[right][h3]Taito - Tokyo Prefecture – Japan
Emilia Westridge - Kokomon - Wisp
7:45 AM - October 29th - 2019[/h3][/right]
[hr]
Emilia sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. This time, she and Kokomon managed to fall asleep in her bed. Emilia slid out from under the covers, trying not to wake Kokomon who had fallen back asleep moments after Emilia’s alarm sounded off earlier. Emilia stood and slept. She slept, at least, but the pressure behind her eyes said otherwise. She hooked a glance back at Kokomon who was wriggling about to get comfortable again. Something about seeing such a pure and vulnerable creature deep in its dreams was soothing. The sight also fostered the desire to protect in Emilia. She felt a connection to Kokomon unlike any she had before. Kokomon felt familiar to her, but Emilia was unsure why or how. She tucked Kokomon deeper under the blankets.

Wisp was still curled up on the couch when Emilia walked out of her room. He was absolutely fascinated by television, so Emilia let him watch Netflix until he fell asleep. As she walked over, Emilia's thoughts tripped on what Wisp expounded in her last night:

[quote][color=fff79a]”Illiad has been crazy lately. There are twelve [i]official[/i] provinces and powerful God Digimon are fighting for the territory … My village was seized by Marsmon, so I ran … Eventually, I was saved by a group of outlaw Digimon that is trying to unify Illiad. The God Digimon have too much power, so we’ve been trying to sway them - that’s why I’m a messenger. I’ve been trying to relay a message to Merukimon, the Wolf Tyrant but he’s not co-operating and now I’m here …”[/color]

[color=f7976a]“Oh no - is your village okay?”[/color] Emilia asked. A bit of an ignorant question, she realized, but Wisp seemed fairly open.

Wisp looked to the floor. [color=fff79a]“I’m not sure, I haven’t seen it since.”[/color]

Guilt pulled the corners of Emilia’s mouth down. [color=f7976a]“I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have asked.”[/color]

Wisp remained silent. There was a fire deep in his gaze. It was faint, but something was smoldering, burning in the back of his eyes. Emilia was quick to notice, making brief eye contact with Wisp. Something about Wisps despondency was jarring, it was hard, and Emilia almost wished she hadn’t noticed that hard passion. She shifted her hands. Kokomon had since dozed off. All of this information was surely exhausting.

Wisp swallowed and mumbled, [color=fff79a]“I shouldn’t have run away.”[/color][/quote]

Emilia nudged the curled up weasel-creature. [color=f7976a]“Hey. Wisp, do you want some toast?”[/color] she whispered.

Wisp blinked awake and nodded. He stretched, yawned, and glanced about. [color=fff79a]“When do we set off?”[/color] There was surprising energy in his nasally voice. 

[color=f7976a]“I’m not sure, actually.”[/color] Emilia fiddled with the toaster in the kitchen. [color=f7976a]“I think the person whose taking us will give us a signal.”[/color] She waved her D-Loader in Wisp’s direction. [color=f7976a]“And I think we have to use this to get there.”[/color]

Wisp squinted but shrugged. [color=fff79a]“I’ve heard crazier things,”[/color] he yawned. [color=fff79a]“Are we leaving today - for sure, I mean?”[/color]

Emilia sighed. [color=f7976a]“Honestly, I don’t know - I'm figuring things out as we go.”[/color] She leaned on the counter, facing Wisp but not looking at him. [color=f7976a]“Kokomon and I only met the night before you [i]arrived[/i] on my balcony. I’ve been getting messages from someone, it might even be a Digimon, saying that I was chosen to help Illiad - both me and Kokomon.”[/color] Wisp nodded along. [color=f7976a]“The D-Loader looks like it's loading something right now, but I'm not sure what.[/color]

Emilia prepared the toast for her and Wisp. Peanut butter and jam, of course - a childhood favorite. When she walked back into the living room, she showed Wisp the D-Loader, but when he reached out to hold it his skin shivered, his hand appeared transparent and markedly un-solid, and the air around the device crackled. Wisp and Emilia both pulled away. [color=f7976a]“What the hell? What’s it doing?”[/color] Emilia mumbled to herself. Her hope that there wouldn’t be any more complications was quickly fading.

Wisp pursed his thin lips. He reached out again. The result was the same. [color=f7976a]“Hm.”[/color] Wisp mumbled something but it was inaudible. He was curious though, his ears perked and nose twitching. A message popped up on-screen:

[quote][center]Digital Entity Detected!
Do you wish to download?[/center][/quote]
Emilia and Wisp caught eyes. Wisp nodded, though slightly reluctant, and Emilia pressed ‘Yes.’ A light flashed behind Emilia’s eyes. [color=f7976a]“Digital monster...”[/color] she mumbled, [color=f7976a]“Oh! The D-Loader must be [i]down[/i]loading us - so it asked permission to download your data, or something.”[/color] She wasn’t entirely sure of her deductions, but her guess was as good as anybody's.

Wisp raised his brow. [color=fff79a]“Maybe it is - that might’ve been why there was static when I went to touch it,”[/color] Wisp said as he folded and stretched his numbed paw.

Emilia placed one hand under her chin and nodded. [color=f7976a]“Makes sense to me. I guess we just wait until it’s ready.”[/color] There wasn’t really a hint of when the three of them would be sent to Illiad other than the erratic speed at which the download bar filled, so Emilia went back to her bedroom to wake Kokomon up. She cradled Kokomon in her arms and the small jelly creature stretched her jaw wide as she blinked awake. Warmth filled Emilia’s cheeks, but Emilia started to worry about Kokomon’s blinding innocence. She was only just born and she was about to be thrown into even stranger territory and danger. [color=f7976a]“Time to get up, Koko. We have a big day ahead of us.”[/color]

Kokomon yawned again. [color=a36209]“O-okay.”[/color] Her eyes struggled to keep open.

Emilia wandered back out to the living room. Wisp was a good few bites into his toast, jam and peanut butter smeared around the corners of his mouth. Kokomon asked Wisp questions about fighting as they finished their breakfast.

[center]...[/center]

Emilia took their downtime as an opportunity to clean herself up. She stuffed a backpack full of some essentials yesterday: a toothbrush, hand sanitizer, a journal, stress candy, that sort of stuff. She pulled her lucky hat down over her head, her wavy chestnut hair curled up around her neck. She stared into the bathroom mirror, into her honey eyes. She took her index fingers and traced the light bags under her eyes and sighed. [color=f7976a][i]And I was just starting to get things under control, too...[/i][/color] Emilia closed her eyes and let out a sharp breath. She wasn’t the type to hate change, but she certainly preferred when things were done at her own pace. [color=f7976a]“What is even happening? I didn't think I was cut out to be the hero in some fantasy flick,”[/color] she grumbled.

Emilia started pacing around the apartment, checking the D-Loader’s status bar occasionally, a sure-fire sign that she was sick of waiting and just wanted to go. She refused to think that about the possibility of this being a convoluted prank. But, before she could even develop that doubt, she noticed a white-ish, green light streaming from the D-Loader in her pants pocket.

Wisp was teaching Kokomon how to release her Frothy Spit out in the living room. Kokomon had asked Wisp if he’d show her how to fight. Kokomon was a little overwhelmed by the amount of tips Wisp had flooded her with, but she was determined to prove herself capable. To her surprise, using Frothy Spit came rather naturally. She fired out the oily bubbles into the air and they popped with a sizzle. A grin seared across Kokomon’s face and Emilia slid to a stop at the coffee table as Kokomon celebrated her first attack.

[color=f7976a]“Wisp, Koko - the D-Loader’s lightin' up,”[/color] Emilia said as Kokomon roared: [color=a36209]“I did it Emmy! I can fight!”[/color]

Before any of them could register what either said, the D-Loader sound off:

[quote][center]Transfer to Digital World...99%[/center][/quote]
The device started to convert Emilia, Kokomon, and Wisp into data. After it digitalized their physical bodies, the D-Loader fired the trio's data into Server Illiad's cyberspace. It was a surreal feeling, to have your insides jumbled, rearranged, and reformed. The pain didn't strike Emilia quite as much as it did Shohei, though that was a testament to Emilia's vigor. As their physical shapes emerged in Illiad, the three of them were shot towards the same darkened beach with it's twisted, gnarly waves. However, Emilia and Kokomon were dropped in the thick verdant tree line that met the charcoal sand. When Emilia finally managed to open her eyes through the stinging pressure in her head, she realized Wisp was nowhere to be seen. She glanced about anxiously with Kokomon who was sitting snug in the zipper opening in Emilia's jacket. Emilia started walking down the shore when she noticed a couple of figures standing far off in the distance. She headed towards them cautiously, hoping they'd happen to have seen where Wisp was sent off to.