Requiem of the Black

[Reikiko Tsukino]

♚

It was odd, how despite the long distance between the Matrix Sandsea and Triton City Reikiko found herself arriving within the Medusa Complex at a remarkable pace. It was as if she had only crossed a small corridor when the Doors of the Crow opened themselves, making the girl reach with a hand toward the edge of the doorway and soon she found herself within a large spacious hallway. A group of Kerai that were passing by the place the door appeared at looked in bewilderment at her, but Reikiko merely waved a hand in a simple greeting, as she heard the heavy footsteps of her partner behind her.

To the Kerai it must had been an impressive sight, to see Kuro appear from within the Doors of the Crow as a Black Wargreymon, yet he seemed to have little interest in impressing them, and neither did Reikiko. The two was quick to move to the other side of the hallway, seemingly on their way to prepare for the task they had been given. Still... if only Reikiko had paid attention to the subtle purple glow of her mark and the tiny black streams of data that flown from Kuro's body, then perhaps she could have avoided this tragedy entirely. Or could she? It was a question that would come to plague her for months to come as Kuro and her arrived in a spacious room, one they often used for their secret training exercises, and where also her equipment was stashed.

She would likely need some supplies for her task, and yet a sudden rather loud thump made her turn around to look in bewilderment as Kuro had collapsed onto his knees.

"Kuro?"

How peculiar, he didn't seem to had been injured, that would had been impossible considering the battle at the Sandsea never started properly. However, his face clearly shown that he was in pain, pain that he had been concealing, likely for her own sake. Even more worrisome was the lines of black data that flown freely from his body.

"I'm sorry Aneki..."

The defeated tone of the jet-black dragon warrior worried Reikiko greatly, to the point she had grown to forget briefly about her preparations and instead rushed to her partner, a worried look upon her face as she reached out for his chest, as if to find out if he had been injured without her knowledge.

"What happened Kuro? Did you get sick?"

The Black Warygreymon shook his head lightly in response, a pained grunt following as more gaps seemed to open on his armored body, tiny streams of black data pouring outwards.

"No... this is the effect of the mark Aneki."

Wait, the mark? Her gaze briefly wandered down to her hand, noticing the small pulsing purple hue of the mark what made the girl's eyes widen in surprise. Was the mark straining Kuro without her knowledge? Was the use of its power to obtain the power of a Mega Digimon too much for even them?

"Wait Kuro, devolve back to your rookie form. We'll stop using the mark."

"No!"

Kuro suddenly raised his voice, one of his hands lightly gripping her own as the warrior looked her straight in the eye and explained in a gentle tone.

"This mark is a sign of your power Aneki, you were able to master the power of the Mark where all others failed. It isn't your fault, it is mine..."

Kuro's words caused the girl to shake her head violently in denial to the statement.

"That's not true Kuro! You're just tired from all the training, I'm sure you just need a rest."

Yet as she said those words she noticed Kuro's body was starting to feel colder, and the words that followed only confirmed her concern.

"Do not blame yourself Aneki...."

A gentle whisper came from the Black Wargreymon as he let out yet another pained grunt, streams of black colored data flowing from his body as the large jet-black dragon warrior was about to continue, but a hurried collection of steps made Reikiko break the distance, attempting to embrace her partner.

"No Kuro! Don't die on me! Didn't you promise we'd be together forever? Weren't you going to grant us our dreams? Then don't give up now!"

The dark warrior smiled briefly at her as the data continued to flow from his body, slowly making it grow transparant.

"I... was too weak Aneki. I couldn't win the fight you considered the most important, nor could I give you the power that was meant to be yours... I don't... deserve to be your partner."

The words that followed made Reikiko's eyes tear up, tears steadily flowing down her cheeks as she cried out to her friend, the one she had always unconditionally trusted ever since she entered the Digital World.

"STOP IT! you're going to be fine... You just need some rest and then you'll be able to turn things back to usual. Right? Come on Kuro, stop scaring me and get up."

Kuro merely raised one of his hands, carefully wiping the tears from her cheek as he whispered a final message:

"Thank you... for being my friend Aneki..."

It were Kuro's final words, for the mark on her hand shone a violent purple color as the Black Wargreymon's body suddenly dissolved into a maelstrom of data, all of it seemingly gathering in a large obsidian-colored Digitama that had a rather eerie feeling to it.

Yet for Reikiko the moment Kuro's body disappeared, her arms blindly grasping in thin air, the poor girl fell to her knees, ignoring the emergence of the Digitama as she cried out aloud.

"KURO! COME BACK!"

Unfortunately Kuro was never going to return... In her reckless pursuit of power she had lost the last thing she truly possessed, the thing she took for granted and never truly understood how much importance it had in her life. Yes, the Digimon known as Kuro was lost forever, a tragic fate that was caused by her own two hands... She had been responsible for the death of her closest companion, the one being in the entire realm she could call: her friend...

A scream followed as a wave of anguishing despair overcame her, and finally the darkness claimed her consciousness...

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[Reikiko Tsukino]

♚

It felt like days had passed since she had fainted, and yet it appeared the sweet embrace of sleep would not keep her for much longer. Slowly the girl found herself regaining her consciousness, seemingly within the familiar comfort of a hospital bed, and a look around confirmed that she had been within the medical wing of the Medusa Complex.

"Finally awake, are you?"

A feminine voice pulled her thoughts back to reality, and a look at the opposite side of the room shown her the familiar black-haired nurse from the times she had been in the care of the medical ward. Angelica she was called, but at this time she couldn't help but find little care about the pretty nurse her presence. The memory of Kuro's death still lingered fresh on her mind, and judging from the Digitama that she saw resting on a cushion at the nearby table it was clear that his death was not a simple nightmare.

"How are you feeling?"

The question came rather suddenly, but there was a clear answer to it. She remembered how this was the second time she had actually woke up since that moment Kuro had disappeared. She had found herself within exactly the same room, but unlike now she had been crying for hours about the loss of her partner. Her friend had died at her own hands, and no amount of words or comfort could truly mend the scar it had left on her heart.

"Empty..."

The nurse smiled with sympathy at her, while approaching the edge of the bed, resting a hand on her shoulder. She seemed to had understood the pain Reikiko was going through, but after a moment she was forced to tell her the harsh news the poor girl didn't want to hear.

"Some of our doctors looked at the Digitama, it appears most of your partner's data has been corrupted by some form of virus. We are uncertain what it will hatch as, at this rate... I would prepare for the worst."

The worst... So Kuro had indeed died, the virus had corroded his data and now the Digitama that was there was something new, something different... Something that wasn't Kuro at all. This realization brought the poor girl back to tears, the sobbing slowly beginning to resurface.

"Don't cry Aneki, whatever happens I'll protect you!"

A voice resounded through the air, a familiar voice that made her tears stop, and looking at the end of the bed she could have sworn a shimmer image of the Blackagumon shown itself. Kuro was looking at her with his usual confident look in his eyes, and that smug grin upon his lips that made her believe he could accomplish anything he promised.

Still, it was but a mere illusion, she knew that Kuro wouldn't come back, and after a moment she heard the nurse speak once more.

"You have a few more hours before you need to get ready for duty Rei, unfortunately going outside will be a bit tricky right now. Triton City is under siege, and it's taking all our efforts to keep them at bay. Usually we would tell you to rally the Kerai and banish those invaders, but it appears Master Crow has a different task in mind for you. In a few hours your mission will begin. Fortunately we have confirmed that your Digitama should be hatching any moment now, so I'll leave the two of you alone for a bit.

Reikiko nodded her head lightly in response to the statement, a sigh following as she climbed out of the bed and after the nurse had left proceeded toward the nearby table. It was a bit odd how the Digitama had been pitch-black, with only a few purple dots on it, but the moment she tried to scoop up the object into her arms a loud cracking sound filled the room. It was already hatching?! The Digitama steadily started to glow brighter with an obsidian hue when finally it changed shape to reveal a peculiar creature she had never seen before.

"Kera!"

A quick scan of her digivice confirmed for the girl that this creature was in fact known as a 'Keramon' and for some weird reason had gone straight into rookie phase. This bit seemed to had left the girl a bit curious, but after a moment she found her hand subconsciously raise itself, lightly trying to reach the Keramon.

"Kur---"

No, this wasn't Kuro, her Kuro had died. Killed by her own desire for power... To call this creature Kuro would be a taboo, it was the same as acting as if she had replaced her deceased friend! She shook her head lightly, whispering in a soft tone.

"Kera, do you remember anything?"

Kera, it seemed like a suitable name for a creature called Keramon, and after a moment of tilting its head to the side Reikiko's fears were confirmed when the Digimon giggled softly and replied in a cheerful tone.

"Nope! Remember nothing at all Aneki"

It was just as she feared, and yet there was one particular bit of his response that stung Reikiko badly. He called her 'Aneki', something that only Kuro did, to the point she could have sworn she saw the shimmering image of her late partner within the Keramon. A long sigh followed from Reikiko who shook her head lightly, trying to push away the gloomy thoughts. If only she could had been able to enjoy a carefree existence like so many Tamers did... then maybe Kuro would have never died.

"Get ready Kera, we got a mission to accomplish."

Keramon grinned from ear to ear as he nodded his head firmly in response, and slowly Reikiko had found her resolve to harden. She would change, she would grow stronger her own way, so that she wouldn't lose anything else. She wasn't certain on the connection between the deceased Kuro, and this Keramon, but she sworn that she would never let this one perish.

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