10.) Empfang
"Gogglehead?"
Takato
kept staring at the walls of Aziluth.
"Gogglehead!"
Takato
kept staring at the walls of Aziluth.
"Gogglehead!"
"Huh?"
Takato made as he finally snapped back to reality.
"Would you
mind letting go of my hand already?" a visibly annoyed Ruki
fumed.
"Uh-wah! I'm sorry, Ruki," Takato apologized, as he
ultimately released Ruki's left hand from his firm grip. He
experienced a sudden rush of a strange feeling of sadness- or maybe
emptiness was the proper word- as he did so.
"Jesus," Ruki
commented as she carefully un-mingled her fingers. "Since when do
you have such a grip? Do you work as a part-time nutcracker
lately?"
Takato showed a lopsided grin, his usual substitute for
an apology whenever he was too embarrassed to actually speak.
"I
think Takato subcasually didn't want to let go of Ruki, that's
why he held her hand so tight," Guilmon mused, but too low for
anyone to notice either his statement nor his vain attempt to try to
say 'subconsciously'.
"Well guys, now what?" Kenta
asked.
"I don't know," Hirokazu replied. "We could just
knock."
Absolutely everyone stared at him in disbelief. Well,
almost everyone. Guardromon showed surprising speed as he floated
towards the gigantic Chrome DigiZoid gate and, not quite as
surprisingly, did exactly what his Tamer had suggested: He rapped at
it.
"You know buddy, actually I was only kidd-"
He never
finished his sentence; since all of a sudden, the two enormous halves
of the massive door actually parted and swung open with a
disturbingly loud screeching sound. Guardromon, who had returned to
the group in order not to stand in the way, showed a triumphant look-
or his species' substitute for one- to the others; including his
partner. Apparently, the threshold of the door simultaneously marked
the border between the No man's land and Aziluth the Aureate, as
directly behind it, the ground stretching into the city was made of
pure gold. The Tamers and digmon didn't see too much of Aziluth,
though, since their visual field was blocked by a considerably tall
digimon. It was wearing simple body armour which seemed to be made of
studded leather, gemmed over and over with aquamarines, rubies and
amethysts. Its physical appearance was pretty much that of a rather
well-built human, just its skin was paler and its greenish eyes were
over-proportionately big. Its long black hair vanished behind its
back, where it had obviously been tied into a ponytail, and in its
right hand, it held a spear entirely made of Chrome DigiZoid which
looked like it would weigh several tons.
"Greetings, highly
venerated newcomers," the digimon spoke up in a very melodious, but
still rather strict voice. "My name is Lynceumon, and I am the
guardian of the Southern gate of Aziluth, the Aureate. Please do not
be offended by my amazement."
If it really was surprised, surely
neither of the Tamers nor the digimon had noticed. Its facial
features looked like solid rock, and it was hard to imagine any kind
of emotion being reflected by them.
"But I have never seen a
human before. And I certainly haven't seen a digimon knocking at
this gate before. No digital being has ever entered Aziluth the
Aureate, except those who get here by transcendence."
Lynceumon
didn't bother to explain what it meant by 'transcendence', but
the Tamers simply assumed he was talking about the dead digimon who
certainly had to come to Aziluth in one way or another.
"But
where are my manners. Please do come in. Unfortunately, I cannot
allow you to move freely within the city before the Lord has spoken
to you. There are no instructions on how to proceed with visitors
coming through the Southern gate for the guards, so I'm afraid I
have to ask for your cooperation. Please, come with me."
With
that, Lynceumon turned around and- almost goose-stepping- vanished
within the city. Tamers and digimon quickly caught up, since the gate
was already closing again, moved by some invisible and unknown
force.
The ominous force turned out to be two small, grey,
muscular digimon, one on either side of the gate's halves, who eyed
the newcomers curiously as they followed Lynceumon past them. The
beauty of Aziluth the Aureate was overwhelming. The streets were
arranged in a checkerboard pattern, and on either side of each of
them there were various buildings of diverse height and architecture-
and all of them were, of course, purely made of gold. Most of them
were literally plastered with jewels as adornment, and the rays of
light emitted by the sun high up in the sky (which now had acquired
its usual azure colour again) were thousandfold reflected and
refracted, thus creating a mind-dazzling kaleidoscope of colours. It
was difficult not to just stand still and watch the amazing beauty of
this spectacle, but Lynceumon never even slowed down as he lead them
towards the gigantic citadel they had already noticed from outside.
It appeared to be quite some distance away, approximately in the
centre of Aziluth, when they had first beheld it from out there, but
strangely, they didn't have to walk longer than two minutes or so
until they finally stood in front of the enormous building.
Tamers
and digimon alike looked at the towering edifice with bafflement.
Compared to the 'regular' houses of the city, it looked
surprisingly unembellished, but its sheer size more than made up for
it.
"How high is this thing?" Jenrya asked, realising that
this was the first thing any of them had said to Lynceumon.
"I
do not know your human measures, so I fear I cannot answer your
question. But I would estimate approximately two hundred times
CyberDramon's size." Lynceumon pointed at CyberDramon as he said
that, which immediately caught Ryo's attention.
"So you know
CyberDramon?" he questioned.
Lynceumon's right corner of the
moth rose about half a micrometer as he responded, "Certainly I do.
We all know you, Legendary Tamer, and we all know your digimon
partner. In fact, personally I know all of you here, even though I
naturally haven't ever seen you before. But the deeds of the
Digimon Tamers and their courageous partners are well-known here in
the City of Gold; and if we never wanted to meet you, it was only for
the fact that our wish for your well-being surpassed our
veneration."
Jenrya knew what he meant immediately. Of course,
the only way Lynceumon would have expected to ever meet them was- if
at all- through their death in the Digital World. So, a wish to meet
them would have been rather morbid, actually.
"Please come on
in. The Lord will await you in his residence, the Sphere of
Time."
With that, Lynceumon opened the door (which was so
perfectly hidden within the concrete of the tower not even Renamon
had spotted it yet) and entered 'the Lord's' domicile.
"Who
is this Lord he keeps talking about?" Takato asked noone in
particular.
"How would I know?" Ruki retorted somewhat
irritated. "Just wait and see."
The rather roomy entrance hall
of the citadel was brightly illuminated, although the source of the
light was nowhere to be seen. Like the exterior of the tower, the
inside was apparently made entirely of mother-of-pearl, which
shimmered in a silk-matt tone due to the light flooding the
building.
"Please, follow me," Lynceumon requested and lead
the way towards a spiral staircase uncoiling high into the upper part
of the citadel.
"Geez, we're not gonna climb up all the stairs
to that sphere thingy we saw before, right? I mean that'll have to
be a trillion steps or so," Hirokazu complained. But as soon as
they had passed the first helix of the flight of stairs, so that they
couldn't see the lobby anymore, they were already standing right in
front of a door. The change of architecture in this part made it
obvious that the sphere was right behind it.
"What… how…?"
Juri uttered, being unable to speak a proper sentence.
"It is
not of crucial importance that you understand this," Lynceumon
commented rather lackadaisically. "The stairs are short for those
who are welcome to the Lord, and endless for those who aren't.
Please do come in."
With that, it opened this door as well, and
made Tamers and digimon enter what it had just before called the
Sphere of Time- the residence of the Lord of Aziluth.
If
Aziluth was beautiful already, this throne room was the manifested
definition of beauty. The sphere-shaped walls were so closely
jewelled with all kinds of gem stones you could possibly think of
that it was almost impossible to make out the wall between two
adjacent diamonds, topazes or agates. The sunlight flooding into the
hall through the gigantic circular window in the backside wall was
refracted by the stones, turning the entire room in an almost painful
spectacle of glittering, shimmering colourfulness. Right in front of
the window, sitting on a large golden throne, there was a majestic
digimon- apparently the Lord. On either side of him, there was a
digimon sitting on the five steps leading up to the throne.
Lynceumon
made a couple of quick steps towards it, and ultimately kneeled down
before his master, his head touching the silvery floor for the blink
of an eye.
"Almighty Lord Tothmon, those are the wayfarers that
took up a surely long and perilous journey to visit Aziluth the
Aureate. Takato Matsuda, bearer of courage and kindness, with his
loyal partner Guilmon. Ruki Makino, bearer of strength and
determination, with her powerful partner Renamon. Jenrya Lee, bearer
of wisdom and intelligence, with his-"
"Thank you, Lynceumon,"
Tothmon gently interrupted his servant's speech. "I know them
all, and I am glad to see them. You may retreat now." Lynceumon
immediately got up, bowed once more and rushed outside, leaving the
Tamers and digimon alone with the three strange residents of the
Sphere of Time.
Tothmon was a large digimon clad in a simple white
robe who seemed mainly humanoid, but had blue-ish skin and two pairs
of menacing looking claws. His face was almost human as well, only
that it was covered with short, dark blue fur. His nose was rather
bulged, which would have made it look somewhat like a snout, if it
hadn't had mostly normal human nostrils. His eyes were unusually
pointed and a bit odd-shaped for regular human ears, and his
relatively small eyes shone with cerulean brightness.
"Welcome,
Takato, Ruki, Jenrya, Hirokazu, Kenta, Juri and Ryo. Welcome also
Guilmon, Renamon, Terriermon, Guardromon, MarineAngemon, CyberDramon
and Impmon. I am Tothmon, the Lord of Aziluth, and I take great
delight in your presence." He paused, gesturing to his left, where
a skinny- and apparently female- digimon wearing the same white robe
as Tothmon was sitting. Her features were almost human, but she
didn't seem to have eyes, and her hands were tightly clutching a
wooden staff which had strange pictograms carved into it.
"This
is Kassandramon, my advisor. She sees many things, some that have
been, some that are and some that might still be."
Now, he
gestured to his right. The digimon sitting there looked more like a
male, and was- surprise, surprise- wearing a white robe. He looked
perfectly human, and rather old due to the many crinkles corrugating
his facial features and the long white hair flowing over his
shoulders. He too was holding a wooden staff, but the symbols on it
were entirely different from Kassandramon's.
"This is
Asklepiomon. There is almost no injury, no disease, no matter how
lethal, that he cannot cure."
"I shall thank you for your kind
words, my Lord, but my abilities are as limited as anyone else's.
But please allow me to express my gratitude to those who have saved
the Southern Quadrant of the world we all live in from annihilation."
Asklepiomon lowered his glance and sat still in silent
veneration.
"Please," Takato spoke up, "don't. We thank
you, really, but this isn't necessary." "Your modesty only adds
to your glory, my young friends," Asklepiomon replied, before
Tothmon rose to speak again.
"Please be my guests for as long as
you wish. I have never seen anyone entering my dominion in any way
other than the one of transcendence, so you surely are special
visitors. May I ask you, though, what the objective of your journey
is?"
The Tamers looked at each other with uneasiness. Tothmon's
impressive phenotype seemed to make it difficult to find the right
words.
"They are searching for someone," Kassandramon suddenly
chimed in. "The Lionheart is looking for her counterpart, who shed
his blood and pawned his life for the one he wanted to protect from
harm."
With trembling hands, she pointed her staff at Juri- as
if she could see her (and perhaps, on another plain of cognition, she
actually could.)
"You, Juri Katou. You're on a quest to find
your partner, whom you lost to the darkness. The darkness which is
within this room."
She turned towards Impmon, and if she had had
eyes, her glance would surely have pierced right through him- or at
least that's the impression they all got.
Impmon hung his head
in shame, and audibly choked back some tears. Juri, in consequence,
gently placed her left hand on the small goblin's head and lightly
patted it.
"Don't be sorry," she whispered almost too
quietly to hear. "It's alright."
Impmon knew that, of
course. He knew that Juri had forgiven him long ago already. The
problem was that he hadn't forgiven himself yet. So, remembering
the promise he had made, he quickly wiped his eyes with his gloved
paw and provocatively stared at Tothmon.
"Well," he bellowed,
"if you already know why we're here, how about giving us what we
want?"
He was immediately hushed by the others, but Tothmon
merely gave a benignant smile in response.
"You are very
straightforward, Impmon. You are the one who took Leomon's life,
are you not?"
Even though it was supposed to be a question, it
sounded much more like a declarative statement. Impmon didn't
answer; he just lowered his gaze and tightened his lips, which now
resembled an extraordinarily thin, exsanguinous line.
Tothmon gave
him a long, thoughtful look before he continued to speak, "Do not
dwell in self-reproaches, young Rookie. I sense that you have left
this phase of your life far behind you, and your determination to
help your friends dignifies you. You are as welcome within these city
walls just as much as the others that travel with you. But before we
can discuss your wish, I would very much like to show you the
principle of transcendence. I know humans are said to be
incredulously curios."
"We would like that a lot, Mr. Tothmon
Sir," Juri responded. Naturally, her most burning desire was to see
Leomon again- but this really wasn't the right time to be impolite.
And surely Tothmon had his reasons; beyond the rather juvenile
appearance, he seemed to be quite old, and unimaginably wise.
As
for Terriermon, well, he wasn't as easy-going. He definitely wanted
to play the advocatus diabolii and give Tothmon a piece of his mind,
so he opened his mouth and-
-Clonk!-
-shut it again. Jenrya had
some very 'punchy' arguments at times.
Tothmon rose to his
feet. He was about the size of a relatively tall human, but something
about him made him look like a giant to the Tamers and digimon.
He
lifted his hands (or paws, or whatever you want to call it) high into
the air, and as if on cue, a clicking sound could be heard from
somewhere high above.
Fourteen glances were simultaneously cast
towards the ceiling, where there was a hole in its geometrical
centre. The quite large gap's outlines were decorated with
amazingly shiny carbuncle stones, as if to counterbalance the lack of
gems in the area where the hole was. Slowly, and without a sound, a
massive orthorhombic crystal was lowered through the hole and came to
a halt approximately ten centimetres above the floor. There were no
visible wires, cables or other holders attached- apparently, it was
floating.
"This is Epiphaneia," Tothmon commented. "It
collects the essence of the fallen Digimon. I am unsure how you would
call it- the soul, maybe?"
Takato gulped. "I guess that's
pretty much it, yes," he stammered.
"The essence," Tothmon
continued, "is then sent to one of two places. One is Aziluth, the
Aureate, the residence of the virtuous, the brave, the
self-sacrificing ones. The other does not and must not bear a name.
It is the vast darkness of infinity, where all those who have been
sadistic or unmerciful, impenitent or cruel, physically or
psychically abusive are bound to go." He paused for a second and
closed his eyes before he continued.
"If a digimon succumbs, its
essence is transferred into Epiphaneia, and then it is my duty to
judge. The upright digimon are accepted in the glorious City of Gold,
and their essence rematerializes within the city walls. They will
eventually be reborn, and if that happens, I serve as a channel to
replenish their physical existence. The traitorous digimon, on the
other hand, are rejected, and Epiphaneia banishes them into its core,
which is the gate to the endless, nameless obscurity. Those will not
be reborn, not until time ends or the world moves on."
None
of the Tamers had a clue what he meant by the latter, but they didn't
really notice it anyway. The flood of new information was just too
overwhelming. Jenrya was the first to ultimately regain his composure
as he finally asked the question of questions.
"So… where is
Leomon now?"
To some extent, the question was justified. While
none of them had any doubts that Leomon was pretty much the most
virtuous digimon around, it was still to be seen if Tothmon's
perception of righteousness was congruent with their own. And of
course, even if Leomon was inside of Aziluth, his exact whereabouts
were still a mystery to them.
Tothmon just gave a benevolent smile instead of an answer, as suddenly, a very familiar voice
sounded up from the direction of the door.
"Greetings, my
friends. And greetings to you too, Juri… Tamer."
to be continued…