Chapter Eleven
It seemed this world was fond of stretching hallways, fortunately this one was not nearly as long as the last. It only took about a minute to reach a large crystal door. The digivice beeped twice and a knob appeared on it. Ok then, this just gets more normal by the minute. Well, nothing ventured…
Twisting the knob carefully, I peeked inside, where I saw a small room framed in the same crystal as the door. There was nothing inside of it except for a pedestal and an orb suspended in mid-air. Figuring it was safe; I advanced forth, drawing closer to the floating sphere. A cold sweat ran through my forehead as I stretched my hand out to touch it. Before making contact it produced a dim glow and produced a sound that could be best described as the concomitant beating of a hundred drums.
I staggered back and stared at it. Seemingly in response it glowed, but as it did a voice could be heard from all angles of the room.
"I…am Yggdrasil", the voice said.
"Yggdrasil? Show yourself!", I answered back.
"This is I", he said almost as if offended, "I am Yggdrasil, Sage of the digital world"
"Keeper…", I stood silent for a moment, expecting him to continue, but then I realized I did have something to say.
"Do you know why I am here? Why Alex is here?"
"I have brought you and the other humans here, because only humans can use the catalyst. The Fists of Alpha have ravaged the digital world in a war that has lasted far too long"
"But why us?"
"Because you were the only who answered my call"
Three. Alex and I had come together, but there was a third…and that had to be Paul. In all of the recent events I had thought little of the reason I had gotten into this mess. It all made sense now. Him disappearing without a trace, the strange messages, the USB. But something was off; I didn't recall Alex accepting.
"So you sent that message"
"Yes, and now that you are here, you will begin your role in this world", Yggdrasil glowed once more, this time creating a sharp hiss of a sound. From the left two digimon appeared. One of them seemed like a humanoid feline of sorts, oh his hip he carried a thin blade that reminded me of a rapier. The other was much talker and walked with a confident slow pace, he was all white with the exception of his arms, which were blue and orange with heads at the ends of each one.
"Omnimon and Leopardmon, welcome, but where are Dynasmon and Gallantmon?", the sage demanded. Omnimon fell to one knee and Leopardmon followed suit.
"Both went out on patrol last night, my Lord, but they have not returned yet", Omnimon said. Yggdrasil did not respond but simply let out a dim glow and, as if on queue, both of the digimon stood up.
"What is your name, human?", asked Yggdrasil.
"Charlie…well it's really Charles but I never really go by-", I stopped, realizing that I was talking too much.
"Charlie then, I present to you Omnimon and Leopardmon, members of the Royal Knights", to this I gasped audibly. They were the ones that Wizardmon had spoken of, would they be able to keep us safe?
"If you will follow us", Omnimon said as he motioned me to follow him. I did as he said and walked behind his massive figure, his flowing cape giving him a sense of elegance that would otherwise be lost by the giant heads he had for hands.
They walked to a black door that I was sure I had not seen before. It was as large as Omnimon and had lines all around that gave it the look of a giant microchip. The royal knight lifted his left arm and a sword appeared from within the orange mouth. He pointed it at the door, but didn't touch it. Instead he twisted the blade and the door split in two, swinging towards the inside of the room ahead.
"Where are we going?"
"The Hall of the Fallen Warriors; where all the defeated Royal Knights and great heroes await reconfiguration. It is here that we have placed our most valuable artifact"
"And what is it?"
"The Digi-Egg of one of the Ancient Kings, and you will bring him back to life"
While extremely knowledgeable and able to exercise some power in the human world, Yggdrasil is virtually powerless in the digital world and acts as a mentor to the Royal Knights, who have sworn to protect him. It is said that there is another being like him, but he remains in the shadows, only appearing when absolutely necessary.