[fanfic] Rival Encounter
Sora regarded the one across from her, feeling a little sick to her stomach to think that this - this Digimon counted as her sister. Half-sister, yes, but sister all the same. She'd never had one of those before. Finding out that her father was Devimon had been more than enough of a shock. Now there was Hoshimon.
Hoshimon, who stood taller than she did, with long graceful wings that flexed in and out, most of her body the shade of a dark night, but stars speckled here and there all over her. Her fingers were similar to Sora's when Sora was in the proper mood - long and clawed and flexing this way and that. Her pale lips smiled as she regarded Sora.
"Have you ever killed anyone?" Hoshimon wanted to know before she shook her head, answering her own question. "No. You're the nice one. You like people." Every word she spoke was flavored with contempt. "I don't know how you can be our father's child."
"That's something we have in common," Sora replied, setting her shoulders and meeting those glowing eyes with her own. "I don't know how I can be either."
Hoshimon snorted softly, the tips of her wings fluttering back and forth. She didn't seem to have horns or a tail but Sora couldn't forget she was classified as a Demon-type, a Fallen Angel, just as she herself was. It still made her faintly nauseous to even think that. Surely she'd wake up one of these mornings and it would be nothing but a bad dream?
It certainly had all the makings of a bad dream. Finding out you were part Digimon wasn't the most horrible thing she'd ever heard of, but finding out that you were the offspring of one of the most evil Digimon that existed? She wasn't sure how Yamato or Jou were dealing with it. At least Koushiro had some good Digimon kindred.
I hope I can talk to Mom about this. She wanted to talk to her mom and her dad - her real dad, not Devimon - and she really really wanted to see Piyomon, but she had no idea of where her partner was right now. She didn't know Hoshimon but she didn't quite trust her not to have done something before Sora woke up.
"Well, you're going to forget all about that caring for other people stupid crap," Hoshimon declared, grinning at her. Devimon's other daughter had very sharp teeth. "You've got a lot to learn and I get to be the one that teaches you. Or if you don't want me to -" Her eyes glinted savagely and Sora could feel something deep inside of herself responding, a flare of rage and challenge. "Father can do it."
Sora shook her head without hesitation. The last thing she wanted was to learn anything from Devimon.
She ignored the ghost of a voice in the back of her mind. It didn't say anything useful. It never had. Just reaffirmed everything she'd always thought about herself.
"Oh, goodie! That means you're mine to teach." Hoshimon bared sharp teeth and Sora thought that was supposed to be a smile. It wasn't a very good one if it was. It conveyed nothing like pleasure or joy - at least not in the ways Sora would like to see them. "And you'd better learn fast. Because if you don't, then Father will start teaching you. And if you think I'm going to be a horrible teacher, he's even worse."
Before Sora could finish processing all of that, Hoshimon sank sharp claws into her shoulders and launched them both up into the air above the crumbling castle that Devimon called home. Sora called it a prison, or would have if she'd currently had the sense to call it anything at all. She wasn't sure of how long it had been since she'd woken up here, without her friends, without Piyomon, and without her Digivice. She'd only had Piyomon and the Digivice for a few days, and she still wasn't entirely sure if she could call most of the group her friends, but they were what she'd had since this whole experience got started, and she wanted them back.
But what she got was being high in the sky, cold winds tearing at her even as Hoshimon took them higher and higher, and the wind stole the scream from her throat. Hoshimon whipped her around to grin at her.
"I know you don't really believe yet that you're part Digimon. So this is the best way to show you - and to teach you. Better learn how to fly, fast!"
Once more Sora didn't have time to process any of that before she found herself going down - perhaps even faster than they'd gone up. Only this time, she fell by herself, as Hoshimon hovered above and watched her, that smug little smirk quickly getting out of sight.
Fly? Me? I can't - Piyomon - why - That was all that fluttered through her mind as the ground swept closer and closer to her.
Pathetic. I can see why no one would even want to love you. The voice was harsh and cold and if she'd had time to think it over - something she had a distinct lack of right now - she would have grasped that it sounded a lot like herself.
But then something shifted and clicked inside of her, and she knew how to fly. It wasn't that hard at all. She reached out and reached in all at the same time, and before her feet would have struck the ground, she found herself hovering. Slowly she stared, not fully believing what was going on. Not that she'd been certain of much before this whole strange Digital adventure started, but this was something else altogether.
"Not bad," Hoshimon declared with a bit of a derisive sniff. "I suppose I can't fault you for not wanting to reformat. But you're going to have to get better."
"Better?" Sora couldn't believe her ears. There was so much that was going on that she didn't feel like believing that one more thing wasn't making that much of a difference. "How do you get better from flying?"
"Like this." Hoshimon demonstrated, circling around Sora, clawed fingers reaching out to tap her in so many places that Sora quickly lost count. "When you can stop me - in any way - then you'll have done better." She hovered in front of Sora, that smug smirk not fading at all. Sora hated it and knew that she wasn't the only one.
How right you are. Maybe I can teach you to hate properly. A low whisper of a laugh followed the words. But let me introduce myself. I am Akuenmon - daughter of Devimon. And I am you.
The End
Notes: Every Viral breed has a dark side – a side of them that takes far more after their Virus parent(s). Meet Sora’s.