"Revenge..."

The word tumbled deliciously off her reddened lips, her mind tantalized with the thought of not only wreaking havoc on the lives of those who had destroyed her beloved, but also the thought of having the love of her life back in her arms.

The sinister, yet sensual female form stood over those she commanded, barking out orders. It was a difficult life, but she never wondered why she chose to pursue this dream, or why she didn't just give up and lead the normal life that she should.

It was because she could never lead a normal life; she was not a normal Digimon. Her humanoid form separated her from most of the others in her species. From her soft, cream-colored skin to her curvaceous womanly figure, to her most powerful weapon, the piercing eyes she possessed, she was different from any other. Those eyes. Her eyes were what she cherished about the body that she had hated and held sacred all at the same time. She had convinced herself that the dangerous and emotional features of her face had been the ones that had ultimately drawn her soulmate to her. Aquamarine, the color of a rough and beautiful ocean, and they moved with the same hypnotic quality as water.

She wasn't sure how old she was... the past for her was shrouded in mystery. The first thing that she could decipher out of the void of her subconscious was being trapped. Trapped in a blackness so dark she trembled every time she remembered it. Then, once she finally broke free, the first thing her eyes fell upon was the fortress. It was absolutely gorgeous to her. Where she had lived a lonely life in the forests and fields of the Digital World for so long, she finally saw a place where she knew she would fit in.

Unfortunately, she had not lived a normal life in the palace either, for she hadn't been brought to be simply a resident. She had been enslaved at an early age, made to work as an ordinary servant until her... uses to her Master became apparent.

One with more respect for herself would have been mortified; but though Harlimon was a strong-willed female, she had never been one to defy her Master. Over the years, she discovered that her Master not only used her, but he needed her. It seemed at points that the strong front he put up distorted his reality: his fears, his desires, his addictions... but she saw all of it. She healed all of it.

It was an exhilarating feeling for the young Digimon, one that she had lost when her Master had been trapped in a different dimension by those... horrible menaces.

"Harlimon," a throaty voice said suddenly.

She gasped, and spun around to see a pale face not unlike her own smiling in satisfaction. Harlimon's lovely face scowled bitterly; it was not often she was caught off guard, and she hated the feeling.

She studied the face closely... it wasn't one she recognized, but there was an ambiance about her that Harlimon's senses immediately knew. She looked over the creature, obviously shocked at seeing a Digimon that possessed the same human-like qualities as her.

"It's been awhile," the stranger mused.

The expressive teal eyes of the young female narrowed in half accusation, half curiosity.

"I didn't even know you were still alive," the lanky woman continued absent-mindedly. "I assumed you were destroyed along with the Master." She stopped for a moment, obviously pondering something that highly disgusted her. "Stupid, naive Digimon," she finally accused harshly. "Your eyes were clouded by lust, and you were the only one of us that stuck by him until the bitter end. I couldn't believe how idiotic you were. You should have cut your losses and realized that you had potential, that you didn't need the Master to have power. I should have known... all the time you, I, and the rest of the slaves had spent in the castle together were for nothing."

"You...!" Harlimon cried out in surprise. "You're lying!" She stared at the other, knowing that she had never seen her before, and knowing that she had been one of a kind among the other Digimon her whole life. "There was never anyone like me in that place." She clenched her hands at her sides. "Besides, of course, the Master himself," she added wistfully.

The strange female dismissed the last comment. "I am still not like you," she said passively. Her expression did not change, and her eyes were blocked by some strange cover that Harlimon had never seen in her life. "The difference between us now, of course, is that I am powerful enough to get out of this stupid body, and you are still stuck in yours."

The hot-headed Harlimon snarled in rage. "QUIET!" she bellowed. "This body has done me a lot of good over the years!"

"For what!? To be ignored and ridiculed by the rest of the Digimon? To be a freak? Or maybe it was to be sexually abused by your captor, eh?"

"I was not abused!" she retorted, almost screaming with fury. "I was never taken against my will...!"

The other nodded condescendingly. "I suppose you think he loved you, hmmm? I suppose you think you were the only one he - "

"STOP IT!" Harlimon gathered bright energy in her eyes, and in her outstretched hands. "YOU WERE ONLY JEALOUS OF ME!" Just as she was about to shoot what she thought would be a killing blow, her hands were pushed aside by the cold hands of the other female.

"Just as I thought," she said smugly. "You still aren't of any use to me. You'll only be effective once you've gotten all of that anger under control... And when you're finally cleared of your delusions of love. That's the only reason I'm letting you go through with this crazy plan of yours... You do know it will never work, don't you? Altering the whole tapestry of time, changing the destiny of three of the Digidestined? Just so you can have your weakling back." She clicked her tongue in pity of Harlimon.

"He wasn't weak," Harlimon said sourly, trying to keep her cool. It was obvious that this stranger thrived on her anger, loved to treat her like a child. "He was the most powerful being in the Digital World - "

"He was nothing but a test. You know it, Harlimon. He wasn't the true evil. He was... he was a bit of the true power that was put into a weak physical form. He held only a fraction of the evil that constantly infests the Digital World. Of course," she said, preening, "none of us are actually the true evil. The true evil will never, ever be contained in a physical form. Some of us mere mortals just have a better chance at making themselves the strongest." With that final, mysterious speech, the knowledgeable stranger turned and started to walk away.

The tiny bells that adorned the bewildered Digimon's hat jingled as she took steps to follow her. "Wait!" she called. When she was ignored, Harlimon's eyebrows furrowed with anger. "Listen to me!" she commanded. "I demand that you tell me who you are and why you're here!"

Finally, the other female Digimon turned around. "My identity and my purposes will become clear soon enough," she said, taking a corner of the bright red cape she had around her neck and draping it around her front. "Come along now," she instructed, motioning to a companion that was waiting a few paces off. The servile Digimon trotted up to her like a lost puppy and followed her closely as she disappeared from Harlimon's territory.

Harlimon's stomach churned as she watched the strangers depart. She knew that voice, the cocky attitude, even the mannerisms of the female that stood before her. It can't be her... Harlimon thought. I was more powerful than she... and I cannot change my body type... She looked down at her body, as she often did, with critical eyes, and thought again of the woman. Besides... we were friends... I told her everything about the Master... and she would never say the things she said...



~*~



Harlimon grinned from ear to ear. "Yes..." she hissed to herself. She held the final Destiny Stone in her hands, it's power making it shake helplessly in her greedy hands. She suppressed the urge to laugh as she concentrated on the Stone with all her might. Finally, two bright beams of energy shot from her eyes, converging into one and melting into the mighty Destiny Stone. Soon enough, she felt the ground start to shudder beneath her feet, and a bright, piercing white light exploded into the chamber and then the room was flooded in black.

Just wake up and see his face...

Just let him wake you up...

Just lay in his bed and wait for the sunlight to wash over you...

Just wake up...



~*~



Senses finally started to return to Harlimon as she could feel the soft silk of sheets beneath her bare skin. She almost didn't dare to open her eyes as the tranquil silence made her fear that something had gone wrong. If the Destiny Stone had worked properly, one small event three years ago had been changed, and those three years had gone by again, letting her beloved's empire grow to an ultimate high.

But there was still nothing.

Harlimon shivered. What if she had failed?

"Harlimon," his voice finally beckoned to her. She inhaled through her teeth, making a hissing sound as she arched her back beneath the covers. She finally opened her eyes, and her body quivered as she saw his face, his eyes, looking at her. She smiled warmly, inviting him to join her. His eyes narrowed. "They'll be here today, Harlimon," he said sharply. "Or have you forgotten?"

Harlimon bit her lip. "I'm sorry, dearest," she said softly.

"What did I tell you about that?" he scolded, anger in his voice.

"M-my Master," she stammered. "I'm eternally sorry, my Master." She sat up in the bed, wrapping the covers around her slender frame.

"Now get up and prepare yourself for battle. The Digidestined will be here soon. The eight of them will be a difficult battle for us... We must be strong to hold them off this time." He turned from her and stormed from the room.

Harlimon stood up cautiously, slipping her clothes on, and looking out at the now demolished Digital World from their supremely high palace. "It's so beautiful," she whispered, as her Master's final words about the eight Digidestined and holding them off this time rang through her head and heart again.

"I did it..." she finally whispered. "He's mine again..."

She sauntered out of the eerily quiet bedroom, taking one last look. "I did it," she echoed softly.