Chapter 9

The Whispering of the Mad

The week took far too long for Hikari's liking. The day of their exam inched forward, ever so slowly. In between massive studying sessions, Hikari kept an eye on the emails shooting back and forth between the other Chosen who were not resigned to hitting the books. Other than Hope, Light, and Friendship, all the Sanctums had been breached. It chafed at her, knowing that the longer they waited, the more likely it was that they'd be too late.

With her exam finally completed, the Chosen of Light shouldered her backpack, rushing ahead of the others. Daisuke was struggling on some of the last few problems—which she wasn't the least surprised about. He had paid very little attention despite having been the one to ask her to tutor him—and Takeru would likely need a few more minutes as well since he liked to double check his answers. Normally she would have waited for them anyway, but…she's been worried about Tailmon. She'd been just as restless as Hikari had, if not more so since she'd been stuck at home.

The computer room was lit up, so as she opened the door she expected either Fujiyama-sensei, or Ken and Kouji to have beaten her there. Part of that was correct.

"Good afternoon, Tailmon. Kouji. Akemon" She smiled at the little knot of digimon and person sitting at one of the tables further into the room, well out of view of the door's window. Chibimon—who had been snoring away soundly at Akemon's side (he seemed to have gotten attached, despite the issues between Kouji and Daisuke)—perked up and mumbled in his sleep, but didn't wake.

"Finished early?" Kouji glanced up at the clock. The bell hadn't rung yet. Honestly, Hikari didn't understand why Daisuke disliked the new Chosen so much. He was always polite to her. She nodded, dropping the bag on the table and grabbing a chair, "The others are still going. My guess is TK will show up on time, and Daisuke will be late. At least that is what usually happens."

There was a sleepy "Daisuke is the greatest…" from Chibimon, which garnered him a fond smile from Hikari. For all of Daisuke's boisterous attitude, he had a deep bond with his digimon, and Chibimon loved him.

"Where's Ken? Is he meeting us?"

Kouji shook his head, "His mother wanted his help today, so he told me to give you all his apologies. I remembered the way, so I came on my own."

"That's a shame… So how is school going? Is it much different from your normal one?"

They talked for a while. Hikari was enjoying this little chance to de-stress from the exams and the anxiety creeping up on her all week. Kouji was nice. He was pretty quiet, and would rather let her talk and just listen in, but if she could just find a good topic…

But she was stopped by the beep of an incoming email. It was her brother. He had soccer practice today. She rolled her eyes at his both apologetic, and advising email. He'd originally planned to come along—although why, she had no idea. They already found his Crest—and was now giving her a bunch of last minute instructions. "Oh, 'Nii-san…"

That seemed to catch his attention. "You have a brother?"

"Huh? Oh, you didn't know? Let me guess, Taichi didn't introduce himself properly?"

"He…began firing off questions almost immediately, I'm afraid much of what he said went over my head." Kouji admitted sheepishly, ducking his head apologetically, "I didn't mean to, but he..."

Hikari laughed, "Don't worry; my brother can be a little over excited. Especially when we meet new Chosen. For the longest time we thought we were the only ones and now we've got a handful more popping up. Ken mentioned there are five others where you are from?"

"Yes. But our adventures happened a couple of years ago...I'm afraid we weren't actively involved until Akemon and I were drafted for this current crisis."

Hikari smiled. She got him talking. He seemed to be relaxing. The digimon were dozing. Chibimon curled up next to Akemon, and Tailmon was leaning against the wolf's back, her ears drooping and tail flicking as it was won't to do when taking a cat-nap. Normally Tailmon wouldn't ever be caught cat-napping in public like this—it exhibited a weakness she didn't like showing—but Hikari had noticed the extended stay in the Human World had been trying on the digimon. Hikari hadn't brought her to school at all, so she hadn't even been able to enjoy the company of the other digimon.

"Do you have any siblings?"

Akemon twitched at that question, interestingly enough. Kouji didn't respond right away, but he noticed the twitch too. He paused, watching Akemon thoughtfully. Hikari wondered if she'd blundered onto a sore point, but Kouji ended up shaking his head and continuing, "Yes. A younger brother. We…met on our adventures."

Oh. Hikari felt that was as far as she should push. The use of…"met" had implications she wasn't quite comfortable prying into, especially since she had only known Kouji for a week. She knew how much their living situation had been a sore point for Yamato and Takeru, and at least they had known about each other.

"At least you had your brother to talk to about your adventures. I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't had Taichi. He had to reassure me that it wasn't all a dream. I was young enough it could've just been a childhood fantasy." Hikari admitted, drawing the focus of the conversation to herself, "I barely remember my first encounter—I was only a couple years old. And then I was 8 when Taichi and the others received their digivices. Now here I am, three years later, having another run."

"Yeah…The aftermath would have been…difficult without him."

Now there was a story there, but Hikari had noticed that Kouji became evasive when the topic was uncomfortable, but he never really stonewalled her, always answering. She appreciated that, so she would respect his privacy. It was moot point anyway; anything she could have said would have been cut off by the end of school bell.

Chibimon jumped up at the sharp clang, screeching "I DIDN'T DO IT!"

And then he blinked, staring around the room blearily. Tailmon yawned, rubbing an eye with her paw, "Don't be so loud; what's a kitty gotta do for a decent cat-nap around here?"

"Sorry." Chibimon wilted, and looked around, perking up when he noticed Hikari in the room, "OH! Is Daisuke here?!"

"Not yet." Hikari soothed. It was quite funny to actually be able to view the buildup of Chibimon's excitement. He always pounced on Daisuke as soon as the goggle-head came into the room, but Hikari usually arrived with Daisuke. This rabid bouncing pre-excitement was a treat to see. Chibimon took up her attention as he scrambled up and over and around excitedly, much to Akemon's disgruntlement. Tailmon knew better, and had pre-emptively climbed up on Hikari's shoulder. She was snickering down at Akemon, who was currently being bounced upon.

The door burst open to a cheery, "Olly olly oxen free!" much to Chibimon's delight. The dragon leapt from table to table, dodging Hikari's attempts to grab him.

"You know, I was expecting a "Lucy, I'm home!"" Takeru remarked, following Daisuke in. The goggle-head caught Chibimon easily, "I thought about it, but I used that one last week."

"You are such a dork." Miyako shook her head, and Iori chuckled as they pushed in. As Hikari expected, the stampede of digimon began. After initially greeting and demanding hugs from their respective Chosen, the digimon descended hungrily on Miyako. Hikari giggled as the purple-haired girl was mobbed, specifically by the three in-training digimon. Oh, Tailmon and Patamon were waiting rather impatiently for their food too, but at least they weren't bouncing in an excited circle as Miyako pulled out the bag she always brought from her family's convini. Only Akemon didn't join the anticipatory crowd, and Hikari frowned in concern as Miyako doled out the food. "Hey, don't you want anything?"

The wolf looked up, startled, but then shook his head, "I'm not hungry."

Bizarre. Digimon were always hungry. It was also a good idea to feed them before an adventure, otherwise you'd run the risk of them running out of energy. She moved over to the quickly disappearing pile of food and snatched up a couple packages. Tailmon voiced a small protest, since she'd been reaching for one of the taiyaki Hikari had taken.

"Sorry." Hikari smiled down at her digimon, "I'm going to save these for later."

Tailmon shrugged and dug into a packet of yogurt, and no one else complained as Hikari tucked them into her backpack.

Finally, after the ravenous horde had been sated, Daisuke leaned back into his chair; a satisfied Chibimon sprawled out on his knees. "So, what's the plan? Are we waiting on Taichi again?"

"Nah. Nii-san can't make it." Hikari shook her head, "But he did send me pleeeeeeenty of instructions."

She sighed, "He said to split up, going after both the Sanctums of Hope and Light. We can't get Friendship without Yamato, and he's busy right now. We need to split along DNA evolution lines just in case—so TK and Iori, and Miyako and I."

She paused, remembering Taichi's last instructions. Daisuke wasn't going to like it. "And then you should go with TK, and Kouji with me." She didn't know why, but Taichi had been insistent about that.

Daisuke twitched. She could see his jaw tightening. She knew about his jealousy—she wasn't as dense as some people thought. She waited for the explosion.

"…okay."

Fizzle…?

What? She blinked. Daisuke, in a rare moment of self-control, had managed to let out the anger in a heavy sigh, and was looking at her with a forced grin. "Don't worry; I'll keep an eye on TA for you."

She returned his smile, although Takeru was the one to groan, "Just use Takeru if you can't remember it."

"Did you say something TS?"

Hikari giggled. Everything was fine.

x-x-x

"Alright! I've got the coordinates from Izzy for the Pyramid—do you guys want to go first?"

Daisuke just smiled, "Nah, just email them to Iori. You guys should go on."

He watched patiently as Miyako fiddled with the gate, setting the destination. He did his best to ignore how happy Hikari looked at being able to spend time with Kouji. It made his teeth ache from the amount of grinding they were doing. But no, he had to be patient. Just be patient. He knew there was something off about that kid.

The girls set up in front of the computers, Kouji following. They all had bags. Daisuke had one of his own. Normally they didn't bother to bring any equipment unless they were staying overnight, but given the issues they'd encountered trying to find the Sanctum of Courage, they decided rope and a flashlight were mandatory. And an extra change of socks. Daisuke didn't think they'd run into more water since TJ's crest was supposed to be in the desert but…he didn't want to risk it.

The light flared as the Digital Gate opened, swallowing the three teens and their digimon. Daisuke turned to Takeru, who glanced back at him. The blonde looked puzzled, "You were right. It is black and grey."

"Ask Ken or Taichi later. It was blue yesterday." Daisuke grinned. He knew there was something up. And now Takeru and Iori knew it too.

"Should we have let him go with 'Kari?" Takeru murmured, worried. Takeru had been skeptical when Daisuke had first brought up his concerns after they'd both gotten out of the test. He'd liked Kouji. Patamon liked Kouji. But…given the usage of Ken's old Dark Digivice…

"Miyako will watch out for her." Iori said quietly, confidently.

"Yeah. He may be a prick, but he wouldn't hurt her." Grudgingly, Daisuke admitted it. Kouji was a Chosen. He'd actually jumped into a fight to help his digimon. To try and protect the Koromon. Daisuke didn't like him. He didn't like him being anywhere near Hikari. But now he felt he could trust the guy to protect her if they needed it.

"Alright!" Daisuke broke the heavy stillness, moving toward the computer. The gate was still open, but the girls had moved. He could see them in the distance, specks walking away. "Let's get this party rolling!"

x-x-x

Izzy hadn't been positive which sector Vamdemon's castle had ended up in after the Dark Masters had screwed with the Digital World, but both he and Tailmon agreed that it was probably the best place to start. Nefertimon would have shivered, staring down at the ruins beneath her. They'd been flying for some time, but this. This was it. It hadn't survived the re-formatting of the world nearly as well as the others.

Hikari was a welcome weight on her back, warmth among the chill that was settling over Nefertimon as she circled the castle. Her wingbeats were slow, measured. She did not look forward to venturing into her nightmares. It had been years since Vamdemon. But…

A phantom pain shot through her paw as she remembered the scar. It wouldn't be there while she was Nefertimon—she knew that. But she'd lived with it as Tailmon for so long…

"Are you okay, Nefertimon?" Hikari's voice, warm, worried, loving, drifted down from her back, carried on the wind of her wingbeats. She felt Hikari's arms around her neck, tight enough to hold on, but not too tight to be uncomfortable…

"Of course, Hikari. It is merely memories." Just ghosts and demons. A spectre of the time when she'd lost herself, drowned in Vamdemon's hate and darkness.

But she'd found the light now.

"Is this it?" Hikari had never seen the castle. She hadn't been with the others, Nefertimon remembered. They'd gone to the Human World to find her. Nefertimon didn't speak, only nodding to confirm Hikari's guess. "We should go get the others. This shouldn't be too far for Aquilamon to carry Anyamon. The sooner we get in, the sooner we can leave."

Nefertimon didn't argue, all too happy to wheel away from the corpse of a castle and back toward the copse of trees where they had left the others. It took a moment for her to find the specific spot, but there weren't many trees studding the rolling hills. And only one of the small clumps had a thin wisp of smoke curling above it.

She angled her wings, diving toward the ground at breakneck speed. She heard a strangled shout from Hikari—something about the ground—but easily fixed the issue with a quick flare of her wings, killing the speed and landing neatly on the outskirts of the trees. Her heart was racing from the adrenalin—the sheer rush of the flight having driven away some of her melancholy.

"Please warn me before you do that!" Hikari's arms were far, far tighter—having been gripping on for dear life. She had a big grin underneath her mask; even she gave Hikari a token apology. Nefertimon was polite, but what people did not see couldn't hurt them.

And then Anyamon was there, sitting just under the shade of the trees. They were too small for Nefertimon to navigate easily, and she was loathe to relinquish her flight-capable form so soon. Besides, it would take some time before she would be able to armor digivolve again if she did so, and they still had to fly back.

"Could you bring the others?"

Hikari swiveled to see who Nefertimon was speaking to, but Anyamon was gone, already moving through the trees shadows. Nefertimon watched the spot where he had been, thoughtfully. He seemed…different. Oh not in looks. Or speech. Or even actions. Digivolution changed those. It was a fact of life. When one digivolved, one changed. Nefertimon may be Tailmon most of the time. She may remember Tailmon. But she was not Tailmon right now.

He felt…different. That was all she could say. He didn't feel like Akemon at all.

She shook away the thoughts as she heard the others approach, and Hikari slid off her back to meet them.

Soon enough—too soon. Nefertimon was not looking forward to returning—it was decided.

"Alright, Hawkmon! Let's get rolling." Miyako lifted her D-3 as everyone spread out to give Aquilamon the room he would need. "Just go ahead and digivolve."

They waited. The silence growing ever tense as the insects chirped on merrily in the grasses. Hawkmon was looking around in confusion, inspecting his red wings as if he was merely waiting for them to double in size. Which he was. They just weren't doing it. "Could there be something wrong with the Digivice? I am not hungry at all, but it does not appear to be working."

The purple-haired Chosen studied her D-3 intently, pressing buttons and even shaking it a couple of times with an irritated, "Come on! Digivolve!"

But no matter what she did, there was no resulting glow, nor the beeping that normally entailed the start of an evolution sequence. Her digivice remained dark and silent.

"Are there any Dark Spires around here?" She asked at last, looking up at Nefertimon, "I didn't see any on the map, but we haven't really been tracking them since so many were used up with BlackWarGreymon."

"I did not see any on the flight." But perhaps one was hidden somewhere. That might explain some of the apprehension she was feeling. Maybe it wasn't all memories.

Miyako frowned, "Well. We can armor digivolve, but I don't think Halsemon would be able to carry Anyamon. Maybe we should just walk instead."

"I can follow." Anyamon's voice was quiet, but it cut through the air like a knife. He had barely spoken since they had arrived in the digital world. "If you will fly low, and show me the direction, I can keep up."

He shared a look with his partner, who after a tense moment, turned stiffly and walked over to Miyako—Kouji had been hanging back from the others, not having much to contribute about travel arrangements. "If one of you could take me, Anyamon will make better time on his own."

"Are you sure?" Miyako looked worriedly between Kouji and Anyamon. Neither really looking at the other. Kouji nodded. "Well. Halsemon can easily carry the two of us—Hikari! How far is this castle, anyway?"

"About a ten minute flight. Perhaps more if we slow down for Anyamon."

"I can keep up."

And with that, it was decided.

As Nefertimon was winging away she caught a light flare in the shade of the steadily shrinking copse.

Digivolution?

But no. Kouji's digivice hadn't reacted at all.

x-x-x

The castle was creeeeepy.

Tailmon led them slowly, but surely through the barebones of a building that once belonged to some big hotshot digimon back in the day. Miyako didn't know why Tailmon was sure the Sanctum of Light or whatever was supposed to be here, but the base of the baddie who found the Crest was as good a place as any to look. She shivered, rubbing her arms to try and rid them of the chill that seemed to pervade this place. They were currently in the lower levels of the castle, Tailmon leading them down and down the increasingly dusty corridors.

Ah. Ah. Aaaachoo!

She sniffled, and then smiled sheepishly as she noticed all eyes were on her. The sound from her sneeze continued to echo in the empty halls, "Sorry. I'm not good with dust."

And there was a lot of dust. And cobwebs. She didn't like spiders. Luckily she was walking behind Kouji, quite happy to use the mysterious new kid as a shield from any that happened to extend across the hallway. Or any surprises that would have dropped from above.

"A digimon as powerful as Vamdemon could have probably afforded a cleaning service.", she remarked ruefully, trying to break the uncomfortable silence that had been building. When they'd first arrived Tailmon had given them little tidbits, 'This is the courtyard where Nanimon trained the recruits' or 'Here is where Pumpkinmon and Gotsumon caught Demidevimon in a net and hung him from the chandelier.' But the further they went the quieter she got.

Her comment received a snort from Kouji, and nervous laughter from Hikari. Tailmon didn't even twitch, just kept walking.

"I doubt he would care, Miyako." Hawkmon was the only one to truly respond, "The upper halls were likely where most of the Digimon lived, and any sort of effort toward cleanliness would have been situated up there. Of course with the roof mostly caved in, any remnants would have been obliterated by the elements long ago."

"You know—why do we keep going down anyway? Shouldn't we check the big-bad's bedroom? You'd think that would be where he stashed everything." That would also mean heading back up toward slightly cleaner, better ventilated spaces. She was glad she had glasses—for once—because the lenses kept most of the dust from irritating her eyes.

A shudder ran through Tailmon's small form. She was walking at the front of the line with the other Digimon. Anyamon had offered to scout the way, but the smaller cat had just shook her head and proclaimed she knew the way. The larger cat was bringing up the rear now, keeping an eye on their trail. Miyako thought it was unnecessary—there weren't any digimon here. But Kouji had insisted. He'd also insisted on bringing a sturdy branch he'd grabbed from one of the trees in the forest surrounding this place. He was currently using it as a walking stick and had looped their bags onto it, but Miyako had heard what happened from Daisuke. She didn't approve of fighting like that. He could have gotten hurt. The digimon cared about their Chosen more than anything. If one of them were to be injured…it would…It was distracting. It was their job to keep themselves safe and give their digimon power. She remembered how she'd put herself in danger while looking for the Digimon Kaiser's base…and what happened to Hawkmon…

Like I helped Hawkmon earlier? She looked down at her D-3, still silent and dark. Oh it had still worked when she'd chosen to armor digivolve, but…it had been so long since she'd been unable to evolve Hawkmon to Aquilamon. She clenched her fist around the device. It had to be a Dark Spire.

"Miyako…" It was Hikari's voice that eventually broke the silence, "I think we are heading to Vamdemon's room."

Tailmon had stopped in front of a door—wooden, with the sigil of a bat carved into it. Kouji pushed forward, shining the light from his flashlight onto the stark shape. It sent another shudder through Tailmon, who eventually nodded, "Yes. These are his chambers."

She didn't move to open it, her paws shaking. Hikari knelt beside her partner, squeezing Tailmon's left paw gently, "Would you like me to carry you?"

"No…" The glove slipped out of Hikari's grip, falling into a fist at Tailmon's side, "I can do this. He's dead."

Her eyes hardened and she put both paws on the door and pushed, the heavy wood protesting with every inch. The darkness within seemed almost solid, stale air leaking out of the room—it was enough to make Miyako gag. It had to have been pretty darned well sealed to create this kind of stagnation. She let Kouji and Anyamon lead the way, one armed with a flashlight, the other with spooky eyes she swore were glowing when she saw it in her peripheral vision. Miyako and Hawkmon followed them in, leaving Hikari whispering softly to Tailmon in the doorway.

It was a large room, with two stories. They were on the upper level, and she soon joined Kouji at the stone railing that ran along the edge of the platform. The middle of the room was cut out, letting them look down into the room below. There was a large red canopy in the center—a bed? It looked almost to be one of those fancy four-posters with the heavy drapes that she always saw in english medieval fantasy dramas. Rows upon rows of dusty bookshelves ran along the walls of both floors

"Man, I didn't know Digimon liked to read." Miyako mumbled to herself, "If he had this many books, how did he ever find the time to take over the world?"

"I would have you know that I rather enjoy perusing your study materials every now and then—Your history texts are most intriguing." Hawkmon peered down, "And we Digimon can be astonishingly long lived, he likely had more than enough time to wear out his library before he started planning."

"I'm going down." Mr. Tall Dark and Silent announced, sending Miyako scrambling for her own flashlight as all of a sudden the immediate area was plunged back into darkness. She glared at where she could see his back silhouetted against the light his flashlight was throwing against the stairs.

"A little more warning would have been nice!" She shouted back at him. Geez. He hadn't even asked if she was done looking. Or if she would like to go along. Really. She didn't know why they had to bring him along anyway. Hikari had said something about her brother requesting it.

She finally found the small cylindrical tube that served as her mini-flashlight and fished it out of her bag. A faint click and she had light again. It was much weaker than Kouji's light had been, so she couldn't see much from so high up. Apparently she had to head down as well if she wanted a better look.

Miyako glanced over her shoulder, seeing the remnants of Hikari's light spilling from around the half-opened door frame, "Hey, Hikari, we are heading down."

"Go on. We'll be in in a few minutes."

Miyako hesitated, before tossing back a confirmation. She didn't like leaving Hikari alone out there like that. She had Tailmon, but…this place seemed to get to Tailmon. Miyako didn't know all the History there. She knew that she'd once been this Vamdemon's hench-kitty, but beyond that? It must have been terrible. Tailmon was one tough cookie.

With worry in her heart she trudged down the now-darkened stairs, hearing her own footsteps and Hawkmon's talons against the rickety wooden structure. She froze at one point, balancing precariously on the edge of a step as she felt the thing creak and settle beneath her, sighing like an elderly man pushed back to work far beyond his prime.

"I…think I shall fly down, if you don't mind."

Hawkmon took off, hovering in midair uncertainly before gliding down into the abyss. Miyako muttered something about abandonment, before she braved the rest of the way. It didn't protest quite as much with only her weight. They were solidly built, if very, very old. She always wondered how the Digital World seemed as old as it was, considering the Internet was only perhaps half a century, if that. Then again, Hikari and Takeru often commented on how weird it was for the two worlds to be synced up. Apparently months in the Digital World hadn't even been a minute in the Human World during the original adventure. Who knew how many years could pass that way.

Hawkmon was waiting for her when Miyako stepped onto solid stone again. She didn't respond to his greetings, her eyes glued to the space between the drapes. She could see inside now. Shivers ran up her spine at the coffin laying innocuously in its stone bed. The finish on the wood shimmered under her flashlight's beam, and Miyako traced a curious gold design that was set into the dark wood. There was a difference between knowing that an evil digimon was based on a vampire, and actually seeing his coffin with her own eyes.

Suddenly a growl broke out from her left, set back into the darkness between the bookshelves. Anyamon? She hoped so. Although she didn't really want to know what he was growling at.

"BACK!" A high thin voice rang out, sending Miyako spinning around to try and find it. "Back! Foul beast of Darkness! Blinding Radiance!"

x-x-x

The flash of light was what finally got Tailmon moving. The cat digimon only glanced back to make sure 'Kari was heading for the stairs before she leapt from the railing, claws digging deep into the heavy red of the draperies. She looked around desperately, her vision clearing with each consecutive second she spent away from the flashlight. If some other evil digimon had moved into Vamdemon's lair—she hadn't even considered that. If any of the others were hurt—

There! Miyako stood over near the stairs, but Kouji and Anyamon were deeper into the shelves. They were under the overhang of the upper level. She ignored the sound of ripping fabric as she made her way down—to be completely honest, she'd often wished to take her claws to Vamdemon's property, specifically his face—and raced to where she could see the light spilling from a dropped flashlight around the edge of the shelves, "Anyamon!"

The response was little more than a whimper, and she rounded the bookshelves to find the large cat curled into a too small ball, head tucked as far away from whatever had been the source. His eyesight was far better than hers, and even the flashlight had her eyes watering from pain. That sort of flash would have been devastating.

"Tailmon?!" That was Kouji. He was standing over Anyamon, the strange walking stick he'd been using was held out in front of him like a weapon. He didn't see her as she came up, not even when he was looking straight at her. She was easily standing in the view of the fallen flashlight. He should see her. Blinded. That had been no ordinary light.

"I'm right here! What happened?"

"Taaaaaailmooooon." A thin voice rang out of the shelves, "Of course the traaaaaaitor would be here."

She flinched, but ignored it. Of course any of Vamdemon's minions would call her a traitor. She wasn't ashamed of it either.

"I don't know." Kouji responded through gritted teeth. His head swiveled as he tried to pinpoint the direction of that mocking voice. "K—Anyamon found something."

"Traaaaitor." This time it was accompanied by giggles, "Did the poor little kitty come sniffing after her master's scraps? No Vamdemon. Nothing left. Poor little traitor, her master is dead."

"I denounced him when I found my true purpose." Tailmon shot back, "I helped kill him. If you want revenge then stop picking on Anyamon and fight with me. This poor little kitty still has claws."

She flexed the wicked black points at the darkness, but was startled when it only caused more laughter.

"Revenge? Now why would I want revenge? My only regret is that I could not be the one to kill him!"

A soft light began to glow along the far wall. There was a wooden box sitting on one of the cleared bookshelves. The glow was coming from the white and purple head that was rising out of the box. The translucent being had pointed ears and a pointed face; it kept rising till its whole front half was outside the box. She could see the silver ring around the digimon's neck, the purple markings running along the long white body, and the mangled ear where a small gold earring should have been.

"Kudamon…" She couldn't believe her eyes. She'd never see one, but she'd heard of him. Kudamon wasn't an evil digimon at all. He was another Holy Beast type. What was he doing in Vamdemon's lair? And why did he attack Anyamon?

"Oh yes, Kudamon. Poor poor Kudamon, left forgotten when Vamdemon found a new plaything. A new holy digimon to corrupt. He would tell me about it, you know. What a good little kitty you were. I'm not surprised to find you with this beast of Darkness."

Kudamon spat down at Anyamon, which had Tailmon's hackles raising, her tail lashing. No one talked to her friends like that. She had been a servant of Darkness, she admitted that. But Anyamon had no connection to this mess, "Get out of there and fight me, if that's what you want." She hissed. She could hear Kouji behind her, checking on Anyamon. The blinding attack must have hit Anyamon hard. She could hear Hikari and Miyako talking, coming closer. Good. They'd be able to help.

"Fight? How could poor Kudamon fight? Trapped, my Holy Ring stolen, left to rot when Vamdemon left this world to destroy the light. Oh no, I do not want to fight. I want to die. Die destroying the darkness!"

He's mad. She realized, even as she had to jump in front of the lunging ghostly weasel. Her Cat's Paw knocked him off course, and had him springing back to his box. He hovered there, pointed teeth bared in a snarl and magenta claws snapping at the air. He'd completely ignored her—she wasn't his target.

"Kouji! 'Kari! Miyako! Drag Anyamon around the shelves—he's going after him."

"Oh no you don't!" Tailmon snapped her eyes shut as she felt the energy building, "Blinding Radiance!"

The technique left the girls crying out in alarm. The worst of it should be blocked by the shelves, but they'd be seeing spots. She didn't know why he'd use it again. It wasn't an attack, merely a blind. It shouldn't do any damage—

"Anyamon!" She could hear Kouji, blindly trying to drag his fallen partner. She could hear the renewed struggling of the other cat digimon, and his growing whimpers and snarls of alarm—

It's hurting him. Somehow, the attack of pure light was hurting Anyamon. She had to stop him from casting it again until Kouji managed to get clear. She waited, eyes closed, ears pricked—the whistle of moving air, of a barely-there body slithering through the space before her, beside her—she pounced! Black claws bit into solid fur, and Kudamon gave a strangled cry. She could feel him recoiling again, trying to retreat to the safety of the shelves, but she refused to let him. So long as he was manifested, she could hold him. And he couldn't disappear so long as she was holding him.

"Just stop this!" She hissed, "We are here looking for clues. Clues to where Vamdemon found the Crest of Light. If you were half as holy as you claim to be, you'd help us! If you won't, then just—just—shut up and leave us alone."

She felt the struggling still under her, and she risked peeking her eyes open again. She had Kudamon pinned to the ground by the neck. Narrowed eyes were glaring up at her, filled with hate and pain and—something else that scared her.

"Did you think you were special? That you were the only one Vamdemon abused?" Kudamon hissed at her, "His coffin must be littered with his trophies. You were merely the last of many. The only one to give in. You led him to the Crest, Tailmon. I'm surprised you aren't a BlackTailmon."

All of a sudden those sharp teeth were digging into her neck, pain and shock and fear drilling into Tailmon as she struggled to break his grip. She yowled, drawing startled shouts from Hikari.

"Hey you! Let her go!" Her vision was going fuzzy. She couldn't breathe. Time seemed to slow as she saw Hikari come around the shelf, Kouji's trusty stick in her hands. "Let her go now!"

Hikari was so beautiful. So kind. So wonderful. In Tailmon's dimming vision she seemed to almost glow.

The pressure on her neck eased, sharp points retreating.

Everything went black.

x-x-x

A/N: Chapter 8. This one just kind of fell into place. I really wanted them to find something in the castle, but I was all like—a trapped digimon would have long since left. Then I was randomly flipping through the digimon wikia and found Kudamon—perfect. He was holy digimon—which caused a whole other subplot—and his cartridge was just…perfect. Kudamon's design is NOT the digimon data squad design. If you look it up, it's the one with a silver neck ring and purple markings.

I'm mean to Tailmon in this fic. Just a warning. I love her, but the story ended up picking on her so much D:

Wow. This chapter is over 6k. Yay. Miyako was surprisingly fun to write. Like Daisuke, I never really cared for her before.

The story is up to 15 chapters and 3 more interludes. It just keeps on rollin'. I'm getting closer to the hard part though…I'm both excited and worried.

By the way: to Guest. NEVER apologize for a long review. I was giddy when I received it. Thank you for reminding me of the Royal Knights—that does throw a kink in my characterization. I still haven't caught up with Frontier. I try and do research on specific events, but most of this is from memory. This fic may turn out somewhat dark, but I don't think I can go all the way, sorry. I hope you can still enjoy it though! I'm honestly not sure what will happen—this story seems to be developing a mind of its own. Many of the plot points in the next few chapters just kind of popped up and then I realized it just made so much sense. If this is being inspired I have never been inspired before.

Anyway, I've talked a bit too much. Next chapter will be next week. See you all then!

Next Chapter: A Past Best Forgotten