By Debbie
The sickening feeling of falling seemed to remain in his stomach, the wind flapping at his clothes and hair. It seemed to last forever, wondering if he ever stops falling. Then splashes of icy-cold water surrounded him. Opening his eyes, Joe found himself floating in a slow-flowing river, the currents carrying him. He drifted for a while, trying to gather his bearings, then his lungs ached from lack of air. He couldn’t see the surface of the river, and he began to panic. From above, he would see the blurred rays of the sun shining through the surface, and he swan upward. His lungs cried for fresh air.
The moment he felt the cool breeze on his cheek, he gasped in lungfuls of air, easing the pain in his lungs. Joe spread his arms to keep floating. He looked around in worried panic. He knew he heard splashes in the river before he plunged in, but he couldn’t see any trace of his friends.
Joe yelled out his friends’ names, and waited to hear an answer. He tried again and again, becoming deeply concerned. Then he felt a smooth fin brushing against his legs. Soon, he found himself sitting on a drifting raft made of many, tiny shining fishes, supporting him from beneath.
“Need a lift?”
Joe looked behind and saw a grinning Gomamon swimming from behind, his pale golden-green eyes sparkling with mischievous spunk. He was so relieved to see the white digimon that he grinned back. But then he remembered about his friends. He gazed around. “Where are the others?”
As if was answering him, Joe heard a female voice yelling, “Help! Someone help!” Joe saw, from far ahead, Mimi hanging on a rock with Palmon holding on her waist, both looking frightened. Mimi was trying to hold a grip on the wet, slick rock.
“Mimi!” Joe shouted. She looked behind. Gomamon commanded the fish raft to move closer to them. Joe reached out his hand for her, saying, “Get hold on my hand!”
Mimi grabbed on his hand and hanged on as Joe pulled her and Palmon out of the water. Mimi and Palmon sat on the raft, panting for breath. “Oh, it was scary,” Mimi whispered, and, unexpectedly, she clasped on him, burying her face on his shoulder, slightly shaking.
Feeling awkwardly, Joe patted on her back, flushing deeply. Then his eyes caught a glimpse of something drifting ahead of them, familiarly red and black. “Tentomon!” he shouted. For some reason, the digimon didn’t answer, floating silently. Growing worried, Joe directed Gomamon, “Get Tentomon!” Obedient, Gomamon swan after him. Then he heard a grunt from the other side of the raft. Looking back, he saw Gabumon hanging on the side with his giant paws, gasping for breath. His deep ruby eyes flickered around and said with worry, “Where is Matt?”
Matt and Izzy must be somewhere out there, thought Joe. They have to be all right. Mimi and Palmon helped pulling Gabumon out of the water as he turned to see Gomamon swimming back, dragging Tentomon. He had an extreme alarm in his eyes. “He is not waking!” he said as Joe pulled Tentomon out. Tentomon was struggling to take a breath, wheezing in his throat, as if there was not enough air for him. Joe then realized that something must had happened to Izzy because of the life force they were sharing.
Mimi must realize the same, for she stood up, balancing against the drifts of the raft, and yelled, “Matt! Izzy!” over the river. She gazed around behind as Joe looked ahead. He caught a flash of ash-blond hair among the crystal water.
“Matt! Over here!” Joe also stood, waving his arms.
Matt looked behind at his words and struggled to stroke to him with one arm as he held up Izzy. He grabbed on Joe’s outreached hand and pulled himself to the raft. “Take him!” Matt demanded. Joe quickly putted his hands under Izzy’s armpits and dragged him out of the water. Izzy was limp, lifeless in his arms, and, alarmed, Joe gazed to Matt, who was climbing out. “He’s not breathing!” Matt said, distress in his voice.
Joe laid Izzy down and knelt by him. Izzy looked ghastly pale, his skin turning blue around his lips. His chest was unmoving. “He’s drowning,” Joe regarded.
“No!” Mimi covered her mouth with her hands in shock.
Joe knew he has to do something. Thankfully, he had read books of duties of saving lives and treating injuries. He was prepared for this situation. Meeting Matt’s grey-blue eyes, he said, “Matt, do you know how to do mouth-to-mouth resuscitation?” Matt answered with a nod. “When I tell you to, push on his chest eight times.”
Taking a deep breath, Joe leaned down to press his lips on Izzy’s cold lips. He breathed in his throat, in his lungs. The flesh was so cold that Joe shivered. He pinched shut Izzy’s nose with two fingers and breathed in again. He lifted his lips from the boy’s lips, and ordered Matt, “Now!” Matt did what he was told, pressing his fists on Izzy’s chest and pushing on eight times. When the pushes counted up, Joe tried again, breathing in Izzy’s mouth twice before Matt repeated his duty.
“Izzy, hang in there,” pleaded Mimi from near.
Joe and Matt tried again twice to revive Izzy, their faces concentrated, sweat drops forming on their foreheads, mingling with water drops from their damp hair. Tentomon was inhaling hard, difficult to inhale than exhale. Suddenly, in the middle of the fifth push, Tentomon halted breathing.
All went in silence. Joe looked up to see Matt gazing back with helplessness . . .
“No!” All his life, he was a coward, frightening to face anybody or anything. He preferred the sheltered life, safe from strange, bizarre things that might hazard his life. But since he was brought with his friends to the outlandish Digiworld, he learned something new about himself. He was reliable. His friends would rely on him for trustworthy advice and faithful opinions. He will not give up. He will not let Izzy give up. Enraged, Joe pounded on Izzy’s chest repeatedly. “No, Izzy! Don’t you give up on us! We need you! Izzy! Breathe! Breathe!”
“Joe . . .” Matt tried to grab on his arms, but Joe was too swift for him.
“BREATHE!” One last pound.
Eyes flying open, Izzy’s body stiffened up, turned to one side, and vomited out lungfuls of warm water. Joe held him close, patting on his back. As one, Izzy and Tentomon gasped for breath and coughed hard. The breaths came in easier. Tentomon raised his head weakly, and mumbled, “Izzy?”
“He is okay for now,” Joe told the digimon. Inside, he was so thrilled to see Izzy okay that he was shaking with relief.
Izzy leaned against Joe’s chest, his eyes fluttering open. “What . . . happened?” he gasped and groaned.
“Don’t talk,” Joe quieted him. “Rest.”
“Ohh . . .” Izzy curled into a tense ball and began to shudder violently, a snarl of agony spreading over his pale face.
“What’s wrong?” Mimi asked, pure anxiety in her hazel eyes.
Joe knew the symptoms. Izzy’s body was not used to the sudden changes from water in his lungs to air. “It’s too much for him. He needs complete rest. We must get to stable ground.” He met Gomamon’s gaze. Knowing what he was thinking, Gomamon commanded the fish raft to drift to a riverbank.
They waited until the raft docked to the shore. The shore was low enough for them to step from the raft. Matt carried a shivering Izzy in his strong arms as Gabumon and Palmon helped a shaken Tentomon crossing. Mimi found a small clearing near the shore for Izzy to rest. Izzy’s shudders eased down and he fell into an uneasy sleep, his face once and again twitching with agony. Matt laid him down and he still curled into a ball on his side, his red hair clouding his tightly shut eyes. Tentomon also settled into an uneasy sleep by his human companion’s side, slightly shivering.
Joe putted his bag of supplies down and twisted his soaked vest. “We must get some wood to build a fire to warm up, and of course, dry ourselves.” Looking up, he saw that Mimi and Matt were gazing at him with wonder. Palmon, Gabumon, and Gomamon were also staring at him. “What?”
“You seemed to be calm in this kind of situation, Joe,” said Matt, sitting by the red-haired boy’s side. “Usually, you would panic or run away.”
Joe flushed. He self-consciously pushed up his eyeglasses, which were dotted with drops of water. He didn’t even think to clean them. “Well, sometimes we must keep our composure like this. Actually, I’m really shaking inside.” He rubbed his goose-bumped arms and turned to enter in the forest. “I’m going to find some wood.”
“I will go with you, Joe,” Mimi said, quickly coming in pace with him. Palmon and Gomamon followed behind, as always. Matt and Gabumon chose to stay and guard Izzy and Tentomon.
Soon, Joe and Mimi were picking wood with their digimon. Gomamon was picking up sticks by his mouth and dropped them in Palmon’s out spread arms. Joe knelt, gathering sticks in neat piles as Mimi wandered, searching for any scarce wood. Joe could hear her coming close by her sandals crunching on dry grasses.
“Joe?” came her shy voice. He looked up right in the hazel eyes of Mimi. She smiled. “You did great saving Izzy’s life.”
Again, Joe flushed and lowered his dusky eyes. “Usually, I would pass out.”
“But you were so brave.”
Joe scoffed. “Brave?”
“Yeah.” Mimi knelt by him. Joe was surprised at her. She would do anything to avoid getting her pink dress dirty, yet she chose to kneel just to talk with him. Her hazel eyes were bright as she spoke. “That’s a side of yourself that we never see. The composed, persistent Joe.”
His eyes met her eyes for a moment, and then gazed away, focusing on the wood pile. “That’s not me,” he whispered softly.
“Why are you doubting yourself?” Her sincere voice made him look up. “None of us would do like what you had done to save Izzy’s life. You are an hero in Izzy’s eyes, Joe.” She smiled radiantly, almost lovely. “You are also an hero in my eyes.” Almost hesitantly, she hugged him warmly.
Surprising, Joe was not flushing or feeling awkwardly. He returned the embrace, resting his chin on the top of her head, pondering her honest words.
They built a small fire, surrounded by rocks carried from the river. The fire did enough to dry themselves and all warmed up. Joe often glanced at the sleeping Izzy with worry. He appeared a bit better; the color was returning to his cheeks and lips. His body slackened under the soothing touches of sleep. But Joe could see the few twitches of tense agony on his boyish face. He now and then mumbled in his sleep, his words inaudible. Mimi was sitting by Izzy, soothing him with a few words of kindness.
Joe’s eyes gazed up to the tense Matt. He refused to eat anything Gabumon and Palmon have grubbed for the kids, often pacing among the river bank, deep anxiety in his face. He faced upstream in silence, but often his fists at his sides would shake with tension. He made a move to step forward upstream, but stopped with a furious grunt.
“What’s the matter, Matt?” Joe asked.
Matt’s grey-blue eyes glanced back. “We must find a way to return to the cliff and search for our friends.” His eyes seemed to soften with concern. “I hope they escaped from Phyrimon.”
Joe was also worried about his friends, but he figured that, sometimes, they had to be patient and faithful. Besides, there was Izzy, who was too weak to go anywhere. “First, we must take care of Izzy. He isn’t well enough to continue. He’s had his first brush with death. He might feel vulnerable, helpless. He needs us now. It’s up to us to watch for him. Matt, I am positive that our friends will be all right.”
Matt’s eyes hardened for a moment, and Joe thought he would disagree. Matt hardly showed any emotions on his distant face; his eyes were the only portals to his emotions. Matt closed his eyes and turned to face upstream in silence.
Mimi went to kneel by Joe. She whispered in his ear, “Don’t you see Matt is worried about our friends? His brother, mostly?”
“I know that,” Joe replied. “I am worried about them, too.”
Mimi watched him in silence, then gazed up at the sky. “My goodness. I didn’t realize it is getting dark.”
All looked up at the darkening sky, included Matt. “Time goes so fast,” mused Gomamon.
Matt pushed his hand through his ash-blond hair, his characteristic gesture. “We all need sleep like Izzy and Tentomon do. I will keep guard.”
No one argued with him. The kids and digimon chose to sleep near the vulnerable Izzy and Tentomon, surrounding them into a circle in their way of guarding during sleep. Joe doesn’t go straight to sleep; he sat up, watching Izzy breathing, making sure that he was all right. Suddenly, Joe received an icy, bitter shiver running up his back to neck, the neck hairs standing out. He rubbed his arms and legs, which were once again covered with goose bumps, and looked around nervously. He thought someone was watching the kids, or maybe just him. He gazed over to Matt to see if he felt the same. But Matt and Gabumon sat neat the river, their backs to him. Matt was playing a melody on his harmonica, its tune sad and somber.
Joe laid down, trying to sleep, but the nervous feeling was still there. Someone (was) watching him. He turned to one side and closed his eyes. Sleep took a long time to take him.
He often stirred sleepily in the middle of the night, thinking he heard a small voice whispering in the distance, as if was debating secretly. It doesn’t speak to him at all. No, he heard it three times in a row, whispering from three different directions, but never directly to him. The voice was mumbled, low, that he chose to ignore it, thinking it might be the mumblings of one of his dozing friends. He let sleep take over him.
He had a dream, or he thought so. It was too real to be called a dream.
He often saw an image of his Crest of Reliability’s symbol - an outlined cross with four rays of light from behind it - appearing and fading, as if it was weak. It was too blurred, like some shadow covered it, avoiding him to see it clearly.
He was walking in the darkness. Nothing but blackness everywhere and himself. He just walked on without a goal to fulfill. Then he heard a voice, not the voice he often heard during the night, but a familiar voice, a male one. He immediately recognized it as the voice of Izzy, but the voice was monotonous, almost spiritless.
“Why? Why, Reconciler?”
Joe stopped in his tracks at the words. The words seemed to float around him, taunting him with something he couldn’t understand. Soon, he saw the small form of Izzy walking toward him from the darkness. (But it is not Izzy,) thought Joe. Izzy’s face was deathly pale with cold, blue lips. His eyes, so dark brown that they appear black, were sunken, the lifeless pupils piercing in his soul. His skin was colorless from lack of blood. Izzy stepped up to him, gazing up to him with the lifeless eyes.
“Why did you let me die?” he said, almost sorrowful, but still monotonous. It sounded dead.
Joe shook with dismay at the lifeless Izzy, and he moved back one step. “I didn’t let you die,” he spoke softly. “I saved your life.”
“No, you didn’t, Reconciler,” Izzy said, his voice now full with loathing. “You let me die because I am not in balance.”
“Balance?”
Izzy stepped forward. Joe stepped back to avoid him, instinctively raising his hands to shield himself. Izzy continued, “You are the Reconciler who keeps the balance. You let me die because I am not balanced. Only you are in balance and you must be removed. We don’t need you or your balance. You must be destroyed.” Like a striking snake, Izzy’s hand shot out and snatched his left arm. Bitter cold bit in his flesh, so pained that he screamed . . .
Joe screamed as he woke. He sat upright, shuddering.
“Joe?”
He turned to see the pale, concerned face of Izzy gazing back. He was holding his shoulders in order to calm him. “Izzy?” Joe murmured, then gazed around. His friends were sleeping near the fire, not reacting at his sudden scream. Remembering the dream, he looked down to his arm. There were no marks, but he could feel the cold bites on his flesh where the lifeless Izzy snatched on. Looking up to Izzy, Joe was relieved to see him alive. But he was so pale, bags forming under his droopy eyes. He was smothering back a soft cough. “Izzy, you need rest. You are not well.”
“I know, but . . . “ Izzy gazed at the friends, then met his dusky eyes. “I have to do something for you guys. I would be useless to you if I am too weak.”
Suddenly, the cold words of Izzy appeared in his head. (You let me die because I am not balanced.) Joe shut his eyes and shook his head to push the words to the back of his mind.
“Joe?” Izzy was anxious at his reaction.
Joe sighed faintly. He putted a reassuring hand on Izzy’s shoulder. “Izzy, get sleep. I will stand watch.”
“But - ,” Izzy protested.
“Please, Izzy,” Joe said seriously, his eyes meeting Izzy’s black eyes. “Just trust me this time.”
Izzy seemed to be surprised at his words and spoke softly, “I always trust you, Joe. I give my trust in you.”
Joe gazed back with astonishment. “You do?”
Izzy nodded. “Yeah, we all do, even though we won’t admit to it. Matt told me about how you did to save my life.” He slightly blushed, lowering his eyes. “I want to thank you.”
Joe smiled, brushing his fingers through his black-blue hair. “Don’t mention it.” He needed no praise. He just wanted to make sure Izzy was all right. “Go back to sleep, Izzy. I won’t be at peace if you are not getting enough rest.”
Izzy smiled and nodded. He laid down near Joe. Sleep was quick to take over him.
Joe’s smile broadened, then suddenly he received the same shiver up his back. Nervously, he looked around him, again feeling that someone was watching him.
The next morning, the kids and digimon woke up refreshed. Matt and Mimi were overjoyed to see Izzy well. Izzy blushed at all the attention and smiled quietly. Gabumon, Gomamon, and Palmon were also glad to see Tentomon all right. The group ate for a while before they set in a search for their friends. They headed upstream, strolling near the riverbank. Matt and Gabumon took up the lead, determined to find the friends. Izzy walked behind with Tentomon hovering near, looking a bit weak, but have confidence to continue. Joe walked behind to keep a protective eye on the red-haired boy as Gomamon stroked in the water next to him. Mimi walked by Joe’s other side, also keeping watch on Izzy with Palmon by her side.
They walked in deep silence for a while until Gabumon stopped in his tracks, his ruby eyes darkening briefly. “Wait,” he told his friends, who also stopped. He sniffed the air in thought. “I smell a digimon.”
All looked around in caution, knowing that almost every digimon they have encountered in the travels always caused them trouble. Soon, a small digimon stepped out of the jungle and sat on her hind legs. She was as small as Gomamon. She was tiger-like, with orange fur and night-blue stripes shaped like lightning bolts all over. Pink fur covered the tips of her tail and the tips of her huge pointed ears. Two huge golden eyes sparkled with interest at the kids and digimon.
“I didn’t mean to alarm you,” she mentioned, her voice childlike, as soft as a feather, “But I just sensed that you are worried.” Joe narrowed his eyes slightly at her. Her voice sounded vaguely familiar.
“Who are you?” Matt said in wary caution
The small digimon bowed her head. “I am Aquenmon, a psychic digimon.”
“Prove you are psychic,” challenged Gomamon before Joe shot him a warning glare.
Aquenmon spoke smoothly without hesitation. “You are anxious about your friends who were attacked by a Phyrimon up on a cliff.” She gazed upward in the direction of the unseen cliff. Then she cocked her head and grinned, revealing two rows of small fangs. “And you are the Digidestined.”
Matt crossed his arms, looking distrustful as always. “Impressive, but it doesn’t impress me.”
Aquenmon seemed to ponder for a moment, her tail flickering once and again. “Would it impress you if I offer my help to find your friends?”
All gazed at her with astonished surprise. “Really?” Mimi said, her eyes brightening. “You would help us?”
Aquenmon again bowed deeply, one paw outreached on the ground. “Anything to aid the legendary Digidestined.”
“It’s great!” Izzy said with delight. “We will find our friends in no time!”
Joe watched Izzy, Mimi, Tentomon, and Palmon huddling around Aquenmon, eagerly asking questions. Aquenmon cheerfully answered every one of them. Matt walked up to him and, together, they watched the group.
Matt leaned over to whisper in Joe’s ear. “What do you think, Joe?”
Joe looked to him. “What about?”
Matt glanced back. “About Aquenmon.”
Joe’s eyes turned to the tiger-like digimon and chewed his lower lip in thought. “She appears harmless.” From the corner of his eyes, he saw Matt frowning. He was quick to continue. “Look, I know it takes time to trust any digimon after we were attacked so many times. We must be wary this time.”
Mimi gazed at the boys whispering and rolled up her eyes. “You guys, what are you waiting for? Let’s go and find the others.”
Joe made no move. “Wait a second. Aquenmon, do you know anything about a Reconciler?”
Aquenmon nodded. “The Reconciler is the one who is responsible to keep balance in trust.” Her golden eyes gazed up at him, suddenly seemed intense and vivid. ‘Why?”
Joe kept silent, his pondering eyes meeting her eyes for a moment, not sure about her. Aquenmon made a blithe giggle and turned to stroll upstream. “Let us go on our way!”
All followed Aquenmon among the riverbank. Joe was walking at the end, keeping his friends in his vision. He still felt that he shouldn’t trust Aquenmon about finding the others, but she appeared innocent. And who is this Reconciler? Why does he feel that he is the Reconciler? The words of Izzy in the dream echoed in his mind. (You are the Reconciler, and you must be destroyed.) He was recalled of Phyrimon calling Tai ‘the Master’ and saying he must be destroyed. Was there any particular reason why Tai and Joe must be destroyed? He glanced up from his meditation at the grunt of Matt from the toying jab of Mimi. He glared at her, rubbing his arm.
“Come on, Matt,” Mimi was saying, “Just stop being so cold. We can trust Aquenmon.”
“I can choose not to trust her,” said Matt.
Mimi threw up her hands in an exasperated gesture. “Fine. Just be, like, Cool-mon.”
Matt’s glare deepened and muttered under his breath, “You are so gullible, brat.”
Stopping in his tracks, Joe heaved a warning exhale and gazed at Mimi. The group also stopped, looking at the two kids. Mimi was looking bitter and severe. Her hazel eyes hardened as she glared back to Matt. “Brat?”
“You are so self-absorbed, Mimi.” Matt mimicked Mimi’s voice with disgust. “’My hair! My beautiful dress!’”
Mimi’s delicate face flushed deeply, two rosy spots forming on her cheeks. Her hands clenched into shaking fists, but, because she was a lady, she made no move. She simply glared hotly at Matt, who also glared sternly.
Izzy stepped in between them. “Hey, cut it off, guys.”
Mimi lost it. She suddenly jostled Izzy in his shoulder, her eyes blazing at him. “Buzz off, geek! Why should you worry about us? You are so ignorant!”
“Yeah,” Matt turned to a shocked Izzy. “Poor Izzy, so helpless and . . .” Abruptly, he doubled over in pain, holding his stomach. Izzy did what he would never done - he just slammed right in Matt’s stomach with an unexpected force. Matt inhaled in a deep breath, then his grey-blue eyes pierced right in the boy’s black eyes. “That is a very big mistake, Izzy.”
Izzy’s eyes were full of distress with a bit of wrath glittering from behind. His voice was shaking, “Maybe I should die so I won’t have to bother with you cynical imbeciles!”
Joe was disbelieved at his friends. He didn’t understand how did that happened, but he knew he was responsible to halt that ridiculous quibble. “You guys . . .” he tried to speak out, but his friends still taunted at each other with bitter, hateful words. “Stop it! Now!” But no one listened. They kept on bickering; no one made a move to make the verbal fight physical. The digimon were also speechless, looking helpless, trying to stop them. All but one . . .
Joe eyed over to Aquenmon. She was watching the kids with her scheming, successful eyes. Suddenly, Joe knew. Her voice was familiar, and he realized that she had spoken with his friends during last night. She spoke to them in their sleep, telling false words of distrust into their hearts about the others. That’s why Mimi, Matt and Izzy were fighting.
“YOU!” Joe’s voice was so bold that it seemed to boom in the air. The friends stopped bickering, and looked at him with astonishment. He was glowering at Aquenmon, his eyes darkening from dusky to black. “You are responsible for this!”
Aquenmon smirked, one corner of her lips curling upward. “Yes, Reconciler, I am.”
“Why do you call me the Reconciler?” he nearly bellowed.
“Because you are. Only to destroy you, I must destroy the trust you hold over them.” Aquenmon glanced to the three shocked friends and sneered. “I see that the trust is feeble, pathetic.” Her golden eyes turned to Joe. “It will be so easy to destroy you, Reconciler.” As she spoke, she increased her height and bulk larger and larger until she gazed down, her tail wagging devilishly. She overshadowed the kids and digimon. She raised a giant paw and thrust it toward a stiff Joe.
Gomamon, digivolve into Ikkakumon!
Gabumon, digivolve into Garurumon!
Ikkakumon blocked the tiger’s attack with his bulk, resisting the force silently. Garurumon pushed the group out of the way like a farm wife shooing away hens. Getting the hint, Matt, Mimi, Izzy, Palmon, and Tentomon ran for the shelter of the jungle, but Joe stayed behind, watching the battle.
“Harpoon Torpedo!” Ikkakumon bellowed, and a horn-like torpedo burst from his head, soaring toward Aquenmon. She dodged, and the torpedo fell in the water, exploding into a blast of water, showering the kids and digimon. Aquenmon lowered her head and smashed Ikkakumon in his side, sending him splashing in the river. Ikkakumon shook his groggy head.
Garurumon opened wide his mouth and prepared to bite Aquenmon with his razor sharp fangs. She was too fast for him, leaping and ducking his attacks. The wolf and tiger made numerous splashes everywhere as they circled, pounced, and sidestepped.
Palmon, digivolve into Togemon!
Togemon dashed into the river and spun in place, her arms outspread. Shreds of steel needles emitted out of her cactus-like body, darting all over the place. Ikkakumon quickly jumped out of the range. Joe dodged, but held his place. Needles struck on Garurumon and Aquenmon, but bounced off harmlessly. Garurumon’s fur was steel-like, and it appeared that Aquenmon does has steel fur.
“How can we defeat her?” said Mimi, watching the battle hopelessly.
You are the Reconciler who keeps the Balance.
It was Joe’s voice speaking in his mind. He was the Reconciler. He was reliable, trusted to keep chaos in balance. Joe turned to his friends and said with new strength from his soul, “Do you trust me?” Eyes of pretty hazel, distinct grey-blue, and curious black gazed at him with stunned wonder. Joe repeated louder, “Do you trust me?”
They were speechless, then Izzy responded, “We always trust you.”
Matt nodded, his face creasing with a rare smile. “We trust you.”
“We have complete trust in you, Joe,” Mimi said with soft fondness.
Satisfied, Joe nodded and turned to walk toward the riverbank. He ignored Mimi’s cry of his name and stopped by the bank. The digimon champions were weak now, struggling to stand, their eyes glaring at the stronger Aquenmon. Her golden eyes gazed right in his dusky eyes for an instant, then she smirked.
“Well, well, Reconciler. Ready to give up your worthless life?”
Joe doesn’t flinch once at her words. He began in a low, serene voice. “With balance, we can do anything if we trust in each other. From chaos, there is a seed of balance, always there to keep chaos in order. Without balance, nothing will survive.” His crest began to glow with a sheen of pale blue, and soon, he was surrounded by the glow. The aura rippled in the air, taking the appearance of gentle waves of a sea. Joe was completely calm, his face a peaceful visage. “Whenever there is balance, there is trust.”
Aquenmon was not terrified at him. She laughed with disdain. “Impressive, but it doesn’t impress me. Dusk Beam!” She opened her mouth, and a beam of dark orange and green discharged from her mouth, soaring toward Joe. Without a sound, a dome, glowing pale blue, formed around Joe and his friends, shielding them from the attack. The dark beam didn’t even dent the strong dome. Joe was unmoving, undisturbed. Aquenmon stepped back, baring her fangs, new fear in her golden eyes.
The dome dissolved, and Joe raised his arms. “Balance of Sea,” he simply whispered, and two thick tentacles sprouted from the river, following the movements of his arms. The tentacles were completely made of water. Each tentacle bound Aquenmon from both sides, winding around her until she was floating in a wall of water. The tentacles pulled Aquenmon right back in the river. No sounds came out at all. No movements beneath the river.
The aura vanished from Joe’s body, and he began to sway, his knees buckling from under him. He collapsed as all went black in his vision.
He knew he was only out for a few minutes, but it seemed hours to wake up. He was still groggy from . . . what had happened to him? He laid still, trying to remember, then he heard a feminine voice calling to him from a distance.
“Joe, can you hear me?”
He did hear her, and responded by groaning softly. He opened his eyes and saw Mimi smiling with relief at him. “Oh, you are all right!” She went to hug him, but quickly withdrew herself from it, blushing deeply.
“Are you okay, man?” Matt asked from his other side, also looking concerned.
Joe nodded a bit. “What happened?” Then he was surprised at his own voice. It was not the same as before. His voice used to be always shrill with anxiety and worry, deeper. But now his voice was low, soft, balanced. Just like the sounds of a sea.
“You defeated Aquenmon,” Gomamon was answering him. Joe sat up and gazed over to the river. It was flowing calmly, as if was not disturbed by the recent battle. Gomamon also gazed to the river, saying, “She vanished in the river.”
Izzy spoke, “Joe’s balance and reliability defeated her.” He averted to grin to Joe with new confidence in his eyes. “You saved us.”
Joe looked down with wonder and his hand went to his neck, touching. “But what happened to my voice? It’s not my voice at all.”
Tentomon cocked his head. “No, it’s not, yet it is yours. Your voice is like the humming of an ocean.”
“Balance of Sea . . .” Gabumon murmured.
Joe met the eyes of his friends. “I said that, didn’t I?” All answered with nods. He stood, surprised at his new balance. He was no longer awkward and clumsy. He moved with a smooth, relaxed grace. He walked up to the river, knelt, and looked down to his reflection. Nothing had changed about him except one thing. He found a thin strand of pale blue that seemed so alike as water among his black hair, lengthened from the left side of his forehead. He stared at the strand with awe, and then raised his dusky eyes to the sky. He silently commanded.
Suddenly, clouds formed in the sky, and fresh raindrops fell on him and his friends. He heard friends reacting to the rain with wonder and delight from behind him. He let the rain soothe his face, feeling the ticklish streams the raindrops left behind as they dashed down his composed face.
Joe grinned and whispered, “I am the Reconciler.”
TO BE CONTINUED!!!!!!!!