Summary: When the princess runs away a war begins in which all sides want her dead or as a weapon. But Kari's heart is torn between her freedom and doing the right thing. With dangers at every turn the time to choose draws close and she's not ready.
Disclaimer: I do not own digimon, its characters, or anything relating the the franchise.
A/N: Sorry it took so long. I have no excuse except that I was working on a lot of plot bunnies that may never see the light of fanfiction.
Chapter 21 – To Decide
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Twelve years earlier
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Ten-year-old Joe Kido made sure nobody was near the hall in the palace like always before he pulled the edge of a large portrait of the King's great grandfather, swinging it on hidden hinges and revealing a dark passage behind, looking over his shoulder one more time he slipped in and pulled the metal handle of the door to close the passage up, like it had never been there – like he had never been there.
That was one of the reasons he had to leave his partner behind. Gomamon was far too noisy to be trusted on such a task; despite the fact he hated leaving the seal like digimon behind.
He would take Gomamon with him occasionally but there were times, like now when the castle was preparing for a festival and there were people everywhere, when he could not.
The tunnel was narrow and dark. He couldn't see anything but if he could then the passage would be no taller than five foot high and about three foot wide in most places, although it did get narrower the further on he went.
He couldn't help feel claustrophobic in the small space. It felt as if the earth could crumble down on him at any time. He was used to it though. He had travelled regularly through the hidden tunnel for the last two years.
He was only one of three people who knew of it. Out of those he was the only civilian. The king and queen of Amara were the only others. The architect of the passage was long dead, killed two days after the completion to ensure the secrecy of the passage.
After all, it was the only unguarded passage in and out of the castle and took him straight into the heart of the town.
Dim light began to creep into the tunnel and Joe knew he was nearing the exit. His next steps became cautious, knowing to expect hidden steps. He had stumbled over them on countless occasions and it was dangerous to risk injuring himself in the tunnel.
If he couldn't move then he'd never leave again and it could be years until his body were discovered, possibly even hundreds.
Shivering at the thought, he pushed the ceiling, which happened to be a wooden hatch, upwards slightly. Scanning his eyes through the small crack he determined no one was in the alley it lead into and lifted it completely, slipping out before anyone noticed.
Making sure his pouch of money was close to his person; Joe ventured out into the busy market streets of the city and remembered his job. Two years ago he had been sitting in one of the back alleys with no money and in ragged clothing.
It wasn't long before a woman, who although dressed like an ordinary peasant couldn't hide higher class from his trained eyes, offered him a job in return for shelter and food. He accepted, as it had been planned.
When Joe was a baby and his brother Shin was six their parents had been brutally attacked and murdered. Shin was witness to the event and it had left him traumatised in a way that Joe knew he would never recover.
King Ashnark of the Northern Elves had taken them in and it had been early in his childhood when Joe had been introduced to the prophecy that would change the world as he knew it. Everyone had a part to play. Mostly everyone had small parts, although some had larger parts to play.
The prophecy was cruel and unkind to some, especially the princess, but if there was ever to be peace sacrifices had to be made – his own included. It was strange, knowing exactly how you were going to die, even more so for a young child.
In some ways he felt lucky, even though he would die young he now had the chance to live as much of that life as possible. He knew he would be leaving the palace soon to return to the Northern elves, his task set by the king to help fulfil the prophecy was almost over.
Two years ago he was abandoned deliberately and knowingly so that the queen would pick him out as the carer of her young son. Rumour had been spread that he had been a stillborn after threat son the unborn heir had been made and he would be revealed as soon as he was old enough to take the throne or upon the king's death.
The prince was getting older though and they needed someone who would go unnoticed in the palace to supervise the young prince and bring him meals, someone like him. He wouldn't be missed from the streets and there was no one to question where he went.
King Ashnark knew that they would find him and he also knew that to make sure the prophecy could be fulfilled Joe needed to be there. He'd plant the thoughts of freedom into Prince Taichi's head and eventually help him escape with Korromon. If he did that then the princess was sure to follow.
She had to follow.
Sometimes he felt guilty about manipulating everyone, knowing the pain that they would go through. He was young but he was far from stupid. There would be pain – for the prince, for the princess, and for anyone that got too close to them.
He knew that there would be death – and lots of it at that – in the future he was helping to create. However he also knew that if he didn't choose this future then the other choice was much worse.
Taichi would grow up angry at his parents … at the world, caring only for the timid and delicate princess that was his sister. They needed to be strong physically and psychologically if they were to win the war that would lead many to their death. To gain that strength they needed to know pain and separation.
He just hated to be the one to cause it.
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Kari sat by the lake behind her brother's house with Gatomon deep in thought. It had been over a month since she had awoken and while she had recovered from her fall and the previous injuries she had received, her heart still felt heavy.
"We have to leave soon, don't we?" she questioned her partner, who nodded slightly.
"We're needed, to end this with the least bloodshed we have to be there."
There was no doubt between them what 'there' was. They were needed in the Baboa Mountains, where the fight was leading, where she had seen where TK's death would take place.
"I'm still not sure if have the strength to do it. How can I take his life? He means everything to me."
"And it is his wish to stop this war. You know that."
Kari bowed her head slightly.
"Where … will we go?"
"You will be safe at the crystal palace. And if I wish to help people, I have to be with the northern elves."
Kari nodded sadly and rested her hand on his cheek, pulling his face close. She leant over to his ear, whispering almost silently, so that only he could hear. "It's the … prophecy. The I-Icerenia … I have th-the key. You're my precious person."
She looked into his shocked blue eyes, expecting him to turn away from her. He rested his hand on hers, the touch gentle and without disgust. Her eyes widened and her breath caught.
"Then we'll just have to make the most of the time we have before we part again," he answered, acknowledging with ease what was to come.
He sat gently down next to her, pulling their hands onto his lap. She slid her head onto his shoulder to hide the pained tears that were streaming down her face, silently crying herself to sleep.
"And I wish he was selfish. He knows the truth and just accepts it. He didn't even try to fight it because of the people he would help."
"That's a lie Kari. If he were selfish then you would never have cared about him the way you do. It is his gentle heart that you love, that timid boy you learnt to care about when you were children."
Kari nodded sadly. "It is his wish, to protect the people and … I shall honour that wish. Amara is broken and tainted and for it to be fixed then they have to loose. I shall take the job that I was born for and protect the people; even if it's from themselves … I can do that for TK."
Everything she had tried to change by running away had been for nothing. The prophecy had followed her wherever she went. It had been planned long before. The sad and ugly truth was that they were puppets.
For whom and for what, she did not know but they were still puppets.
Kari reached to her hip and pulled a small sword out of her sheaf. It was nowhere near as the beautiful as the one that she had given TK but still had something of its own.
"It's time I had a new identity. We both know I'm not Hikari Kamiya anymore. I'm Kari."
"Kari Yagami," added Gatomon, "Younger sister of Tai Yagami."
"Kari Yagami," echoed Kari, "the true self of Hikari Kamiya, heir to the throne of Amara."
The journey she had been on had led to that moment, when she could accept what was and what had to be. To the rest of the world she'd still be Princess Hikari Kamiya, the young girl who ran away from her problems.
But, to her friends, she would be Kari Yagami; the girl, who through hardships, had grown into a woman fit to be a queen. She was stronger now, stronger than she had ever been.
Taking the sword she held the blade close to her neck and, holding her hair still, pulled outwards, watching the cinnamon strands fall to the floor, some blowing away in the wind.
Her hair flopped down to her chin, seemingly changing the shape of her face into something much more mature. Gatomon smiled. "It looks good. It looks like you."
Slowly, a small smile formed on her face and together they stood and walked inside. The severed hair lay on the floor. It wasn't part of her anymore, just like the uncertainty she carried with her was no longer a part of her.
Together, they left that behind.
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Twelve years earlier
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Hikari ran up the tower, Nyaromon hopping at her side. She wasn't allowed in the tower too often because her parents didn't want to draw any suspicions. As she ran up the never-ending spiral of stairs she almost bumped into a boy and his partner.
She would have apologised like she wished to do but it wasn't proper for the princess to apologise to a servant boy. It wasn't something that she liked and one day, when Taichi was king, she'd make sure that he changed that.
"Come on Nya," she squealed excitedly as they reached the top of the tower. She span around, looking happily at all the tapestries. She giggled happily when she saw the one which told the story about the princess who was rescued from the ogles – just like the one on her wardrobe.
"You think he'll tell it to us again?" she asked serenely. She knew the answer. He always told her any story she requested, except the one about the Icerenia. He didn't like it when she cried.
She turned around and pulled back a veil that was on one of the walls, revealing a wooden door behind it. She turned it handle and pushed it open, slipping into the hidden room and closing the door behind her, as if she had never been there in the first place.
A small, pink head bounced into her arms and grinned up at her. "Korromon!"
"What about me?" asked a young voice from nearby.
"Taichi!" she squealed with even more enthusiasm.
A lopsided grin graced the older boy's features. "I haven't seen you in a while."
"Mother said I wasn't allowed to. We had guests." Her nose wrinkled up.
"Stinky guests," added Nyaromon.
"How stinky?" asked Korromon.
"Very."
Kari glanced around the room and instantly noticed something was wrong. It was little things – nothing anybody else would have noticed. Small trinkets from around the room that her brother valued were missing, his wardrobe looked slightly emptier, and small things like his hairbrush and toothbrush were missing from the counter.
"Tai?" she questioned.
His grin vanished. "I'm leaving tonight Kari. Joe's going to help me."
Tears ran down her face, her four-year-old mind trying to make sense of the situation. "Don't you love me anymore?"
"Don't ever say that!" snapped the older boy. "Of course I love you. I don't like being locked up."
"I don't either," pouted the princess. "I'm coming with you."
Taichi shook his head. "It's too dangerous. I won't be able to you or Nyaromon safe. There's a book in the library. I'm not sure which one but Joe said you'll be able to find it if you wanted it enough. It'll tell you how to get out of here. I wrote a message for you on it. Then as soon as I hear you're free I'll come find you."
Hikari shook her head. "Don't leave me."
"I'm sorry."
Taichi felt the guilt flood through him as he saw her break in her eyes.
She wanted to scream. She wanted to shout. She wanted to do anything but cry. She couldn't find it in her young heart where everything is good or bad to place her brother in the latter. He was leaving her and that should make him bad but he was the only one she could trust. The only one she could be herself with.
She threw herself into his arms, sobbing slightly before pushing him backwards with more strength than a four-year-old should have, grabbing Nyaromon and running out of the room, glancing briefly at the wall hanging she had seen on the way in.
Only this time she scowled at it.
She was going to train so she could be strong. She wasn't going to wait to be rescued by anybody because that way she could be with her brother again sooner. If she wanted to be with her brother she needed to be free. To be free it meant she needed to be in control.
As she ran down the tower, uncaring about the inappropriateness of her behaviour, she didn't realise that all her memories of the encountered were going to be blocked, leaving only her grim determination to be strong and to be free as a scar left over from the time she spent with her brother.
A scar that would never fade.
-
Tai and Davis, along with their partners, waited for Kari to finish changing into her new clothes in the kitchen of the small house that they shared. Yesterday Kari had confronted them with her decision.
Knowing what she had to do, Tai would have tried to convince her otherwise had it not been for the look in her eyes. He couldn't describe it properly but knew that something had changed in her.
She was ready to become a ruler.
When they were first reunited and had asked him why he wouldn't step up to be king, it had been obvious that she wasn't ready then. She tried to convince him that it was his right when he told her that the throne was hers.
He wouldn't be accepted as king. It just wouldn't be possible in his eyes. His birth had been hidden and the public didn't know him. Not only that but because he left, he didn't have any of the skills required to be king, skills that Kari had been taught by the most expensive tutors since birth.
She had been trained to be queen but, until the day before, there had been something missing that no amount of training to give her. She had that now. He wasn't sure what it was but it completed her.
So, instead of fighting her decision, he accepted it. She knew the consequences of what she were about to choose but she also knew the consequences of not helping. That was the burden of royalty. They served the people, not the other way around as their father believed.
The creek of the wooden door opening caught his attention, bringing his gaze up to look at the princess in the doorway. She stood tall and the only way Tai could tell that she was anxious about their reactions was the way her teeth inched towards her lip, as if she wished to bite it.
Her chin length hair, which had been uneven before, had been straightened out and been pinned out of her eyes with a pair of simple gold hair slides with a small but elegant ruby flower on the end of each. She wore a scarlet, sleeveless dress. Gold embroidery of butterflies filled the bottom of the dress and lessened until they stopped halfway up.
The dress was cut for manoeuvrability in a fight and was slit from the top of the thigh on the outside of each leg, revealing the knee length black leggings beneath and the glint of metal from the weapons she had strapped on.
It was also apparent that she had blades strapped on at her forearms, although there was an empty space in one of the holsters that belonged to the dagger her brother left with TK. Around her waist, hung her sword and her bow and quiver sat on her shoulder.
On her feet, she wore simple black sandals completing the simple but elegant look.
Tai smiled, as he got to his feet. "You look like a queen already."
Kari shook her head. "I have to defeat our father first." She looked down at her clenched fist, opening it slightly and revealing an elegant, white gold necklace in the shape of a key with a ruby, filled with an ever-changing mist, set in it.
She lifted it by the long chain and lowered it around her neck, tucking the pendant out of sight. "It all ends soon, either way."
"Don't worry. Davis and I will escort you there as far as we can."
"You're coming with us?" asked Gatomon.
"Yep," agreed Davis. We'll be with you right until we meet the border of the Elves' land."
"No further?" asked Kari, confused.
"When I escaped the palace, I had help Kari. I made a deal with king Ashnark. He'd help me escape and in return, if there was ever a war, I would have to help his allies in the south."
"That's why you stayed with them for a bit," Gatomon said, putting the pieces together.
Tai nodded. "I'm pushing a bit as it is."
"If he's caught in the Baboa Mountains at this point in time," Agumon continued, "he could loose his head for breaching his contact."
"What about Davis? Do you have a contract too?" asked Kari.
Davis's face flamed red and he looked away, mumbling under his breath.
"No, he doesn't," smiled Tai.
"Just be careful about what you touch whilst you're there," laughed Veemon at his partner's expense.
"You ruin one measly invaluable work of art of historical significance and you're banned for life," exclaimed Davis. "I don't even know how it broke. It was supposed to be bolted to the wall!"
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Five years earlier
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Seventeen-year-old Joe Kido frowned as he unscrewed the bolts that held the first Elvin King's armour from the war. "It's a shame it'll have to be ruined," he mumbled to himself.
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Kari laughed before her face fell, turning to her brother. "You should go help the Southern Elves. Our father is planning an attack there soon. They need all the help they can get."
Tai nodded in understanding. "Davis can escort you as far as the border."
"Are you sure?"
"It's fine with me."
"I'll miss you Tai."
"I'll miss you too. Come here." He pulled the small girl into a brotherly hug. "Whatever you do, don't give up. Okay? Things will work out in the end."
"If you see Princess Sora … if you see her tell her that I shouldn't have run. I betrayed her trust."
Agumon gave a grin that belonged more on a crocodile than the orange digimon. "I'm sure he'll love to see Sora again."
Tai turned pink, bringing his fist down on his laughing partner's head. "Shut up. Or I'll mention that incident with Biyomon."
His partner stopped laughing, glaring up at his human in an instant. "You wouldn't."
"Oh you bet I would."
Kari shook her head. "I'm not even sure if I want to hear."
Tai smiled gratefully and, with a quick goodbye to her brother, Davis, Veemon Kari and Gatomon were on their way.
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Three years earlier
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Joe looked at the innocent looking piece of jewellery in his hand. His mother told him to give it to the woman he knew he was going to marry. It wasn't nearly as innocent as it seemed. First of all it was one of the five Icerenia pieces – not that his mother knew that.
Second of all – and the thing that made it truly evil – was how was he supposed to approach her? He wasn't an expert when it came to social interaction, especially with females. He frowned.
It didn't help that they travelled in packs. She was never alone, always with that gaggle of girls from the village.
How was he ever to approach her if she wasn't on her own? He certainly wasn't brave enough to face her when she was in front of her friends. If she rejected him then he would die from embarrassment.
He suddenly wished the Oracle had shown him more of his future so that he'd know what to do but unfortunately she showed only what needed to be showed and nothing more. He knew in two years time they'd be happily married and with a baby on the way but he didn't know how they got there or what bumps there were along the way.
He sunk down to one of the lowest possible methods to try and catch her on her own. He was practically stalking her. He wondered if she had realised yet or not. He was embarrassed at even the slightest possibly that she had realised.
What was he to do about Mimi?
-
TK was waiting for her on the outskirts of the city. Davis had left her a while back, not wanting to be caught on Elvin land. For a moment, the princess was taken aback by the fact that he knew she would come. He knew, because he knew her, just like Patamon knew Gatomon. The two pairs stood opposite each other not saying a word for a long time, before TK smiled softly. "You look different Princess Kari. You look good."
The barrier broke and Kari ran across the empty space between them and clutched onto him, burying her face into his chest as she began to cry. "I don't want to lose you TK. You're my best friend."
"It needs to be done, if we don't this world will burn."
"I just wish there was another way."
They said nothing. They both knew that this was the only way. As much as they both would have liked to be selfish, to be together instead and let the world fall into ruin, neither them, nor their partners, could ever allow that to happen. They both had other people to protect that they cared about. They had promises to keep.
"Come on, the sooner you talk to King Ashnark then the longer we can have together before the time comes."
Kari smiled at TK as he took her hand, before they walked into a city in the mountains. It was hidden well and well protected from invaders however the princess noted that if anyone managed to break the defences then they would be helpless.
"Come on Princess Kari," he said, dragging her past the city gate. Patamon and Gatomon stayed close to them talking in low words.
Kari looked nervously at all the Elves in the city who were turning to look at her as they walked by. She felt a reassuring squeeze on her hand and smiled gratefully at TK, before looking away, schooling her expression into the mask she wore when they first met but still leaning closer to him as they walked towards the palace.
"Have you had any news from Sora?" asked Kari as a red head walked past, reminding her of her friend.
"She's on her way back to her kingdom with some of King Ashnark's best men. Last thing I heard was that she crossed the border of Amara. She's almost out of the danger now."
Kari sighed, not realising how worried she had been. "That's good to know. I only hope she makes it in time. There's been word of movement of the Amarian troops. They will be arriving here soon. Imprecatios has fallen and so has Anadaras. They are sending their own men to both the Elvin nations." They stopped at the palace gate, waiting for them to be opened.
"Names," said a lightly armoured Elf at the gate, who was obviously one of the guards.
"Takeru Takashi," TK replied formally, "And my companion Princess Hikari Kamiya."
The Elf nodded, his blonde hair shifting slightly to reveal the tips of his ears. He didn't look surprised at her name. Ashnark had been expecting her for a long time now. "Open the gates," he called out to someone who was awaiting his order.
As they reached the doors of the palace, Kari suddenly dug her heals into the floor and ground to a stop. Her face paled as memories of her childhood resurfaced. TK pulled her close and murmured encouragement in her ear.
"Princess Kamiya?" asked an elf standing by the door. His white blonde hair braised so tightly from the bottom of his neck that it was no fatter than a finger, his elfin ears sticking out prominently.
"Yes, it's me. And please don't call me Kamiya," Kari requested politely, "I'm not like my parents."
"King Ashnark has requested your presence." Kari nodded and walked forward with her friends but the elf shook his head. "Sorry Princess Hikari but he asked for a private audience. Your friends can not go with you."
"Oh," she replied, unsurprised. She had suspected that order. After growing up in the Amarian palace she knew when and when not to expect private audiences. For talks about something as crucial as theirs would be, negotiations were usually done where a council would not bother them. Well, that, and the fact she had already been shown what would happen by The Oracle.
"It's alright. We'll meet you up later," Gatomon said as cheerfully as possible for her partner but there was darkness in her eyes that told her she understood.
Kari nodded shortly, straightening up so she looked every bit the part of a princess. This was not only to save so many lives but for the good of her country. She finally understood what her mother had meant what seemed like so long ago when she told her it was an honour for a princess to marry for a kingdom.
It her duty to make the sacrifices that others couldn't. The authority that she held came with responsibilities. She may have hated her father more than anything else in the world, but it was not Amara that she hated. Even if she had left, she had a duty to fulfil for her people. A duty that she had finally learned to accept.
Amara was riddled with corruption that nobody was willing to fight and the king was greedy. The only way for Amara to become the prosperous and peaceful place – the country she had grown up hearing great tales of – it had to be rebuilt from scratch. For the good of her people, they had to lose the war.
She walked nervously down the hall with the man. She didn't like the idea of being alone in the foreign palace – or any palace for that matter. "Do you – do you know what King Ashnark wishes to speak to me about?" she asked merely for the reason that she had asked in the prophecy and wanted something to break the silence. Though it was subtle she could sense the elf held her in some part responsible for the war.
"No Princess. You can ask him yourself," he said indicating to a door, allowing her to pass through. On the other side of the door she found herself in a meeting room, with a large table that would fit all the Kingdom's officials for their annual meeting. The only other figure in the room was an elf. The king looked exactly the same as in the vision. The crown on his head served to make his pointed ears more prominent as it pushed down his white hair.
He looked young, no older than his mid twenties but Kari knew that looks could be deceiving when it came to elves, as they did not age like humans. He was probably well over two hundred years old. "You wished to speak to me your majesty," she said, nodding her head in respect.
He stood up, as smile reaching his chestnut eyes, as he walked over to Kari, pulling out a seat for her to sit down. "Yes, you must be Princess Hikari. They didn't lie when they said you were beautiful." She felt the heat rise to her cheeks at the complement. It was not that she was embarrassed, rather angry that he could act so calmly when it was through his actions that TK became the one that had die. She knew that, while she could respect him, she would always hold resentment towards the man because of that.
"I heard the prophecy. I know what must be done."
"Are you willing?"
Kari looked over the room, examining a portrait on the wall rather than meeting the old king's eyes. "Sacrifices have to be made, even ones we do not wish to be made. It is my duty to do what I can to prevent further loss of life. I must put the needs of my kingdom first. The needs of many above the needs of one," her voice was hollow as she said that but still firm. She had made her decision and, despite what it meant for him, TK agreed with her.
It was a horrible, brutal, and ugly truth that something like this was needed to ensure peace.
"However, if I am to do this, there are a few things you must agree on." She turned to him her eyes revealing how much she hated him for making her make this decision, for making sure that everything led up to that very moment. "Once it is done, nobody will try to overthrow Amara. I shall take my place as queen and undo all the mess that my father has caused.
"You shall openly state your support of me. I will need time to rebuild Amara into what it once was. If I am to do that, trading agreements made that benefit my kingdom and not just the nobles shall be kept. However, due to the mistakes of King Susumu I be assured you will do all you can to keep them going?"
They both had known this was coming but he still needed it spoken aloud. She wasn't going to let TK make a sacrifice if it did not ensure the safety of what he was trying to save.
"You have my word."
"And will you help rebuild Amara?"
"We will need to focus our attentions on our own cities. Your father is set to attack in just a few hours."
"What I must sacrifice is far greater than what you must." Her words were bitter but they both knew that it was truth. "You will help rebuild Amara."
The girl she had been ever since she left the palace fell away, leaving behind the strong woman who had been taught how to manage a kingdom, the one that Tai and Davis had seen in Tai's cottage. The look she gave King Ashnark told him that she wasn't backing down.
"We will help rebuild your most prominent businesses, after that I need to focus on my own country."
Kari nodded in agreement.
"Do you have The Key?"
Kari nodded pulling at the chain around her neck to lift her pendant into his view. It was a small key made from white gold, handed down from mother to daughter as long as her family could remember, and on the front a jewel had been set into it. A ruby, that seemed to be filled with an ever-changing mist. It was an innocent looking thing but she knew what it was now.
"You are certain it is it?"
"You saw the prophecy that was made. You saw it around my neck. It is the key." She paused. "You have collected the five pieces?"
"The last arrived just a few hours before you did."
She nodded stiffly. She had hoped they would not be there in time. "Just so you know, I want it on the record that I was against this. The Icerenia may grant power but the method to do so is barbaric."
"You're still the one making the sacrifice," replied the king.
"You still set it up. You made it so that I would have no choice but this." Bitterness had crept into her tone and the king could hear it clearly.
"There is always a choice Hikari."
"Only one that costs countless lives. If my heart has to be sacrificed to save them, then it is what I must to."
She turned to leave, pausing as the Elvin King spoke. "If there had been any other way …"
"… We are both tools to the future," she said quietly, "We have both made our decisions. It is our job to make the decision that will benefit the majority. This is where it had led. Tonight shall be spoken of for a long time. Many will praise us for our actions, but others will hate us for this, including ourselves. We must accept the consequences."
She had hated the words when she had first heard them but she knew now that it was true, she had to accept what she was about to do and what was to come.
He did not answer. She did not expect him to. She strode out the room without a glance back.
Despite that, the king stood and followed her through the halls. The air was tense between her. Ashnark knew that the princess hated him for orchestrating TK's death and Kari knew that he knew that. He seemed to be in deep contemplation before he spoke.
"I would like you to see the chambers where ..." he did not finish his sentence, trailing off as the princess bristled. "It would be best for you to know where you must be going."
Kari nodded and the king led her down a series of halls that she committed to memory. "So this is where I must be at sunset," Kari said. Unlike in the vision the room was full of light and there were several people there preparing the chamber.
A sad smile crossed her face briefly when she recognised two of them, who looked at her in shock.
Mimi and Matt were standing talking to some of the sorcerers who would channel the power of the sacrifice. "Kari," Mimi smiled, "I'm so glad you're okay. We thought ... we thought for sure that you died."
"I was saved by my brother. It seems that some of my memories were sealed by my father."
"It's about time he was stopped," agreed Matt, his voice full of confidence as he looked over the people working. "After all, what's one life when we can save thousands? That one shall be remembered as a hero for all of time."
A gentle sheen of tears covered ruby eyes as she looked at the brother of the man she loved. Mimi gasped to the side and Matt turned to her in confusion as his girlfriend began to cry. Mimi shook her head viciously, though her eyes never left Kari.
Looking back at the princess, Matt's eyes landed on The Key. Understanding filled his eyes.
"NO!" he yelled, "You can't do this. Not TK. You can't!" Four soldiers waiting in the wings grabbed Matt and two grabbed Mimi, while their digimon subdued Palmon and Gabumon.
Matt glared at the Elvin king. "You lied to me. This isn't what I wanted. TK was supposed to be safe. TK was supposed to live. If I had known this I would never have retrieved the Icerenia piece!" Mimi was sobbing openly as Matt struggled against the guards.
The king spoke softly as he met Matt's eyes. "So it is okay for another to die but not your own brother?"
"I'll stop this. I'll find a way to stop this."
"Take them away," Ashnark ordered coolly.
Kari looked away as the grown man struggled, knowing it meant the death of his brother if he failed.
When all fell silent when the four had been removed from the room, Ashnark spoke at last. "It is how it must be."
Kari hated the calmness in his voice after that scene. Perhaps that was just the curse those who grew as old as the elves did. They lived to see so much pain and suffering that they must have been desensitised to the sight of it. "I think," Kari said quietly, "I think that I shall go find my partner now, as well as TK and Patamon."
The king nodded and watched as the princess left. "It is how it must be," he spoke, only this time the words were directed at himself.
-
The four of them sat quietly in one of the empty gardens in the giant greenhouses. They had been there for a while, out the way as soldiers and civilians alike prepared for battle. The air was warmer in the greenhouses than anywhere else on the cold mountain, the dark tinted glass trapping the sun's heat. Kari lay with her head on TK's chest, eyes closed but wide awake. She didn't want to waste or forget a single moment.
Patamon and Gatomon were sat in one of the taller trees, watching their partners with sadness. They both knew that at sunset, everything would change.
"I don't want you to leave," Kari admitted at last. "I want you to stay more than anything. I'm scared," she admitted at last.
"I'm scared too," admitted TK, his arm pulling her closer than before. "I wonder what it's like to die."
Kari buried her head further into his chest and TK could feel the warm dampness of the tears she hid. TK gently sat up, lifting Kari as he did so and looked into her redder than usual eyes. Her face was blotchy from crying and tears stained her face. "Whatever happens, we'll be together eventually. It may take a while but we'll get there."
If anything, it seemed to make Kari cry even more. Patamon looked awkward at the situation, not used to crying girls. "I'll ... er ... get some tissue. Yes that's what I'll do," he announced, zooming off before anyone could stop him.
Gatomon scowled and chased after him. "Get back here you flying pig!"
Kari giggled slightly but her eyes remained sad. TK cupped her face gently with his hand. "You'll get through this. You're strong, princess. I know you are."
She smiled weakly, wiping the tears from her face. "TK, I ... I lo –"
A loud explosion rattled the castle, causing them to leap to their feet. "The city is under attack," TK said, before he suddenly grabbed Kari and held her closely as possible, and ducking his head down as shards of glass rained from the broken ceiling.
TK cried out as the glass caught him, slicing up his back as he protected Kari with his own body. As the glass stilled TK released Kari, her eyes wide with horror as she took in his injuries. It was mostly superficial, the shards having been slowed by the tree branches overhead but it was still causing him obvious pain.
Kari looked up and, seeing the sky without the tinted glass overhead she saw something horrifying. "We have to get to the chamber," she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him into the main section of the palace.
"Shouldn't we wait for Patamon and Gatomon?" asked TK, as the princess pulled him through the halls of the palace. They could hear explosions from behind them and rocks crumbled down the ceiling.
"There's no time. Sunset is in just a few minutes."
Her breath was heavy, her eyes panicked as they landed on a crumbled wall, blocking their path. She grabbed TK's wrist tighter and pulled him back, heading in the way that they had just come from.
"Halt!"
Two men in classic King's own uniform appeared before them, blocking their path. Through the window the sun had almost set. Kari flicked both wrists, daggers appearing in each side as she took up a fighting form, TK raising the glowing ruby sword beside her.
She lunged, slashing at the Amarian soldiers, as TK began to trade blows with the other. She locked the man's sword in place with the two knifes just before it reached her face. She dropped her weight to the side, swinging her leg under the man, sending him flying to the floor, his sword clattering on the ground.
The knife flew from her hand, lodging itself in the soldier's neck and killing him within seconds. She swept down and picked up the knife as TK appeared beside her, blood smudging both of them,
"We have to keep moving. This way."
They passed through several more corridors, descending the stairs into the dungeons and into a dark room; five figures lurked in the darkness, just out of sight. They both knew that they were there though and that they had been waiting for them. In the dim light Kari could make out the circular grooves on the floor.
"It's almost sundown," she whispered. She looked up at TK, ruby eyes shining. "TK …" her voice broke slightly and he pulled her close.
"It's okay. Everything is going to be fine."
She fought the lump in her throat and looked up at him. "I love you TK," she whispered, "More than anything."
"I love you too."
"You are my heart," she whispered, pushing the blade in her hand through his back and into his heart. Tears poured down her face as he looked up at her, his unusually bright eyes dulling by the second and filled with pain. Her lips ghosted across his, as she made comforting sounds like one would to a child.
He grunted in pain as she pulled the knife out, the metallic smell of blood lingering in the air. Candles suddenly lit up around them, revealing the ancient symbol the circular grooves were cut into. Tears began to run down her face as she let TK's body crumple to the floor, his blood filling the channels. She dropped to the floor, crying tears of regret.
Around her the items the five, cloaked people were holding began to glow, the energy focussing on the key around her neck, before the world was engulfed in a white flash.
And in that moment she did something that would change everything. She wasn't strong enough to do what The Oracle had done. She had never been strong enough to change the future on her own but she was strong enough to make a few changes to things that had already been done.
She could change the curse and make it her own.
Because sometimes – just sometimes – the puppet could break free of its strings.
-
Twelve years earlier
-
Joe Kido stared at King Ashnark, who awaited him in the mouth of the Oracle's cave, in shock. Everything that he had been taught, everything that he knew he was supposed to do suddenly took on a whole new shape, a much darker shape.
There was so much pain in the future to come and it was his job to insure that it happened. Because it had to happen, if there was ever to be peace but his young mind couldn't comprehend the pain that he had to cause.
The boy and the girl from the vision, the ones that went through so much pain, he had to cause that. He had to set it up so they would become the most important thing to each other … important enough to invoke the Icerenia.
"How … How can I help them?" he asked his mentor and the closest thing he had to a father.
"Find a way to make them strong Joe. The strength they need comes only from suffering. They have to know pain, love, and separation. They have to know what it's like to loose somebody that they love. It is that way that they will be strong enough to fulfil their destiny and, hopefully strong enough to change their fate. That is their only chance to find hapiness too."
-
The Oracle's eyes widened as the future began to change. Things began to reshuffle themselves before everything in her sight shattered, disappearing as the shards of the future fell out of sight. The spider web of strings that connected her to everything drawing back inside her, leaving only the haziness of the future that
Things that she had known before she couldn't quite remember, things lingering out of sight and where it should belong. Everything was disappearing from her sight as her amber eyes became unclouded. For a second she caught a glimpse of something in a new future before she was slammed back into the present, along with knowledge of her name. Yolei. Her name was Yolei.
"I'm free," Yolei gasped breathlessly, "I'm free." Her mind was set on finding one person until her thoughts were interrupted by an unusual occurrence.
Beside her, Hawkmon began to glow.
-
Thirteen years earlier
-
Kari sat by her brother in the tower, swinging her feet beneath the bed and hugging Nyaromon to her chest. "Tai, Tai," she chirped happily, "tell me a story."
"Okay. How about the one with the ogles?"
Kari made a face. "But you've told that one lots and lots and lots. It's boring now."
"So you want a new story."
The young princess's eyes lit up. "A new story? Really?"
"It's not really a new story. It's actually really, really old. It's a legend about the Icerenia."
"Eye-keh-ree-knee-ah…" sounded out the princess. "Icerenia. What's that?"
Tai smiled, taking a spot of his own on the bed with Korromon on his lap. "You'll have to wait and see. Comfy?"
"Yes."
"Long ago, before even the kingdoms of the old had formed, digimon began to appear in the world. With no knowledge of what they were, two sides quickly began to form. There were those who believed that digimon should be treated with respect and those that believed that they were simply tools to be used.
"A war quickly started to build with many deaths on each side, however there were twelve powerful individuals on the side that believed that digimon should be used. They were called the Yaksha Warriors and their partners, the Digimon Devas.
"The story begins with a young girl, who wished to become one of them. Her name was Rika …"
Next chapter enter Rika, Izzy, Takato, Henry, Suzie, J.P., Tommy, Ai, and Mako and probably more.