been able to destroy them by stabbing them in the chest with a tree branch, and the man was not able to continue. I stared at the corpse. Angry at the fact that I had just killed a man, and then despite this, I decided that I would be going to my house again, trying to put it all away.

As I was heading on home, there was something that distracted me though. A fountain. I went to it, sort of wondering what one of those was doing in a forest. As I was staring right down on it, I was seeing that the fountain had been glowing a bit, and I talked with it. For some reason I thought it would work. The fountain did respond, and told me that I got to have any wish that I had wanted. As long as I made a blood sacrifice." After Davis said all that, and took a breath, Henry decided to take this chance to see where the story would be going next.

"Did you make a wish? What did you have to sacrifice? What was the wish that you had made?" Henry asked, and then the older man was glad that he was asking all these questions, showing them all that he was paying attention, and that teenagers were still able to be relied when you gave them some time and pace. Davis answered all his questions, and more of the story.

"I did make a wish actually. One that I did not think was going to be coming true, and one that I was just putting in to sort of indulge the ideas of this fountain. I cut my hand with a piece of glass to fit into the fountain as my blood sacrifice, and then after I had done that, I was sort of going along with what the fountain wanted. I wished for the world that Tara and I created to become real, as a way to sort of fulfill her wishes. I did not think that anything was going to be coming out from it, and a part of me was thinking that this was going to be pointless. But I don't care. I wanted to try and make it work for myself and the others around me.

I did not think much of it at the time. In fact, I did not think anything of it besides how stupid I was to cut my hand open for virtually no real reason. After I had gotten home, I covered my hand up before my father knew what I had done. I went to bed that night, and pretended that none of this happened because I did not want to be getting in trouble with my father. And my mother would not have been able to defend me on this, since she died minutes after I was born.

A couple more weeks passed and the war had ended. I was honesty so over the war that I did not give a single fuck who would win anymore. I just wanted this to be done with, so that way I could be able to move forward with my own time, and work on the worlds creation just a bit more at the time and stuff.

Eventually, I had forgotten about the oath, and I was just adding more and more pages to my book. My world that I had been taking on the helm of for nearly two years by that point. Eventually, I was revealed to that this world that I had made in my imagination with literally nothing else going on actually was real. That I had actually managed to create it.

You may be wondering how I learned that something like this happened, and how such a thing were to happen in the first place. In all truth, I do not know about the latter. As for the former. I think that it was able to come along due to the fact that I had been going with my own life. I was forced to fight a monster that was like a hound. Not only that, but it looked exactly like the monsters that I had been creating on my own time, which was enough for me to know the truth.

The monster attacked me, and as you might be expecting, I had no choice but to kill it. I mean, when you are being attacked, and you are forced to just try and find a way through something, it is all that you are able to really handle. I killed the monster after a while of a fight, despite not being sure if I was going to be making it, and then when I had done this, the monster vanished, and I would start to learn more of the truth as it would be slowly revealed to me.

The monster has something on their dog tag, and I picked it up. There were some instructions on it, and the entire time that I was looking at it, I was slowly letting the dots connect, despite the fact that it had seemed insane for me to even consider at first. I mean, how could anybody who was sane be thinking that there were giant monsters that were coming along and invading my town and stuff just to kill me. I think you must see how insane that something like this really is.

I had spent the next several weeks in my house for most of the day, just in utter fear, and each day I would add even more notes to this world, trying to expand it more and more, trying to finally let the world become what it was. I was scared that I was going to die, and it was something that I was just needing to work harder to pretend like it was just not going to be bothering me in the long run. But I guess that there is nothing you can do when you are presented with something this scary.

Eventually, there was a monster that decided to meet with me one on one, before I even had a chance to try and fight back. The monster was telling me their name. Telling me what they had against me, and how much they were going to try and make this world of theirs a better place when I was going to be gone. How much the digital monsters did not want me at their side. How much I was only making things even worse by just simply being around. I did not realize that something like this was actually going to be happening. But I did not want to die. I was wanting to live, and that was the main reason that I was going to just fight as much as I could given what I had known. What little I had known.

I told the monster that I was going to fight as much as I could, and that no matter what was going to happen, I would not put myself in danger of death just because they were telling me that I was only making things worse in their eyes. I was not really wanting to hear any of it. I wanted to live, and I wanted to give them life as well.

I would tell you more, but it seems like I am running out of time for now. I hope that maybe we can meet up often enough to tell you more of this story. If you are interested in it of course." Davis said, and Henry nodded, shocked at how interested he was going to be in such a thing. He had no idea that he was actually going to be intrigued by a old man talking about some weird fantasy world he was creating back in the day when he was younger. He did not know what he was really going to be thinking of the matter, and he was just wanting to see where this would be going in the long run.

"I do have something for you that I want you to take." Davis was putting something out of his pocket. It was a green device, and he was slowly handing it right to Henry, as if thinking that it was the best that he could do, but it was still something that he needed to let Henry have for listening to his entire story, considering how patient he had been this entire time.

"You will know what it is when you come home to your house, and when you see it, you will know why I am giving it to you before I give this to anybody else. Trust me when I say that I know what I am doing much more than you expect me to." After he had said that to Henry, he was wondering what the younger guy was going to say to this. Henry was unsure of what he would try to say, but he was just thinking that maybe he needed to respect what this old man was saying.

"Thanks for letting me listen to your story. I do actually want to know what it is going to be like when I come home. Maybe I will come back every few days on this." Henry said, and he was finally feeling like there was at least something that he was going to be able to start to look forward to in the future. So with that, he was standing up, and he was slowly heading out of the house, trying to decide what he truly thought of the material that was told to him.

As he was heading on home, there was a part of him that made him convinced that he was chosen by this man before they even met. That there was something going on here. That there must be something that made him seem to be the man that Davis would want to approach. He did not get it, and in a way, he did not want to. But in a way, he felt like it was needed in order to truly understand what was going to be coming in the future.