AN: Don't own 'em. Never have, never will. Don't want to... listening to Rabid Taira Fans(tm) circulate epilogue petitions is bad enough, and I'd hate to be on the receiving end of all of those bits of crap.
This fic's the sequel to another fic of mine, I'd reccommend reading that first. You can probably at least understand Stone Circle without it, though... (Don't worry, though, "Memories" is pretty short. Its longest chapter is shorter than this prologue.) (So kale, you won't have as much to complain about in the length department anymore. I've finally figured out how to stretch out stories.)
No matter how it seems for a while, this fic has no original characters. (It used to. Then it went through serious revamp.) Jun is Daisuke's older sister (the one who stalked Matt.) Chizuru is the younger of Yolei's two older sisters. No, Davis and Yolei themselves do not appear in this fic. It throws EVERYTHING off if the 02 DDs show. (Trust me, I tried. But I couldn't fit the plot around them without messing up all my "counts.")
Stone Circle
Prologue: From Before the Beginning...
Lichen sparsely dotted the cave's dank walls. They phosphoresced, throwing off an eerie light that was mercifully dim. It only barely illuminated the strange shrinelike fixture in the cave's center.
The cave sat deep in the bowels of the Digital World. This suited the few who knew of it well; they would rather its contents remain secret. Those of the Light would kill them instantly for possesing these items, and those of the Dark would murder even faster for the sheer power the cave contained.
Or had contained, rather.
One creature crept along a dank corridor to the cave. It is best that he remain described in only the loosest of terms. He was large or small, depending on his preference at the moment. His skin had that oily-looking sheen which holds all colors; it concealed his true color. He was utterly shapeless, yet could take many forms.
Presently his form was that of those fat white cave-slugs usually assumed to be blind. Powerlessness was an effective disguise, especially considering the power held concealed on his... person.
Soon after slithering into the cave, he was joined by a compatriot in the guise of a ragged-winged bat. Clutched in her overlarge talons was a pendant of slime-tarnished gold.
A small jeweled chip was inlaid in the pendant, with a cover of glass. Inscribed on the sickly dark yellow of the jewel were two brighter yellow shapes: a rectangular obelisk with a sun rising above it. A dead sun rising, forecasting the death throes of a world. A dead sun rising, symbol of despair.
So you have yours as well, spoke the slug, in a low dead hiss.
As well? You've found yourself, Darkness? keened the bat, high and shrill.
A psuedopod of the same pulpy white stuff exuded from the slug. It bore on it another pendant, this one with pink scribing on a purple jewel. A diamond in the center, and four rays around it. A star throwing off its last energy in a futile supernova. In ugly fluorescence, this picture told of eternal darkness.
It's safe, come out! commanded the slug. We now hold such power that none dare, none can kill us. Neither those other puny darknesses, nor those pitiful lights.
Six others emerged from the cave's dank walls, each bearing another slimy pendant. All eight creatures descended on the cave's central shrine.
From the before the beginning, the Digital World has been based on eight contradictions, intoned the slug.
Courage... and cowardice, spoke a smouldering ember. She held out her pendant and fitted it in one of eight slots. It clicked hollowly as it slid in.
Dedication... and laziness. Another creature, another pendant, another slot filled. Click.
Friendship... and disloyalty. Click.
Love... and hatred. Click.
Knowledge... and ignorance. Click.
Truth... and lies. Click.
Reliability... and faithlessness. Click.
Sincerity... and selfishness. Click.
Hope... and despair, shrilled the bat, with a strange triumph. Click.
Light... and darkness. With a final echoing click, the slug slid his pendant into the last slot.
But all contradictions must annihilate each other someday, or find a comprimise. There is no compromise... there is only annihilation, the slug continued. It seemed as if he were speaking from a well-established formula.
There is only annihilation, echoed the other seven.
The bat now took up the theme. Soon the time of annihilation will come. And our side of the contradiction must win. For darkness is an easier path than light; we will turn them, make them useless.
We wiil turn them, make them useless, repeated the others.
And when the day comes, when all contradictions end, there will only be us. Thus so will all worlds will be covered in darkness, until after the end. The bat and slug spoke in unison, with a ring of odd triumph.
Until after the end, came the reply. The voices of the eight echoed off the cave's phosphorescent walls, doubling and redoubling in an eerie chorus.
The central shrine started to glow, seemingly pulling all other light in the cave until it glowed painfully bright and the rest of the cave was pitch-black. That eerie was strangely cold, and sent a chill throughout the cavern.
Abruptly, the light went out. Now nothing lit the cave.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For second, TK wondered if he were once more dreaming. The ghostly light show before him couldn't possibly be from the waking world. Pale splashes of varicolored glow danced before him, fairylike—orange and red, green, blue and turquoise, magenta and purple... even gray was represented in the rainbow.
He checked the health room clock, its lit numbers a harsh contrast to the fairy lights. 4:00. Still three more hours until the teachers came to open the school at seven. Still three more hours left before he and Kari could finally go home.
But now, he somewhat suspected it would be longer.
He reached over to wake Kari up, then thought better of it. She'd dreamed enough—she didn't need to see this uncanny waking dream of his.
But Kari woke of her own volition.
They're pretty, TK. But what are they?
I've no idea, either.
Both stared, transfixed, at the dancing glows. They swirled in a mysterious pattern, finally coming to rest arrayed in a circle. They glowed brighter, brighter...
With a start, Kari and TK noticed that their crest symbols, too glowed bright from their chests... pink morning star, golden rising sun.
Brighter, brighter, brightest, until the room was divided starkly into sharp areas of light and shadow.
Brighter still, until it seemed impossible that no bystanders outside had noticed.
Then all lights went out. Even the clock's glow-in-the-dark numbers died.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eight children woke, scattered about the Digital World
I'll become a happy butterfly, and ride on the glittering wind
I'll come to see you soon
It's best to forget the unnecessary things
There's no more time to be fooling around
Tai was the first to awaken. Groggy from sleep, he wondered at the crick in his back without noting the obvious cause—he'd been sleeping on hard rock, not his nice soft bed. He began to carry out his usual morning routine, oblivious to the changed scenery around him.
That wasn't necessarily a good idea. He had landed fairly near a cliffside, and while he thought he was heading for his closet, he in fact was about to step off into nothingness. Luckily, his closet had a door. Tai groped at thin air for a while, then abruptly realized why he couldn't find his door handle.
He jumped back, half in shock and half in self-preservation. Holy shit! Where am I? The Digiworld again? Oh god, no. I thought that was done with.
And where the hell is everyone else?
Damn. I guess I'd better find the others.
Tai angrily stalked along the cliffside, looking for a way down. God. Whatever force that drops us here could at least have the common courtesy to drop us together. Y'know, our job's a lot easier that way.
Unless...
He was broken out of his reverie by a near-trip. Bending down, he picked up a strange rock arc with the "sun of courage" inscribed on it. It was of the same red stone as the rest of the cliff.
Hunh. Wonder what this is.
The ground began to groaningly convulse. Tai narrowly avoided being thrown off as sections of cliff flew from their ancestral homes and left a collapsing heap of rock. The earthquake soon settled, though, and soon after the avalanche of red rock came to rest.
...Unless they don't want us to succed. He finished his previous thought grimly. Well, then it's even more important to find the others. Safety in numbers. Tai resolutely walked down the rock ramp left by the quake, carrying the rock arc under his arm.
What do you mean, wow wow wow wow wow? I wonder if we'll reach the skies
But, wow wow wow wow wow I don't even know what my plans are for tomorrow
Jun awoke to a terrible crash of groaning rock. What the...
She quickly scrambled out of the way as a humongous avalanche nearly killed her.
Where am I, that I was so nearly killed in my sleep?
She went closer to the crash site, and examined the mass of fallen rocks.
What's this one? she wondered, picking up a strangely arc-shaped one. It was a lighter red than the others, and had a slight bluish cast to it. Jun turned it over and over in her hands, trying to figure out what about it... drew... her. She found an nothing but an odd carving inscribed on it. A perfectly straight line, unbroken by the zigzag drawn through it. Like a path unchanged by obstacles... Jun though, then wondered where the thought had come from.
What will happen to me now, in this strange place? What will I do? Jun didn't know. She began to clamber up the rocks, to reach the top of that cliff.
After an endless dream, in this world of nothingness
It seems as if our beloved dreams will lose
Even with these unreliable wings, covered in images that tend to stay
I'm sure we can fly, on my love
Sora was woken by a piercing cold. She sat up and looked about the ice-cave she'd been transported to, then quickly stood fully. Her body heat had melted a small puddle in the floor, and she wanted to get out of the wet as soon as possible. Cold and wet were a bad combination; her mother always said they were the surest path to sickness. A sickness she doubted she could afford, here in the Digital World far away from doctors and other civilized comforts.
The Digital World? Am I really here? How am I so sure?
But Sora soon became quite sure. Lodged near one of the ice-stalagmites was a strange dark rock that looked completely out of place in this world of ice. Looking closer, she saw that it was a dusky red. Written on its face was a symbol only used in the Digital World—a heart with half its interior hollow. Love, her guarding trait.
As she picked up the rock, light flashed from the cave walls. It quickly focused into Digital World glyphs... now if only she knew how to read them.
I'll become a merry butterfly, and ride on the earnest wind
I'll come to see you where ever you are
Ambiguous words are surprisingly handy
I'll shout it out, while listening to a hit song
Matt was rudely awakened by light flashing in his eyes. As it resolved into millions of Digital World glyphs, he blinked to clear his vision. His eyes still weren't fully used to so much light.
He growled out, "Whoever did that... I'll find you, and then..."
Then what? What would he do? For all he knew, it was a friend. Probably so, as all the Digidestined were his friends... and that was exactly the kind of thing Izzy would do. Well, all the more reason to find... him? her? If friend, he'd be glad to see him (or her). Of course, he'd tell him off seriously for the wakeup, but that would all be in fun.
If foe, well, then he'd have no qualms over beating the crap out of whatever had woken him up.
He set off, humming one of his band's songs. Damn thing was always getting stuck in his head... all his fault for writing it, though.
Matt paused to pick up a weird navy blue rock on the ground. Whatever it was, it had the symbol of Friendship on it. Probably quite important.
What do you mean, wow wow wow wow wow? I wonder if it'll echo through this town
But, wow wow wow wow wow There's no use anticipating
Izzy woke quickly, as was his habit. Every minute sleeping was a minute wasted, every minute spent sleeping was one he could better spend on study. There were so many things to figure out in his world...
And many, many more to figure out in this one. It looked like some mad computer's dream, like he'd stepped into one of the fractal pictures on his math teacher's wall.
He bent down to examine the pattern. The Mandelbrot set, probably, or at least that's what it looked like...
Nevermind that, he'd spotted an anomaly. A very strange one, that spread over a weird arc-shaped bump on the "ground"'s surface. Izzy prodded at it, unsure of what it was. He poked at it until it sprang out of its concealing place in the "ground."
Immediately, the flexible surface he was standing on collapsed to more normal flatness where the anomaly had been. Its surface pattern resumed the nice self-similar logic of the Mandelbrot set.
Izzy sighed happily; his theory had been right after all. Then, insatiably curious, he walked over to investigate the anomaly. It turned to be a dark purple rock with the "circles of Knowledge" carved in it.
After an endless dream, in this miserable world
That's right, maybe not using common sense isn't so bad after all
Even with these awkward wings, dyed with images that seem to stay
I'm sure we can fly, on my love
Chizuru woke from a sound sleep, one so sound she was perversely happy to wake. Yes, that was illogical, but then again Chizuru was a fairly illogical person. It drove her family nuts that she had absolutely no interest in math or science, unlike her older sister, her brother, and especially unlike her prematurely intelligent younger sister. She'd take philosophy over all those numbers any day...
So she supposed it had a sort of apropos irony that she'd been dropped in FractalLand.
She kicked at the ground in front of her, trying futilely to erase the disgusting fractal in front of her. No doubt her sisters could identify the thing at a glance... but Chizuru didn't want to know any more about it than the fact that it was on the ground.
As she kicked at it, a rock sprang out. It was an arc of some unidentifiable dark-rose stone. Dug in its surface was an uadjet-eye that could have sprung direct from ancient Egypt, but for the spiral that replaced its pupil.
After an endless dream, in this world of nothingness
It seems as if our beloved dreams will lose
Even with these unreliable wings, covered in images that tend to stay
I'm sure we can fly, oh yeah
Birds twittered, piyo-piyo, tweet-tweet. Their ceaseless song woke Joe. He found this rather unfortunate... the bank of leaves he was lying on was quite comfortable and he'd have preferred to sleep some more.
Waitasec. Bed of leaves?!
Joe sprang up and looked about him with dismay. The area around him was a botanist's dream. It therefore was the nightmare of someone whose allergies were as persistent and acute as his.
Damn. Damn. Damn. All this green. He could feel his eyes watering, and he was sure a sneeze was about to come. DAMN. He probably could have outgrown these stupid allergies, had he stayed away from flowers more... they were nearly gone. Had been nearly gone. All this damn green was making them come back full-force.
His eyes thankfully caught on the one gray object, a welcome relief from the endless green. He ran to it and clutched it like a talisman, barely noticing that the stone had the cross-and-triangles of Reliability inscribed on it.
After an endless dream, in this miserable world
That's right, maybe not using common sense isn't so bad after all
Even with these awkward wings, dyed with images that seem to stay
I'm sure we can fly, on my love
Mimi was quite happy to be awakened by the cheerful birdsong. She began to pluck flowers and chain them, willfully ignorant of the fact that she should probably look for others dropped in this world with her. They could come to her. She'd have a nice pretty daisy-chain ready to crown her "rescuer." She felt confident that he would come.
Digging further in the endlessly springy vale of flowers, she discovered a gray rock shot through with jade-green. Inscribed on it was the teardrop—or was it a budding flower? She could never decide—that symbolized Sincerity.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the Odaiba Middle health room, the lights had resumed their dance. They seemed to beckon to TK and Kari, willing their watchers to follow them.
Almost involuntarily, the two humans got up.
"And so it begins..." TK recited.
Not really too bad a cliffhanger, now was it?
TO BE CONTINUED...