Sad Love Story Neo Digidestined

by Hoshi Neko Ryu

Matt is at college, TK is in high school. A lady that Matt meets on the streets isn't who she appears to be, and their adventure will begin. Different languages are spoken throughout this story, though it's not really heavy wth it.

25. Chap 24 World Tour! The American Tale!

[Ken

I was laying on something really soft. I could hear something in the distance, but I couldn't really make it out.

I thought I heard my name, but I couldn't be sure. I felt something on my shoulder. I didn't want to move, but I did anyway. I was blinded by the sun, which I knew to be odd. The Digital World couldn't be this bright, except maybe at the coastline, and Japan wouldn't be like this, unless more south.

"Ken?" I heard Ceres asked with concern.

I moved my hand, telling her that I'm okay.

"I'm glad that you're okay. Can you stand?"

I pushed myself up slowly to sit. I noticed that Wormmon was with her as well as a new girl. She looked to be an American, if not then at least a foreigner. I asked my question in the sand as best as I could.

"Nope, we're in Virginia Beach!" Ceres smiled.

" Ceres, do you think that there are others? " She asked.

" I don't really know. " Ceres extended her hand, "+Wormmon was the one that led us here. And she doesn't know Japanese.+" She smiled.

I wrote out 'how did we get here' before taking her hand.

"I think by that portal that we were sucked into. I don't know what we're going to do, but we can at least stay at her house for a while to think."

I nodded.

"+Ceres, Ken!+" We turned around to see Ryan and Tim walking our way with their Digimon with them.

" Are they your friends? " She asked.

" They are. +I'm glad that you guys are okay!+" She yelled as they came up.

"Where are we?" Tim asked.

"We're in Virginia."

"Where's that?" Ryan asked.

"In the United States."

"You got to be kidding me! We're half way around the world!"

"Just about. Do you guys want to chill at her house for a while? She's a friend of mine that only knows English."

"I guess we don't have many options left for us, uh?" Tim sighed.

"Nope. Liz, letting you know that we're crashing at your house for a while. I'm sorry that we're being so rude. "

" Nah, it's no trouble at all. You should come by more often. " She smiled. She led us back to her house.

"+Isn't it school with them?+" Tim asked.

"+Nope, they have off right now. It's warm around here because we're near the water.+"

"I know that. I just thought they had more school time than we did."

"They actually have less than us. They have three months for summer break and that break is the transition to the new school year. Depending on the level of schooling you're at, you either have a few weeks for breaks or about a month."

I smiled, seeing that Ceres was laying down fact upon fact on Tim that he didn't seem to know. I could see that he didn't like to be wrong, but Ceres didn't notice that she was being mean. Ryan wasn't really caring, since he was looking at everything that we were passing.

" Okay, we're here. Can your friends also speak English? "

" This one is mute right now, " she pointed to me, " but you can understand what we're saying, right? " She looked at me.

I nodded my yes.

" I can speak as well. I've been in the United States a few times. " Tim answered.

" And even though I'm still learning it, I am pretty good with the language. " Ryan said with a smile.

" I'm glad to hear it. My name is Elizabeth Hoover. "

" Ryan Kawako and this is Breo. " Ryan motioned to Breomon who was wagging his tail like a normal dog, even if he doesn't look like it. " I did that a while ago with some weird paint that Tim happened to create. "

" And I can't seem to find a way to reverse the affects. My name is Tim Shuni and our mute friend is Ken Ichijouji. "

" Is your mother home? " Ceres asked.

" She's shopping right now for food. " She smiled as she walked up to her house.

It looked to be an average house, like one for a middle class family. We followed her inside and everything was nice, but it could use some cleaning. Normally, according to TK… I tapped Ceres to get her attention. She looked at me. I pointed to each of us, showed that my head was pointing North, and pointing hard to my left hand. I remembered that TK was the only one that was able to stay stable longer in the first wave and that I was the last one to be sucked in and he was flying slowly the same way. He still had to be in Japan, so we had to return because he could also be in the Digital World.

"+We all need to head up with something within our left hand?+" She guessed.

I was now really glad that TK could understand me with only a few signals. I tried to speak, but it wasn't working.

" Sit down and I'll get you something to drink. " Elizabeth said before disappearing.

Ceres went over to the table that was within the room and sat down.

"+Is that how Ken is speaking?+" Ryan asked.

"+Yep! TK can read it really well. I can't yet, but I'm going to!+" Determination was within her eyes again.

"+Why don't we give him some paper so he could write everything down?+" Tim offered.

"+I guess we could, but where's the fun in that?+" Ceres smiled.

"+It's about efficiency, not how fun we can make it. We're all scattered. We don't even know if we're the only ones here.+" Tim was getting angry at Ceres and Ceres went cold again.

"+Oh, I'm sorry that you're worried. Do you really think that we're not? AH! That's what you were saying!+" She looked at me, "+You were saying that we all have to head back to Japan!+"

I nodded.

"+I think we all got that, genius.+" Ryan said, showing that he was angry too.

"+Well, Ken does have a point. Even if we don't know where the others are, they'll all think of the same thing and head back to Japan once they know where they are.+"

"+But we have to make sure that we know we're the only ones here. If we all were just sent to America, then we better look.+" Tim argued.

"We can't search for a needle in a haystack."

"What?"

"It's a saying in America. It means that it's pointless to look for something so small in an area so big."

"But people do it all the time."

"If they're here, then they'll have a better chance of getting back to Japan. So, that means we should just head West. We'll eventually meet up with them."

"But there are many murderers and people like that here."

"I guess that's why they have a Digimon." Ceres smiled wickedly.

Tim stood up but couldn't move any further. He sat down quickly, but it didn't really look like it was him doing it. "What the hell are you doing to me?"

"I've learned that when I'm really pissed off I can access more of my power. I'm controlling your body so you don't embarrass yourself in someone else's house. You're Japanese. You should know something about respect."

" I got you something to drink. " She got us all Coke. " This is all we have. "

" Thanks. " Ceres said with a smile as she took one from her arm and passed it to Tim, " Here you go. "

Tim grabbed it from her, regaining control, " Thanks. "

Ceres smiled and gave another one to Ryan and me before taking one herself. " Thanks Liz. "

"No problem. Are you traveling with these guys?"

"Yep, I will be. We all decided to do something sightseeing over here."

"But I thought you've seen everything in the US."

"I have, that's why I'm their tour guide."

"I thought you didn't do that for anyone. I asked you once before."

"As you can see, I can't really leave them here by themselves."

"Okay."

"Dear, I'm home." Another female voice called.

"Mom, Ceres is here."

"Oh," she came in and she looked pretty. She must've been about late thirties or something, "I'm glad that you came to visit us, Ceres. Are these your friends?"

"Glad that I'm welcome here. This is Ryan, Tim and Ken. Ken is mute, but he can understand English."

"Oh, okay. It's nice to meet you all. I'll start with lunch then." She walked into the kitchen.

"It's that early?" Ryan asked.

"A different Time Zone does that." Ceres said.

"It just never really hit me."

"But wouldn't you have to travel to get here so you would know about the different Time Zones?" Elizabeth asked.

"I placed a hood over my head. So I forgot what time it was." Ryan said with a smile.

"Oh. I'll go help my mom with lunch now." She got up and went into the kitchen.

"+They're nice people, really nice people, but they can be really noisy.+" Ceres said.

"+You were controlling her?+" Tim asked.

"+No, I was giving her suggestions that she could do through her mind. She just picked one that made the most sense to do. Lily Dawn and Kari can do that mind controlling thing better than I can.+"

"+Wouldn't she have realized that we were laying on a beach?+" Ryan asked.

"+I was keeping that from being processed. I considered that a safe way to keeping oneself safe.+"

"+So I was right.+" Tim stated.

"Shouldn't you be proud?" Ceres mocked.

"I'm only staying here because I need to get home."

"You heard what she said, I don't like playing tour guide."

"I'm not asking you to."

"But you're telling me to get you from here to there, I don't like to do that either."

"Are you just making this up to make a point?"

"Nope. I've traveled all the time, making friends in a lot of countries. I have to set up a policy at some point."

"So this is your policy? Then why not leave us? You must be a lot happier out in the world."

I moved my arms, getting their attention, but they weren't able to see what I was trying to say.

"The food is ready!" Elizabeth announced as she and her mother came in. They set down the food and we all ate. It was really tense around us, but Ceres was making it less obvious since she was talking to them.

"What are we going to do now?" Ryan asked as we all were hanging outside of the house.

"We could have an adventure right here." Ceres said with an evil smile.

Tim got up and grabbed his amulet. It glowed for a moment before it stopped. Everyone looked surprised.

"That's not a good sign." Ryan said. He grabbed his and his did the same thing. Ceres and I did the same, but it didn't work. It felt like there was a block on its power source or something.

"It seems that we can't use these to enter the Digital World." Ceres said as she let go of hers. "So the only thing we can do is travel there."

"And we don't have the money to take an airplane back." Ryan commented.

Tim took out his wallet, showing that he didn't bring any money with him. I checked mine, seeing that I wouldn't have enough to make a dollar. Ryan checked too and he had nothing.

"It seems like I'm the only one that has some money." Ceres said, though she didn't show it to us. "And I would also be the only one that would know how to get a job that we wouldn't have to work for a long time."

"Looks like we're dependent on her." Ryan commented then yawed.

Tim didn't look to please with that. "I need to get home." He said so firmly that I knew he wanted to patch things up with his siblings. He was so worried about them that he couldn't help worrying over them. I just have to believe that they all were able to find the others in some way and all are thinking about going home. TK is waiting for us there, and we have to get back to him. Are the others thinking the same as me? I have to believe they are.

"We're going to get home." Ceres said. She was looking at the sky, "I may not have a home to really call my own, but I do have a home in Japan that I can always count on whenever I need something." She looked at us, "Since we can't go through the Digital World, we just have to get there the old fashion way."

"What's that?" Tim asked.

"We travel by land." She smiled. "There are many railroads that we can take to get to the Mississippi River. Once there, we can take many travel routes."

"And we're able to get jobs along the way? That way we don't have to solely rely on you for some cash." Ryan asked.

"Yep, I'm sure that I can find something." She looked at the sky again, "If you guys would like to rest before our journey, we can stay here for a few hours."

"Why do we need to rest?" Tim asked as he yawed.

"For that reason, we're in a different time zone than the one that we're used to. Traveling won't be easy on you, since we have to travel through many time zones before returning home. So you might as well rest now before you come too exhausted to walk."

"What about you?"

"I'm used to traveling so the time doesn't really affect me as much. I'm going to keep track of the time that we rest so we can get a head start as soon as possible."

"Okay. Then please ask your friend if we can impose on their hospitality once again."

"Sure." She smiled and walked inside. We were soon taking a nap in her house, since we were all very tired, no matter how much we were fighting it.

[Ryan

"Guys, hurry up!" Ceres whispered. It was late, it was cold, and she just expects us to have the consciousness to run!

We ran quicker to where Ceres was and jumped into the open boxcar. Ceres got in and closed the door just enough to make sure we could see out. She was watching out for something for a while. Once the train started to move, she became more relaxed.

"What's with the late night ride?" Tim asked before yawning.

"This is the best train that would take us to the Mississippi River." She made herself comfortable.

"Really? That's a good thing." I said.

"Yep. It should take a few days since we have to go through the Appalachian Mountain. Is it okay if we take my way of travel?"

"What's that?" Tim asked.

"Well, we're going to be going to different towns since I happen to know many people and we're going to be taking a few days to work. It's how I get places."

"Can we really take that long?" I asked.

"It's normally a few days of travel to get from one ocean to the other. So this way it'll be a lot more fun."

"Do we need fun?" Breomon asked.

"Oh yea, why travel if it's all about business?"

"Because you travel for business?" Tim offered.

"That's really boring. You should enjoy the place you're going to so you can get a full experience."

I was really surprised that Tim wasn't getting annoyed by Ceres, but I guess he sees things a lot more realistically than most people. He closed his eyes and fell asleep really easily. I looked over to where Ken was and he was also sleeping.

"Ceres, how do you travel so much with so little money?" I finally asked, since she wasn't about to go to sleep.

"I do work along the way. It's really easy if you do that, which is what we'll be doing."

"Do you think that it's going to be easy?"

"We'll find out. I have a feeling that everyone is at least okay. It would probably be best for that stubborn boy anyway to have a vacation." She looked over to Tim.

"I hope that everyone is okay."

"Why?" I looked at her, "You wanted to leave the group so why would it matter?"

I looked down at Breomon, who had also fallen asleep. I petted him, getting him to move happily. "Because I still care about Panther and Lily Dawn… and I can never repay the kindness that TK has given to me… Besides those, Matt's right about the duty that we're bearing. We promised these guys that we will protect their homeland. If you think about it in this sense, then our bond with our Digimon is merely a contract that needs to be fulfilled."

"You can't believe that that's all it is. You must believe that it was destiny that brought everyone together."

I looked at her, "I know that we could sense out our own Digimon, but we did make a promise to them. Breomon, Plantmon, and Bellimon were all enslaved before they came to us. They may not know a lot about many of the Super Levels like Wirthimon, but they do know something since everyone of them was enslaved. We all promised them that we would protect their world. That's probably why all of us went to the Digital World when Matt called. He reminded us that it was our pledge to our Digimon, as well as to the Digital World, that brought us all together. Our goal was what united us from all different backgrounds."

"So if he never said duty and just said something else, you guys would've stayed where you were?"

"I'm sure that Neon and Don would've gone… maybe Damon and Nereida, but I know that I probably wouldn't. Breomon also had to talk me into going as well."

"So you're telling me that this group is just a collection of promises to the Digimon? Is that what you consider your duty to be? To be something that is promised?"

"I guess I do in some sense. I never really had to be responsible for anyone more than myself. All I had to worry about was me."

"What about this sister that you have that you want to find so badly?"

"I didn't have to take care of her. I want to see her since I haven't in so long, and I want to know how she's doing, but I never really had to take care of her."

"What will you do when all your promises are fulfilled? When the Digital World is protected, when the Super Levels are at least kept contain enough not to be a threat? Is that all that the word duty is mounting to?"

"I don't know what I'll do… What about you? What does the word duty mean to you?"

"It means that even though I might not want to do something, I have to do it. I have this amulet all my life and Don had his heat powers all of his. These Crests aren't like the others; they don't come every time the Digital World is in trouble like the Originals. There's something more to them than just a mere promise. These are our lives; these are what we were destined to do. We didn't merely have the qualities of our Crests, they are us. These aren't a promise."

"This group failed once, what makes you think that this isn't our end?"

"For one, I'm not going to allow it; and two, if this was truly our end then we wouldn't have found each other. We would all be off on our own trying individually to get back. This isn't our end."

"It's really hard to believe that…"

"Do you really hate this group?" I stared her with a confuse look, "I don't really believe that. Sure, I was told that you weren't too fond of Don and Neon at first, but then you got to know them and grew to like them. Tim had to put up with a lot of things I did, or some of our past, but he grew to accept that. We all know too much about the others to hate them for who they are. We understand each other. It might not be complete, but we at least know something that most others wouldn't."

"Like what?" I normally tell all my friends the same thing.

"Okay, I'll use you as an example. I know that you like to draw. I know that you have other friends. I know that you live with your father. I know that your mother left with your sister. I know that you like chocolate. I know that you don't care too much for veggies. I know that you're least favorite subject is science, more of like chemistry than any other but you transfer your dislike to all sciences. I know that you've been drawing ever since you could remember. I know that you want to be famous in the world of art, whether it be drawing or sculpting but you prefer it being drawing since that's where your talents really shine. I know that you like how free our art class is. I know that you have multiple sets of every art supply you have: one for school, one for home, one for your art class after school, and a few extras now incase some get destroyed. I know that you can lie, but you normally don't. I know that the way you lie is by holding back information, which isn't really lying in some sense. I know that you were friends with Lily Dawn and Panther for a long time. I know that you know what Panther's real name is. I know that you three have a special bond that still exist even if you guys don't use very often. I know that you know about Panther's and Lily Dawn's family lives. I know that you were one of two that stayed in touch with Panther when she lost her family. I know that you don't know everything about Panther's life while she was in the gang since she didn't want to scare you guys away. I know that you haven't found any girl that you would like to date since you're currently not interested in dating. I know that you can turn invisible. I know that when you were young, you went invisible for a whole hour before gaining back your form because you were really scared of something. I know that you learned how to control that power while Panther was in the gang. I know that you're not very good at fighting. I know that you much prefer to help others than to engage in actual combat. I know that your greatest fear is disappearing forever, never to be known by anyone."

I was okay at the beginning, understanding how she knew the things in the middle, and creep out by her last sentence. I knew that Lily Dawn knew my fear, but I didn't have any chance of telling Panther. I was also surprised at how much she knew about me, considering I don't tell her many things about me. "Did Panther tell you a lot of those?"

"She didn't tell me everything. I'm a good listener and a good observer."

"What are the other's fears?" I could only confirm Lily Dawn's and maybe Panther's, but I was just too curious not to ask.

"Don's fear is not really heights; it's actually not being strong enough to protect Neon. Neon's fear is probably being lost in time. I don't know about Tim's since he hasn't really demonstrated what his is…"

"We're shown what our fears are?" I was a bit surprised.

"Yeah. I'm sure that Tim, Damon, and TK have all shown what they really fear at one point, but I either didn't catch it or see it."

"So you know everyone else's… including yours?"

"I know mine really well. It wasn't that long ago since I faced it down. It's still a fear, even now, but it's really none of your business as to what it is."

"So you're allowed to point out my flaws, but I can't know yours?"

"If you pay attention to emotion or behavioral detail, then you might know." She smiled. "Anyway, it's late and you should be getting some sleep."

"Tell you what, if you can prove to me that this group isn't a contract, that starting it like a contract was just to get something across, then I'll come back to the group."

"Are you unwilling to look?"

"I can't see anything pass that. I know that this has grown and what it was in the past, but that doesn't really matter to me."

"So I have to show you that this group is nothing like the past group and that this group has more weight to it than a mere agreement between humans and Digimon?"

"Right."

"Okay, sounds like fun. I'll do that." Her smile was one of pride than of joy.

"Okay then. Night." I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

[Tim

It was the third day of our travel and the train had stopped in some town in some state. I wasn't really paying attention to what it was when Ceres said it, but I least remember that it was just about a day to the Mississippi River. The people were staying at a local tavern and it was throwing a party. Ceres was really into it, with us guys sitting around and watching.

"I didn't know that Americans can celebrate New Years like this." Ryan commented.

"Is it really New Years Eve?" I looked at him.

"Yea, I noticed the date when we were staying at Elizabeth's house."

I took another look at the people, now understanding why they were partying and why we were going to stay here for the night.

"You guys should join in on the fun." Ceres said as she came back. She had a bottle of something in her hands and she smelt of alcohol.

"What are you drinking? I know there's a drinking age and you're not there yet." I stated.

"Then don't go tellin' the world." She winked. "Anyway, this is always how I celebrate the new year! Find some wild party and join in." She was a bit tipsy, so either she didn't drink too much or she has a high tolerance.

"Well, I spend my New Years with my family. We have a nice dinner and once midnight pass, Nereida puts on a performance for us." I was wondering what she was planning on this time. I wished that I knew, but I was too busy with doing my homework since we're not allowed to do our homework for the holiday, Grandmother's orders.

"I normally spend it with my dad," Ryan said, "He invites all his business people and we have an art auction. It's a lot of fun and it always gets me to do my best. I even got them done early this year…" He looked down at the floor, regretting that he won't be there for it.

"Ken, what do you do?" Ceres asked, looking over at him.

He narrowed his eyes.

"Oh yea… you're mute… sorry… It's too big for you to sign?"

He nodded his head.

"Is it anything like ours?"

He pointed to Ceres then moved his hand sideways.

"So like mine but not really… Huh?"

"I think he means that it's a lot calmer than any of the ones that you went to." Ryan summarized.

"Oh… do you guys want to join anyway? It'll take your mind off of thinking."

"I might as well." Ryan got up.

"Be careful." I said.

"Don't worry about me." And they went into the crowd.

I was really missing Nereida and Damon, more so than I thought I would. I guess I got myself so involved with their lives that I'm just not the same without them. I'm beginning to care about what happens to these others. Ceres was giving Ryan something to drink that was in a plastic cup. I knew that it was some alcoholic beverage, but I didn't want to leave Ken here by himself. He looked like he was watching the other people as well. I guessed that not being able to talk has given him a lot of time to think. I can't really tell what's going on his mind.

"Ken," he looked at me, "Did you spend this day with the other Digidestined?"

He nodded.

"I'm betting that it was a lot of fun."

He nodded again and this time with a sensing smile.

"It was always fun at my house too… I never allowed them to know this but… it was my favorite time since I was able to be close to my family without having some excuse to be. Nereida is so talented in acting… I'm really missing it in a way that I thought I wouldn't be."

He placed his hand on my shoulder and had that same sensing smile. Somehow, I know that he was telling me that it was okay. And even if he wasn't, that's what I'm going to have him say since it was making me feel better. I smiled.

"Too bad that you can't talk since some words would help."

He pointed to where Ceres and Ryan were, which Ryan was now drunk. I got what he was saying. He was saying that I should talk to them if I needed words.

"Maybe at another time… Talking to drunken fools doesn't really appeal to me."

He looked like he wanted to laugh. I was really wondering how the others were doing. Did my siblings missed this day as much as I?

"Ow!" Ryan said as we were inside the boxcar again. The train hadn't taken off yet since the conductors were talking to the local people.

"That's what a hangover is, dear." Ceres said, since Ryan was holding onto his head. Ceres was making something to help him out.

"I didn't think they hurt this much." He complained.

"Why are you fine?" I asked, looking at Ceres.

"I've been drinking since I was fifteen so I'm used to a lot of alcohol."

"Is that when you start to celebrate like this?"

"Yep."

"What did you do before?"

She just smiled at me, "Here you go, Ryan." She handed him some kind of drink that smelt bad.

Ryan took it, held his nose, and drank. By his expression, it wasn't tasty either, "Thanks… I think."

"You should be fine in a few hours."

"You haven't answered my question. What did you do before you were fifteen?"

"Is that really something you should be asking? Did you always do the same thing for every New Years?"

"Ever since Nereida wanted to be an actress, yes we have. And for your information, she dreamt about it since she was three."

"What about when your parents were here and you had no siblings?"

"We just didn't have the lovely show after midnight."

"I don't want to talk about it." She looked away.

I think I knew why now, "Do you party to hide your pain?"

She looked at me with the weirdest look.

"I'm going to sleep. Wake me up when we get there." Ryan said and fell asleep. I noticed that Ken was doing the same. Our Digimon were also sleeping, since they were up just as late as we were, which they're not really used to.

"What do you mean "hide my pain"? I have nothing that hurts me." I could see that I was breaking down something. She was really good at hiding her true feelings.

"You told us that you were an orphan for all your life. Since you have no where that you can really call home, it would be logical to conclude that you also had no place to celebrate any holiday that comes up. I bet that if you got lucky you would spend it with a friend that you made, but that doesn't happen often, did it?"

She was staring at me so emotionlessly that I was worrying if I went too far with my analysis. Then she laughed, but not too loudly, "Come on, I have a place I can stay in Japan that I call my home."

"How often did you go back for this day?"

"I normally go for the Chinese New Year." I could tell that she was lying.

"Speaking of which… I guess we can postpone all of our holiday celebration until then, huh?"

She looked at me, "Are ya sick or somethin'?"

"No."

"You actually want to celebrate something with us? I thought you left for good."

"I know that I have to be the first person to apologize to everyone else. I miss Damon and Nereida more than I ever thought I would be."

"That's good to hear. Hey, want to help me in something then?"

"What?"

"Ryan told me that I have to show him that this group isn't a contract between humans and Digimon, do you want to help?"

"Why does he think that?"

"Because we all promised that we would protect the Digital World to the Digimon."

"Oh… yeah… we did, didn't we…"

"What brought you to the Digital World?"

"I allowed my anger to get the better of me so Damon and Nereida were outside when Matt gave his message. Shendramon told me that they would be there, so I went."

"Do you like denying the fact that you love them?"

"I have never denied it."

"Then you don't like to openly admit it?"

"I'm not a very open person to begin with."

"It might help."

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to try." And with that, the new year begins.

We had agreed to have someone stay up to make sure that we know when the train was stopping. I noticed that something was glowing. I reached into my back pocket, pulling out my jewel. I wondered what this meant.

"Tim?" Shendramon asked.

"I don't know…" Then the train stopped.

"Five more minutes." Ceres moaned.

I got up, opening the door slightly to see where we were. They were fueling up.

"Why are you looking outside?" I turned around to see that Ceres was looking at me.

"I thought you wanted five more minutes." I closed the door.

"You didn't answer me."

"They're fueling up."

"Oh… Why is your jewel glowing?"

"I don't know." Shendramon was holding it.

"Maybe something is going on with your siblings." He offered.

"Well… the jewels normally glow when being used." Ceres commented.

"But I thought they needed the jewel for that." I said.

"Well, maybe it's different for yours."

I hope that they were okay. Ceres got up and opened the other side of the car to take a look outside. "What are you looking for?"

"We should get off. We're close to the Mississippi to walk there. It would be easier anyway."

I nodded and walked over to the others, "Yo, guys, wake up."

They both woke up, "Why?" Ryan asked.

"Ceres said that we should head out."

They picked up their sleepy partners as we all got off the train.

"We're going to be taking a boat to get to Texas." Ceres said.

"Why there?" Ryan asked.

"Because I have a friend there that we can stay with for a while."

"But we'll need a boat." I pointed out.

"So it's a good thing that I know someone that owns a boat. I just need to call them."

We were at a port place. We three guys were in a café, not having anything. The hostess was like a mother, not your girlfriend. I didn't really know that it was like that, since I never went to a local café before, but I've heard of that from other people. Ryan was drawing something as we were waiting for Ceres to get off the phone. I looked over at Ken, seeing that he was watching outside. Breomon was able to stay in view because Breomon was able to be called a dog. Shendramon and Wirthimon were hiding. Wormmon was still, as if lifeless.

"Guys! I got us a ride!" Ceres said with great happiness.

"Took you long enough." Ryan said.

"Oh, I was just talking to my friend. It'll take her a bit to find a map she can use to help us but I know that she will. Why didn't you get anything?" She sat down with Ken. Ryan was sitting with me.

"We don't have any money." I pointed out.

"Oh.. oh yeah.. I forgot about that." She looked over to the hostess, " Miss, can we have a menu please? We're going to be here for a while. "

" Coming right up. " She got a menu and brought it over us. " Here you go, sweetie. "

" Thanks. " Ceres smiled and she opened the menu. "+Oo… they have some good stuff here.+"

"Well, read them off." Ryan said.

Ceres started reading off lunch meals that were common and local. Both Ryan and Ken weren't too thrilled in having greasy food, but I didn't mind too much. They got some salad and I got a cheeseburger. Ceres got something I didn't know what it was, but it sounded local.

"Oh, how's your jewel?" She asked, looking at me.

I took it out and noticed that it wasn't glowing. "I guess they're done."

"What was up with your jewel?" Ryan asked.

"It was glowing before."

"Were you using it?"

"No, but we think that one of my family members had."

"That can't be a good thing."

"Probably not, but there's nothing I can do about it." Not from here anyway.

The food came and we started to eat what we got. Ken wrote something down and showed it to Ceres.

"Oh, you want me to tell you guys more about my friend that's going to give us a ride?" She repeated for us to know. He nodded his head. "Okay! Well, I met her when I was young girl. She's older than me, incase you were wondering, and she allowed me to stay with her for a mouth or two. Her family had always lived near the Mississippi and they had always had been sailors. So they were kind enough to teach me how to travel through it. I know this river really well, and it also helped me when I went to other places that had long rivers. Sure, every river is different from one another, but they have more similarities than most people know."

"And what about this friend in Texas?" Ryan asked. I guess we never realize how interesting Ceres's life could be.

"Oh, he's a storm chaser. He's favorite storm is tornados. He taught me about them and how to tell when they're about to come. He's a bit old and he has done this for a long time, so his instincts are really sharp when it comes to them. He doesn't have any kids and he isn't married."

"Sounds like you know a lot of interesting people." I pointed out.

"Yeah! I know a lot of people from around the world. So if the others are somewhere out there, they can probably find someone that I knew."

"That's great news. But how will they be able to help?"

"Well, they either normally help travelers or will be inclined to help them because of me. I might not have some good points to my past, but I have met good people who are very caring. They would give them food, shelter, and information about how to get home. And if they had the money to spare, they would give it to them to help with cost and all. The world isn't a place that is evil. It's full of helpful people that love to find people that are trusting."

"Did we ever give the impression that we thought the world was evil?" Ryan asked.

"Kinda, but it's not something that you gave. It's more like something I felt."

" There you are! " A girl squealed.

We looked over to see a blonde girl with a boyish attitude to her at the door. Ceres got up and ran to her, hugging her as if they were sisters. " What took you so long? " Ceres asked.

" Hey, I'm not the one that wants to go to Texas. Why don't you stay with us for a day or two before heading out? "

" Sorry, " She looked at us before looking back at her, " I have friends that need to get home. Plus, I now have a home. "

The girl smiled big and gave Ceres a tender hug, " I'm so glad. "

"Okay, let me introduce you to my friends." Ceres brought her over. Somehow, hearing her acknowledging us as her friends and that Japan was her home was somehow comforting, which I thought was odd for me to feel.

"Karin, this is Tim Shuni, Ryan Kawako and Ken Ichijouji. Guys, this is Karin Miller." We all bowed to her.

"So, they're Japanese too." Karin asked.

"They're good with English too." Ceres smiled.

"Oh.. Hi, nice to meet yawl." She smiled at us.

"It's nice to meet you too." I said.

Her eyes seemed to glitter.

"You've got no chance with him, Karin. He's all about study. Y'now, all work and no play." Ceres said.

"Really?" She looked at Ceres with a disappointed look.

"Yep."

"Darn.. Okay, are yawl done with yer meal?"

We looked to see that we were. Ceres went over to the lady and paid for our meals. "Thanks a bunch, miss." Ceres said with a sweet smile.

"Anytime, hun."

We got up and followed them outside. Ceres was talking to Karin as if they were sisters. I wondered how close they were, though they must not be too close since she didn't know about her living in Japan. I began to wonder if she was close to anyone, letting anyone to know where she was and what she was doing.

There was a small boat docked that we were heading to. It seemed like a traveling boat, one that was made to bring people, not things or to fish. We got on and Karin showed us where we were going to sleep and all. She also showed us the map so we know what route we were going to take. She said that she could get us there in a few days, nothing more than that.

I stayed up on the deck, enjoying the break that I was given. Shendramon was enjoying it with me, sitting in my lap. Even though I was surrounded by nature back home, I never let it affect me as I was allowing it now. It gives one a sense of peace that I didn't know could exist. I started to wish that I spent more time enjoying this with my family. I really had missed a lot staying in my room and study constantly. But I couldn't give it up, because I had to carry the problems of the family. I had to make sure that Damon and Nereida get the best that they could. No one else was going to help us.

I started to remember when I was young, before my siblings were born. My parents always allowed me to play outside. I even remember what I played with. There were always fairies and pixies that came by during the spring and summer months. They came to make our home more beautiful. When they died, I chased them away. I can't even tell if our home had the same beauty as it did back then. During the winter months and fall, the forest spirits came to our home to seek shelter and warmth. I chase them away too. I was able to see them, and even now I can. I try to block them from my sights. I also know that Damon and Nereida can't see them, which I was thankful for. I can hear them pleading to me to let them back inside. Grandmother can't hear them or see them. I'm the only one, so I can make sure that they don't come back inside.

I also used to play with ghost. I learned so much about our country's history because of them, but I chase them away too. They still try to come to me, but I know of ways to get them away. Shendramon has even been around when they come, but he can't see them either.

As I looked at the forest, I could see the spirits that were there. They all looked at me, whispering to each other. They had their own language that I could understand. I learned how to write that before I learned how to write Japanese. Sometimes, I write in that when I take notes. They were too far away for me to hear them clearly.

"+Enjoying the view?+" Ceres asked as she stood beside me.

"+Yeah… Ceres, I have a question.+" I looked at her.

"What?"

"Look at the forest and tell me what you see." I hear their tiny voice gasped. They didn't hide, because they had the greatest curiosity that I have ever seen. They would come over, but they were unsure.

She looked over to it, seemingly studying it. "I see trees."

"Do you see any forest spirits over there?" I was taking a big risk saying this.

She looked at me, "You can see those?"

"Just answer me." I wanted to know if I was alone.

"Sorry, I can't unless they show themselves to me."

"Okay.. What about ghost?"

"Not really… I can tell when they're around."

"Okay." I went back to looking at them. They were trying to decide if they should come over.

"Why were you asking?" She sat down in front of me.

"No reason." I wanted to ignore her now.

"C'mon, you can tell me."

I sighed. I knew it was a big risk asking her. Her curiosity knew no bounds, it seemed, and she was willing to stick it out to find what she was looking for. "I can see them."

"Really? Awesome! How so?"

"They don't have to appear, like un-hide themselves. I see them as they are."

"Wow! That's so cool! Why didn't you say so before?"

"My own siblings don't know about it… back home, I chase them away so I didn't have to see them…"

"Oh… Why?"

"Because I didn't want to believe in them anymore, even though I knew they were real." They all looked so sad to hear that. "The same with ghost, though the ghosts are harder to chase away."

" Ceres, take a look at that! " Karin said. We looked to where she was pointing to see that it was an old house.

" What about it? " Ceres asked.

Come… find me… I heard a female voice call. I looked around, seeing that none of the spirits were calling me. Come… find me…

"I h'er it's a haunted house. I don't know the story behind it, though."

"Tim, want to go check it out?" Ceres looked at me.

"If it's a haunted house, then yeah!" Ryan said. Ken was with him too.

"Why?" I asked. I would rather avoid places like that.

"Because I always wanted to paint a haunted place, but never could find a good place in Japan. Plus, Ken wants to find out the story. You know, improve on his detective skills." Ken nodded in agreement.

I sighed, "Fine, let's go then."

Karin docked at a good spot and we all got off. She grabbed some flashlights and a map of the area to help find our way back. It wasn't that late in the day, but I figured we should be safe now than be sorry later.

"Don't go that way." The spirits started saying in their language.

"It's dangerous that way." Others echoed.

"Guys, go on ahead." I said.

They all looked at me, "Why?" Ryan asked.

"Don't worry. I'll catch up."

"Well, adventure isn't going to come to us." Ceres said, walking ahead. The others followed.

"What's up?" Shendramon asked.

I looked at the spirits, "What's so dangerous up ahead?" I rather not talk to them, but I also didn't want to in danger the others.

"There's a scary woman that walks that house." One came over to us. "She's the lady that died in the house years ago."

"Why is she scary?"

"She enjoys killing people. Others are her prisoners." Another came over. "You mustn't go there."

"The place can no longer be healed." Another informed.

"Thank you." I said as I ran after the others. When they say it can't be healed, that means it's really evil. My parents died in a place like that. They warned me back then, I even told them, but they thought it could be healed. Places like that can never be purified.

"Guys! We shouldn't go inside!" I yelled as I saw them waiting outside. Her haunting voice was calling again.

"What? After we're this close?" Ryan asked.

"Why?" Karin asked.

"Because it's really evil. If we go in there, we could be trapped inside forever."

"+Look, just because you don't want to believe in the mystical world doesn't mean you have to spoil our fun.+" Ryan said in Japanese.

"+That's not the point!+ Karin, what have you heard about this place? "

" Well, many people have come here, but I don't know if any returned. I thought it would be cool, since Ceres never seen it before. "

"Tim, should we really not go inside?" Ceres asked. I was really surprised by her. I thought she would reveal my secret, but she was using that as a hidden way of knowing. My attitude towards her was really changing.

"Yeah, we shouldn't go inside."

"Well, I didn't come all this way for nothing." Ryan said as he ran inside.

"Ryan!" I yelled. "Everyone, stay outside!" I ran in after him.

He was standing in the main hall, looking around with his flashlight. Her voice was echoing throughout the walls. She probably had the power to use the walls as a way of travel. I grabbed Ryan's arm, "We're going."

"What's gotten into you?" He pulled away. "I'm not one of your siblings so I don't have to listen to you." Breomon was with him, I noticed right then.

"I don't care if you were or not. I know that this place is dangerous so let's get out of here before something happens." I turned my head towards the door that looked like it would open to a closet. I was hearing moans; painful, sorrowful, agonizing moans. I knew what they were, the imprisoned souls that she had collected; the souls of the foolish brave.

[Ryan

"Tim?" I asked as he started to walk to some closet door. He seemed to be in a daze, something unlike him. I had to admit that the place was really creepy, but it was what I was looking for. I really wanted to check out the other rooms, but I was more curious as to why Tim was heading over there. "Tim, why are you going over to the closet?"

[Tim

I snapped out of it when I heard Ryan ask his question. I backed away from it, knowing that she was trying to pull me in. My mother was killed that way. "Ryan!" I yelled, turning to look at him, "We're leaving." I grabbed his arm again, but he managed to pull out of it. I realized that I was shaking too badly to hold him down firmly.

"I told you! I'm not your family so don't order me around." He then ran up the stairs.

"Dumbass! Don't go deeper into the house!" I ran after him. Her laughter was getting on my nerves. She was now going to toy with us.

"I'll stop him." Shendramon grew a bit more before flying after Ryan and Breomon.

[Ryan

"Maybe we should listen to him." Breomon said as we were running.

I looked to see Shendramon coming after us. "We can out run him. Attack him with something."

"You want to attack our friends?" Breomon seemed confused.

"It doesn't have to be powerful."

"Alright. Black Wolf!" He cried as a shadowy form of a wolf pulled from his body and launched at Shendramon.

[Tim

I couldn't believe at how childish Ryan was acting. Shendramon used his Stone Wing attack to act as a shield. "Rock Crusher!"

[Ryan

Rocks started to fall around us. It was a surprised that he could even do that in just a closed space. I grabbed Breomon, seeing that he was trying to block us. I made us go to dust and floated through the cracks before they were closed.

[Tim

Ryan used his powers to get through the rocks. "Two can play that game!" I jumped onto Shendramon's back and we went through the rocks that he created. Ryan had gone back to being solid when we got through, so it wasn't hard to follow him.

[Ken

"What the hell are they doing?" Ceres asked. We were hearing crashes from inside. It sounded like they were fighting each other, though one was probably running since it was moving.

[Ryan

"Leave me alone!" I yelled as our Digimon were fighting each other. Breomon was trying to get them off our tail and Shendramon was trying to stop us.

"Not until we get out of here!" Tim yelled back. Suddenly, I hit the floor and Tim was pinning me down. He had just a firm grip that if I turned invisible, he would as well. "Now listen, this place is too dangerous. We have to get out now while we still can. If we stay in here, we're going to die."

I looked to see that Shendramon was holding Breomon back. "Fine."

Tim got off of me, extending his hand to help me up. I got up on my own as Shendramon let Breomon go. He went back to his comfortable size so he could sit on Tim's shoulders. I looked around to see where we were. "Um… where are we?"

[Tim

I looked around too. I was too busy with trying to catch him to notice where we were. I looked behind me, "Let's head back. We didn't take any turns." I just wanted to believe that it was part of the design of the house. Ryan nodded and we headed back.

I only noticed then that her laughter had stopped. I stopped as well, trying hard to hear her evil laugh.

"I thought you wanted to leave." Ryan pointed out.

"I think we're in trouble." I went to the window, seeing that we had entered another realm, the realm that she ruled. Her captured souls were working in her fields, whatever they were.

"Yeah, it's a forest. So what?" Ryan asked.

I looked at him, wondering why I could only see it. We were in her world so shouldn't he see it too? "We're not in the forest anymore."

"What are you talking about? You were just looking at it."

I looked back out, seeing the same thing as before. I figured that it was her powers, the one that hides her from normal eyes. "We're inside her now." I started walking. We had to find a way to escape.

"Inside who?" Ryan asked as he followed.

"Inside her. There was a lady that died here and her ghost haunts the place. Apparently, any foolish soul that enters never leaves because she takes them prisoner."

"Where did you learn all of this? Not even Karin knew that much."

"Spirits told me."

"I thought you didn't believe in those."

"I try not to, but it's kinda hard when I can see them."

"It's true. When we stayed behind, he was talking in another language. I had to go into his mind to understand what he was saying. I also went into his eyes to see who he was talking to. Just now, outside the windows are dreadful people who look like they never had a break from their laborious task." Shendramon informed them.

"Oh… Then why didn't you say so before?"

I turned to look at him, "I don't want to see them."

"But they're useful, right?"

"That doesn't mean anything! Stop asking questions. We've wasted enough time as it is." I turned back around and started walking again.

"Why don't we just go through the walls? I'm sure that her powers only extend to this house." Ryan offered.

"We'll end up in that field." I knew that it was a good thought, but we have to get to a safe point first.

"If we need to get to a place fast then I suggest that we hurry." Breomon said.

Shendramon got off my shoulder and grew to a size that could hold both Ryan and me. We got on and Shendramon took off with Breomon following on the ground. I kept looking out of the window, knowing that it would be my best clue to know when we were safe. I started to hear her voice again.

Shendramon suddenly stopped. I looked ahead to see her standing there. The windows behind her told me that she was trying to make sure that we didn't leave.

"Is that her?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah.. We have to get around her."

" You will never leave! " She said as other spirits started to appear around us. They were really powerful because we couldn't move at all. I was seeing my parents' death again. I couldn't end up like them. I had to watch over Damon and Nereida, not only them, but Shendramon, Ryan and Breomon. I wasn't about to let them die here. I took out my jewel, knowing fully well that it might not work fully since I didn't have the others here but it was worth a shot. I looked at her and started to concentrate on her powers lessening.

She was laughing as the other spirits were attacking, but then she started to scream. The others disappeared and there was a bright light shining outside. I didn't stop what I was doing, knowing that it was me who was causing this. I started to feel something as well, but I still didn't stop. I knew fully well that I couldn't take away all her power, since it was mathematically impossible, but I could get it pretty close. I remembered then about the side effect so I stopped, "Shendramon, go!"

He and Breomon took off. The house started to shake violently so we knew that her hold over the place was weak. When we got to the main hall, Ryan and I got off and ran out of the house. As we did, the house collapsed.

" Are you guys okay? " Karin asked.

" Yeah. " Ryan answered as I collapsed to the ground.

" Tim! " Everyone came over to make sure that I was okay. I couldn't move, but I wasn't breathing hard or anything. Ceres picked me up and carried me back to the boat.

"Tim, are you okay?" Shendramon asked.

Just drained of energy. I'm fine though.

"Did you use your jewel?"

Yep. Let the others know so they don't have to worry so much.

"Okay."

"+Ryan is right now telling Ken about what happen in there.+" Ceres said as she was keeping me some company.

"+Okay.+"

"So, how are you feeling?"

"I'll probably need to stay down here for a while. Maybe through the whole trip."

"Okay. Someone will bring you your food."

"Thanks.. Ceres, letting you know that what I just did is something that my parents used to do for a living. They go to place to try to purify them."

"But you didn't do that, you destroyed the place." She smiled.

"That's because I'm no fool. That place couldn't be purified."

She placed her hand on my arm, "I know. Sometimes, even if you want to save it, not everything can be saved."

I nodded, glad that I didn't have to say much for her to understand.

"Okay, I'm going to let you rest now." She got up and went back to the deck.

One of the forest spirits came in when she did. "I'm glad that you are all right."

I smiled at her, petting Shendramon who was asleep. "What happened to her?"

"She's gone and all those she took are now freed. We can now clean the place of her evil."

I nodded, "Good luck with that."

She nodded, "We have you to thank." She bowed and left since Ceres didn't close the door.

I closed my eyes, wondering if I would ever tell Damon and Nereida about this.

[Ryan

After a day of traveling on the boat, we docked off somewhere. Ken was still mute, though he seemed to be able to do more things physically. Tim is healing slowly and still can't move. I don't know why, but Ceres seems to be the one that gives him the most company. I mean, before this Tim hated Ceres. I'm also surprised that he hasn't asked for anything to read or something to keep his mind off things. I never took him to be the kind of person that could ever just sit around and do nothing.

So, since Ceres was helping Tim with Ken, I helped Karin with the boat. It was quite fun doing so, I have to admit. Once that was done, I helped with getting Tim off the boat.

" Thanks Karin for getting us here. "

" No prob. When will he get here? "

" I called him not too long ago so he should be here shortly. "

" Okay, good luck with your trip. I hope you get home safely. " She got back on her boat and started to head back.

"+Why didn't she ask you to call her when we did get home?+" I asked as I looked at Ceres.

"+Because they all know that I won't do that.+" She smiled before moving Tim into some shade. That's when I noticed that it was relatively warm around here. As we waited, I started drawing. I normally can sit around and relax, but I couldn't seem to find some peace with the area so I just drew whatever came to my mind.

We then started to hear something coming our way. Ceres got up from her spot, waving her arms wide to get the person's attention. It didn't take long for the truck to come up to us. A nearly heavy set guy came out of it, " Ceres! Long time no see, eh? " He said with a smile.

Ceres went up to him and hugged him as if he was her uncle, " I know. I should come back to America more often, huh? "

" Oh, now if you were to do that, you'll never get to see the world. Are these the friends you mention? " He looked over to us.

"Yep!" She smiled as she moved beside him. "Guys, this here is Joe Williams. Joe, these are Ryan Kawako, Ken Ichijouji, and Tim Shuni." She pointed to each of us.

"Welcome all to America. Well, I bet y'all like to get out of this heat, so let's get going."

Ken and I helped Tim get into the truck before Ceres got in. Once in, he turned on his truck and started to head off somewhere. He and Ceres started talking about what they've been up to. I was kinda glad that his accent wasn't too thick, since I could understand him. He did speak a bit slowly, but that helped with understanding him.

His house wasn't anything big or fancy. He cooked up something and served it to us. I could tell that none of us wanted to appear rude, so we ate it. It had an interesting taste, but it wasn't bad.

"So, how long are you going to stay here?" Joe asked.

"I'm not really sure. We might stay for at least a day. Tim got very weak during the boat ride." Ceres looked at Tim, "How long do you want to stay?"

"Where are we heading to next?"

"Wow! I was thinking that they would have an accent, but you spoke that perfectly." Joe commented.

"I've traveled over here many times so I just picked it up."

"Joe, do you still have those horses?" Ceres asked.

"Yeah, but there isn't enough for all of yers and Tim might not be up for riding."

"We can take care of that problem. I'll bring them over to the Indian Reservation."

"Oh, I see. Sure then, but make sure that you guys don't over do it."

"Have I ever?"

"You can be reckless." Joe laughed.

I then noticed a painting that was hanging up on his wall. "What's that about?" I asked. It had things on it that seemed to make it represent lost or confusion or mystery.

"Oh, this?" He got up and went over to the painting. "It's to remind me that there are things in this world that can simply disappear and that if you don't have human contact, you'll be forgotten."

"It shows when some people found an Indian tribe, but there was no trace of people ever being there. There's also another site like that on the East coast where a colony just simply vanished. I mean, the site itself didn't vanish, but the people that were there did." Ceres explained.

I looked at the painting again, before looking at Joe, "Is it an original or a copy?"

"Copy, of course."

We then started to hear chiming. Joe and Ceres looked at each other before getting up. We all got up as well and followed them outside. They were looking at a tornado coming towards us.

"How can this be?" Joe asked.

Ceres started to run towards it.

"Ceres, what are you doing?!" Tim asked.

[Ceres

"Ele!" Ceres called. Ele was on her head so she jumped off and ran towards the tornado. Ceres stopped and smiled as Ele entered the tornado. After a while, it completely stopped and Ele was standing on top of a coyote.

This is when the others came up to her. Ele went back to Ceres before there was a puff of smoke where the coyote was.

"Ow! Ele, you're vicious." A guy that looked to be Native American said. He was wearing the traditional clothes that one would normally assume them to wear, but he didn't wear any make-up.

Ceres laughed, "That's what you get for giving us a scare."

"I couldn't help it." He whined before smiling. "Hi Joe!" He smiled at him.

"Akba, it's been a long time." Joe smiled, "Come on in. It must've been a long journey for you."

He shrugged, "What's a few days among friends?"

"Oh, guys," Ceres looked at her friends with a big smile on her face, "This there is Akba. He's like my brother in a lot a ways." She knew that they didn't see him come out of the tornado, by the look in their eyes and, of course, they didn't know what to make of it since it seemed real.

"Oh," Akba pulled her closer, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her chin up with his other hand, "If I weren't, you would certainly be my type." Ele slapped him. He rubbed the spot before looking at her, "You need some manners, lady." Ele stuck her tongue out.

Ceres took his arm and pulled him inside, "I'm getting tired of this heat and Tim needs to sit down."

Once inside, they were talking up a storm. From what they were hearing, it seemed like Akba had been an old friend of Ceres. He was the one that took her in when she first came to America. He also came to see her when she ever came to the west, so that's how Joe knows about him.

"Oh, say Akba, how about you go with Ceres? I do worry about her being out there all by herself."

"Maybe." He shrugged. "Where are you going?" He looked at Ceres.

"To the Zuni village."

"Wow… that's kinda far."

"I know, but we need to drop off his horses somewhere, right?"

"Oh, I see… I guess I'll see you there then. Can I stay for the night, though?" He asked.

"Of course! I might as well get the rooms ready." He got up and went upstairs.

[Ryan

I couldn't believe how talkative this guy could be, though being a friend of Ceres' made it less surprising. Though, I have to honestly say that I don't think that I've ever seen Ceres quite at ease before now.

"Oh, by the way, you can…" Ceres said but then Akba interrupted.

"You can all share a room and allow us siblings have some alone time." Akba said as he hugged her. "After all, I don't get to spend that much time with her and you three get her all to yourselves." He pouted.

"Akba, you can't be jealous." She said as if it was impossible.

"My dear, darling, lovable sister, I worry about you. You haven't written to me in so long."

"I wrote to you the day before I left on this trip, which means that it's been a week."

"And that's long. Why can't you write to me like you do to Mother?"

"Because I don't."

"The rooms are ready. Akba, who would you like to stay with?" Joe asked.

"I'll stay with Ceres." He smiled.

"Okay, Ceres, you have your normal room. I'll be making your breakfast."

"Thanks Joe." She smiled before moving to help Tim up. We all got up and headed to the room that Ceres was moving Tim in. There were three beds in there for us. "Joe has a lot of people stay at his house when it's tornado season." She explained.

"+If you're happy here then why not stay here?+" Tim asked.

She smiled as she placed him down on a bed. "+I'm happy everywhere I go. Good night everyone.+" She then went into another room.

I jumped onto a bed and Ken took the last one. "+I surely didn't take her to trust people that easily. I mean, according to what Panther told me, it seemed like it took a lot for her to trust them.+"

"+I know what you mean. It always seemed like there was some front with her. Don't you agree, Ken?+" Tim looked over at him.

"He says that he didn't think that, but he can now see how you guys got that impression." Shendramon translated.

"Yeah, but she definitely likes her secrets, uh?" I rolled over.

"Is there something wrong with that? Everyone does it." Tim commented.

"Yes, even Ken can attest to that." Wormmon added.

I sighed, "It's just that if she wants us to accept her then she has to open up and be honest to us, right? We can't trust her front because we know that it isn't really her."

"I guess you do have a point there." Tim thought to himself about it. "I guess we'll talk about that when we're heading over to the Zuni tribe."

"Ken wants to know if you know anything about them."

"Well, I kinda do. I know that they're a Native American tribe in the west and I know the relative location of where most are living, but I don't know much about their culture or language. Nereida was a bit more interested in that than I was so she and Damon probably know more than I do."

"Where are they located?" I turned to look at him.

"Near the border of Arizona and New Mexico, but a bit closer to the northern part of it and on the New Mexico side."

I got up, "But we're in Texas!"

"It's going to be a long journey. It's not like we can do anything about it because she's leading us. She knows how to get back home better than we do. Sure, we would do fine on our own, but not as well if we didn't have her help."

I rolled back over, "I wish we would just get home already."

Breomon jumped into the bed with me and we both fell asleep.

[Ceres

"So, how have you been handling them?" Akba asked as he took a seat next to Ceres.

Ceres placed her head on his shoulder. "Okay. It hasn't been easy, though."

"I can tell. By the way, where's your Digimon?"

Ceres opened her bag, "Wirthimon, you can come out." She popped out her head, blinking at Akba.

"Hi, I'm Akba, but you can also call me…"

"A Digimon." She said plainly. "I'm sharper when it comes to knowing the Super Levels than the others are. Why are you here?"

"… You may know me as the Coyote, the Trickster and Hero of the Native American tales." He smiled.

"Oh… so you're a God.. How do you know Ceres?"

"When I first came to America, he was the one that found me and took me in." Ceres smiled. "I write to him, but not as often as I do with my mother."

"I see… Do the others know?"

"Why didn't you want them to know?" Ceres looked at him.

"I wanted it to be a surprise. I can correct it if you want me to."

"It's fine." She smiled.

He sighed, before lying on the bed, "Letting you know that your friends are all scattered across the Earth, but they have also found three others to be with them. TK was left unharmed and is still in Japan."

"Thanks." Ceres smiled. "Do you know how Matt is doing?" She asked shyly.

He looked at her, "I can't get that information, though there seems to be someone who is looking around for people to help them along their journey."

"Why think that?" Wirthimon asked as she got out of the bag and onto Ceres' shoulder.

"Well, there were secret rumors going around this country that someone wanted to know who would be most likely to be able to be sent here to do harm and who would most likely be willing to help the ones that are going to be harmed. Of course, it never got clearer than that. I can only figure that someone wants to help you secretively, but I can't figure out whom."

Ceres smiled, "I'll let you know when we're leaving."

"Why only then?"

"Because it's going to be how I reveal you."

He got up, "Then let's go to bed." He smiled.

She smiled back, "Okay. Good night!" She gathered Wirthimon and Ele in her arms before getting under the covers. Akba got under as well.

"What are you doing?" Wirthimon asked.

"Seems like I need to keep up my guard tonight." He smiled.

Wirthimon looked at Ele before nodding and returned to Akba, "You're damn right." She curled up near Ceres before falling asleep. Akba watched the ladies fall asleep before smiling at Ceres. He lightly toughed her face before going to sleep himself.

In the morning, Ceres woke up to see that Akba wasn't there with her. She quickly got out of the bed and ran downstairs. She saw that Joe was making breakfast and that her friends weren't there.

" Oh, good morning Ceres. " He smiled kindly at her. " What's the rush? "

" Where's Akba? "

"He left early this morning to get something for your friend, Tim."

She let out a sigh, "Okay, thanks. Need any help?" She smiled at him.

"You can start on the bacon as soon as you change."

"Right!" She went back upstairs, getting Wirthimon and Ele before heading back down.

[Ken

I woke up before the others and took a shower. By the time I got downstairs Ceres and Joe were talking and cooking breakfast. I didn't see Akba anywhere, though. Ceres looked behind her before noticing that I was there, "Oh, good morning Ken." She smiled at me. "Go ahead and have a seat."

I shook my head. Wormmon was on my shoulder so I could cook. I made that notion, since my voice still wasn't working.

She watched me carefully, "You… want to move something around?" I motioned that she was nearly right. "You want to… make something by moving it around?" I nodded, since that is what cooking is. "Okay… What?" I hit my head, thinking that she got it.

"He wants to cook. Can you not speak?" Joe looked at me and I nodded. "Okay, you can come over and help me out."

I went over and started to make what he was showing. I started to notice that he didn't have to teach me much, somehow knowing how to make it with only him mentioning what I was going to make. I also noticed that Ceres seemed impressed and also worried about something as she watched me.

"Wow.. I didn't know that you were great cook! Did Matt teach you because that looked like his style?" She asked as I was now cooking nearly everything that Joe was planning on making since I was able to cook everything really fast.

I shrugged. I mean, TK was able to do the same thing, so maybe we did.

"+Wow, that's a lot of food.+" Ryan commented as he was helping Tim down the stairs.

" Yeah, we normally like to make a lot of food. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. " Ceres said with a smile. " Okay! Let's eat! "

" Where's Akba? " Tim asked as he sat down.

"He's out for the moment. He made himself something before leaving so he's fine." She smiled and I knew that it was a lie. She was worrying about him, though I couldn't tell why. I kept it to myself since Shendramon couldn't tell the others for me.

We all sat down and had breakfast together. It was interesting to see her worrying greatly over someone. It was a lot like when she was sure that someone was watching her. She was edgy, but didn't show it. It was something that you just had to sense with her. I noticed that if you weren't constantly looking at her that you could miss her hidden messages that she sends out. She gives out a lot of them, and I guess since I can only listen that I'm starting to pick them up. I'm also able to pick them up on others as well.

Like when she said her lie about Akba, Joe gave off that he knew that it wasn't true but played it like it was. He seemed to understand that Ceres was worried about something involving him, but he wasn't giving it away with his words, expression, tone, or anything that you can see or hear. The same goes for Ceres. I also can see it in the other people that we've met. They all wanted to talk to Ceres about something serious, but they never did since we were here. They all have this underlining worry about her, as if she was really something that you had to constantly worry about.

I don't know if we just pushed it off that she can handle her own issues or not, but it seems like these people don't do that. They worry about her, happy when she's around them and keep her company. I mean, Joe even said that he would prefer if Akba came along with us because he's worried about her. He didn't even think that we could keep her safe, or think that we would be able to keep her company. I can't really figure out Akba yet, since he seems to be just like Ceres. Though I'm sure that it was Ceres that got all her cleverness from him.

After breakfast, we all helped with the cleaning. Ryan and I offered to clean the rest of the house, though it didn't really need it. Joe instead showed us the horses, saying that they could use some grooming before their trip. They were beautiful horses and they seemed to be okay with us being near them. I also noticed that there were only three of them here.

"+Wow, these are gorgeous horses. I wished that we could keep them.+" Ryan said with a laugh. "+We have to stopped by a western town as we're heading over. I always wanted to see one.+"

I smiled at him. He was trying to enjoy the most of this trip, just like Ceres. Though, ever since he mentioned the painting yesterday, he seemed to be a bit edgy. It wasn't anything big, though, but he was worried. Tim seemed to be a lot calmer after the haunted house. I was beginning to worry that I was the only one not changing.

[Tim

I was getting a lot of information from Joe about tornadoes and the weather system in this country. Sure, I've been here before, but it was always around the same time so I never really understood the climate. It wasn't like Japan so I wanted to get a better understanding of it. Though, he also liked the Indian lure to the whole weather pattern and all, so I had to listen to all that stuff too. Knowing that they are in the Digital World, I didn't think that it was possible for them to still be controlling the weather in this world. But since he didn't know anything about Digimon, I didn't mention anything about it and just kept on listening.

Around noon is when Akba came back. Ceres was sitting with us, joining and adding things that she knew because she's traveled all over this planet. "What did you get?" She asked and just stared at him.

He came over to me, "These are some herbs that might help with getting your strength back. You'll need it on your journey."

I took some out, noticing that it was something that I wasn't familiar with. I looked at Ceres, who gave me a nodded, "Thanks." I said to Akba.

"Not a problem. I'll just go make some energy drinks with these. I'm sure they'll come in very handy." He smiled.

"Why not just make something for him now and give me the bag so we can use it later?" Ceres asked.

"I guess that would be wise… I'll make sure to bring some more when I meet up with you guys again." He took some out and started to make some kind of drink with it. Knowing how medicine is made from plants, thanks to my Grandmother, I knew that he was making the drink nearly the same way since Joe didn't have a blender.

"Oh, welcome back." Ryan said as he and Ken returned from taking care of the horses. "What are you making?"

"Just an energy drink so Tim can have some strength back." He smiled. "What were you two doing?"

"We were grooming the horse. They're really beautiful." He looked at Joe.

"Thanks." He smiled with joy.

After a while, Akba was done so he handed me the drink. It didn't have a bad taste to it at all, but it was kinda hard to swallow.

Ken helped with lunch and dinner, glad to see that he was doing something. I was also beginning to worry about him not having his voice back. It had been a long while since he lost it so he should've gotten it back by now. That was making me wonder how Kari was doing, since she was in the same boat as Ken with the longevity.

Even though they were talking, we didn't get any new information about any one of them. So that night, we all went to bed without much to talk about.

When I woke up, I noticed that a lot of my strength had returned. Since it was by thirds that I lost it, it seemed like the major of those thirds had return. Ken was helping with the cooking again as Ryan and I got to the kitchen. Ceres and Akba were talking to each other mostly, though, which I could see that Ryan wasn't too happy about for some reason. After breakfast, Joe led us to the horses that were all ready to go for our trip. He gave us some cash and some more food that we can easily make while out there. Once he was done, he said his goodbye to Ceres before heading back inside. I was with Ken since I needed to ride Shendramon later.

"Oh, and Akba, if you want to help us out, you need to go see Hades about it." She smiled. We all looked at her, wondering why she was mentioning that.

"Ceres, you know I don't like it when you mention other culture's deities and that's… OH! I get it!" He started laughing, "I thought you were telling me to go to hell."

"Why would I send a God there?"

"Very well, I'll go talk to him." He smiled at her, "But just this once since I'm worried about you guys."

"The cultural hero is reborn. Bye!" She waved before taking off. We all followed after her.

I looked back for a moment to see Akba turning into a coyote and disappeared.

"You knew he was a Digimon?" Ryan asked.

"Well, yeah. Once I learned that all Deities were now Digimon, it wasn't that hard to figure out."

"Did you always know he was a God?"

"Yeah, but he never told me that he was a Digimon. He probably figured that I wouldn't need to know that so he never mentioned it."

"When did you first come over here?" I was normally curious about this, but never really wanted to know.

"When I was really young… like maybe five. He found me not doing so well on my own so he took me in and raised me a bit. He also taught me some of his techniques and also of the magic that the earth and the elements had. I knew that I was special, but he gave me a name for it. So, I also write to him because I want him to know what's going on in my life."

"But we never see you writing a letter and Panther had never mentioned you ever doing so." Ryan pointed out.

"It's something that I do with my magic since I sent it out that way as well. It's so that I can't be tracked down by the people who are after me."

After a while, Shendramon came out and I went on his back. It was a lot smoother than riding on a horse and a lot cooler too. Shendramon didn't stay too close to the ground, but he didn't go up too high either.

[Ken

When we stopped for the night three days after we left, Ceres got a fire created and I was cooking. I don't know why it felt so familiar that I was the only one cooking, but it did. Like being on a trip and making sure that I was the only one cooking was something I did before. Though, I did notice that no matter how familiar it was, there was this hole that needed to be filled, like I needed TK here to be cooking with me for it to feel complete. I wondered how he was doing. He never allowed himself to admit that he really needed people around him. I know that if the others were doing okay and being supportive that he would cling to them right now. He would probably cling to Cody and Izzy more than the others, but he would need them all. If they weren't going to do that for him, I don't know how he would handle himself. I only know this because of the times that Matt needed to go into space and how he clung to me like I was Matt. He needs people, no matter how much he thinks he doesn't.

"Oh… we need to hurry this trip along." Ceres said. I looked at her, seeing her looking at the sky. I looked up too, seeing the moon up there.

"That's right!" Ryan said. "The legend! How much time do we have?" We looked at Ceres.

"We should be able to get back before that. I can promise that, but I'm not sure of the others. They probably don't realize that yet and I know that Matt doesn't know about it."

"I'm wondering why he hasn't talked to us through our jewels. He was able to contact all of us through it before."

I pointed to my skin, hoping that Ceres would remember the other time that I did what I meant by it.

"Ken's right. He wasn't well when we left and traveling probably didn't make it any better." Ceres said. I was glad that she got it.

"I hope that he gets better before Panther sees him again." Ryan said as he lay down.

"I hope so too." Ceres admitted.

"That's something that I didn't think you would admit to." Tim smiled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She narrowed her eyes.

"My siblings and I all figured that you cared a lot for Matt, but you admit it like Panther does." He smiled.

"She never came out and said it either."

"But her getting sick during school because of him does prove it."

"Yeah, we all can see it." Ryan said. "Trust me; she never cared about her own family like she does for him."

"That's because of how safe he makes us feel." She smiled a bit, "He just opened his arms for us and allow us to rest our heads. That's how I feel when he was here. Panther and I were both on edge when he wasn't here."

"I do have to say that even though I had always admired him, I know what you mean." Tim said. "His ability to just welcome people is amazing. He's faith in people seem to be his greatest strength."

"Yeah, and he's always willing to trust people… He trusted Panther even when she didn't give a very good impression. He even helped Killer and Panther… I know that if Panther wanted me to help her get out, like she had asked Matt, I probably couldn't do it." Ryan admitted.

"Why?" Ceres asked.

"Because I would then want to learn what the other attorney knew. Panther told us that he wanted her to be placed on trial for the crimes that they knew that she did but didn't have any proof. I would want to know that before making my decision, but Matt didn't want to know. Even now, he doesn't want to know it. It's not like he doesn't want to know, but he wants her to tell him… I think I know why Lily Dawn was mad."

"Why?" Tim asked.

He got up, "Because before we were the only ones that believed in her like that. But now, we're like the others even though we want to go back to having that complete faith in her. We just don't have that anymore, even though our trust in her never wavered." He looked at me, "And we saw how complete their faith was in her when they knew next to nothing about her. She probably got jealous." He looked at Ceres, "And she was always much closer to Panther than I was, but since they were a lot more boyish, I was included."

"And she's still closer to Panther." Ceres said.

"No, Panther is much closer to you now. We both see it."

"But I know that you two are still close to her. When we learned about Matt through Nereida, she was the only one that could bring her out of it. I tried, but nothing worked." I figured that's when she was in the Dark Ocean.

"Nereida probably didn't see it, like she claims." Tim said, having some dread in his voice.

"Huh? Why think that?" Ryan asked.

"Because Heka is actually called Hebemon."

"Did she know?" Ceres asked.

"I'm sure from day one. And she told her a lot about the group because I know that they talk a lot."

"I can ask Akba when he comes back." Ceres offered, meaning if she is not aiding the enemy.

The thought of Kitty came into my mind. After all, she was inside a Deity's body. I wanted to say so much, but I couldn't. I somehow knew that Heka wouldn't give anything up. She seems like a good friend and someone that Nereida could count on. I somehow knew that Heka was given the choice of being a spy, but she denied it because of Nereida.

"Yeah, that would be a good idea. And if he doesn't know, then he can find out, right?" Tim asked.

"I'm sure he could." She smiled.

"Well, better get some sleep." Ryan said as he got under the covers that Joe gave to Ceres for us. Breomon was with him. Tim did the same thing. I didn't feel like sleeping.

"Something up?" I looked at Ceres, figuring that she would go to sleep since I would keep watch. "You're showing more emotion on your face." She smiled.

I nodded, but it's not like I could talk about it. I was worried about TK, and now hearing them talk about faith has got me worrying over my two Crests again. The one that Kitty gave me and the other one that was solely mine.

"I hope you do understand that I want to talk to you about it." I nodded. "Okay, and don't feel like you can't add something to the conversation. I'm sure that Shendramon wouldn't mind." She smiled.

I nodded again, though I didn't want him hearing my other thoughts as well.

"Good night." She got under the covers.

Wormmon was asleep, not being too good with cold. I was looking at the fire, wondering about my Crest. I wanted to open the Mental of Kindness, but I need Kindness back. I didn't even know that I had lost it. I was wondering when I did lose it and why I started to lose it. I wasn't any different from when I joined the others way back. I wondered if it was back when the jewels were created. I don't know why I jumped that far back, but I have a feeling that it was somewhere in the memory lapse that I had a great amount of it. When I was talking to Date-san back at the cabin, I felt like I was gaining something back. That as he talked to me like I've known him to do with TK, I left like something was returning. I don't even know why I was even jealous of TK for having him to talk to, but I was.

I wondered if Date-san could give TK that safe feeling. I know that TK is attached to him, much like me for some reason, but would TK allow his true feelings to get him the comfort he needs? That I didn't know. I don't know if TK would allow Date-san to comfort him. TK can be stubborn sometimes, and it seems like that stubbornness has been growing. It seems like there's something inside him that's growing and it's been growing since he started to lose trust in the others. I also don't know why, but for some reason I want him to trust them again. It's like if he doesn't, then they can't be saved.

But TK isn't that special. He's only human, right? If those Digimon that worked for Megamon called him a Saiyan, whatever that means, then that means that Matt has to be one as well, right? And since Kari is also another one, then that means that Tai is one as well, right? And what's with the God of Life for Cody. It seems like the first group has some secret destinies that we haven't even known or realized. Maybe that has something to do with the memory lapse. Or what if they come from parallel world and think we're the same people that they were created from? I laughed with no sound coming from my voice because that's something that TK would think up.

"I didn't think that anything involving you could be laughed at." I became frozen with his voice. I turned around to see the Digimon version of me, with my Crest of Kindness on him and his Digimon next to him. "Cat got your tongue?"

I couldn't believe how I didn't sense him before this. If the others weren't awake by now, then they probably did something to them.

"You didn't even realize that we were watching you all this time." I heard Sora's voice say. I looked over to where Ceres was, seeing her back in her Junior High uniform with her Crest of Love on her.

"And that the sun that you were traveling under was my Crest." I looked over to Ryan, seeing Tai there in the same uniform with his Crest of Courage on them.

"We can't expect them to put up much of a fight." Kenmon said.

I'm facing down four Digimon since the others didn't have theirs with them and I was alone. I couldn't believe that no one sensed it and now there isn't a way for me to warn them.

"Though I heard from Megamon that Ken's supposed to be a good fighter." Taimon said, "And now he's becoming a disappointment."

"What can you expect a human to do, Taimon?" Soramon said.

"So, these must be the Neo Digidestined." Izzy's voice said. I looked over to Kenmon to see Izzy in the same uniform as Taimon and Soramon walking over. That was five Digimon, but then G Stingmon left, making it go back to four. Without them knowing it, I was waiting to use my Faith power on them, but I was still looking worried to fool them, seeing that they consider me no threat. "Funny how Megamon knows nothing about them."

"Does that really matter?" Taimon asked. "After all, those Ancient Digimon know about their Digimon, so that's enough that we need to know."

"Yeah, but since he's from the future, you would think that they would know a lot about them." That parallel world theory is sounding a lot more likely to be true.

"Enough with the theorizing." Matt's voice said from over where Tim was. "Let's just get rid of them now." That made it back to five.

"Mattmon, I need Ken." I was thinking that Kenmon was in charge of everything, with how everything was structured before, but that just now made it seem like Mattmon was.

"Then hurry up with it. Looking at the others is starting to disgust me." I looked over at him, forgetting for a brief moment that he wasn't Matt. When I was looking at him, he smiled as if seeing this. "Where is my beloved other, anyway? Oh, wait, you can't talk." He was walking over to Tim, "I'll ask this fellow then before I kill him."

"Mattmon," He stopped when Izzymon ordered. "Gather them up. I want to learn as much as I can before we do."

He seemed annoyed, "Fine. Oh, can't forget this." He was behind me and I blocked the blow that would've knocked me out. "Seems like you have some fight in you after all." He seemed please with this.

"Mattmon, I'll take him on." Taimon in a demanding voice.

Mattmon looked at him, "And why should I give you all the fun?"

"Because I'm the better fighter than you."

Mattmon narrowed his eyes before looking at Izzymon, "Well?"

"Let him."

Mattmon jumped over to Ceres and was about to pick her up but I somehow kicked him away. I then brought out my Jewel of Faith, concentrating on making it work, but nothing was working. I stared at it for a moment, wondering briefly if I had lost my faith as well before being knocked out.

"Ken!" I heard TK yelling. I only opened my eyes because there was a lot of concern in his voice to tell me that it wasn't TKmon. He wasn't in his clothes from when they came into the Digital World to fight me and he smiled gratefully as he was looking at me, "I'm so glad that you're okay." Tears were being shed, tears that I had always hoped would be for some reason. I placed my hand on his and smiled at him. He smiled back and helped me to sit up. I noticed that it was black all around us. "I don't know where we are either."

I wondered if we were inside someone's mind, "Maybe…"

"You can talk?" TK sounded surprise and happy.

"I guess…" I moved my arm, "I don't feel numb or anything… TK, I'm sorry."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"I can't seem to uphold any Crest… The power of Faith didn't activate." I looked at the blackness, "Maybe I should just return."

"Don't you dare start thinking that way!" TK yelled, tears coming out again. "You don't belong here! Ken, you've suffered enough for what you did. You don't need to suffer anymore."

"Look around! Why would I be here if I didn't belong here?"

"Because you only became the Digimon Emperor because you lost your brother and because of the Dark Spore. It had nothing to do with your own will. You were lost and easily swayed." His tears didn't stop, "But you're not alone anymore. You have a new older brother that does care about you."

I was taken back by that, "Who… are you talking about?"

"Matt." He smiled, "He's your older brother now."

"But I've lost both Crests…"

"You'll get them back. Maybe you just placed a lock on them because you're afraid."

"Afraid?"

"Yeah, afraid that your torment is finally over. Maybe you just don't need to show kindness and faith to others, but to yourself as well. That somehow seems the hardest to do."

"But how?" I doubt that I could do something like that.

"Because you have everyone else and they believe in you. Besides, if you can believe in yourself, then you're even better than Kitty. She didn't have faith in herself and neither did Diana."

"You.."

"No, but I looked up more about them. Please, give it a try just once."

I don't know why I nodded, but somehow knowing that TK believed in me and encouraging me somehow made me feel a lot better. He somehow could bring the best out in others, as if he could see through them to their deepest wish that they wanted to achieve and make them believe that they could.

He smiled as he hugged me, "Good. Oh, where are you guys?"

"We're in New Mexico."

"Who's with you?" He looked at me.

"Ceres, Ryan and Tim." I didn't fear that this was some trick that Kenmon was doing, since it didn't feel like it was. This was TK, somehow being able to talk to me through our minds.

"Okay, thanks. Have you heard about the others?"

"No, but Ceres has someone checking on that for us. We should know when we get to the Zuni tribe."

"Okay."

"I better get back to my body, though."

"Why?"

"We were being attacked by Kenmon and the other Digital Digidestined."

TK nodded and let go. "Show him that you're not his pawn." He smiled.

I nodded and was somehow pulled back into my body. I opened my eyes again, seeing that I was back to being mute. I looked to see that I was being held down to something and that Yoliemon and Kenmon were looking over something. Kenmon looked at me, "Oh, you're awake. Good, now I can run my experiments."

I wondered what they were.

"We learned that we're not you." Yoliemon said. Shouldn't that be obvious? "And we learned that most of you have some powers outside of the Crest. We want that power."

I wondered what power they were talking about.

"You see." Kenmon came up to me, "We learned that most of you are something called Saiyan, an alien race that has a lot of power. There are only a few that aren't, and you happen to be one of them. But, we learned that you are somehow equaled to TK, who is the third strongest. So, by orders of Izzymon, I need to see if we can merge so that we can have that power."

I now wanted to know why they wanted it. I was also getting mad, since he made me face myself when I was still recovering. I looked around, wondering where the others were since they weren't here.

"The others are being researched by Izzymon." Yoliemon informed. "They're not here."

"Now, let's get on with the experiments." Kenmon smiled as he walked back over to some controls.

I was thinking about Faith again. I needed to believe in myself, right? Well, I'm not sure how to yet, but I'll learn. I was thinking about Kitty, remembering that TK said that she didn't have a lot of faith in herself and neither did Diana, who held Virtue. I don't know if I was imagining the same face that TK has seen for her, but I somehow knew that it was right. She was smiling at me, as if telling me to believe. I needed to believe in myself so that I could save the others. If we can get rid of them as well, then we don't have to worry about them. If all they were are the Crest that we hold, then we have a lot more power than them. If these Crests are in fact more powerful than the old ones, then let this show that. I needed to believe in myself so that I know that Kitty's faith wasn't misplaced. I got something in my eye right then. It was a grid of an area with dots beeping. I moved a bit, seeing that they were the locations of some of the Digital Digidestined. Seeing that two were close to the center, I locked on those and fired. Above my arms shot two triangles at them. They dodged it, but they did hit the control panel. That was frying the thing and it somehow got me out of the bondage that I as in. I started to run over to where the other beeps were, figuring that that's where the others were.

I burst into the room to see that Izzymon and Mattmon were there. TKmon and Karimon were also there. I just then noticed that Wormmon was with the others.

"Looks like Kenmon failed." TKmon said. I then knew that it was TK that could give us hope. These copies were probably the dark side of our Crests, the ones that are stained with the blood of the Outside Digimon (YAY!! Ken's becoming a poet!). "Looks like I have to take care of this." He smiled evilly.

"Why should you get the pleasure?" Karimon asked. I would think that they would be more united, like we were, but I guess not. Oh well, I can't think about that right now. I locked on all of them and fired the smaller triangles at them.

As I thought, they all dodged them, but that gave me enough time to grab some part of them and started to run.

"OW!! KEN! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU… Why are you running?" Ceres asked calmly as she helped me carried the others.

"Because he's running from us." TKmon said with that evil smile.

" Aw, TK was cute back then. " Ceres commented (I wonder which cute she means).

"If you want, when I take control of TK's mind I'll make sure that he merges with me." He winked. That, for some reason, disgusted me.

I locked on him again and fired more than once. He was able to dodge them all, before coming back around. I grabbed his kick and held on as I swung him to the wall. That knocked him out as we ran again. Once we were in a good hiding place, I motioned to Ceres to use her Crest Power so that we could get out of here. It was giving me hope that she was paying attention so closely.

"You want me to make my amulet bigger?" She lifted an eyebrow (like he said, it was giving him hope. That is funny, though).

I shook my head. I pointed to my amulet again, but then just held it. Ceres had seen a lot of things, maybe reading lips was the way that I needed to go. English is a lot easier to mouth than Japanese so I mouthed, 'Use your Crest Power to get us out of here'.

"Oh, okay. Why didn't you just say so? But I'm not sure how it works." She didn't have a lot of faith in herself.

I placed my hand on her shoulder and smiled, 'I know that you can.' I moved the others so that they were touching each other as I held onto Wormmon. I also made sure that one of them was touching my leg as well before I took her hand, 'You got Faith on your side'.

She smiled as she held onto her amulet. At first, she started to glow but then we all were. Right then, Taimon found us but I shot rapidly at him to make sure that he didn't follow as we disappeared. I could now see that we were traveling through something similar to the tunnels that our amulets create. Then we all landed in the Real World, still in America since we were near a tribe. It was still night.

"YAY!! I did it! I did it! I did it!" Ceres cheered.

Somehow, it didn't bother me that we weren't back in Japan. I felt like this was okay. That we needed this.

"Oh… I guess I should've thought up Japan instead, huh?" Ceres looked at me, just now realizing it.

'It's okay. We need this anyway. We just shouldn't tell them.' They were still knocked out. I figured that Taimon had made the sun that we were under and that he was giving them a power up, which drained them as they fell asleep. 'Are you still tired?'

"Not really. Should I be?"

'Taimon had used his Crest on you guys. I think that's why you didn't notice that they were around… He might've even been able to use his power-up on certain things because I didn't sense them in the area.'

"Maybe… Anyway, are you still going to talk in English? It's like the only way I can understand you."

'Yeah, I better. You're not too good at the game. Sorry, you failed.' I smiled.

She pouted, "No, never mind! Go back to the game! I'm not going to lose to TK!!"

I laughed, knowing that she couldn't win against him. 'What did you mean that TK was cute back then?'

"Oh, I mean that he was pretty good looking. Not like he isn't now, but somehow there isn't some underlining emotions that he bottled up. It looked like he was a lot more free back then and that made him more desirable to want."

I knew that TK does have emotions that he bottles up. I wondered if he didn't in the past. It would've been during that time that Kitty and Diana were still alive. Did they bring them some inner peace? Though, I know that TK loved Kari around the same time too, so it was problematic. 'Okay, just wondering.' I smiled. I went back to my signs, saying that we should get some food ready.

She was paying really close attention to it, "We should cook something?"

I nodded, since I used the same movement that I used at Joe's to mean cook.

"YES! Okay! I agree."

So she got the food out and I started to cook.

"We're this close to the tribe?" Ryan asked as we were traveling towards the tribe. Tim was on my horse as Ceres led the way. As I was cooking, Ceres summoned them to us. I wondered why she wanted to land at this place. I looked around, seeing how it could be remembered. It was a pretty place, and I bet that Ceres came this way more than once. Though, if she is very bright, she probably can remember things well enough to only need to see it once.

As soon as we came to the village, we were greeted warmly. Ceres was smiling big as she was talking to them. Some were talking in some kind of language, but most were talking in English so we understood what was being said. Akba appeared, acting apart of their village as he led us to one of the places that they were keeping them.

[Ryan

I didn't trust Akba one bit, but we didn't have a choice. So we didn't have to talk to him right away, I had Ceres show us around, since she knew the place. I was staying for a while, getting it down on paper as Tim was looking around with a scientist thought. Ken was just hanging around. He looked a lot different for some reason. I don't really know why, but he did.

We got an interesting lunch, though it wasn't too grand or anything. I was figuring like corn or things that I probably wouldn't want to have, but it didn't seem like that. It looked really modern. It was big, since they were greeting us, but that's it.

"Ceres, why didn't we have more traditional foods?" I asked as we were resting with Akba.

"Because they've become more modernized, much like most tribes. Anyway," She looked at Akba, "What did you find?"

"Matt, Lily Dawn, Nereida and Neon are in China with two Deities leading them across right now. Panther, Kari, Damon and Don are in a boat with two Australian Deities. Hades is helping you guys out and Ilpalo, Hebe and Killer are watching you guys. Hebe is getting them weapons made. You also trained that boy good." He smiled.

"How are the others doing?" Tim asked before I could.

"Nereida is fine, Neon is stressed, Lily Dawn might be a deity, Matt's worried about being a god of death. Kari is fine, Damon is fine, Don is depressed over something about his kids and Panther was purifying herself to clear her mind of something."

"Matt's a god?" Ceres asked.

"Apparently. According to Hebe, he's one of these ultimate deities."

"What are those?" I asked.

"There's a rumor that there exist creators that rule over the beyond, what you now called the universe. Now, we're never sure if the earth and sky were part of those rulers or an off-spring, but that doesn't really matter. The search for such beings was heated when Lily Dawn came to the Digital World. I don't know who was searching, but there was a search being done."

"Well, I know that Cody was called the God of Life."

"Really? That's kinda odd… But, then again, if he's one of those deities, then maybe it is possible."

"So they think that Lily Dawn is one of them?"

"I guess they do. I mean, the Greeks wanted her for something, right? And whatever they want, it must be important. It's not all peaceful there as it seems. It is, for the most part, but that's because of appearances."

"So it's the appearance that's keeping the peace." Tim stated.

"Yep."

"How is Hebe watching us?"

"Through a crystal ball. It also seems like Ilpalo and Killer watch along with her." He laughed, "For some reason, Hebe was holding Ilpalo to the ground with her feet as she was sitting on the chair there. It was kinda funny."

"She wasn't hurting him?" Ceres asked.

"Nah, I think they're friends. Anyway, you three should enjoy the village. This is your only chance of seeing something like this."

I was about to object when Ken got up and walked out. Tim and I looked at each other before following Ken. "Ken?" I asked.

He looked at us and smiled before walking away into the village.

"What the hell was that?" I looked at Tim.

"Well… I think it's Ken's way of saying that we should leave them alone." He pushed me forward, "So don't worry about it, okay. He's right, this is our only chance and you can get some good place for your drawings."

I pouted, looking at the place that Ceres was.

"She has Wirthimon with her." Breomon pointed out.

"I know, I know… Fine." I followed Tim and Ken as we explored more of the village.

[Ceres

"Why did you want them out?" Ceres asked when they all had left. She could tell from Ryan that he was about to object, for some reason. Ken seemed to understand, or something, which was why he left.

"I wanted to ask you something important."

"Yes, I love Ilpalo and no, I'm not going to sleep with you." She said quickly.

Akba laughed, "I wasn't going to ask that."

"Then what?"

"He told me that the only place you will call home is the place you can finally set down your bag without worry. Have you found that in Matt?"

Ceres looked at the ground, "Yes… At least… I think I have…"

"Why?" Akba brought her face to his, "What makes him able to give you a home? Something that we couldn't?"

Ceres looked at him, "I don't know… I mean… Since I was there, I was trusted. He trusted my judgment, without questioning it… I also noticed how he treated Panther. It was like they were a family. I guess it intrigued me so I stayed, but then he put himself in harm's way for me."

"There are others that intrigued you and others that have placed themselves in harm's way for you, what makes him so special?"

"He has a dark being inside of him. I guess I was worried about that, but when he left for space, I knew that that wasn't the reason why I wanted to stay…" She looked away, "Maybe all I wanted was for him to treat me like Panther. Maybe all I wanted from him was him to be like a father to me."

"But I can be a father to you."

She looked at him, "No, you can't. I care a lot about you, but you can't be a father to me."

"Why?"

"For starters, all of your sex comments." She pouted.

"What? Don't tell me he doesn't look at you too? He's a guy and you are hot."

"That's why you can't be my father, you pedophile." She smiled. "And no, he doesn't look at me like that."

"I'm impressed… I'm even more that these boys can be near you and not give in to their hormones."

Ceres laughed, "They have other things to worry about. Not all guys are bad, you know. Anyway, I also feel like Matt can really protect me from my past and the organization."

"You never felt like that before." He looked at her.

"I know… and I know it's also foolish to believe in that, but I feel like it's okay. That I can believe in this, and that it can come true."

Akba sighed, placing a hand on her head, "Okay, fine. I know when I'm beaten." He smiled.

Ceres hugged him, "You're still my brother, don't worry about that position, okay?"

Akba hugged her back, "Okay. But that means that when you get back to Japan, I'm going to see this Matt and Panther."

"Panther? Why her?"

"Well, you're worried about her too, so I thought I should find out why."

"You won't get near her. She's tough."

"Why would I?"

"Because she's also hot. Not only would Matt and Stan stop you, but she will make sure you won't walk for a while." She smiled.

"Oh, really? I don't think she's that tough. I'm a god after all."

"Trust me, she is."

"Fine, I'll test that when I see her. Don't give her fair warning, either."

Ceres laughed, "Okay, and you'll see that I'm right. Can you really come to Japan?"

"I told Hades that no matter what, I will protect you. I don't care about those Deities when I'm going over to protect you."

She smiled, "I better go check up on the boys. I don't want them to get lost."

"Have you ever noticed that Ryan has a friend complex?"

"That's a new one."

"I know, but that's what Killer said. And since they've been best friends for so long, you got to figure that he knows what he's talking about."

"I think Killer was brought in by Panther. So that's why he didn't like you before?"

"Yep."

"I've come to know weird people."

Akba laughed. Ceres got up and went outside. She didn't see them anywhere.

[Tim

The locals were showing us around when we asked. It was kinda interesting to learn about them, and Ryan seemed interested in some ruins not too far away and on our way. They were trying to get us a car that we can borrow, knowing that Ceres would return it to them.

"They sure do have a lot of faith in Ceres." Ryan commented as we were looking at the other horses that were there. He was drawing them.

"Yeah, though I guess that's a good thing. I never realized that there were people out there that did. I just kinda figured that we were the only ones."

"Then why didn't you?" Ryan looked up for a moment before looking down.

"I wanted my family back to normal."

"Messed up families can't go back to normal."

I looked at him, wondering what he meant by that.

"There you guys are." We looked behind us to see Ceres.

"No Akba?" Ryan asked.

She smiled, "He's still back over at his place." She came up to us, "Aren't they something?"

"They are amazing. I don't have any good references for horses so this is good for me."

"Your friends are getting something for us. They know of some place we can travel to." I informed her.

"Really? Where's that?" She blinked.

"They said that most people call it Mesa Verde de ."

"Really? Do you really want to go there?" She didn't seem too happy about that.

"Is there a reason we shouldn't go there?" Ryan asked.

"Well, that means that we'll have to head north and not west." She sighed, "What did you want to look at?"

"I wanted to see the sites there."

She nodded, "Tim?"

"For his enjoyment."

"Ken?" We looked at him to see that he shrugged. "Okay, so that means that we'll go tonight. We really shouldn't get off course."

"Is it far from here?" Ryan asked.

"Yep! It's in Colorado, and we're much closer to the border of Arizona than Colorado." She smiled, "But they know that we don't have a car."

"I think they're looking for something for us to use." I said.

"I see… I'll go ask them then." She went off somewhere. Ryan went back to drawing. I was wondering why Ceres didn't want to be taken off course. Though, of course, we don't have that much time to go site-seeing. It didn't take her long to get back. "Okay, we're heading there after dinner."

Ken pointed to her than to his amulet.

"No, I'm not taking your amulet. Why would I?"

"I think he's asking if you're going to use your amulet." I said, and he nodded.

"Oh.. yep! I figured it would be easier that way." She smiled.

"But that can only dimension hop, right? It doesn't do anything about travel." Ryan pointed out.

"Oh… good point… Then maybe we can get Akba to get us there faster."

"Why use him?"

She smiled, "Because he can travel long distances quickly and we need that. I figured that we go there at night when no one is there and come back when we're done."

"What if we get caught or something?"

"If we don't get caught, we won't get caught." She smiled, "Don't worry about it. Get yourselves ready since they're just filling up the car and getting it checked out. I'm going to let Akba know." She then took off again.

"We might as well as for food." I said, looking at Ryan, who looked mad for some reason. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing." He went back to drawing the horses.

I sighed, looking at Ken, "Want to come?"

He nodded and we headed out.

[Ken

We were on the rode for about an hour before we stopped. Akba was with us, though I figured it wasn't going to be for the whole trip. We were at a rest stop, which was interesting. There were a few people around, though, so I wondered how we were going to leave here. Ceres was getting us something to eat for dinner, with Akba joining us. Ryan didn't seem happy that he was with us, but no one really minded. I thought it was interesting, though.

"Okay, I'm going to do a ritual that will get you there." Akba said. "The way you're going to get back is by going to the same spot you land at."

"What if someone else goes to that spot?" Tim asked.

"I know the place so I'm making sure that that doesn't happen."

"Get on with it, then." Ryan said.

He nodded and started chanting something. A glow formed around us and before we knew it, we were somewhere completely different.

"If he could do this, then why not send us home?" Tim asked.

"He can only do it for short distances." She lied with a smile, "Okay, no one is around so go ahead and look."

Ryan and Tim nodded and moved away from the place as Ceres and I went somewhere else.

"Are you not interested in looking around?" She asked. "Oh!" She went fishing for something in her bag, "Here! Akba thought it would be useful." It was a whiteboard and markers and eraser. There was a string on the whiteboard, meaning that it was to go around my next. I took it and placed it there.

'Ryan wants to look at the ruins and Tim wants to study the place more. They're interested in knowing why the civilization disappeared.'

She laughed, "It didn't disappear."

'What happened to them then?'

"They just moved to another location. They were less nomadic than other tribes, but they can still go back to that." She laughed some more. "I guess I shouldn't spoil their fun yet."

"Finally, I found you." We turned around to see this lady in near revealing clothing appear behind us.

"Who are you?" Ceres asked as Wormmon got ready to fight.

"BeasMastmon. Look, I'm not interested in fighting you. I came here to deliver a message as a favor to one of the Deities."

"Which Deity?"

"Hebemon."

"What's that message?"

"That you need to look at some prophecy more closely. The group that attacked the Destiny Stones has a better understanding of that prophecy and is able to make it come true."

That got us. "Why would they want to?"

"I don't know. She didn't tell me and I didn't bother asking."

"Why are you helping? We're not this lucky." Ceres explained her question.

"She brought back to me someone precious to me so I owe her. Plus, she seems to be the only one that has any sense around there."

"How did you find us?"

"The Original Digidestined somehow create portals and that's how most Super Levels come through because we don't have a lot of power to create our own and live through it."

"Thanks for your help." Ceres smiled.

She nodded, "Also, letting you know that the Destiny Stones were in existence when I was created, so they've been around for a long time. That group might know why they were originally created and that's probably why they attacked it." She walked away.

"I thought they wanted to bring you guys in." Ceres looked at me.

'I thought the same thing. But she might have a point. I guess we better look into it when we can.'

"Right, but we probably should go looking for Tim and Ryan. Hebemon should've known about that prophecy, and since it's that group that Arsmon is involved with then we better come up with another way of looking at it."

'Let's look at it when we get back. Kaiba-sama is looking into that book right now so we can ask him for the translation.'

"Good point… Okay, but let's find them anyway. I don't like the feeling that I'm getting right now."

I nodded, getting a feeling too, like something was about to attack. We started to run so we could find them.

[Ryan

We were looking at one of the ruins. "I wondered why they just disappeared." I heard that they just disappeared, something that I feared.

"Things don't disappear without a reason. Let's get a closer look." He got over the ropes and started to climb down.

"What if they have sensors?" I looked at him.

"We'll just run." He smiled, "Does Breomon need up?"

I looked at him, "Do you?"

"Are we going down?" He looked at me.

"Yeah." I got over the ropes as well.

"I'll meet you down there then." He started to jump down the cliff.

"Be careful." I yelled to him before we headed down. It was even more amazing much closer. I touched the building, wishing I had more light to capture it. "Could disease do this to them?" I looked at Tim.

"I don't think so. There was nothing saying that they found mass graves anywhere." He looked at me.

"What could make them disappear then?"

"I don't really know…" He walked inside and we followed. It was really dusty, though considering everything I guess it's reasonable. "There seems to be some marks on the walls."

I went over to where he was, looking around and noticing them too. "Burn marks?"

"Maybe… or really interesting way of doing painting."

I touched it, "No, it's not paint… At least none that I'm familiar with."

"Wouldn't that be limited?"

"Nope, I study my art." I smiled.

"Maybe fire then?" Tim looked around when we heard an explosion. We looked at each other before running out. We started to climb back up when another one came and we lost our grip.

I opened my eyes, seeing that I was someplace that felt wet. I moved to see that I was floating. I sat up, as much as I could, and looked around. Our Digimon were floating in the some kind of bubble. I noticed Breomon, "Breomon!" I floated over to him. He looked like he was sleeping, just like all the others around us.

"They're all waiting."

I turned around to see this cat there with me. It kinda looked like Gatomon, with the ears and tail and gloves, but the claws on the gloves were much longer and slender, and a totally different color and fur design. I could tell that she was more of a four leg walker than standing on two legs, because Yi-Yamon's body was the same type.

"Waiting? What can they be waiting for?"

"For when they will be needed."

I looked at Breomon before looking at her, "They are needed. We're still here and we need them."

She shook her head, "They are waiting for the time when they are called to help the Digital World once again."

"I'm telling you! They're needed! Don't let them be like this! They don't deserve it."

"I'm waiting too. I am part of this group. We need to wait until the time is right to come back."

"They're needed. I'm telling you. Let them go so they can be with us."

"They need to wait."

"But why? Don't let them be like this. Don't let them be lost."

"They are not lost. They can't be found. They need to wait."

"Why can't they be found?" I didn't like that.

"They must not be harm before their time. If they are found, then they will be destroyed."

That sounded like Tim, for some reason. "They found us, though. We need them. They're our friends."

"Maybe they will be your friends, but they will not remember. Once they have fulfilled their duty, they will come back here. They will wait again for the time they will be needed."

"Why won't they remember?"

"It will affect their duty. If they were to remember their past, then they will always be affected by it and will be sad for what they can't have."

"But we gave them a home." When Breomon choose to come with me, it was hard at first. I wasn't used to taking care of someone that depended on me, so it was rough. But I got through it, and we became friends. I looked at Breomon, "They choose us. Let them stay with us."

"Destiny brought you together."

I looked at the cat, "They choose us."

"It is destiny."

"How can you know? What do you know?" I hated the fact that she was giving my partner my worst fear. He didn't deserve it, none of them did.

"I have known it before. I was there when they were first alive and I was there when they were dying."

I stared at the cat. "You're Thunmon?"

"Yes."

"Let them go! They're your friends, right? Let them be happy."

"Happiness can only be hold by those not of us. We suffer where the others are nearly spared."

"What? That's insane."

"Destiny might be fought, but not forever. It will come." She then disappeared.

I looked at Breomon. I couldn't believe that this would happen to him, to them. I touched his bubble lightly, wanting him to wake up to prove her wrong. According to her, we would disappear from their memories. We wouldn't be in their lives anymore. Is that what happened to those ancient Digidestined? Did they have to lose their friends in the end? Even though we were bonded by a promise, I didn't want him to forget about me.

"People leave all the time." I suddenly heard TK say. "No one can stay around forever. Even those you love will eventually have to go away from your sight."

"That doesn't mean that I have to like it. I don't want to disappear." I knew that it was pointless to talk.

"No one ever really dies. Because, even though they're not with you, you hold them in you. As long as you are remembered, you're alive for that moment. Even if there is no one around to remember you, your pillar will still be there. People leave all the time, but what makes them died or alive is how they impact others. No one can ever disappear."

I looked at Breomon. "Even with them? They won't forget about us?" I looked around me, seeing that all that were found were accounted for. There was even a new one here, a horse looking one. I looked back at Breomon. TK said that as long as we're in their hearts, we don't have anything to fear, right? I smiled to him, now realizing that I was just fooling myself. I never wanted our friendship to be promise, and it never was. "Breomon, I'll make sure that you have good memories with me." I then felt something pulling me away.

[Ceres

"I think they're over here." Ceres said as she pointed over to a direction. Ken stopped her and pulled her behind him as a blast was shot near them. "Ken?" Ceres asked once the smoke cleared.

Ken smiled and looked over to where it came from.

"I was hoping that you wouldn't notice." Karimon said with a robotic like Gatomon next to her. "I guess there is something worthy of you." She smiled evilly.

"That's why I need him in one piece." Kenmon said, with G Stingmon by him this time.

"We're not going to let you escape this time." Yoliemon said as a human form of Aquilamon appeared next to her.

The ground in front of them moved as Codimon and Armor Ankylomon appeared. "One exit blocked."

"And the other one block." They looked behind them to see Davismon and Steel V-mon.

Ceres felt something from Ken so looked to see that he didn't look so well. "Ken?"

'Side… affect.' He looked like he was fighting to stay awake. Ceres knew that this wasn't good.

[Tim

There was something that was leading me around. Normally, I wouldn't have bothered getting that close to the ruins, but something was pulling me that way. I could also tell that they were trying to warn me of some danger. I figured they were spirits or something, but I didn't really want to know if I was right.

As we were falling, they were able to soften our fall so we wouldn't die, but we were still knocked out. When I woke up, I was in a warm place. It was pretty cold where we were. I looked around, seeing me back in Japan. I got up and looked around. I remembered this place, a place that I didn't want to remember.

I started to run over to where my parents were. My dad was hunting a rogue spirit in this area and my mother was being used to host another spirit that knew this one. My dad died on the spot, while my mother died later. I got to the house before they did. I looked around, seeing the same spirits moving around. They were chanting what they had when we checked out the house before.

I walked among them, seeing that they didn't see me. I wondered what that meant, since I didn't look like a spirit or anything. I heard a sound so I looked to see my parents walking down the path that led to the house. They had brought me along so I was also with them.

"Mommy, don't go." I pleaded as they got closer. The spirits were surrounding me, telling me not to let them go. "Mommy, daddy, listen to me. You can't go."

My dad patted my head, "We have to." He smiled at me as we came to the door. My dad opened it up and we walked inside. Mom let go of my hand as she went to the center of the room, chanting to let the spirit know that it could use her as a medium to help them. Dad was watching, though only now I could see how steady he was looking around. I was showing my fear as I was near the door. It didn't take long for mom to host the spirit. It was around here that I started to go deaf, since I don't remember what I heard.

"Where's your wife?" Dad asked as he stepped closer.

"She's here… and here is where she'll remain!" Mom started to radiate with power.

The ghost of the wife appeared and dad went after her as mom struggled to keep the husband under control.

I ran over to my mom, but before I got to her side, she screamed as the wife went into her as well. My dad couldn't shot his gun, but had it aimed at my mom. "Yuiko! Get her out!" He ordered. Mom just kept on screaming until her body just dropped to the floor. It was around here that I called Grandmother.

The spirits came out of mom and my dad was shooting wildly. They merged together and went through him. He coughed up blood and fell to the ground. They looked me, who was still at the door of the place. There was fear on my face. This is all that I remembered, since I think I blanked out or something.

They came at me, making me wonder how I survived until I saw myself glowing. "Those who lost their way, be gone from this plane!" I yelled in the spiritual language and shot something from my hands at them. The thing hit them and sent them somewhere. This part, I remember. I ran over to my parents, who were still breathing when I got to them and passed out.

I was still in the house. After checking my parents, when this actually occurred, I remember waking up and having Grandmother tell me that they were died. I blamed her ever since, because she should've came faster to save them.

I walked over to their bodies, seeing that my father was dying a slow death. It looked like he was dying from internal injuries. I went through him as I tried to touch him. I gave up believing after this. Even though I could see them, I refused to believe that they were real.

"You know, it's easy to blame things when everything seems to go wrong." I heard TK's voice say. I looked around, not seeing him anywhere. "I know that when I was little, I blamed myself and my parents for the divorced." I remembered this. It was a conversation we had. It was one of those rare moments when we were just by ourselves. "I bet that's how Damon feels. He wants to blame something and the clearest thing he sees is you." This conversation took place some time after Damon told me about the governing their lives thing. "He seems to be like you in the fact that he cares a lot for Nereida and he has say in what she does when they're at school. So, seeing Nereida falling away from you two is worrying him just as much, but he can't blame the group because he understands them and stuff… I say don't let it get to you, because in the end, they'll always love you."

Was I doing the same thing with my Grandmother? Right then, my father died and my Grandmother came in. She was so horrified as she ran over to us. There were others with her, getting my mom and me; trying to save my father. My mother became conscious and was able to tell her what happened. On the way to the hospital, she died. For the woman I never saw shed a tear for them, she was crying her heart out now. I never realized how much it broke her. She then started to say to my sleeping body that she would be stronger for me and my siblings. She would make sure that we're happy and well. She said it with tears coming from her eyes.

I tried to touch her, going through her as well. It just now hit me that Shendramon wasn't with me at all. I looked around, wondering if those spirits send me here. Then the thought about Ryan and the explosions came to my mind as well.

"Tim," I looked at my grandmother even though she was talking to the sleeping me, "It's in your blood to protect others, whether it be strangers or loved ones. It's in your blood, so don't let this scare you."

That surprised me. Was I scared of protecting others? No, I've done it plenty of times, especially now. But, to help strangers is something that I wouldn't do. Maybe I was scared, because for Shendramon, I was worried throughout the whole time that I was getting him out of those chains. I was also worried about my siblings helping strangers. And then when we were told that we belonged to the group, I didn't want to have any part in it. She's right, I was scared. Well, I won't be anymore. I looked at my mother, nodding my head to confirm it.

I was then brought back to my body quickly.

"Tim!" Shendramon's voice said.

I opened my eyes to see him on my chest. I started to get up and looked over to see that Ryan is knocked out beside me.

"He's been out too." Breomon said.

"The explosions?"

Ryan then started to moan. I moved over as he then coughed. "Ryan?"

He looked at me, "What happened?"

Another explosion was heard. We got up quickly and climbed up the ledge. We didn't see anything when we got over the rope. Shendramon went into the air, "Ken and Ceres are in trouble!" He grew big and we got on him. We could see that the fake Digidestined were attacking them, but for some reason, Ceres was carrying Ken and Fiterimon was back.

We went into particles quickly before a blast flew over us. We got solid again as I looked to see a machine like Angemon in the sky with us with a TK looking person on him.

"I was wondering where you two were." He smiled evilly.

"How did they know where we were?" Ryan asked as Breomon attacked him with his Black Wolf attack. They moved quickly out of the way and made Shendramon crash down on the ground.

[Ryan

We landed hard in front of Ceres and Ken. Shendramon seemed to be hurt since he wasn't getting up.

"Is he okay?" Ceres asked as she brought Ken over.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Ceres, check to see if we can use something below." Tim said in a low voice.

She nodded, quickly moving me over to Tim. He quickly made us go through the stone and we landed a few rooms down.

"Ryan, Breomon, help me with Shendramon."

We went over and helped him, running through the rooms and rock to get far away from this place.

"Ceres, did they get Ken?" Tim asked as we were resting for a moment.

"No, he had to use his Faith powers."

"When?" I asked.

"Against them."

"How were they able to find us?"

"They seemed to be watching us."

"Where is that portal?" Tim asked.

"We can't leave them here. If they don't find us, they might destroy this place to find us."

"But we shouldn't stay here. Can you carry Shendramon and Ken?"

"Not for that long of a time."

"Fiterimon, can you help me then? We'll detract them as Ken and Shendramon go through. Ryan and Breomon, help Ceres and then you guys come back so we can get them off our case and out of this place."

I nodded, "Okay." We placed Ken on Shendramon and Wormmon was making sure that we wouldn't be attacked from above. Breomon looked out of the door and then led the way.

[Tim

I watched them go before looking at Fiterimon, "You okay with this?"

She nodded, "Don't worry. I wouldn't agree with it if I wasn't."

"Thanks." I smiled, looking out. "Okay, let's go." We headed out and ran in obvious openings. We were trying to find them and also allowing them to find us.

"This is a good place to go up." Fiterimon said.

I felt something as I allowed Fiterimon on my back. I looked around before climbing up, feeling what they were saying. They were nearby.

They weren't near us when we got to the top. Fiterimon shrunk so she could be on my shoulder. I made sure that I wasn't near the structures so they wouldn't attack it. Something hit the ground next to us and the blast flew us a good distance. I looked to see that the TK one was smiling at us with his machine Angemon with him.

"Hide and seek is over." He smiled.

"Water Fire!" Fiterimon yelled and I was surprised that it was as big as it was.

The Angemon twirled his rod and blocked her attack. The TK laughed and jumped off as the other Digimon came after us. I made the attack go through us, if I could. Otherwise, Fiterimon blocked it with her attack. I was running so I could gather them all in one place. I figured that it was better this way, for some reason. I was getting worried when our commotion wasn't bringing the others along.

"Fiterimon, give us a cover."

"Water!" I noticed that the area started to get cold and damp. "They stopped." She reported. I ran over to a place where I could hide. I looked to see that she had created a mist like environment, and they were being cautious as they went along. When they passed us, I sighed and got in deeper into our hiding spot so we couldn't be spotted. "Why are we hiding?" She asked.

"I need to know why the others aren't following." I looked around, feeling that the spirits were near. "Can you talk?" I asked in their language. They were talking in a language I didn't know when they were around us. It wasn't the common language that everyone uses.

"Yes, we've just been communicating in the native language for a long time." Said a male voice.

"Do you not have a physical form anymore?" I was told about that, though I've never experienced it before.

"Yes. How do you know this language?"

"I can usually see you guys without you revealing yourselves. Where are the other invaders to this area?"

"They're still searching around."

"Did they notice?"

"Yes, they did."

"Okay. Where is the nearest one?"

"Over there." The wind blew to my right and looked that way, "Yep."

"Okay, thanks." I got up, "We could use your help. We're going to get them out of here."

"We'll help in anyway we can."

"Thanks." I looked at Fiterimon, "Okay, they did notice but it seems like they're not biting. So we have to make them bite."

"Who were you talking to?" Fiterimon asked.

"A spirit from this area. They're going to be helping as well."

She nodded, "Okay."

I ran the way I was told I would find the next person. It was the one that looked like Yolie, so I showed myself and began another chase. Luckily, for us, the TK one was mad so he soon came along.

[Ryan

When we heard the explosion, we made our move out into the open. We didn't run into any trouble, which was good. When we got to the area again, we moved them through.

"Why is it that there's only one person attacking?" Ceres asked after we got them through. Wormmon went with them as well.

"Don't know, but we better find Tim so we don't mess up his plans." We heard something from the portal so we looked to see Wormmon.

"Akba wants to say be careful and Ken was saying that you need to use your Crest to get them out of here." He looked at Ceres.

She nodded, "I'll try. Thanks." She smiled.

He went back through and we headed out. We ran over and listened since it was silent for the moment. Then we heard more blasting, and we headed in that direction. Then there was silence.

"What's Tim doing?" I asked. I was hoping that he wasn't caught.

"I don't know… It does seem weird." Ceres commented.

Then we heard other blasting, intensifying after a while.

"It sounds like he's gathering them all up." Breomon offered.

"Why think that?" Ceres asked.

"We used to do that. Lots of Digimon that were higher than us didn't know what hit them… Sorry." He said the first thing with pride.

I touched his head, "It kept you alive, right?" He nodded, "Then it's okay." I smiled. They three try not to be happy about what they did before they met us. We don't get mad at them, so I don't know why they think that we don't want them to talk about it. I mean, even Plantmon is like that, so it's kinda weird.

Breomon smiled back. "I'll lead us to Tim and Fiterimon." He said before heading out. We followed his lead.

"Everyone, quiet." We suddenly heard Tim say, making us get down as the TK, Yolie, and Kari ones passed by with their Digimon.

Tim sighed after a while, "Are they okay?" He looked at us as Fiterimon went over to Ceres.

"Akba is taking care of them." Ceres said. "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to gather them up. I thought it would be easier that way."

"It would be. I can probably use my Crest to get them back into the Digital World."

"Okay. What we should do is get a spot and lure them to it."

"I know of a place… But you guys wouldn't…"

"Just go to the place. We'll get them there."

She nodded and headed out.

"How?" I asked.

"I have a plan." He smiled. He looked somewhere before nodding, "Okay, another is coming this way. We need to come up with something that won't make them think that they need to focus back on you and Ceres."

"I'll follow invisibly as they chase you. I could also get some over at the meeting spot."

"Find Ceres then, and lure the last two there."

"But you don't have a Digimon with you." Breomon said.

"I'm fine." There was something different about Tim right there. He wasn't cautious and he wasn't double thinking. It was creepier than anything else.

"Let's go, Breomon." I smiled at Tim, "Just don't get hurt."

Tim smiled, "I won't. You two be safe too."

I nodded before picking up Breomon and turning us into dust as Tim ran off. He ran into Codimon, got his attention before running. The others soon appeared and continued the chase. I went looking for Ceres and found her in a big open spot. She was practicing, it seemed. I went over to where Davismon was and appeared before him.

"Black Wolf!" Breomon yelled and got a hit. We started running around as well, able to run into Kenmon. As we were heading over to where Ceres was, since it would be easier for her to send a few at a time.

Tim's group was right behind us, which I thought was odd because there was no way that he would know about it. We got them in a good place, I guess because we were against one of the buildings and them.

"This is turning into a great plan." I commented to him.

"Ceres can't get it to work, for some reason." He said.

"How do you know?"

"… I can see and hear spirits, as you know, and they're everywhere so they've helping me right now. She told them that and they told me."

"So we're going to get blasted as she figures out how to make it work?"

"Apparently." He laughed lightly. I sighed as I looked at the Digimon that were powering up to kill us. My Crest started to glow right then in its light forest color.

"Breomon Warp Digievolves to……………………… Joltmon!" And a yellow dog with spikes on some parts of his fur appeared. That didn't seem to faze them and before they could launch, he launched one of his attacks, "Strike!" It came from his body and large amount of lightning shot at them. It affected them, surprisingly. Right then, a huge portal appeared underneath them and they all fell through.

Tim and I sighed as Espomon appeared again.

"What? Didn't believe me?" Ceres walked over to us.

"How do we know they're not coming back?" I asked as I picked up Espomon.

"Ken and I were told that Super Levels use portals to travel here. As long as they don't find one that belongs to Ken, we're good."

"They seem to find that easily, though." Tim said.

"It didn't seem so. I think they need to find it. Anyway, let's go before people start to come."

We nodded and we all headed over to place where we needed to get back to the car. Shendramon looked fine as we got into the car. Akba was in the driver's seat. We all just slept.

[Tim

When we got up, we were at the other side of Arizona and in California. It was already morning, though I wouldn't be able to say when until we got back to the car. We were in a Denny's, eating breakfast there.

"Okay, I'm sure that Ceres can get you the rest of the way. I'll take back the horses and the car." Akba said.

"How are we going to get to Los Angeles?" Ryan asked.

"Don't worry about that, Ryan." Ceres smiled. "Tell them thanks." She looked at Akba. I didn't like how this was going.

"I will. Have a safe trip over and I'll see you in Japan." He got up.

"You're going there?"

"Yep. I want to see the other people that I've heard so much about. I'll wait for a while, though, since I figured you don't want to see me that soon." He smiled, "Bye!" He then walked out.

"Why?" Ryan looked at Ceres.

"He wants to meet Matt and Panther." She smiled.

"Would he be allowed?" I asked.

"He'll sneak in, either way. He is like a brother to me, so I don't mind."

Ken sipped the tea that he ordered. He and Shendramon were a lot better. I was glad for that, petting Shendramon, who was on my lap. I was also glad that no one was asking me about my powers. "So, how are we getting there?" I asked.

"By car, it's the easiest way." She said.

"But didn't he just take the car we were using?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, and you're point?"

Ryan looked at me before looking at her, "You're not serious, are you?"

"Is it really that bad?"

"It's illegal for one thing."

"Don't have enough for a taxi?" I asked.

"I figured I should get you guys used to the idea, because we have to get on a plane to get back to Japan." Ceres answered. "Airplane tickets aren't cheap by any means."

"Tim, you're not going with this, are you?" Ryan asked.

I closed my eyes for a moment, thinking about it. "Ceres, how well do you know the law enforcement around here?"

"It'll take them days before they realize that they've been hit." She said with pride.

"Are you okay with it, Ken?" I looked at him, getting a nod. "Ryan?"

"What if we get caught?" Ryan asked.

"Didn't Panther get you and Lily Dawn to do things with her for the gang?" I figured she did, since they were all best friends.

"But what… Fine." Ryan said, "Yeah, I'm okay with it."

Ceres smiled, "Okay. Tim, you're coming with me. Ryan and Ken, look for a map."

"I thought you knew this country." Ryan asked.

"I do, but that doesn't mean anything about you guys. Besides, we'll need it later. Ken, you also need to find things to make another radio." He nodded.

"Why?" I asked.

"I know what stations they're on so it would make it easier for us to avoid them."

"We can always use one of our powers." I motioned to Ryan and me.

"It'll be about six more hours of driving and I figured that we should save up on that. We don't want to scare people and cause an accident."

"Good point."

"Okay, Ryan, can you make things invisible without yourself going too?" She looked at him.

"Yeah, done it plenty of times."

"That's what you'll need to do and make sure the barcodes particles are more apart. Ready, Tim?"

I nodded. We all got up, paid for the meal and headed out. I couldn't believe that I was going to do this, but oh well. Sometimes, you have to do what you have to do.

[Ken

We went to a shop that looked old enough. Ryan was talking to the owner as I looked around. I found parts that I could use to make another radio, but obviously one with lower frequencies since we don't need to reach over blocked airwaves. I was also very surprised at how I was able to take what I needed without causing suspension. When I walked up to the front, I shook my head, saying that I didn't find whatever Ryan was talking about with the old man. I know I didn't take anything too big, so I hoped that he would forgive or never notice.

" Thanks again. " Ryan said before we left. "+So you didn't find anything you could use?+"

Once we were far away, I shook my head. I showed him what I managed to get.

"Wow… I didn't know that you were a thief." He said then laughed, "But I guess we'll all be one by the end of this." We went to the meeting spot after we got a map and I started to work on the radio. It wasn't like the last one, but it was going to do for now.

[Ceres

Tim and Ceres reached a car lot, since there were tons around the area. Ceres was talking to the salesman, making him think that Ceres and Tim were married or lovers and they were planning on getting a car for themselves to see the world before settling down. Tim played along, but mostly letting Ceres take the lead. She got them a good deal on the Expedition that was white. Tim didn't sign his name, but as James Johnson, on all the documents. Ceres had given him a fake credit card that would appear to work. Tim was afraid that this wasn't going to work, but it did. They got the car and were out of the place in no time.

"Would it work on gas stations as well?" Tim asked as he drove towards the meeting spot.

"We have to be careful on those, though. Most have cameras nowadays." Ceres said as she stretched, "Why James Johnson?"

"A person I didn't like at the science conference that my siblings and I go to has that name. I figured that if nothing else, it's a fairly common name. At the most, it would all go back to him since I know where he lives."

She started to laugh and didn't stop until Tim pulled up to Ryan and Ken. Ken seemed to have finished with his radio, since there was one in his hand.

"This is a good car?" Ryan asked, "I was hoping for a sports one."

"We need one that can get us there with less gas stopping." Ceres said as she was taking deep breaths.

"What's wrong with you?"

"She was laughing at the fact that I was getting revenge on someone." Tim answered. "Ken, are you finished?"

He nodded.

"Good, okay, now we need to change a few things. Get in, and Tim, drive to a shopping place."

They got in and Tim drove over to a place called K-mart. He was driving slow, one for the people walking, and because Ceres was looking for a license plate that came from Utah. Once finding one, Tim parked as close to it as possible. Ceres went over to the car, looking around to make sure that there were no cameras and no one was heading their way. She then used her magic to get the bolts off and the frames. She used those bolts and license plates on the Expedition that they were using, taking off the paper that told everyone that it was a new bought car. Then they headed out.

Ceres was looking at the map as Ryan and Ken messed around with the radio. When they heard on the radio that an Expedition was stole, saying that it was work of con-artist, Ceres had them pull over to the side. She changed her hair color in an instant and also changed Tim's hair color and appearance.

"So now I'm supposed to look like a hippie?" Tim asked as he pulled back onto the road.

"Yep! Ryan, if anyone pulls us over, disappear you and Ken and Digimon." She looked at him.

"Want me to do that all the time?"

"No, because we need to make it seem like this isn't the car that they're looking for. Ken, hide your board too."

He wrote 'Why not change the color of the car too?'

"Because white is a pretty common color for cars. If we need to change it, I will."

"We're also taking the back roads to avoid them, right?" Tim asked.

"Yeah, why?" Ceres looked at him.

"Because our test is coming up."

Everyone looked ahead to see what he was talking about. The police were doing a block for some reason. Ceres hid her bag as Ken, the Digimon with them, and Ryan disappeared

" Let me see your license and registration. " The officer ordered.

Tim reached into his back pocket, pulling out a wallet as Ceres was getting the papers. Tim looked at the name of the fake Driver's License that Ceres made appeared before handing it over to the officer. The name was a Mark Wilson. He wrote it down before handing it back over to them, " Have a nice day. "

" You too, officer. " Tim said with a smile before driving off. " Mark? " Tim asked once they were far away and everyone in the back appeared.

"+What? There's nothing wrong with that name. Unless you like someone by that name.+" She looked at him as their hair changed back.

"Not particularly, but why Mark?"

"Needed something fast."

"Wouldn't they be able to tell that this car was the stole one when they look at the registration?" Ryan asked.

"Nope. I changed that information too."

"How did you get him a Driver's License?"

"I pulled out a hard card and Ceres changed that one to make it look like a Utah one." Tim answered. "Though, I haven't been able to figure out if you actually need something before changing it or if you can create it out of air."

"Both. It's much easier to change something than to create it since it takes less energy and less thinking."

"How does it take less thinking?" Ryan asked.

"Because you don't need to figure out what needs to be on the paper. I've seen Driver's Licenses enough times to know what needs to be on them, which is why I only needed a hard card from Tim's wallet to give it the feel of it."

"How did you know which one to use?" Tim asked.

"I know that you still had the credit card that I gave you and I knew where you placed it. I have a good memory for these things." She smiled.

"So you really are a con-artist." Ryan commented.

"I have been. I've also been cops, artists, bankers, robbers, masterminds, henchman, dealers of cards, dealers of drugs, dealers of guns, detectives, spies… I've just been so many things that I know how these things goes."

"How can you be all of those with only eighteen years behind you?" Tim asked.

"I've also made my age change, and alter my height with illusions. It's just as simple as changing our hair."

"Ken, I bet that if you study Ceres, you'll be able to be a great detective." Ryan said to him, "By the way, Ken's also a good thief."

"Really?" Ceres looked at him with a smile. He shrugged.

"I mean it, I was talking to the owner of the store, thinking that I would just let Ken look around to see what he needed before he came over to get me and I'd make those disappeared. But he just walked up to us, shook his head, and we went out. Only then did I found out that he got everything he needed."

"It's true!" Espomon said from Ryan's lap. "He did it so naturally too that even if you were watching you couldn't catch him."

"I'm sure you're exaggerating it." Wormmon defended his partner.

"Next we'll find out that Ryan is actually pretty good at telling lies." Fiterimon said in her cold tone. Everyone started to laugh.

"What did Tim do? Other than allowed all of this." Ryan asked.

"He was able to play it really cool and is quick with coming up with cover names and addresses." Ceres said with a smile. "That's why he asked about his name on his license, since it was a different name than the one he used for the car buying. I'm turning you all into criminals. I must be good."

"I would like to say that it's because we need to get home that we're willing to go along." Tim said.

"Come on, I know that you like this. It's new and exciting and right on the edge."

"Maybe, though I really do hope that it would take them days before they realize that they've been hit." Ryan said.

"Trust me. We'll be long gone before they realize it."

[Ryan

There were a few other traffic problems along the way, but nothing that needed us to change what we looked like or anything. Ceres was keeping a careful look outside whenever we were coming up to one, but otherwise everything was smooth. We only stopped once on the trip. I got out of the car so they wouldn't be able to identify Tim or Ceres if we were caught. Though, for added protection, Ceres made my face more rectangular than oval shape. The illusion worked as if you actually have that face. I was looking at myself in anything that was reflecting, and it really did feel rectangular than its normal oval.

Los Angeles was muggy and crowded as we entered it. Well, at least the highway was. Ceres got us an inn to stay in.

"Okay, we have to watch the airports for a while. I know someone here that could look up that information for us, so we'll head over there after we eat something."

"Then why are we renting this place?" Tim asked. It was only one room, with two beds.

"It won't take that long to find an airplane that will take us back to Tokyo. We also need to leave the car once we do."

"I think we all knew that." I commented, "But why not leave it as is so they know that it's us?"

"You really want to leave a calling card? No, we can't." She was thinking about it for a moment before totally dismissing the idea. "We can't risk the chance of that."

"But I thought.."

"That's for the police. We have to be careful around here because police isn't going to be the only group that will wanting to watch us."

"Who else?" Tim asked.

She sighed, "I don't know their name, but I do know that they're a huge organization that has a lot of control and hellish powers. They're not afraid to kill anyone that gets in their way and are willing to do everything they can to get their hands on me. Since Ken is well-known over in Japan, and not here, he's also in danger. Since you two are nobodies in their eyes, you're always in danger from them.. I know that they have a headquarters around here in the city, but I don't know where."

"Then how are you safe?" I asked.

"Matt, I guess. He's a famous astronaut and a well known cook. Plus, he knows Seto Kaiba personally… I guess they kinda protect me while I'm in Japan, but I only have myself when I'm anywhere else that they can't reach me."

Ken made a sound. He wrote 'You're always protected when you're with us. Don't forget, we're not ordinary and we all have Digimon who are willing to help.'

"Thanks, Ken." She smiled.

"Okay, let's get something to eat as we're heading over to your friend's place." Tim said.

We all nodded and headed out. The city had its good points, I must admit. After we got something from a Wendy's, Ceres was driving us over to her friend's. When we got near her apartment, it was heavy with traffic. Ceres pulled over to some parking lot when she could.

"That isn't normal. Let's go check it out." Ceres said as she turned off the car.

We all got out and followed her. When we got closer, it was becoming hard to move because of the people. Tim was almost willing to go through all of them so we could get to the front. The police had blocked off the about seven meters from the building. A body was lying on the ground, blood all over it and clothes cut up. It was a female, even if her breasts and face weren't there anymore.

" Ariel! " Ceres screamed and was about to run over before Tim held her back. " Ariel! Ariel!! " This was the first time that I think I saw Ceres cry.

" Miss, " A cop came up to her, " do you know her? "

Ceres calmed herself a bit before looking at the man, " I… I think so… Was there an ID? "

" There was. " He motioned for a bag with things in it over to him, " Ariel May is what it says. "

Ceres was about to fall, if she still wasn't being held by Tim. I saw how lost she looked, and how at fault she made herself feel. I looked over at the body, seeing that we were late in seeing her friend.

"Would you please come with us for a while?" He stretched his hand so it was on the tape that blocked everyone else.

"My friends are coming with me." She said before looking at him, "Otherwise, we're not going to the station."

He nodded, pulling the tape so we could go through. Ken and I went first so he knew that we were with her before her and Tim came through. Tim made sure that she didn't see any more of her body, for obvious reasons. I couldn't stand to look at it for much longer. We got into a car, able to fit in one car because his partner was going to stay behind. I sat in the front with him, since I figured that Ceres could use Tim with her right now.

The place wasn't as dirty or filthy as I had always imagined them to be. It was fairly clean and smelled it too. We were brought into a room with only a mirror, the famous mirror that everyone knows about. We sat down in the chairs, with Ceres gaining back some of her composure.

"What was she involved with?" Ceres asked.

"What makes you think that she was involved in anything?" The man asked.

"Because this is a high level section crime of the police force, which means that this wasn't a simple homicide or a simple rape and kill, this is something much bigger than that. So what was she working on that got her killed?"

He sighed, "We were having her follow this one guy that we believed was involved with another crime that we're investigating."

"Why did she agree?"

"She said that this guy was after a friend of hers and she wanted to get him off the streets for her. She never gave us a name of this friend."

"Was.. was her appearance his trade mark?" She seemed afraid to ask that.

"No. We're not even sure how it was done ourselves."

"Do you know Japanese?"

"I know a bit, why?"

"Give me a minute." She looked at us, "+I want this man to pay for what he did to her.+"

"+Was she talking about you?+" Tim asked.

"+Yes.+"

"+See if we can help. Once you have gained his trust, then tell him everything you know.+"

Ceres looked at the detective for a moment, " Tell me your name, please. "

" Vincent Revell. And yours? "

" Call me Ceres. This is Tim, Ryan and Ken. We can't talk here, though, but let me say that we're willing to help catch this murderer and to finish her case. "

He looked at her for a moment before nodding. " Where do you want to meet? "

" Four hours from now at the Starbucks near her house. "

" Okay, I'll be there. "

" You're partner? "

" Just me. "

" Did she know about her involvement? "

" Everyone knew that was on the case but I was the one that got all the information and knew where she lived. "

" Okay, thank you. We'll see you in four hours. " We got up and headed out.

[Ken

We were at that particular Starbucks within an hour or so. Ceres was silent the whole time, and I knew we all knew that this friend was killed by that organization that's after her. I even believe that we knew that the person she was stalking was also from that organization, maybe even someone that Ceres has run into before. TK had told me that Matt had adopted Ceres officially when some agents from that organization tried to take her. We sat there in a corner, but didn't order anything.

"+I guess you all knew what's going on, unless you need me to spell it out.+" Ceres said as she looked out the window.

"+Do you guys understand?+" Ryan asked the Digimon, which they gave a nod.

"+What do you think of him?+" Tim asked.

"He's a good person, most likely. Ariel trusted him, so he has to be good. I'll see more when we talk later. Don't expect him to give us everything."

"I think we figured that out. What can we do to help, though?" Ryan asked.

"We'll get that information when he comes."

"Tell us more about her." Tim said.

Ceres took a moment to reflect, "I didn't write to her or anything, but I would always let her know when I was in town, like Joe. I always made it a point to go see her and spend a few hours with her before heading out. She knows Akba, since he's been with me a few times when I was here. There were some crimes on the news that I poked out to her that were most likely them."

"What does the organization want?"

"I wish I knew. All I knew was that they were after me and were willing to kill and can pass all nation sovereignty."

"If they're willing to kill then why not kill Matt?" Ryan asked.

"That's why I'm protected when I'm near him, because he is famous." This is what she was hoping for, in either case. I don't know if the others could see it, but she could. They could also take it the wrong way, since now they could think that she's only staying to be free from them. I know that's not the case either.

After that, we weren't talking. I couldn't tell what they were thinking, which was a bit creepy to me. I had an idea on what they were thinking about, but no clear idea on what it really was. I was watching the other people in the place now. They looked like they were ignoring us pretty well. I was watching how they were interacting with each other. I found no real interest in doing this, but never the less, it was something to do when you can't do much.

When the Revell came in, he got something before coming over. " We still want to help. " Ceres said as he sat down. " I'm the friend that she was trying to protect by catching this guy. "

" Why? " He didn't seem to like the idea.

She looked around before leaning closer, "He's probably part of an organization that has been after me ever since I was five. I don't know much of their activities or the name of the organization, but they have been following me all over the place. She didn't know anymore than I did, but she knew what kinds of crimes I believe that they would be involved in. Probably seeing one, she volunteered herself so I didn't have to worry about them over here. She was killed in their fashion."

Revell listened closely, nodding a bit before being satisfied with what she gave. "That's correct. She had explained similar things to me as well. Okay, I'll get you a place where you can stay…"

"Don't worry about that. We'll get ourselves."

"Them too?" He looked at us.

"I told you, they're my friends."

"Is the organization after them too?"

"No."

"Then why get them involved?"

"Annoying habit? Anyway, what do you need to be done?"

He sighed, "It's highly dangerous, and on most occasions not legal."

She smiled, "Have she ever described me?"

"She said that you're a good person that's an expert in any field."

"What do you think that means?"

"That you're comfortable with this level of work and would be very good at it. Do you trust them with your life?" He looked at us with his eyes.

"Yep."

"Are you sure that you don't want a place I give you?"

"Low-key is something I would like, and you can't get that with someone providing."

"Okay, then we'll always agree to meet somewhere."

"Of course, though do realize that I recognize the necessary of disguises."

"How would I recognize you?"

"We'll come up with that later. Let's talk about tomorrow."

"Where do you want to meet?"

"At that park looking place next to BP Plaza at the inner pond facing S Hope Street at five in the morning."

He nodded and got up, "I'll bring as much as I can." And he left.

We were there way before the time. I was standing near her, sitting on one of the benches. Tim and Ryan were nearby, hiding to watch out for anything suspicious.

Ceres had been eerily quiet since yesterday. She was looking up at the sky, as if thinking. I wondered how useful I would be, since I couldn't talk. I looked at Ceres, seeing how serious she could really be. Her life has never been easy on her, and yet she can smile and have fun. TK was the same way, and I had always wondered if that way of thinking was useful.

"Ken." I looked at her since I was looking at where Ryan was. She looked at me, "I'm not using Matt, am I? Am I just staying in Japan because I can use people there to help me?"

I smiled as I placed my hand on her shoulder. I shook my head, mouthing 'Of course not. Matt cares about you and wants you to be happy.'

That put a smile on her face. "I felt for a moment that I was."

'Do you want to stay in Japan?'

"I don't really know. I don't think I would want to, but I sometimes don't know myself."

"He's coming." Shendramon told us. We looked ahead of us to see him coming up.

" Where are you other friends? " He asked as he took a seat next to Ceres.

" They're making sure that you weren't tailed. " She went right back to who she always appears to be. I just noticed how unease Ceres really is. I wondered how her much she really trust others. It was like she was on guard all the time, even when she was all smiles. Was TK like that? Are those smiles just to hide what's really there? I never gave it much thought before. " So, what do you have? "

He opened up the briefcase and handed her a folder. "That's all we gathered on the man."

She opened it so that I could see as well. They were all photos of a man. He never changed his appearance, dressing in a black tux. The only thing that changed was whether or not he had sunglasses or not. When we got to his profile, we both scan through it. I noticed that they don't have much on his health, but he was a high professional in major companies over here. Some of them were even leaking to the world. As we were going through it more, I could see that he had his hands in a lot of stuff. I noticed that he even had ties to the police, and I poked it out to Ceres.

"Should we trust those around you?" Ceres asked, looking at him, "According to this, he has his hands in you guys."

He looked to confirm that. "You can trust me at the very least."

She looked at me. I don't know what she wanted me to do, but I looked at the Revell. I could feel something when I was, though I wasn't sure what it was. I looked at Ceres and nodded. She then looked at him, "Okay, Ken is going to stay with you. What assignments do you have for us?"

"I wouldn't since I have people on those positions already. I mean, my partner and I are the main ones working on this project and we report to our boss."

I tapped on Ceres's shoulder. 'I have an idea.'

"Hold on for a moment." She said to Revell before looking back at me.

'I'll stay with Revell and his partner in the office. Tim and I will switch Digimon so he can have someone to protect him and I have a way of contacting you guys. Revell will get Ryan into the photography and sketching parts and Tim into the lab stuff.'

"+And me?+" She asked, though with no fun or excitement that I thought I would get.

'I figure that you can be someone that does the undercover work. Of course, when you're not, you can be with me and when you are, one of us will be with you.'

"They're okay with that." Shendramon informed us.

Ceres looked at Revell, " Okay, this is what's going to happen. My two other friends need to get into the labs and witness/crime scene things. We're going to be hanging around you guys and I'm going to be doing most of the undercover things. "

"But they're after you."

"What makes you think I'm going in alone?" She smiled. "So, can you make that happen?"

"The lab we use is pretty tight. They know each other."

"Show me where it is then, and I'll get them in."

"Do you not trust the system?"

"I never trusted, but I'm also not about to let good spying post go to waste."

"There isn't much in those departments that we use though."

"We'll be flexible."

He sighed, "Follow me, then." We all got into his car, though we were making sure that Ceres was save from all sides. We were shown where those departments were and Ceres got them in at that moment. They started work immediately, all because of Ceres's magic. I could tell that she was determined about this.

When we got to the office, I just remembered that we could talk through our jewels. He allowed us his desk. I didn't take note of who his partner was, since I was making sure that the crime was implanted in my mind. She wasn't anything special, but she seemed to be a good person.

"What are they doing here?" She asked.

"They're going to be helping." He answered her as I was going through the other files.

"We volunteered ourselves, and we know what we're getting into." Ceres answered.

"The boss…"

"She was a friend of mine. I'm not going to stand by and let that happen to someone I know." Ceres cut her off. I never really knew how much of a traditionalist Ceres was. That was something that I understood that they probably didn't fully understand. I then saw something interesting with his schedule. I touched her shoulder, making her look at what I was pointing at. That made her smile, "Sounds like a lot of fun."

"What?" Revell asked.

"He goes to a night club. Have you guys checked it out?"

"Dozen of times."

"And what did you find?"

"Nothing."

"Have you ever had a undercover cop there?"

"Why would we have someone work there?" His partner asked.

I looked at Ceres and she looked at me, smiling before looking at them, "Then we will."

"But if he knows you…" Revell started.

"Come on, I'm no fool. And don't worry, you'll get what you want him for."

Though, I knew that we didn't have a clear idea on what that was. I was looking through it again as they were arguing with Ceres about this idea. I then knew what they wanted the guy for. He was a crime boss, though there was no clear evidence on this. I was wondering if Ceres could use her underground network to her advantage. I then started to notice that he had a lot of ties to New York. I would have to ask later on that. The autopsy hadn't arrived yet, so we couldn't get anything on the body itself. Though, if my memory serves me right, she looked like she was taken by surprise and then killed. Almost like a predator rather than a human. It was also really messy, looking at all the crimes that was said to be linked to him. I just then got the feeling that somehow, it wasn't him, but he was still involved. Without anyone noticing, I took some of the photos, being doubtful that they would let us keep them.

After interrupting them as they were talking about something, we were shown everything they had on file. I was searching through it, not hearing what they were talking about. I was seeing something, something that could lead us in the right direction. I was writing down all the places he goes to. I also started to notice that in some photos where it's not only him, the people around him were also in the same dress. I went back to the first profile, seeing that it didn't have his fingerprints. I looked at everything and nothing did. I then went for his name and it was Mr. B.

After that, I gathered everything up and brought them over to the interrogation room, spreading them out on the table as I looked at everything. I also was taking down notes because Ceres got me a pen and paper.

[Ceres

Ken was working hard on studying the cases on him. Revell and his partner, Wendy Harvill, had other cases that they also needed to work on, so they allowed Ceres and Ken to the files. Their boss didn't notice them, since they stayed mainly in the room that Ken was working in. Ceres smiled at him, glad to see that he was working so hard.

"Does he get like this often?" Ceres looked at Wormmon.

"Not usually. TK normally distracts him before he can get this serious."

"Including when he wasn't over at his house or hanging out with him?" Fiterimon asked.

He nodded, "He would call Ken, like he knew when Ken was about to get tune out everything else."

"Is it a bad thing that he's like this?" Ceres asked.

"I don't think so, but it does seem like he doesn't notice anything around him." Wormmon looked at him.

"Ceres," Fiterimon looked at her, "Are we still going to look for a plane?"

She sighed, "I know I shouldn't be selfish about this, but I really don't want to leave until we get this taken care of."

"By what I can tell, it would be impossible to take him down for all that he has done." Wormmon said.

"But we will take him pay." She said with hate in her voice. "No one kills someone I know and gets away with it."

Fiterimon looked at Wormmon and shrugged. Ceres was now in her own world too, seeing things that only Ele seemed to understand.

After a while of this silence, Ken tapped the table, getting the creatures but not the human. Ken looked at Wormmon and Fiterimon.

"We don't know either." She said.

Ken tapped on her arm, making her look at him, "Yes?"

He brought out his whiteboard, 'I have an idea on what we can do that's more beneficial.'

"Like what?"

'We have to meet back up again, so let's head back to the inn.'

She nodded, "Okay. Are you keeping all that?"

'Am I allow to?'

"Yeah, I convinced them to let us handle the case now."

"She did, no magic involved." Fiterimon said.

'That makes it easier on me, then.' He mouthed before gathered everything and they went over Revell to get a ride. They picked up Ryan and Tim before heading back over to the morning meeting spot. From there, they got in their stolen car and went back to the inn without much talking.

"What did you learn, before Ken starts?" Ceres asked once they all had something to eat.

"I found out that the people in the morgue were planning on doing a poor job of examining her body." Tim said, "I managed to do it myself when no one was around though."

"Have you ever done something like that before?" Ryan asked.

"No, but I've been learning over at the hospital were Joe and Rowen works."

"What did you find?" Ceres asked with a bit of fear in her voice.

"What killed her was quick hit to the ground on her head. Judging by… Do you really want to hear details?" Tim stopped himself.

Ceres looked down at the floor before shaking her head, "No, not really… just why she looked like that."

"Whatever attacked her, it wasn't human." That made Ceres looked at him, "It was a creature, it wasn't earthy either, and it was eating her."

Ceres buried her head in her knees, bringing them up, "Ryan?" She asked with no quiver in her voice. Ken placed his arm around her.

"I got the photos from the crime scene… and they were planning on burning them for some reason." He said softly.

"Shendramon…" Ceres started before he stopped her.

"Okay, this is me speaking through Shendramon. Thanks, by the way. The man that is connected to this is called Mr. B. According to all that the police have on him, he has no past and no fingerprints. Let me first say what I need to say before you start to ask questions. He's been involved with a lot of the underground networks, it seems, having his hand in everything. That is probably why they were planning on destroying what they had of the crime. He also has a company that is planning on going global and its main headquarters is in New York. Now, with all this information, and all the crimes that are connected to him, it seems like he's not involved with them. He is connected to them, but maybe not as the head boss or master mind behind all. I think that with all the crimes he's involved with, he's more like a secret police force that protects in the shadows…"

"How dare you even think that?!" Ceres moved away from him, glaring at Ken, "He just killed a friend of mine! He's one the people that's been after my life! He's part of the organization that killed my boyfriend! Don't you dare make them noble!"

"Ceres," he said calming, "I understand, I really do, which is why I looked hard to find if I was just assuming things. He is connected to them, and his past is more than enough reason to question him, but something isn't adding up. All the crimes that are similar to the raw savagery of this one aren't the same and they're not the marks of someone that has had experience in 'wiping out' people."

"They showed me Ilpalo's head. They cut it off to show me what they could do. Don't you dare say that they can't do something far worst." She pushed Ken to the ground, showing her anger, "You had had an easily life. The only problem was that you became the Digimon Emperor. You became a genius and an athlete over night. You never had to struggle just to stay alive. You don't know what the Real World is like. You never know the feeling of being afraid, of being hunted down like a rabbit or deer, and never knowing why you are."

Tim pulled her off of Ken, making her looked at him, "Ceres, you think that we don't understand that about you? But, at the same time, that's all you are."

"What are you talking about?" She pulled away from him.

"We all know that you're strong, and we all know that you run and that you're afraid. We see all of that clearly."

"And sometimes, you make it seem like that makes you better than everyone else." Ryan added, "That because you're being hunted, and had had a rough life, that you're better than everyone else around you. Well, our lives might not have been as chaotic as yours, but I can say that some of us have tough lives too. You shouldn't feel proud that you suffer more than another person."

"Why the hell would I feel proud about this? Do you think I want to suffer?"

"You left Japan, didn't you? If you wanted an easy life, you should've just stayed. You were loved, right? You have a mom and Akba to keep you company through all your days. You have other people around you that care about you, and yet you leave them behind. We all care about you, but sometimes we would like you to get off your high horse. You're not perfect by any means."

"Guys," Ken was rubbing his shoulder that was held down by Ceres, "Don't worry about it. I'm sorry for sounding like I was praising them or something. I was just giving what I found."

Ceres walked pass him, and got to the door before looking at them, "I'll be back." She opened the door and as she walked out, she made sure that the door slammed.

[Tim

"I thought she was afraid to go out on her own." Ryan commented. Ken got up quickly and opened the door, looking around. I went over, seeing that she was no where in sight.

"Ele," I looked at her, "Where would she go?" I then noticed that her bag was here. I remembered the first time she came to the Digital World, how she would never let that leave her side, bringing Ele with her. I went over, picking it up.

"She said that this is the second time she was left behind like this." Fiterimon said, "And she doesn't know. Last time, she didn't come back for a whole week."

Ken closed the door, coming back over to us. "What I was going to say next was that we should split up to his normal hang out spots. There are a few of them, but we should at least figure out why he goes there. They're not normal hang out places, either, and he visits them regularly."

"What about Ceres?" Fiterimon asked. "We're not going to let her be like that, right? If you are…"

"Don't worry, Fiterimon." Ryan said with a smile, "We're not going to do this without her, right Ken?" He looked at him. Ken nodded.

"Then we'll work on this until we figure out what this guy is up to and who really killed her friend." I said. I was remembering her body, how her organs where missing. Her breasts were cut up so that it could clean out the body. I don't know why her face was gone, but it was cut in a way that made it seem like a mask. The more I think about it, the more I'm starting to notice how it seemed like the body was being cleaned out for some reason, but wasn't able to finish. "Let's go try to find her."

Fiterimon smiled, getting on my shoulder that Shendramon didn't have. Ken allowed Ele on him and Ryan was carrying her bag. Once we cleaned up, we headed out. We figured that we should have a better look at the crime scene before tracking her down. Fiterimon suggested it as we were heading over there, so we could just get right to work when we found her and not bring her here again.

[Ceres

Ceres found herself at a bar in downtown. She never made it a habit to drink, but it was a dark place where she could hide. She was holding herself, not knowing what to say. When they were saying that she shouldn't compare her sufferings to others, that she wasn't perfect, that her pains aren't all that special, it hit her harder than she thought it would. What really surprised her, when she had to face her fear with Maeve; they had said everything she didn't want to hear. Now, they say they can see and understand, but that they have suffered too. It might not be big as running for your life, and they weren't telling her that she should just place her sufferings as nothing; they were just telling her that her superiority about it wasn't needed. That it no longer impacted them and it was actually getting on their nerves.

But how could they truly understand? She knew that she was capable of doing the same thing as them, what they did to Ariel. She had done the same thing before. Ken was calling it noble, how the hell could he do that? It was nothing to be boosting about.

Ceres remembered how he looked as she was yelling at him. He was calm about it, taking it all, including the Digimon Emperor comment. She was trying to strike at him like he had her, but it didn't work. It was like that didn't matter anymore. Didn't he hurt many Digimon? Doesn't he feel remorse or regret? She felt connected to Ken in that way, the way that they had been evil once and came back to the light but never could let go what happen. Was she now alone in that part?

She hated how everyone with her had gotten better. It wasn't that she didn't want them to, because she wanted the group back together. She wanted to be the one, not Panther, that brought the group together. She never knew how jealous she was of Panther. While Matt was gone, she was taking charge, making everything run smoothly. She was also the only one that had met Styxmon and was the one that Matt counted on the most. She also hated how Panther had a good life after she got let out of the gang. Matt was hers. She got all the attention, and Matt trusted her with everything. As she was living with them in the beginning, she saw that. She saw that everyone had their claim on Matt, but she never did. Whatever she tried, someone else already had. Even though she had her right to being serious when they mentioned that they had failed to keep the group together, she hid how much it hurt her when he spoke to her. It was like she was right then someone that wasn't apart of the group.

"Ceres." She suddenly heard TK say. She looked up, noticing that he was standing near a girl, a beautiful one at that. She had silver hair and it was up in a bun. She was smiling in a way that seemed supernatural. Ceres looked around her, seeing that she wasn't in the bar anymore.

"Where am I?"

TK smiled at her, "I think we're in your mind."

"Who's that?" Ceres looked over at her, shying away a bit at her gentle smile.

"This is Diana."

"Diana?"

He nodded, "I'll give you more when you guys get back. Oh, are you guys still traveling in America?"

"… Why?"

"Kaiba-sama is looking for everyone so I want to know how fast he can get you guys."

In the moment that Ceres was going to tell a lie, she looked at Diana. She held this sad expression on her face. Ceres was getting a bit annoyed that she was affected by this. "We're in Los Angeles, but we're doing something so I don't want to head back just yet."

"Okay. Oh, the reason I'm here is to help you."

"I don't need any help." Ceres looked away.

"Everyone needs it. As a matter of fact, you're the last one I need to get."

"I'm fine, TK. Take your noble act somewhere else."

"I don't think it's possible for a rain check, so sorry." He smiled, "I'm sorry I can't get anything about… Well, I don't remember any dialogue that Matt had, but I'll explain him after Panther."

"Why would I care about those two?"

"You do." He smiled. "Okay, these ones with Panther are when we went to go get you back." He pointed over to where an image was forming. TK and Panther were on Pegasusmon, Shendramon carried the Shuni family, Nefertimon carried Lily Dawn and Ryan, and the boat with Persephone and Charon with everyone else. Ceres remembered when she saw them all when she was falling with Ilpalo. She was happy to see them all again, glad to know that they all came. What was important that she needed to know?

"We better get Ceres back before any war breaks out here." TK looked at everyone, "Not only for her own safety, but for everyone. I don't remember if I told you guys this, but she has the power to unite or break up any group she wishes."

They all had some thought in their minds; that some end was going to come if she had stayed with Maeve. Though, it wasn't them that made her go back, since she was slowly forgetting about them, it was because Ilpalo wanted her to go back. They could've been waiting back home for her, and as long as Ilpalo had wanted her to go, she would've. So, whatever they were thinking of, the reasons they needed her on their side, it didn't matter in the end.

"Ceres would never allow herself to be used like puppet!" Panther yelled at TK. "She's stronger than that so don't you ever think that Ceres can't handle herself." Ceres looked at Panther, seeing how angry she got. It wasn't like a friend kind of defense; it was like a best friend one. Ceres was moved, for some reason.

"I believe in her, Panther. I really do. I have every confidence that she can escape her kidnappers, but even she can get tired." TK was right about that. She was getting tired. For some reason, she was getting tired of running.

"Don't start thinking about a big war then." Big war? Why would a war be started over her?

"I was just stating their motive for taking her." TK smiled, calming Panther a bit. That's when she noticed that Panther had Ele and Yi-Yamon and her bag with her. She remembered when she first left them behind, like she did now. It wasn't that she abandoned Ele, but she needed some time alone, some real alone time. She doesn't mind that Ele is with her, but it was something that she needed. Ceres smiled, seeing that Panther was willing to take care of them for her like Ilpalo did before.

They stopped at the entrance to some dark cave. Most looked like they didn't really want to go through there, if it wasn't for the fact that it was needed to get to her.

"This is as far as I can take you. I wish you luck on your journey." Persephone said to them as Charon started to take her back.

"Thanks for all your help." TK said.

"We wish for you to bring peace to this land, Neo Digidestined." Ceres looked at everyone, surprised to seem them more resolved. She didn't understand why, though. They looked like this was more than a duty or a mission; it was something that they were going to do because someone they care about needed them. It was like they had to rescue a love one. Did they really think of her like that?

"This next one is when we were fighting Maeve." TK said.

They were in the meadow where they were fighting the army, but now the army wasn't there. It was just Maeve and them. Ceres had always wondered if maybe she wanted her for something noble, for something that could bring her back to being good again. She had watched her throughout her life since Ilpalo died, so maybe she understood her desire to be good again.

"Power here? Hun, I'm talking about all over. I have learned of her abilities and I'm not about to let the Greeks have her." Ceres's heart sank. She then knew that she was sought because of her powers, the powers that Ilpalo described to her. Was she nothing more than a tool to everyone?

"She's not an item that you can use and toss away!" Panther yelled, showing her disgust at the thought that someone could think of Ceres that way.

"And now for Matt." TK looked at her, "He wouldn't have gotten you into the school and given you a home if for a moment he didn't want you apart of his life." TK smiled, "You felt like you didn't get the same feelings that Panther got from him because you allowed yourself to be closed off from them. He cares about you just like he cares about Panther."

"He's the same to everyone though." Ceres pointed out.

"No, because not everyone needs that. He's kind to everyone, but he's not the same towards everyone. You'll see when you guys come back that I'm right."

Ceres looked at Panther, seeing the fight now. She was trying so hard to get to Maeve. She wanted to take her down, to make her pay for what she said.

"Another thing too." TK said, making Ceres look at him, "Panther has also gotten a lot closer to you now. Lily Dawn is quite jealous of you."

"What?"

"Yep, Panther tells you things that are on her mind, but she doesn't tell Lily Dawn or Ryan like she used to in the past. So you're not rejected by them in any means."

"But that doesn't say much about the group." Ceres pointed out.

"True.. Well, Lily Dawn's anger isn't a group related thing, and it doesn't really affect the group on the whole."

"Whatever, it's not like they would care."

Diana came over to her, placing her hand on shoulder, "Ceres," Her voice was smoothing and full of everything Ceres wasn't. "Didn't they all come to get you?"

"They probably…"

"No, you saw it in their eyes. They consider you their friend, and a dear one. Do not fear them, and don't close them off. You need them as well, maybe now more than ever."

"I've been alone my whole life…"

"But you found happiness once, and you want that again."

"I'm not allowed to have it anymore. I'm a murderer and everything else that's bad."

"Ceres," TK said, making her look over to him, "Panther was in a gang. She was known as the toughest gangster around, and look where she is now. What makes you think you can't have the same thing?"

"Ceres," Diana looked at her, "You deserve so much more, not because of you suffer more or less, because you're a human being, and human beings always deserve more than what they have. It's their character that tells them which end they should get." She smiled, "And we all know that your heart is pure and noble and just, so you don't need the negative end."

"How would you know what's me?" Ceres didn't know why her words were affecting her more than TK's. Ceres had never taken people's opinion of her high, since she always thought that they didn't have a clue what they were talking about. But, she, Diana, was different in so many ways that it's hard to describe.

"I know a good heart when I see one." She smiled. "And you still have that good heart. That's why you're hurting so much."

Ceres looked down at nothing. In that moment, she was pulled into Diana. Ceres felt this overwhelming calm and love and everything that was them and more. That's when Ceres was resting her head on Diana's shoulder, allowing the feeling to fill her.

"You and I are the same, Ceres." Diana said.

"Huh?"

"I was the holder of Virtue."

Ceres looked at her, "How does that make us alike?"

She smiled, "It's one way, but there are other things. Virtue is complete, but unity is the ultimate oneness. I bring the others into the bigger circle, and you are the center of that circle." She opened her hand, bringing out a tri-ring ornament. Ceres was looking at it with awe. "Before I died, I completed this. This one," she touched the ring that had kanji for different virtues that were considered noble for a samurai, along with two symbols that connected that ring to Virtue, "was given to me by my father. He told me that this is my destiny." She pointed to the one that had all the Digidestined Crest, with Miracle and Destiny connecting that ring to the virtue that was already there, "And this one was when I learned about my deeper connection to everyone. And the last ring connects me to you guys." That ring made it seem like it was imperfect, but Ceres noticed that she made Peace touch where Light was, as if not allowing it to be by itself, even though it clearly was.

"It's beautiful. But why did you remake it?"

"I wanted something physical to remind me where I belong." She smiled sadly. She handed it out to Ceres, "But now, I know where I belong, so I'll give this to you so you can always remember."

Ceres looked at it before looking at her, "But it's important to you, right?"

"It won't do anyone any good if it stays with me. It would honor me if you did. You don't have to share it, because I'm only giving this to you."

Ceres looked at it once more before accepting it. "Thank you."

She smiled, "I'm always here. Call me as you sleep if you need it."

Ceres nodded, then she looked at TK, "Thanks."

He smiled at her, "I just wish I knew when it would be okay to get you guys."

"I think I have a way. Just tell Kaiba that he needs to keep his lines open for Pegasus and that the password will be 'Mon, mon Digimon, Digi-mon, mon'."

"Pegasus?"

"He knows."

TK nodded, "Okay. I'll see you when you guys get back then."

"I have to take TK back." Diana said as he was fading. "But I do mean that I'll always be there for you when you need me."

"How can you do this?"

"I have lots of power, just like you." She smiled, "Until you call me again." She then disappeared.

Ceres opened her eyes to see that she was still at the bar. She looked in her hand, seeing the tri-ring ornament in her hands. She smiled to herself as she got herself out of the place.

"Ceres!" She turned around when she heard Ryan. They were running over to her, with each having something of hers.

"How did you find me?" Ceres looked at them.

"I was feeling for you again." Tim smiled, letting Fiterimon go to her.

"Again?" Ceres was getting her bag and Ele back as well, placing the ornament in her bag.

"I did the same thing for when we were looking for you when you were taken. Anyway, we've decided that either tonight or tomorrow, we hit all of his hang out areas."

"That doesn't sound like a solid plan." Ceres was petting Ele, who was rubbing her head on Ceres's cheek happily.

"We're leaving the real decision to you." Ryan said, "After all, we won't do this without you."

"Why?"

"Because this is your friend. And even though to us, it's a life of a person, it doesn't have the same impact as it does with you." Tim said.

"Then why are you helping?"

"Because it matters to you, that's all we need to help out too." Ken said through Shendramon.

Ceres smiled, really glad to hear that. "Okay, we'll get our bearings tomorrow."

They nodded and headed back to the inn.

"Where did you go?" Fiterimon asked in a low voice.

"I went to the bar, but TK and some lady found me there… I guess I'm now healing like the others are." Though, she was going to wait until they got home to see whether everyone wanted her there. Just because a few do, doesn't mean that everyone does.

[Ken

Ceres had stayed up the whole night. I couldn't really blame her, since I'm sure she had a lot on her mind. But, I noticed that she had this aura around her now. It wasn't the same one that she always had. It was like, slowly, she was getting over herself. When she was talking to me, I noticed a mad look in her eyes, the eyes that I knew I could have back then, the look of revenge. Tim, Ryan, and the Digimon were asleep. Fiterimon and Ele were the only ones up with her. I couldn't fall asleep, seeing her looking out the window for nothing. She came out with an ornament, something that seemed like I should recognize for some reason. I decided to get up around one to have a talk with her, if nothing else.

"Couldn't sleep?" She asked as she continued to look outside. Ele was on her shoulder and Fiterimon was on her shoulder. "Sorry for what happened before."

'Don't worry about it.' I mouthed, since I didn't want to write this early. 'You seem a lot different than before.'

She looked at me before nodding, "Do you know anything about Diana?"

Diana? 'I know some things about her, if my feeling that TK came to you is correct.'

"How would you know that?" She seemed surprised.

'TK came to me too, when they were attacking.' I touched Faith, smiling at the thought of Kitty. I couldn't explain it, but it was like I was coming closer to her, closer than I ever thought I would. 'He told me that I was probably not having enough faith in myself and kindness towards myself, which was making me unable to use those two properly.'

"Did he show you anything?"

'No, he just talked to me. Why do you want to know about Diana? How do you know who she is, anyway?' I'm nearly positive that we didn't mention anything about this to anyone, since Kitty is someone that TK cares a lot about.

"She was with him, and she was letting me know that I could count on her whenever I needed her. I'm not sure how to describe her, but she's someone that, I think, could be like a goddess, by her purity and goodness and all that stuff. She doesn't seem to have any fails to her."

'She's human, but she's probably hides it better than most.'

"What do you mean?"

'Because TK told me that both her and her sister, the one that first held Faith, had no faith in themselves, but they had faith in everyone else… And, I think that maybe she hid how she held for the good of others, making her pain into her new found strength. People who are perfect have things that make them human too, they just hide them better.' I smiled. If TK is right, and she was involved with Matt's life so heavily, and if she really did love him as his play says, then when Matt dated Sora, I wondered how crushed she really was. I wonder if she ever got angry at him for what he did. Or did she just smile at him, giving him her best? I guess, we'll never truly know. 'I don't know much about her, but she was heavily involved with Matt and TK's life. The same with her sister.'

"So what does that got to do with me?"

'What did she say?'

"That we were the same in so many ways. That she was pure and I was the ultimate oneness, that she brings people to me to be apart of that oneness. What was she talking about?"

'Well, when all the virtues are gathered in one place, they create a force so strong that nothing can break it. But, that only happens when the virtues have no doubt and no fear. I guess, maybe, that for the first two groups, we needed to have Virtue and Faith apart of our lives, so we could get to that stage, to be able to have that strength to defeat those that we needed to defeat. But, with that strength, we get closer to what is really out there, which are the Neo Crest. Maybe she was supposed to bring us to this group so that we can all be stronger.'

"But Matt isn't doing that."

'He tried. He had told the first group about this group, and only three people were left out because of how they viewed Panther. Now, TK is having doubts about the first group, because of how they're now treating everyone, and none of us want you guys to feel like you have to bow down to them because of how much more experienced and how close we are to them.'

"But we are causing trouble, nonetheless."

'I'll let you know right now that I have no problems leaving Yolie and Davis behind for this group. I can't say that Kari will do the same, because her brother is with them now.'

"So why can you leave?"

I looked at Wormmon, smiling at the memories of when TK was over at my house. I then remembered what he now told me, how I was with their family now. 'I would never abandon my family. And right now, TK and Matt are that family.'

"How so?"

'I'm not really sure how to explain it, but I can also feel it too. That we're connected in some way that makes us brothers, but at the same time, not really.'

"So you would follow them because you feel like they're your family now?"

I nodded, 'You'll feel it one day. I can kinda see that Matt is trying to get you to feel it already, to call his place your home, but because they're my family, my brothers, I want to stay with them. I don't want to lose them to anything so I want to stay nearby so I can make sure of that. I know that when I want some alone time, I go over to TK's house. And when he wants the same thing, he goes over to Matt's house. Even though I know that Matt is like a brother to me, I was only allowed to go near him if TK was around. TK can be really jealous of people that get close to Matt for any reason.'

"Including Styxmon and Sora?"

'This didn't happen while they were dating. It happened when their folks died. As for Styxmon, I don't think that TK ever felt jealous of her, but he was weary of her because he happened to see her a bunch of times before she ever met Matt. He didn't let him know that, though, and he never told me what she did that made him distrust her so much. Anyway, you'll know where you home is, even if it takes you a long time to realize it. It's a hard thing to miss.'

"Many places I've called home. I want to stay with everyone, but something is telling me that there's still something out there. Something that I must do before I have a home."

'Then just make Japan your safe haven.'

"It already is."

'Then maybe you're looking for a place that isn't your safe haven. Maybe you're looking for a place that needs you and a person that loves you and believes in you, someone that can carry on the name Unity.' I smiled.

"Why would I want to give up my Crest?"

'So that the person you care about can have something to remember you by. It's not for the memories, but for the feelings and the emotions that you left behind… I'm starting to sound like TK…'

She started to laugh, and the same with Fiterimon since she was the other one that was up. "Fiterimon, do you feel that way?"

She nodded, "I do. I would be happy just to stay by your side forever." She smiled.

'I think all the Digimon feel the same way.' I looked at Wormmon, 'The good or bad that we've done, the moments when we were our true selves, and the moments when we weren't, they care about us through it all. But, do remember that you guys should stay with us but also have a different mind than us. Wormmon saved me from myself, and without him, I doubt I would've ever saw the error that I was doing.'

"I'll make sure that Ceres is in line always." Fiterimon smiled.

"I don't need a bodyguard." She laughed. "But why are you mentioning that? We all know that the Digimon don't have to have the same opinion that we do. We also realize that there's a possibility that they can even leave us. At least, that's how Ryan views it."

I shook my head, 'He might think that way, but he knows that it isn't true. Because the bond that is created isn't one that can be broken. Wormmon stayed with me, through all my cruelty, and he died to save me from myself. And I'm mentioning it because the other Digimon look like they were slowly losing themselves to something. I remember Kenmon and G Stingmon, and it was almost like my relation with Wormmon.'

"Why almost?" Fiterimon asked.

'Because the thought that maybe it wasn't a partnership, but an agreement is now popping into my head. I don't know which one it is, but I'm also positive that it's a stronger bond than what they have with each other.'

They nodded, "We all have a deep connection to our Digimon too." Ceres said.

I smiled, 'I know.'

[Ryan

We separated ourselves into two teams. Tim and I were going to head to the places that didn't require Ceres in some way. So, Ken got to go to a strip club and prostitution house. We got to go to a night club and an abandon building. I don't know which group was more luck.

The night club wasn't really open by the time we were there, but Tim managed to make it sound like we were there for something business like, so we were allowed in. Tim was talking to the manager, talking like they were making some kind of deal. I was looking around the place, with hardly anyone watching me. I noticed that this place had cameras all over the place. I wondered if we could use that.

"+Ryan+" Tim called. I looked over to see him standing up. I walked over to him before we left. "+Apparently, the guy doesn't know who the guy is, but he will allow us in for free.+"

"How didn't you manage that? Why would we need to get in?"

"Because even though he doesn't know him, he knows what he looks like. He watches the cameras and he comes in after every mysterious murder in the area. So he's curious as to why. He hasn't come in yet, so we have to check out tonight."

"Okay, so can Ken and Ceres come as well?"

"Yep." He smiled.

[Ceres

They went to the strip club first. Ken was not only acting like her main boss, but also her bodyguard. The owner was eyeing her funny, but not in anything sexual. It was more like disbelief and a bit of fear.

" So, do we have a deal? " Ceres asked.

" Before I make that, I want to know your origin. "

Ceres looked at Ken before looking at the man, "My origin?"

"Yes, where are you from?"

"Is that really important? If you think I'm a cop…"

"I have no doubt that you're not a cop. I don't think that any one of you guys could ever be a cop."

"What are you talking about?"

He stared at her for another moment, "You don't realize what you are, do you?"

"I know what I am."

"Who are you following?"

"What makes you think that we're following anyone?"

"Because of this freelancing I'm about to let you do. Do you even know the name of the person you're following?"

Ken tapped her shoulder, making her look at him. He mouthed 'Tell him the truth.' Ceres had this look in her eyes. She sighed before looking at the man that they were trying to get the deal from. "Mr. B."

His eyes widened a bit with that name. "Why are you… it's because of that girl, isn't it?"

"Can we really trust you? He comes in here all the time."

He looked around, "I'll be right back." He got up and went somewhere.

"Ken?" Ceres looked at him. He placed his hand on her shoulder and she sighed again. He came back and sat down, "I know that Mr. B comes here all the time, but he also not someone that we welcome with open arms. We have to open the doors to him to have any business."

"What is he? What are they?"

He sighed, "I'm glad that you are innocent of them, though sad that you were their target."

Ceres looked at Ken before looking back at him, "How?"

"It's not hard to see it. I've known many, but they knew who was chasing them. So, I will help you. What positions do you need me to give you? Where else are you heading?"

"Can we…" Ceres looked at Ken since he tapped his fingers on her shoulder. He held up two fingers. She looked at the guy, "We have two friends heading over to an abandon warehouse and they were at Wings night club. We're also heading to a prostitution house after this."

He looked at Ken for a moment before looking back at Ceres, "Have your friends come here later. Don't go anywhere else. It's not too dangerous, but dangerous if you want to watch him."

She looked at Ken before looking at him, "Okay." They got up and left. "+Are you sure?+"

Ken nodded as they headed out.

[Tim

We weren't seeing anything at the warehouse and we've been watching it for a good hour. The spirits that once lived here have long since moved on, or many died. Once cities still have them, but most human populated ones don't.

"Should we go in?" Ryan asked.

"I don't think so. People like to hide things in there. If we somehow got it wrong, I don't want to get messed up in something better than what we're already chasing."

"Ceres is trying to call us." Shendramon said.

"But her through." I said.

Yay! Thank you Shendramon! Ceres said. Okay, come meet us at.. Where are you guys?

We're at the warehouse right now. Ryan said.

Oh, okay, so then meet us at the closest restaurant and we'll be there in a minute to let the other team know what's going on.

Okay, Shendramon will contact you when we do. I said.

Right, over and out! And then she was gone.

We went over to the closest restaurant that wasn't really high class, but not McDonalds either. Shendramon sent over how to find us. They came walking in calmly, shown where we were and came over.

"So what's up?" Ryan asked. We were in a Chinese place, because we wanted tea and get snacks.

"We don't have to worry about going anywhere else. The guy at the strip club would allow us to go to him only. I think he's shady, but Ken wants us to trust him." Ceres said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Not that I really trust him, but I'm sure that he's telling the truth. Now, whether or not he will tell him anything while we're not there or while we're working is another story, but at least for now he's not lying."

"So what was he saying?" Ryan asked.

"He knows the reason I'm being chased and he knew that I was being chased. He knew about Ariel and he knows about Mr. B. For some reason, even though he doesn't like to welcome Mr. B, they have to for business." Ceres said, taking some tea. "I'm nervous though, if he knows about me, then I'm nervous about what else he knows."

"If he knows why, why not ask him?"

"I probably will try."

"So, are we going there?" I asked.

Ceres nodded, "After we get something to eat."

We ordered the small dishes. Once we were done, we went over to the strip club. The guy was weird looking, as if his skin was kinda not his. He seemed okay, though I guess if Ceres is worried about him, then we should be as well.

"So these are your friends?" His voice was normal sounding. I looked around, noticing that none of the sprits were around here either. I've heard them in the city before, but they're not everywhere.

"Yes. This is Tim and this is Ryan." Ceres introduced us.

"What are you guys good in? Ceres is going to be a dancer and Ken was going to be a guard." He looked at us.

"+What are you good in, Tim?+" Ryan asked in Japanese.

" What do you need? " I asked the manager.

" A bartender will always be good and I can always use more guards. "

"Then I'll be a bartender and Ryan will be a guard."

"Are you any good at being a bartender?"

"Ryan isn't very good at speaking English as I am. I know that bartenders are people that others like to talk to." Besides that, I wanted to have a clearer view of everything so I can have Shendramon inform everyone with any updates.

"That is important. So, I guess I better get you familiar with what we have. I'll let you three roam around to get familiar with the area. Mr. B hasn't come here yet so I'm sure he would come by any night now. Are you going to be staying here?"

"We'll see." Ceres said as they headed out.

I went over to where the bar was, learning about the drinks that were there. I was also studying what it was made out of. I hardly drink; sake at most on special occasions, but that's about it. Unknown to everyone, I once had a friend that knew a bit about wine and liquor. Sometimes, my self-acquired remembering habits are a curse. So, at this testing, I was pretty good at what he was telling me.

[Ryan

Ceres was showing us the dressing room. We were carefully looking around the place, wondering what was so special about the place. Once we were satisfy with that room, we looked around the place. We even went upstairs, seeing that he also had showers and beds.

"Should we stay here instead?" I asked.

"I don't think so." Ceres looked at Ken, "What do you think?"

He held his amulet, closing his eyes for a moment. I really wondered what he was doing. He looked at Ceres with a smile. He pointed to the floor, then pointing to Wormmon.

"You want Wormmon on the floor?" Ceres asked.

"He's saying that we should stay so that we can be another set of eyes." Wormmon said.

"How can you get that?" Ceres asked.

"I'm also good at this game." Ken started to laugh as Ceres was pouting.

"Did you get that?" She looked at Espomon and me.

"Nope." We both said.

"They're not playing the game." Wormmon said with a chuckle.

"Fiterimon, Ele?" She asked, though, it became obvious that they didn't even see it as they popped their heads out of her bag.

"What?" Fiterimon asked.

"… Nothing."

"You call us out and then say it was nothing?"

"I was going to ask about understanding Ken, but since you weren't out, it's pointless."

"Oh, okay." They went back down.

"Well, we better let the guy know that we're staying here. What's his name anyway?" I asked.

"Meriv." Ceres said as we went down. Tim was still being taught, so we hung out at one of the tables before Ceres started to dance on the stage. She wasn't anything like Lily Dawn, though I don't know if she could, or would, do the kind of dancing that Ceres was doing.

"Nice, very nice. I see that you're a natural at this." Meriv said as he and Tim were walking over. "But what you need is to hide what you are."

"What am I, exactly?" Ceres got off the stage.

"You're a very powerful and war-like race. Your race was known to be very dangerous while they were living on their home planet…"

"What you saying that she's an alien?" Tim asked, though in a serious manner.

"Yes."

We all looked at Ceres, and she herself was puzzled. She didn't really know what to make of that.

"Go on." I said, since I figured that Ceres would like to hear more. "Why don't we all sit down so that we can all hear it?"

They all moved to the table that we were using, with Tim and Meriv having to pull up a chair. "I know a bit about this race, since I'm interested in everything that is extinct. Before you ask me any questions, let me tell you what I know. As I was saying before, this race is a very powerful and war-like race. Ever since they were born, they were trained to be fierce warriors. There are three periods that are major in their history on their home planet, Vegeta. They had kings and royalty, but only after they were able to obtain their planet. The planet wasn't always known as Vegeta, and there was another, more advance and peaceful race, that also lived there. The warrior race over powered them, leaving no one alive. They took over their technology and were soon putting that into their own usage.

"This is when the first period began. It is known as the First Generation. There have been rumors that with the technology that they gained, a few families had actually left the planet. No one really knows why this happened, and it's told only in myths. The myth goes like this. An heir to the thrown, loyal relatives, their most trusted guards and a peasant all left the planet in reach for something greater, for a better planet for them to conquer and rule. They brought within their blood the secrets of their race, and to this day no one else has been able to unlock the full mysteries of their blood.

"The second period is known as the Second Generation. Leaving the planet was something that commoners did that didn't have enough fighting skills within them. But, this is also a time that most aliens know because they were then captured by another alien race, forcing them into slavery. The slavery lasted many, many years and the original royal blood line was lost. A new leader was able to rally them up and fought against their captors, renewing their warrior race.

"The third period is known as the Third Generation. This is during the time that warriors were going out and actually conquering other worlds, something that didn't really happen before. This caught the eye of a powerful being, third in power compare to his father and brother. He took them under his wing when the last king was ruling. In a promise to serve and be loyal to only him, this being allowed them more opportunities to fight and get stronger. But, soon they realized that it was slavery all over again so they tried to rebel and were annihilated completely. But, there were four that managed to escape the annihilation. That was the prince, a comrade of his, and the sons of a lowly soldier. The prince, his comrade, and one of the sons stayed under this being's rule. The other son was sent to Earth, where they all eventually came. Now, there are only two full blooded people from this race left, and they are the son that was sent here and the prince."

We were all silent for a moment. He smiled at the effect that he was creating, since we all wanted him to continue.

"Now, Mr. B and his organization are interested in this race because the race that had enslaved them is still around and would like them back under their control. They are very powerful politically in the universe and they have the means to back it up. So, they have asked the Men In Black, aka MIB, to send them any that they find. The only ones that they can't take is the son and the prince and their descendents, since they've saved the Earth a bunch of times. So, that means that any other rogue person is sent to them, as long as they show that they are not hostile or can be proven that they are part of the Second Generation. If they are known to be part of the Third Generation, then they will try to annihilate them as well.

"I know, I said that only four lived, but there was a group of warriors that were given the blood of the race, turning them into the race. They were loyal to the king and his cause. The being that they were fighting managed to steal their powers one day and sent them back to where they came. No one knows for sure where that is, but there have been a report that one was spotted in Europe not too long ago. So, they are also looking for them.

"Now, the MIB's are not stupid. They know that because of the heavy migration during the Second Generation probably landed some on Earth. But, unfortunately for them, they have no clear idea on when this had occurred. The time of Vegeta has changed over the generations, and they never kept a clear time record. The race that had enslaved them did keep a record, but it was about the middle of the generation, and even that is uncertain.

"And that is why they are chasing you. They had discovered your bloodline and they are either going to try to kill you or capture you for the purpose of sending you to that other race to be their slave."

"What is my race called?" Ceres asked after a moment, probably thinking which one it was going to be.

"You are known as a Saiyan."

We all looked at each other before Tim looked back at Meriv, "What do the MIB's do normally?"

"They maintain and defend the Earth from aliens."

"We're planning on staying here." I said, so that he knows that we will be needing rooms.

"I was hoping so. Now, let me show you how to better hide yourself." He got up and we all followed. He walked into a closed off room, searching through it before bringing out a box. He handed it to Ceres. "Mr. B isn't a fool, but I've been experimenting with this and I have found that it works. It will help with your disguise."

Ceres took it and opened it to reveal a make-up kit. She smiled, "Thanks. And thank you for telling me."

"You're welcome. Now, whatever you want Mr. B for is your business. I'm sure that I can explain it to you, but I'll let you discover it on your own."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because, it might be better that way. Who knows? If it turns out that it's the wrong move, then I'll correct it."

Ceres turned to us, "Let's get ready for night." She smiled, "Is there anything else I'll need?"

"The make-up is all that you need to apply before even heading down to the dressing room. I have other aliens here."

She nodded and we followed him to the rooms that we'll be using. Ken and I were given the uniform for the guards and Tim was given a bartender outfit. We were all getting changed as Ceres was applying the make-up.

[Ceres

She was looking through everything that was within the box. They didn't seem to be anything special. They also seemed to be store bought. She picked up some blush, one that wouldn't really match her skin tone, and brushed some on. The cheek instantly became that shade, looking very natural. She went looking around more, thinking about changing the shape of her face, but then thought better of that. She started to mix some colors together as she was applying it on her face.

"Wow, how are you doing that?" She turned around to see that they were all back from changing. Ryan came up to her, looking at the effect she had created.

"Make-up is another form of art, you know." She smiled, turning back around to finish it up.

"Though, I would like to know how that's going to keep you from being spotted." Tim said, taking a seat on the bed.

"Maybe there's a special formula that mask her alien blood?" Ken offered. "Though, you'll probably be able to see the effect, Tim, once she gets out on the stage. I'm sure he won't put her on until he shows anyway."

"I could walk around, so doing a show isn't really an issue."

"Are you comfortable with this?" Ryan asked, watching her.

"Yeah, I've done it before when I needed quick money. I've been a prostitute before, though it was for a police operation."

"Never done it for money?"

"Nope." She winked, "I'm proud to say that I'm a virgin."

"That is impressive." Tim said without realizing what he had said. "Oh.."

Ceres started to laugh, "It's okay. I know, I don't seem the kind that would be able to hold on to it."

"I have to admit, that is true. I would've thought that you at least had done it with your boyfriend."

"Nope. I wasn't ready to give him that much of me."

"I guess we really do need to wait and see. I'm not seeing anything special yet." Ryan said.

"Neither am I, but I guess I'll wait. Where are you guys going to be stationed?" Ceres looked at Ryan and Ken.

"I know that I'm going to be outside being a bouncer. I guess we can keep Ryan somewhere on the inside so that you have more security." Ken said.

"I'm okay with that. Plus, watching the girls will give me some interesting scenes to draw." Ryan said.

"Do you have a good memory?" Ceres asked.

"Not really."

"Ele, Fiterimon, I'll need to send you two on a mission." She looked over to them.

"Yes?" Fiterimon asked, with Ele on her head. The Digimon were hanging out on the beds as they were changing.

"I need you two to go get Ryan a camera. That way, he can get the images he wants."

"What time is this going to start?"

"Around ten."

"We'll be back." They left through the window.

"Wormmon, go with them." Ken said and Wormmon did so.

"Why? I'm sure they can handle it?" Ceres asked.

"His Silk Thread attack is able to pick up stuff, so I thought that he could use that."

"Oh, okay." She smiled.

They were then just talking. The Digimon came back around seven and Ceres fixed it up so that it wouldn't flash, but take pictures as if the flash was on.

At eight, Meriv came to get the boys. "Beautiful. Simply beautiful!" He said as he looked at Ceres. "Go ahead and pick what outfit you want to wear. You'll be working the floor, but I'll have you go on the stage once Mr. B comes."

"Why?" Ceres asked.

"Because the showgirl is who he likes to know best once he's done talking to me." He looked over at Tim, "And we normally talk at the bar."

Tim nodded, "Okay."

Meriv headed out.

"I guess that means we won't be able to identify him?" Ryan asked.

"I know what he looks like, so I'll be able to contact everyone when I see him. Though, he might not come through the way I'm guarding."

"We'll just wait and see." Ceres said and they headed down.

[Tim

I was cleaning up the bar area, as part of my job. Ryan was stationed inside and Ken was stationed outside. Ceres was in the dressing room right now, with Fiterimon with her. Ele, Espomon, and Wormmon were the only ones that were that were still in the room. Shendramon was with me and was keeping a close connection to Ken for information. He was also going to be his voice when he needed it. Around nine, another bartender came in.

"Oh, you must be new. Hi, I'm Jason." He greeted when he came towards.

"Hi, my name is John." I smiled, shaking his hand, "And I am new."

"Is this your first job?" He started to help me with the cleaning.

"As a bartender. I knew enough for him to hire me. I have friends who love to drink so I know what is what, but not too familiar with the mixing."

"Oh, that's stuff easy. I'll help you with that if you want."

"Thanks. Are you the only one that worked here before?"

"Oh, no, there are other bartenders. I just work tonight. Normally he only needs one, but I guess we can always use two. How many nights are you working?"

"He's testing me out right now, so I have to work every night for a while."

"Oh, I see. That is what he seems to do with green people. Well, I'm glad that we're working together." He smiled.

"Same here." I smiled back.

He then proceeded to show me how to mix the drinks. And to add to the oddly of me working at a bar, I was finding it fun mixing everything. I guess since it reminded me of science that it was a lot easier for me to do so.

[Ceres

Ceres had already gotten something on. Since she was just working the floor, she didn't get any of the costumes. She took her time getting picking one, and when she finally chose one, other girls were coming in.

"Oh, are you new?" An Asian girl asked.

"Yeah, I've been working at other strip clubs and I wanted to check this one out. So, what can you tell me about it?" Ceres started to take off her clothes.

"Oh, it's a lot of fun. You probably know that most guys are rude and what not, but the men here aren't like that at all. Are you going to be a showgirl or a floor gal?"

"I'm working on the floor for a while. I don't know if I'll be on the stage."

"Oh, I see. Well, you'll find that the guys are nice. We do get the occasional jackass, but rarely do we ever have problems."

"That's good to hear. I've been to a few where it was nothing but bastards. They couldn't even hold their liquor and they tried so hard to be the big man in the place."

"Oh, tell me about it. I've been to a few of those places too."

"What's your name, by the way?"

"Oh, I'm Tiff, but my name out there is Asian Lily."

"Nice to meet you, my name is Ceres and out there it's Naze." Meriv told them about the stage name, even for the ones that are on the floor. She was allowed to pick what she wanted to be called, the other girls were given the names.

"Naze?" She seemed confused.

"Yep."

"What's that?"

"It means, why, in Japanese."

"Why did he give you that name?"

"He wanted to try something out with my name, so that's why he picked it."

"That's interesting. Well, I'm glad that we can work together."

"Same here." Ceres smiled.

[Ryan

The men started to come in around late nine. They first got something at the bar before coming over to the tables. At ten is when the girls started to come out. The stage wasn't light up, but there were a few lights on the floor for everyone to see. A few more guards came in, though I'm sure there are lots more that I didn't see where they were being posted. Unlike with Tim, no one came to greet me. That was cool, but I thought it would be interesting. I even heard Tim giving out a false name, for some reason.

At ten thirty is when the showgirls came on. Meriv was introducing them and then they performed. After the first gal did her show, and I must admit that it was very attracting, another guy was introduced the next girl. I watched the floor, spotting Ceres out of them. She was doing a lap dance with some guy, and he was obviously liking it. I was near the rooms that they could go into. I was really glad that I wasn't hearing what was going on inside since I don't think I wanted to know.

So far, everything was nice and smooth. I was please with that, at least. I kept getting some Coke so that I could stay awake. I made it seem like I didn't know Tim, though he was the one that got me it every time. Then, Ceres came walking towards with me a man following her. I didn't notice any nervousness as she opened the door and let them go inside together. Though, considering that she won't even let her boyfriend do her, I knew I didn't have to worry about that. Still I stayed near that door just incase I needed to come in. I looked over to Tim, and he nodded. I guess that meant that Shendramon was also keeping his mind on her as well.

For another hour or so, they were in that room. They weren't see-through, but I could make out what was basically going on. They were talking for the most part, though I wondered if they were also drinking anything. I went back to watching the girl perform when Shendramon came into my mind, "Go inside."

I opened the door since they weren't locked. I saw that the guy wasn't human at all and he managed to pin Ceres down. Something was oozing from his mouth as he went to remove what little she had on. He looked over towards me before roaring some monstrous sound. I removed him from Ceres, "Get out of here." I said with courage that I didn't really have. Ceres looked scared, maybe the reason why she didn't do anything. He roared at me again before putting back on his skin and left. "Are you okay?" I looked at Ceres.

"Yeah… Thanks.." She smiled, "Man, I wasn't prepared for that." She rested her head in her hands.

I went over to her, hugging her, "Don't worry, we got your back."

"I know.. Why weren't you scared? I was so scared that I couldn't move." She hugged me back.

"Oh, I was, but you were in trouble and I had to show that I knew."

She laughed, "Thanks."

"Oh, yeah, I just remembered, you don't have to worry about convincing me. I was convinced a while ago."

"I actually forgot about that. What did?"

"I want Espomon to have good memories of me and I realized that I never really believed what I said."

"Good memories?"

"Apparently, our Digimon are going to be locked up for the next time that they're needed. When that happens, they'll forget about us."

She was silent for a moment, "I'll do the same. What about Wormmon and Gatomon and Gabumon?"

"I think they're spared. I didn't see them."

"Okay.. we'll give them the best memories of their lives." She rested her head on my shoulder for a moment before removing it. "I better get back on the floor."

"Okay." I smiled. We got up and walked out. I then closed the door as she went back to what she was doing.

[Ken

The place didn't close down until three in the morning. Mr. B didn't come in, and Shendramon didn't say that he had appeared. So, when it was done, we all just went to sleep. I wished I had a jacket since it would made being outside a whole lot easier.

Around one in the afternoon, we got up. The room that we were in had a kitchen and a bathroom, where a shower was located. So as we were getting ready, letting Ceres take a shower first, Wormmon and I were making the meal. Meriv gave us things to make, and we also invited him to come if he wanted, so we were using what we were given to make it, so it was nothing like a Japanese meal.

"So what was going on in the room?" Tim asked as we were all sitting around eating at three.

"Something was attempting to rape me." Ceres said without emotion or concern.

"Something?" Espomon asked.

"It was some kind of alien." Ryan stated. "We can probably assume that this place is crawling with aliens, with only a few humans here."

"How was it?" Espomon looked at everyone, since Wormmon and he were the only ones that had to stay behind.

"It was actually fun." Tim said. "The guy I was working with, Jason, was fun. He knew a lot of the costumers, so I have to assume that most people were regulars since they also were inquiring my name and talking to me quite a bit."

"The girls were relatively friendly." Ceres said, "The showgirls were the ones that considered themselves better than anyone else. The only problem I ran into was the attempted rape, and it won't be a problem for the next time since I'm not going into rooms anymore."

"That's good to hear." Fiterimon said. Ceres smiled at her partner.

There was a knock at the door. Tim got the door to see that Meriv was back, " Are you guys doing okay? " He asked as he entered the room.

" Yeah, I have a question though. " Ryan said. " What kind of costumers come here? "

"Mainly aliens looking for something good to have at, but we also get humans. Most of my workers are aliens, but I do have humans, which is why everyone is required to wear their disguises."

"Do the customers know who are aliens and who are human?" Ceres asked.

"Most do, but some don't care."

"What do they do when they get a human?" Tim asked.

"Depends on their kind. They could let them go or they could do her or they can eat her."

"And you allow that?" Ryan asked. "Can I stop that from happening?"

"They know to listen to my guards, though some might want to take issue and could attack so I wouldn't advise being a hero."

"I'm not about to let humans be used as snack foods."

"And what about being raped?"

He looked at Ceres, "You have a better understanding of this kind of place."

"Not all girls here are looking for sex. Most are doing this for the money and it's the easiest way for them to get it or they do it for the thrill of the atmosphere."

He looked at Meriv, "Then if they're rejecting it, I'm going to step in."

Meriv smiled. It wasn't evil or saying that it was impossible. He was smiling with a happy and grateful expression, "Remember that they're my costumers and they pay for going into the room."

"What's with that anyway?" Ceres asked. "I was told that if you're brought into the room that the price is much higher than the entrance fee."

"It's all for that Russian roulette chance that the girls are getting. They're not always of their right mind and some can't tell one alien from another."

"And they allow this?" Tim asked.

"We don't find out until the end of the night. That's why we do a head count of who showed up and who ends up at the end of their shift." He looked over to Ceres.

"Then that's not going to happen while we're around." Ryan said, "And when we leave, you should get better security."

He smiled, and one that said that he was grateful for the input, "I can only have the guarding positions that I have you two on right now. What you're doing is against regulations."

"What?!" They all said with disbelief as I watched him, though feeling the same way.

"Mr. B and the MIBs are the ones that set that up as a way to keep down the hostilities they might otherwise cause."

We all looked at each other, all nodding in agreement that we would make sure that they know that we disapprove of that when we talk to him.

Afterwards, Wormmon and I went outside to do some shopping. Meriv gave me some money for another suit for Tim, since he didn't have one on stock but he had a friend who would give it to him if I handed him a note. It was written in another language, reminding me about books. I wondered how far Kaiba-sama got in them. I was also getting more food for tomorrow. I couldn't explain it, but somehow, cooking for everyone and not really allowing them to help was very, very familiar to me and Wormmon. Though, even though it's familiar, we also know that there's something missing. Like all I had to do before was looking across from me to have it there and to make it feel complete. Sometimes, I wonder if it's TK that's supposed to be there.

So anyway, we got the suit for Tim, with the guy making rude comments left and right about Meriv, though I'm sure it's from their long friendship. At least, that's what I'm hoping for anyway. I then went to get the food, which I didn't get that much since I didn't want to cook too much for lunch tomorrow. We get to eat while we're working, so I don't have to worry about dinner. Wormmon was being my voice as I was ordering, which I thought was amusing because of his accent. The Digimon do know other languages fluently, though, so that at least helped out here.

When I got back, I handed Tim his suit and went to set everything in their proper place in the kitchen, which was also very familiar.

"Ken," I looked to see Ryan walking up with Espomon, "want any help?"

I handed him something and he helped me put it away.

"Oh, we also decided that the Digimon would be with us this time." He said once we were done.

I nodded, thinking that would be good.

[Tim

Another guy name George was working tonight. He wasn't as interested in talking to me as Jason, but that was okay. I recognize some of the people that came in yesterday as well. Shendramon was keeping an eye on the rooms, since it's now Ryan's job to make sure that nothing happens to the girls. Ken was still outside and Ceres was on the floor. I was amazed at how comfortable she was with this, though my thoughts soon went to Nereida as I watched Ceres. I knew that Nereida was pretty free-spirited, and that I had confined that in her. She expressed that side of her in her acting, but otherwise she was rather tame. She never got into fights, and even though Damon tried to hide it, I knew of all the times he was involved in one. I just never did anything, since no one was hurt and he never started it.

I actually think that her rebellion started when Lightningmon came into her life, which is probably why I linked it with the group. After all, Lightningmon was with her night and day and she told her everything. So, probably Lightningmon gave her someone that she could be her true self and she was then trying out what the other girls had.

And I now know that I was really harsh on her. She had just lost her best friend, which even I could tell Heka was, and I was just thinking about us. I didn't try to give her comfort like the brother I should've been. Damon only got mad at me for how I handled the situation, so it's only right that I apologize to her first. I also think that I should tell them what happened to our parents, and of my ability to hear and talk to spirits. Maybe, if they realize that we all have supernatural powers that are connected to the spiritual world that maybe they won't turn out like me. I know that they were about to, before we joined the Neo Digidestined.

I looked at Ceres, the one that solidified our group. I don't know whether she knows it or not, but she really did help out a lot. Yes, I was annoyed with her the most, but it was because I thought she would take Nereida under her wing and Nereida would never come back to me. But, in reality, she guided us through our troubles and tried to be our friend. I don't think she had ever really tried as hard as she did, and yet still be true to herself. She never lost who she was, and even though her past is still a mystery to us all, I know that one day we'll know it and understand her better. I've already seen a different side of her while on this trip. I know that she has good friends and she considers us her friends as well. Now, whether we're like all the others in that she can leave us without a goodbye would be an interesting one to find out.

I could also sense that Ryan had changed as well. There was this detachment that he held for a long while, way before we split up, and I think it had now finally passed. It was probably the issue that Ceres wanted my help on, but Ryan got to a conclusion all on his own, and is much happier for it.

Ken is probably growing more and more with every passing second. I know that he's a good person and someone that will listen to you, but now that he can't talk back, he's someone that can be there for you in body and spirit more than just words. Not only that, he's gaining a lot more calmness inside himself. It's like he found something or someone to think about that can put a smile on his face and a skip in his step and can sooth his soul. He now normally holds onto his amulet, as if needing it to connect to this thing or person. And as he holds onto it, a lot of his own worries and doubt seem to go away, helping us since he gets ours to go away too.

[Ryan

Nothing too much happened in the rooms. There were a few times when a girl needed the save, but nothing that I needed Espomon for. Which, I guess in a way, it's a good thing, but at the same time, who knows how long we're going to be here. I mean, this only last for as long as we're here, and then it's back to the way it was. Not that I want to be the hero of the story, but I want to at least let it be known to the women that they should warn their co-workers of the danger that could occur in these rooms. Though, they might also ignore the dangers and go in because of the money that's involved. I had Ceres tell me what the amount was, and it was quite a lot. I had to stop a fight at the bar, but that wasn't too much trouble since he does have other guards posted inside. Ken is the only one that is posted outside.

[Ceres

When they all returned for the night, Ceres decided that she should see if she could contact Diana. It wasn't like she needed to talk to her. She just wanted to find out how to do so. Plus, she felt this draw to her as well, and she didn't know why. Ceres also knew that Diana looked really familiar to her, and maybe she knew the answers as to why. Plus, she was connected to Matt, and she wanted to learn more about Matt.

When they all went to sleep from their long night, Ceres opened her mind to finding her.

"Diana?" She called, making sure that no wondering spirits came in.

Immediately, she appeared before her in a supernatural glow of an unworldly being. She smiled her righteous expression as she walked over to Ceres, "Yes?"

Her sudden appearance took Ceres a moment before she could speak, something so uncommon for her, "I just wanted to know how I could call you." She said humbly. What was with this girl that made Ceres become nearly a child before her, a child that has done something wrong to the person they absolutely love. "And I would like to know more about you."

"Do you want to stay in your mind or come to a place that I now dwell?" She offered.

"Where are you dwelling?" This caught Ceres's attention.

She smiled softly, "It's the place that Matt used to go to when he saw Styxmon… When our souls were still one… I'm not really sure where it is, but all I know is that I have more freedom in where I can roam than she can, even though we're still not completely separated."

Ceres thought about it for a moment. Panther once described it to her, since she asked Matt about the place before. It didn't seem like a normal place, since it didn't sound like anything Greek. "Let's stay here, if you don't mind."

Diana sat down, with Ceres finally noticing that she wasn't all proper since she was sitting like a teen would, "Okay."

Ceres sat down too. "How are you connected to Matt? Other than through Styxmon."

"It's more like Styxmon is connected to Matt through me." She smiled with joy. "And I'm connected to him through our childhood. Our parents were goods friends with each other, and our mothers delivered us together and at the same time. They were saying that Matt didn't have long to live because of something causing his tiny body to expand like a balloon. I wasn't in the same situation, but I was also being rushed out to be checked up on since I had too much power within me that my tiny body couldn't hold. So, as we were heading out, I looked over and touched Matt, giving him some of my powers. It saved both our lives." She paused for a moment.

"So you're the one with the powers of light and darkness originally?" Ceres asked, since it would've fit with what she already knew about Matt's dark powers.

She nodded, "Yes, but I didn't know what is what it was until years later. But, in either case, since then we were always with each other. Then, our siblings were born and we couldn't be happier. And even though we loved each other, we didn't really try to make it positive with everyone else around us. Our families were the ones that knew that we were in love, but unless you looked carefully, you couldn't see it on the outside." She said sadly.

"You're talking about when he went with Sora?"

"Yeah," She sighed, "But she did something to him, I now know that… Anyway, our parents got divorced at the same time too. I went with my dad, now knowing that he wanted to spare me the hardships that my sister was going to be subjected to."

"What was that?"

"TK told the whole world about it through his play." She smiled.

"Huh?" Ceres tilted her head.

"Rini was torturing Kitty in various ways, thinking that Kitty was her slave. I was never subjected to that and probably would've fought back if I had lived there from the start."

Ceres just remembered that in the play that TK wrote. So that's what she was talking about. "So that's your past?"

"Not really, it's an ideal world that TK would have liked to have happened."

"Why is it ideal?"

"Kitty and I are no longer of the living, and it would've been when we were all alive and living in peace."

Ceres nodded, "Please, go on."

"One day, my dad went up into space to do the same thing that Matt did. But, unlike Matt, there was an accident that occurred after take off and the spacecraft exploded in space, and my dad was the only one that didn't make it back. After that day, I lived with the Ishida's."

"Did you go to the Digital World?"

"I did, but I didn't meet my Digimon until the end of our first adventure as she was saying her goodbyes to her friends that had turned evil. I was also with Matt when he went into the cave of darkness, though I wasn't being affected like him, I was being choked of my voice since I also had my own share of sadness."

"The most virtuous ones do." Ceres admitted.

Diana smiled, "So, after that adventure, I had our Crest forged into chokers for our Digimon when we saw them again. I helped Matt with his band, being sort of like their manager. It was a lot of fun to see Matt having a blast up there. I knew during those days, going into space was the farthest thing from his mind. Then we were able to go back into the Digital World, and we followed. My Crest happened to have a Digimental as well, so I was able to join the battles, but only when they really needed it, and TK allowed me to know when that was. Kitty also came over more often during this time since TK had moved closer. She and I stayed in Japan when everyone had to travel, talking to each other and hanging out."

"Were they mad at Matt?" Ceres remembered that during that time, the others say that kids with a desire to be like Ken were brought together for the purpose of opening a gate to the Digital World. She wondered if they tried to stop them.

"TK and Kitty?" Ceres nodded. "Yes, they were. Kitty was also angry at me for just allowing it without a fight. After that adventure ended, I learned that my father was actually alive. I went with everyone to go see if it was true, and ended up fighting with my Digimon against some enemy of people that were friends with my mom and dad. After defeating this person, we had to send our friends through portals so they could forget about us and we could be trapped." She didn't seem too happy about this. "So, I went to the same school as Kitty, fighting the system so strongly that it surprised even me… But anyway, that's how I'm connected to Matt. We have a deep history together and when I died, my soul was taken up by Styxmon and my desire to see him again brought her to this world to see him."

"Wow, that must've been really deep. Is that the same for your sister?"

"Her desire is deep for TK, but at the same time, she longs to see another. She loves TK, and she will never stop loving him, but TK fell in love with Kari and Kitty doesn't want to ruin that for them."

"Who is she looking for now?"

"She wants to see if Ken still loves her. And from what I've seen recently, he still does."

"Really?"

Diana nodded, "It's her face that's now getting him to have more faith within himself."

"That's so cool. Can I tell him that?"

She shook her head, "Right now, it wouldn't do any good since the Digimon that is hosting her is after TK. Besides that, they might know that there's a deep bond we all share, but they don't know how deep it really goes and don't yet remember what it really means. Only when they remember will it be okay for them to know everything afterwards."

"Why?"

"Because they can't feel our pain and they wouldn't be able to mourn for us until they remember."

"Why do you look so familiar to me, anyway?"

Diana smiled softly, "Because you have a sharp memory."

"I know I do. Have I seen you before?"

She nodded, "Though, it's hard to explain since it's also not really me that you saw in person."

"Wait… you mean before my okaasan found me? You were the voice I heard?"

She nodded, "When Styxmon and I were in one body."

"What.. does that mean? How do you know that?"

"Because I happened to look. After Panther had painted that painting of hers, I was curious."

"You're in the painting too?"

"Yep, as the glowing figure."

"What are you to us? Are you connected to Panther too?"

With her nod, Ceres felt like she was losing someone else to Panther, someone that she thought she could rely on. "Though, I wonder if it's too early to tell you who I am."

"Just tell me what the painting means. I'm a smart person." She said kinda coldly, like a child that had lost her favorite toy and couldn't do anything about it.

Suddenly, arms wrapped around Ceres, making her look to see that Diana was hugging her, a way that a mother would for her child. Was this her personality? "The painting is showing the past of you two." Ceres looked at her, who didn't let go of her embrace, "Matt and Styxmon are there, and I'm showing Matt that I was also with him. I also told them that they would need to send you two back into the past because Megamon had come back here as well and the other groups would've needed your help with them. Both of them agreed to do it, sending you two into the past. I don't know how you two ended up being separated, though."

Ceres stayed in this position for a while, remembering the painting, remembering her past, and taking in what she was saying now. "Panther and I are sisters?"

"Yes, and I think Matt sensed that you two are his daughters."

"Sisters…" She thought about it, knowing how well they work together, how similar they are to each other. But, it takes much more than that to prove that you're related. "I doubt that. We're probably really good friends."

"Well, there's always one way of seeing if it's true." She smiled in her words.

"What?"

"Have the a few jewels placed in the amulets and see who can pull them out. TK already knows the main two who can, but he doesn't know that you and Panther can as well."

"And what good will it do for us to realize this?"

"For starters, you'll finally know where you come from. You would know where your origin lies and have a better understanding of yourself."

"Wait, if I'm a Saiyan, that means that Panther is too, so why was I the only one that they're going after?" Ceres moved, looking at Diana.

She held a sad expression, calming Ceres down a bit since she was concern for Diana, "I don't really know why they don't go into Japan often. Maybe because the two families that have sanctions live here so they don't want to chance meeting them. Plus, all aliens that come to Japan are handled by someone from Japan. You weren't being chased until you got here."

"So you're saying that I should've stayed home, is that it?"

"Of course not. If you had, who knows what information you wouldn't have. I'm sure there were good moments in your past."

There was, but that wasn't really the point. The point was that her boyfriend died, as well as other people, because of her. "Some days, I really do think that I don't deserve to live for what I've done."

She placed a hand on Ceres, then smiled, "Every live has meaning, and you're alive so that you can still accomplish something before your time is up."

"But you're died and you're doing things still."

"That's because I was put into another being that is connected to the dead. Who knows if you'll be that lucky. When you have the chance, talk to Sage or his sisters. They're really good at pointing you in the right direction and, apparently, giving you that home feeling."

"Sage?" Ceres wondered who that was. There was a Sage in TK's play, but she didn't know who that was in real life.

She blinked for a moment before thinking to herself. "His sister is Mina."

"Oh, you mean Date-san."

"Why aren't you calling him Sage?"

"Is that his first name?" Ceres asked excitedly.

"Yeah… Didn't you know that?"

"YAY!!!!" Ceres said with joy. Finally, she had something that Panther had. "And no, we only knew him as Date-san because he wanted his first name to be a secret for some reason. Panther got to know his first name though, but she didn't tell anyone what it was. His friends call him Sensei, as well as his sisters since he now teaches kendo at a dojo."

"Oh… That's really weird…"

"What is? How do you know about them?"

"Sage and his sisters were there when I found my father and Mina is the one that had to stay with us since she was part of the group that had to watch over other groups. Lita also had to stay with us. Layla and Sage went back. Though, what's weird is that no one is supposed to remember that part of their past."

"And how does… Wait… that means that you were the ones that made TK and Matt forget?"

"As well as the others, but it was Thunmon that actually did it, I just directed her where to aim."

"Why?"

"We didn't want everyone to mourn for us, even though we knew that we caused so much joy. That's why it's so hard for them to remember us."

"If you want them to remember now, why ever do something like that?"

"Never thought we would meet again and that they would try to remember us. We kinda thought that they would be fine with just keeping things the way they are."

"But you gave him powers that are dark, so Matt should've known about that. Because he didn't know, he was taken over by it twice. They don't know themselves without those memories. And just because their minds don't remember, their hearts do."

"I'm realizing that now. So, in the end, we ended up trying to do the same thing that Mina and Lita tried to do with more success. So, I'm trying to let them remember."

"Maybe you didn't get everyone, which is why they were still able to hold on."

She thought about it for a moment, "That could be it… Ask Sage for me when you go see him."

Ceres nodded, "I will. So, you're my mom. Which one is a Saiyan?"

"Both. I gave him some of my blood, and Kitty did the same thing for TK. So, they're also part cat."

"Cat?"

She nodded, "Our parents were cats that could also change into human form. My father was the Saiyan, having been given the blood of it when he and his friends went to the planet."

"When?"

"I think before its destruction, but I don't really know. I was never interested enough to ask. You can always ask Mina or Lita, since they were part of the group."

Ceres nodded, thinking that she will. She wanted answers, and maybe she will be able to get some. "Okay, I will. Thank you for your help."

She smiled softly, "I guess it's a hard idea to get around."

"I just need to look at it some more. I have a feeling that it's true, though." She held her chest, knowing it in her heart that it was true. It's been obvious from the start that they had a connection, "Will you go to Panther's mind as well?"

"She draws more strength from Matt, but if she wants to talk to me as well, I'll go talk to her."

"Okay… how are they doing anyway?" Ceres wondered if she knew.

"Matt is teaching one of the girls with him how to steal. The other two are trying to find a way to contact someone that Matt knows in Japan that's connected to the business world. Matt is a lot more at ease than before, though I don't really know why. Panther had used her jewel so she's glowing brightly. Everyone else with her is doing fine."

"Why did she have to use her jewel?"

"They were being attacked by some Digimon that's a deity. They're in the ocean right now too."

"And Matt?"

"In Shanghai."

"Oh, okay… TK?" She just realized that no one had told her anything about him.

"He's staying with Sage. Something has gotten into our friends, and I don't know what it is." She seemed really considered.

"Will it affect this group?"

"I don't know. I wasn't really thinking about it in that light. I'm just worried because they're not themselves and they also never got their memories returned the first time. I just hope that it's because of that that they're acting the way they are."

Ceres wondered if Matt still had an attachment to the other group. She knew that Ken and Kari did, and TK was losing his. And even though Diana hasn't seen them in a long time, she still considers them her friends even though they don't like the members of the group that she supposed to lead. "Have they done something to TK?"

"Sage wasn't TK's first choice when it came with people to stay with." She said with a sad expression, "The others scared him away, but I don't want you to think about avenging what they did, because it's not needed."

"I'll decide what I'm going to do with them once I know what Matt thinks." Ceres said in a firm voice. "After all, I don't know them that well and I could care less what they thought about me, but TK is a friend of mine, the same with Kari and Ken, and if they all agree that some separation time is needed, I'm all for that. Those four are more important to me than the rest are, even though I know that they're all very good friends."

Diana placed her hand on Ceres's shoulder, making her look at her, "I hope that one day you'll find out that you need to care for more than those closest to you. Sure, they are your most precious beloved, but you can't forget about the world around you. People grow in places where they can freely be involved with the people around them." She smiled. "That's why I never stopped Yamato or pleaded with him to stop seeing Sora because she was part of the outer world that he could be involved with."

Ceres smiled at her, "I can see how it's easy to see you as a strong person. Is it okay if I still call my foster mother my mother as well?"

A soft smile came across her face, "Of course. After all, you can still hold onto her, and I'll always be here for you."

Ceres nodded, "I should get some sleep. Where are you going?"

"I'll be watching TK, to make sure that everything is okay with him. It's also kinda funny, since I had to do the same thing once when we first came to the Digital World." She said with a bit of a laugh in her voice.

"Tell me all about it when we get back to Japan." Ceres wanted to hear about it. She wanted to hear the true version, not the one that they gave them so they would be happy without them. She wondered how different it will be.

Diana nodded, "Of course. Good night, and stay safe, Ceres."

"Night, mom." Ceres waved as Diana left in the same light that she entered. Ceres then let herself rest her mind for the rest of the time.

[Ryan

When we all woke up, Ceres seemed a lot more at ease and a lot more happy than she normally is. I mean, she can have her weird, overly joy moments, but this wasn't it. She was genuinely happy about something.

"Have you guys noticed how happy Ceres is?" I asked in a whisper as she was taking a shower.

"Yeah, now that you've mentioned it." Tim agreed.

"What's so weird about that? She's normally happy." Espomon pointed out.

"But it's not like this." Shendramon said.

"You've noticed it too, right Ken?" I looked at him.

He nodded, "Even I've noticed it." Wormmon added.

"Why can't I see it?" Espomon asked with a pout.

"Should we ask?" I looked at Tim.

He closed his eyes, thinking about it.

"Is there a 'no girls' meeting that I should know about?" We all looked behind Ken to see Ceres standing there with her hands on her hips. Ele and Fiterimon both had the same look on their faces, saying that it better not be.

"We were wondering what made this a particularly good afternoon for you." Shendramon asked.

She stared at us for a moment, as if unable to believe that we were able to see that. She started to laugh out of no where. We all looked at each other, and even Fiterimon had a puzzled look on her face. Ele seemed to be laughing as well, though somehow I got the feeling that it was for some other reason than what Ceres was laughing at.

"Are you okay?" Fiterimon asked as she was calming down.

"Yeah… yeah I'm okay…" She was taking in deep breathes.

"So what's so funny?"

"I never realized that I've become so easy to read." She said with a smile, "Good job on being the first." She gave us thumbs up.

"So, can we know the reason?" I asked, like a dog wanting a treat.

She came over to the table, having on this face that said that she was going to tell us everything, "It's a secret!" She said in a happy voice.

We all started to laugh. "Why does it have to be?" Tim asked once we calmed down, knowing this side a bit better.

"Because I want to get my facts straight and what not before I make an announcement about it. It's pretty big and it does involve the group, so I don't want to have an error in my report. But, I can at least say that it affects my life and Panther's life in a positive way." She said with a smile.

"Panther's too?" I asked, though really glad that it was something positive, since she hardly gets that.

Ceres nodded, "Yep, but like I said, I want to make sure that I have everything right and correct before I say anything on it."

"That's okay. I'm glad that it makes you happy, though." Ken said through Shendramon.

Ceres smiled.

[Tim

It was going smoothly when it opened. I was having fun with the customers, though I knew that we weren't going to stay long, I don't think I would've minded staying here. Ceres was having fun showing off and moving her body in ways that she normally couldn't, it seemed. She was captivating her on lookers, nearly stealing the show without even being on stage. I don't know if it was my enjoyment of watching performances because of Nereida or my guy instincts, but I wondered what she would be like on the stage. I was betting that she would have the whole place in the palm of her hand.

[Ryan

I was taking care of the girls in the rooms sometime after midnight. There were a lot of them that were trying to eat the girls, and not just scaring them to death. The only reason I knew this was because of the position that they were in and I'm sure I was able to see it in their eyes. I kept it down that this is what I was doing, getting the girls to the back of the stage and calming them down.

"I think they're from the same race." Espomon said when I came back from my latest run.

"Can you smell that?" I asked.

He nodded, "Digimon run on the same thing. I can tell who evolves into what by their smells."

"The same thing with Super Levels?" I was curious.

He nodded, "I think so. I'll have to be around them longer to find out which one they belong to and how they get there."

"So, these aliens are from the same place… I should probably tell Ceres this…"

"Tell me what?" I looked behind to see her there.

"I've been running into the rooms for a good while, and Espomon knows that they're from the same race. The ones that want to eat the girls are from the same place, anyway."

Her face went stone cold, as if not wanting to show what she really felt about it since she needed to keep her cool. It reminded me of Panther. "I'll go inform Meriv about it." She said before leaving.

"Guys, he's coming." Ken said, making Ceres stop. We all looked at the door, seeing Mr. B walking inside with a calm atmosphere around him.

I touched Ceres's shoulder, giving her a moment before she turned towards me. "I can take care of the girls. We'll let him know about that later." I smiled. "And don't worry about him. You're not alone when you go up there. We're always going to have your back."

That put a smile on her face, "Thanks." She took in a deep breath before heading over to the dressing room.

I looked at Mr. B. He took a seat near the stage, watching the performance that was going on there. Meriv came over to him immediately, talking to him. I looked at Tim and he nodded.

"Ken said that he's coming inside. He got someone else to cover his place." Shendramon said as Ken walked inside quietly. He came over to me.

"Good, keep an eye on him when I need to go into the rooms." I said to Ken. He gave me his nod.

There was another girl that performed after the other girl was done. I was running back into the room, making sure that Mr. B didn't notice what I was doing. I was now taking note of the aliens, and Espomon was right. They seemed to be of the same race, at least the ones that were willing to eat the girl they brought in, and that was increasing. I was beginning to think that I was a fool not to notice what they did after they left the room, but I figured that the girls would appreciate it more that I helped them. It wasn't until it was near closing when Ceres perform. It was a good thing that there wasn't any more attacks, since I kinda wanted to watch her in action.

When she came out, her back was towards everyone and you couldn't make her out too well. When the lights hit her with the first beat, she turned her face towards us, showing that her make-up was animal like. I'm sure that it was a mix of cat furs that she painted on herself, probably explaining why it took her so long. She looked exotic.

By the second beat, words appeared and she was dancing to a dance mix of English songs. She was striping to another beat though, but it was going well with it. I was impressed, since I understood how beats worked because of Lily Dawn. She was striping to the base notes, but her body was moving to the melody and her dancing was matching to the words and the notes that most people dance to. Before high school, we wanted to learn more about dancing, so Panther got us into dance clubs so we could watch the people. That's how I know so much about this as well.

I was also impressed at how good Ceres was at bringing all of this to harmony, but making it also entrancing enough so you couldn't take your eyes away from her. I looked around, to see that she did get the whole place. I smiled, finding pride in this for some reason.

The last song is the only one that I recognized. She was nearly bare by this point, using the poles rarely and just using the beauty of her perfect form to gather us in. I never realized how near goddess like she actually was. I knew that Panther is the same way, but she hides it a lot under men style clothes. I don't think she's ashamed of it, or anything, I just think that she doesn't like the tightness the girl's ones can bring. Anyway, the song was called Headstrong, and I could see that she was telling Mr. B that she wasn't going to be afraid of them. I figured that as she was getting ready, she was also getting this ready. At the last beat, she was right at his face, letting her pose and the artwork of her painting to suggest the omen that was going to come.

The place was in an uproar as she got up and walked back to where she came. Meriv got up from his spot, heading to the back as Mr. B came over to us.

" Meriv said that you'll lead the way. " He said to me. His voice had a particular coldness to them.

He nodded, " This way. " I said as I headed to one of the farther rooms. I didn't want him to have a chance to leave us so easily. Plus, Ceres was right. Her pack will come to prey upon him. " Let me guess, you're going to see that new girl? " I asked, wanting to make sure.

"She's something, isn't she? How long has she been working here?"

"The boss has good eyes. Obviously, he can spy talent with just a glance." I said with a smile. I was laughing at myself, holding onto to my amulet, thinking of an honest way of lying. "Today was her first time on the stage, but she's been working the floor for a good while."

"Really? He must've been saving her up just for me. I can't wait." He said with some pleasure in his voice.

I didn't look at him, not wanting to know what was there. If I saw it, I probably would've punched him. I stopped at the door, turning to him, "For the special girl, how about some advance payment? If she's good on stage, she'll definitely be good at entertaining you." I said, remembering what Panther said about girls like that, though I knew fully well that Ceres wasn't like the others.

He didn't think it over much, giving the full amount and then some into the box, "She'll get more when I'm done."

I nodded, hiding my smile as I let him go inside. I closed the door once he was inside, waiting for Ceres.

She came by with Meriv, Ken and Tim with her. She was still wearing her make-up and the thong she had one when she left the stage. "He's in there." I announced.

Meriv then left, leaving us four here.

"+I'll entertain him for a while before you guys come in. Shendramon will let you know when that is.+" Ceres said, handing Fiterimon and Ele over to us as well as her bag.

"+You have us watching you.+" Tim said. Ken nodded. She smiled at them before looking at me.

I smiled to her, "I'll punch his lights out if he tries anything, okay?"

"Thanks." She closed her eyes, holding onto her amulet, making me notice that she didn't have her jewels on her.

"Where are your jewels?" Panther said that she never took them off.

She looked at me before smiling, "I'm entrusting you with them. I hope you boys can handle that."

I looked at them, seeing the same shock in their eyes that should be in mine. "Are you sure?" Tim asked.

She hit his chest. "If you all got my back, then I have nothing to worry about, right?"

We all smiled, "You can trust us with them." Tim said for us all.

"Great." She held onto her amulet again, closing her eyes. I could see that she was praying, but to whom, I don't know. I was glad that she kept her amulet on, showing off who her friends are and showing off her strength. She did bring us all together. When she opened her eyes, I opened the door, allowing her to enter.

[Ceres

She walked in, taking over the atmosphere of the place immediately. Ryan let the door close slowly, as she thought he would do. She stood before her enemy, her mother's spirit beside her. She needed her strength, the strength to face that which you don't want to, the power to stare at that which you hate with love and kindness. She also called upon a goddess that they have not met, a powerful goddess of prostitutes from the first civilized nation. She stood there: ready to partake in this game they were weaving.

" What's your name? " Mr. B patted the space next to him. She had her hands behind her, so she summoned up some drinks for him, as she was taught by her foster mother.

" Ishtar. " She smiled as she took a seat, pouring artfully the drink into the cup. Ceres offered it to him, " I hear you're a good customer. I'm happy that you choose me, since I was the last one and you had many more to pick from. "

He took the drink, "But you were more interesting. So, tell me, why did you do that to yourself?"

"It was my first time on the stage, so I wanted to show my stuff. Doing this was a way to take some of the nervousness away." Ceres was always good at adding truth with her lies, making them all believable. It also makes her truths lies when the lies are found out. "Do you like it?"

"Yes, it gives you an extra something. I should recommend that everyone do the same thing."

"You run the place?" Ceres asked, moving closer.

"Why, yes." He was playing off this idea, moving closer to Ceres.

She poured him more, since he was half way done, "That's impressive. I thought that ugly guy was just the lap dog. So, what do you do that keeps you from seeing your girls?"

"I have other jobs that need my attention more, but this place is owned by me." He took a bigger gulp. "So, tell me more about yourself. What brings you here?"

"I love excitement and I love the wild side of this place. I heard that this is the more dangerous place to work at, so I wanted to hit here first. I also want some extra cash and lots of it at once, if you get me." Ceres lay across, showing off her body more to him. "I may be young, but I know quite a lot."

"I noticed by the way you were dancing that you were knowledgeable." He placed his hand on her thigh. She kept looking at him, showing that she didn't mind. He moved it up and down.

She closed her eyes, making it look like something else as she was touching her mother and her guardian. She opened her eyes before he moved his body, "Before I go farther, I want to know what you're going to pay me. This'll be just between us, so you don't have to worry about that ugly jerk finding out and wanting a cut."

He grabbed her breast, making her gasp. He was holding it kinda hard as well. She winced a bit, but she was still looking at him. "I'll decide that when I find out how good you are." He pushed her down, making her drop her jug and the door fly open. Ryan was the first one there, giving a surprisingly good upper cut to Mr. B. He landed away from Ceres on his back. Ken came in; grabbing his arms and holding him down as Wormmon wrapped him with his silk. Tim closed the door.

"+Are you okay?+" Ryan asked, looking at Ceres as Espomon was growling at Mr. B, who was recovering from the blow.

Ceres blinked but then smiled as she stood up, giving him a hug. "+What took you?+" She asked with a laugh.

"We weren't sure if you were still in control." Tim answered, handing her his jacket.

She smiled at him, placing it around her shoulders and buttoning it so that her chest was covered. "Thank you."

" Now, " Tim looked at Mr. B, who was pinned against the couch, though unsure as to what is going on. " What's your connection to the murder of the girl that happened a few days ago?" He walked over to him, "Because we know that you're connected to her death, but we want to know whether you're a hero or a villain. "

" Who are you? " He asked, unfazed by what was going on.

"That's not important. We want to know what you know about that murder. We happen to know that you're working for an alien capturing organization." Ryan said, standing in front of Ceres.

"You were using that girl and this place to find me?" He asked with an angry voice.

"Of course." Tim said, "That's why we wouldn't let you go far with her. We don't want you, who could be an alien, hurt an innocent. So, tell us what you know."

"What is it to you?"

"+Ryan, you feel comfortable using your powers?+" Tim looked at him.

Ryan looked worried about it for a moment before Ken placed his hand on his shoulder. Ryan looked at him and Ken gave him a nod. Ryan smiled, "+Yeah, we better get the answers out of him.+" He brought out his jewel, walking over to him, " So, you think you're a tough guy, huh? Think that you can avoid our questions? "

" What is that girl to you? " He seemed to be jealous of Ryan. It was seen in his eyes.

"She's one of my girls." He smiled, making his jewel glow.

[Ryan

Once I felt that I was ready, I looked at him, "Who kill that girl?"

"A human."

"Is the alien race big and crude?" I was able to physically see what the real answer was.

He looked shocked, because I was describing the race that he was looking for. "How do you know?"

"Why was she killed?" He paused for a moment, debating in his mind as I saw the reason. "Was it because this creature was hungry and she was just at the wrong place at the wrong time?" I wondered what Ceres looked like as I was asking this.

"How could you know that?"

"And are you not going to do anything about? Is this race under some secret treaty with just you that allows them to do what they want without penalty?" I was seeing him signing something, with his face looking more stressed than the alien's.

"It wasn't like that at all!" He yelled before realizing it.

"Then what was it?"

"It was because they were going to destroy the earth." I looked to see that he was fooled.

"And how were they going to do that? By giving our children gum?" I asked with humor.

"They had weapons, powerful weapons. They were going to turn them on earth."

"So you're just going to let them run freely around this part of the earth. Why didn't they go to your headquarters to demand this?"

That thought never came to his mind before.

"So, what you're saying that you allowed her, and who knows how many others, to die by them because you were too stupid to see that they were fooling you to give them food?"

"What do you know?" He got defensive, meaning that I was right.

"I know that you're a fool. Those aliens have been coming here, knowing that a free meal was certain and were taking average of your iron rule of this part. Maybe you should have some trust in others so that you don't abuse your powers. Are you sure you're not one of those alien scums?"

"I'm a human being!" He yelled.

"But you're feeding your own kind to them. You can't possibly be human."

"Humans are…"

"Are what? Useless? They're already destroying each other? We need more room on the planet? Some just need to be gotten rid of?" He was thinking all of those things. I looked at Ceres, Ken and Tim. Ceres winked at me and I turned around to him, "No matter what we're doing to ourselves or our state of mind, every life has value and meaning. Just because they're not always at the best they could be, that's what reincarnation for, idiot." I then saw something else, since he was hiding it from us with his silence. "And even every alien race has a right to live as they choose. If you don't want our mistakes to become universal, I suggest that you stop your slave trade." He was not only trying to collect Saiyans, which he hasn't gotten any, but also other races to be given to various races. Among those enslaved are humans. "And you called yourself human, you who hands over your own kind to others for slavery."

There was a sudden shame on his face, but hiding it under anger. "I do what I do to keep my planet alive."

"No, you do it because you're getting paid." I stated, "You're no better than all those you consider yourself above."

Ceres came over, standing to my right. She was holding back her tears as she stared at him. She slapped him hard across his face, using her nails as well to get him to bleed. "How dare you! She was my friend and you let her die because you were greedy!" Ceres was emotional, but keeping out how much she really was. I never realized how much of an act Ceres puts on, to fool everyone around her. She moved away, and went out of the door.

I turned off my jewel, putting it back into my pocket before looking at him. I gave him another hard punch, "That's for all the lives you've destroyed." I said before we headed out.

[Ken

Ceres was leaning against the wall, holding herself close to it. I placed my hand on her shoulder, making her look. The tears she refused to show him were coming out. She wrapped her arms around me, crying on my shoulder. I patted her head, giving her comfort as she actually cried. Fiterimon went to her shoulder, since she was with me, and rubbing her nose against Ceres's cheek. When Ele came to her, she pulled herself together after a few more minutes, "We better get ready to leave. It's going to be a few hours of a flight and we need to head somewhere."

I nodded, and we all walked up to the room. Meriv left us our pay, which was nice of him, and a note saying that he had called the police to come get him. Ceres placed on clothes that covered her body, though she didn't wash off the paint.

"Don't have time?" Tim asked.

"I just want to keep it on for a bit longer." She admitted as she placed on a hat and sunglasses. She looked like a rich lady or something. "Let's go. We're going to need another car."

We all nodded, heading out and finding one easily enough. Tim took off the plates, switching it with something else before we all got in. Ceres drove us to a building that I recognized. It belongs to a man called Maximillion Pegasus. I heard that this company tried to take over Kaiba-sama's once upon a time, but they're now on healthy relationships. Pegasus-sama doesn't run the company, but an adopted son. I was wondering why we were here.

" Do you have any IDs? " The guard asked.

Ceres looked at him, "Mon, mon, Digimon, digi, mon, mon."

He nodded, opening the gate and allowed us through.

"+What the hell was that?+" Fiterimon asked as we were heading to the garage.

"A secret code that Pegasus was waiting for." She said with a smile.

"When did he know it existed?" Wormmon asked.

"A while ago."

When we parked the car, an escort was waiting for us. He led us to an aging man, but I could tell that this was Pegasus-sama. " Welcome! " He greeted.

" Thank you for taking us back to Japan. " Ceres said with a bow.

He blinked before smiling, " Ceres, do you need this disguise? "

We all looked at her. She smiled back, "Not really, but I need to hide for a while from other people."

He nodded, "Follow me to your ride." He started walking.

I tapped Ceres's shoulder, 'You know Pegasus-sama?'

"Yep. I was in a tournament that he held a long time ago. I was one of his prospectors for the tournament, so that's how he knows me." She smiled.

"And she was splendidly grand." He interrupted. "I heard that you even got yourself into the Battle City. I was surprised that you didn't make it to the top." He looked at her.

"Well, I was only there for the fun. You know that I don't like the spot light." She smiled. "Oh, these are friends of mine. This is Tim, Ryan, and Ken."

"Ken Ichijouji, correct?" I nodded with shock. "I've kept up with the Japanese news. You were quite the genius back in your day."

I felt the pulse of the dark spore, hiding the feeling of it from everyone. I nodded.

"Has Kaiba-san told you anything about Matt Ishida?" Ceres asked before he could ask why I wasn't talking.

"He's the famous Japanese astronaut? I hear that NASA is looking at him, but Kaiba-boy hasn't told me anything about him."

"Oh, well, he has a connection to a world that isn't part of the world that the monsters are from, and we're all connected to that as well. We're also given powers from that world, but they come at a cost. Ken becomes paralyze when he uses his, so that's why he can't speak." I was kinda surprised at how open she was with him.

"Oh, I see. I think I would like to meet this Ishida-san, then. It has been a while since I've been to Japan." He was commenting to himself.

"Would Kaiba-san greet you warmly?" Tim asked.

"Does he ever greet someone warmly?" He asked, as if that should answer it. Though, he wasn't there for when he was questioning Matt's boss to make her admit what she did. Also, I believe TK when he said that he was the one that got Matt to his press conference.

"Yep, he never greets anyone warmly. Not even Matt." Ryan said before covering his mouth.

"Oh, Ryan's cost is that he tells lies for a whole day." Ceres explained, "And he's the most honest one out of us all."

"I see. So, Kaiba-boy actually cares about someone other than his brother?"

"I guess he does care about Matt…" Ceres thought about it.

"And it wouldn't be because Matt beat him in a card game." Ryan said, wincing from his words.

"Oh yeah, Matt did beat him in Duel Monsters." Ceres clarified.

"I should duel him then." And as he said that, someone handed him a suitcase. He opened the door and an airplane was waiting for us there. We all got in and it took off a few minutes later.

"+Ken.+" I looked beside me to see Ceres. Everyone else was sleeping, including the Digimon. I was too excited to sleep. The plane was pretty small, and it only had two rows and one aisle. "+I have a question.+" She sat down, "+Do you think that I stand a chance against Panther for Matt's attention? Not in any sexual way.+"

I thought about it for a moment, 'I say that you would have to worry more about TK. He can be quite jealous of anyone trying to take Matt away from him. I say that he's your major competition.'

"Really?" She blinked.

I nodded, 'He was mad at me for a long time because he thought that I was taking Matt away from him.'

"Wow… Okay, thanks." She smiled.

'Why were you curious?'

"… You'll know whenever you remember. It's kinda important to you, in a way."

I blinked, 'How?'

She smiled, "I can't tell you yet, but just keeping believing that you'll remember and fight for it."

I nodded, though wondering if I could do that. I looked outside to see something below us. I watched carefully, seeing that it was our Digital clones. I looked at Ceres, 'Get Tim up. I'll take care of these guys.'

"Who?"

'My clone… I need to do this alone.'

She nodded, getting up and getting Tim. I got Wormmon up and we went over to them. Ryan and Espomon were up as well, making me wonder if they were asleep before.

"Good luck, Ken." Tim said. I could see that Ryan wanted to say something, but nothing came out since he didn't want to say a lie. "Shendramon will stay out so that you guys can get back inside."

I nodded, taking hold of him as Tim pushed us outside. I let go of Shendramon and free fall with Wormmon on my back. He Digievolved to Stingmon and made quick work of Davismon and Yoliemon and their Digimon. Stingmon quickly came back for me since I was free falling. Kenmon, TKmon, and Karimon, with their Digimon, surrounded us at that moment.

"You think you can defeat us?" Kenmon asked. "You're the weakest of them all! You can't even use Kindness."

"Ken," I looked over at TKmon. He extended his hand to me, smiling in a way that reminded me of TK. "You belong with us." When he said that, my Dark Spore pulsed.

I grabbed Faith, now realizing that I've been doing that a lot lately. I took in a deep breath as I was looking at them. Kenmon might be right. He might be right that I can't use Kindness, but I knew that one day I will be able to. I've been mean and cruel for a while, having that side of me never really going away. I need a lot of amending to do, but one day Kindness will come back to me. I had faith in that.

'Sorry, but I don't think so.' I said in English, having Kenmon and TKmon understand me since they were facing me. With the shock and anger on their face, Stingmon brought out his laser sword and first attacked Karimon since she was behind him. Her machine Gatomon moved out of the way, allowing us to get out of their trap.

TKmon tried to get us with his speed, but we were able to move quicker than him and his machine Angemon. Stingmon focused on the Angemon and I focused on TKmon.

"You're never going to beat us, you know that, right?" TKmon asked. "We tried to be nice, tried to offer you a chance, now you will feel our wrath!" He started to attack harder. I was kinda glad that at that moment, all the human clones were attacking me and all the Digimon were attacking Stingmon. I didn't want them to go after the plane, and with all the fighting I was doing, I was able to stay in the air without Stingmon's help.

Though, with them all attacking, it was much harder to actually attack back. I was defending most of the time, getting back some of the numbness that I had gotten rid of over the trip. When I happen to look up to see where the plane was, it was long gone from my sight. I kinda felt at a lost for a moment before realizing that I'm not alone at all. I started to feel something rising within. It was very odd, since I'm not sure where it was coming from. I knew it was above my organs, but below my skin, and not in the muscles. There seemed to be this space that surrounds it that this energy was able to find and was taking hold of that for itself. I almost didn't want to allow it to do so, but then I thought that it might be better for me that it did. It was like I understood what was happening, though never experiencing it.

At that moment, a power surge came over me. It was gathering in my palms. I looked down to see that they were glowing slightly. I looked over at Kenmon, somehow knowing that I could quickly gather the energy between my palms and launch it at him. He was taken by surprise, but was able to dodge it by leaning back. He didn't look too please with what I did, but I still had lots left so I was keeping it up at all of them. Soon, their Digimon came to get them.

"This isn't over!" Kenmon proclaimed as they flew away. I looked below me, seeing that I was able to fly.

"How are you able to do that?" Stingmon asked me.

'I don't know…' I said, 'Do you want me to take us back?'

"I better if you don't know." He gathered me up and I felt that urge passing over, letting my muscles lax again. I felt like jell-o as we headed back, but I'm sure it was because of the numbness and not what I did. Shendramon was waiting for us, staying underneath the plane. I took hold of him and Stingmon so that Stingmon could go back to Wormmon and we could go inside.

"Are you okay?" Ceres asked as we came inside.

I nodded, 'They're not deleted, but I found out something interesting.' I wrote on the whiteboard this time so that everyone could understand me.

"What?" Tim asked, petting Shendramon on his head.

'I can bring out a massive amount of energy from within and use it in attacks.'

"Describe it." Ryan said.

'I felt it in my palms, and it came out in a semi-solid form. It was whitish in color and it was glowing. I was able to shoot it in a form of a ball.'

"Can you show us?" Tim asked.

Wormmon got on my shoulder as I closed my eyes. I was trying to find it again, and noticed that it wasn't buried like I thought it was. It was just floating around, as if waiting for me to notice it and use it. I brought out a little bit to my palms this time, finding that I know how to control it fairly well. When I felt the light hitting me, I opened my eyes to see that it was back in my palms. They were looking at it with amazement.

"The Dark Being used that before." Ceres enlightened us.

"Lily Dawn didn't say that TK used the same thing when they were fighting Skull Devimon." Ryan said. That meant that she did.

"So, does that mean that you're a Saiyan too?" Ceres asked more to herself.

"That's not solid proof." Tim said, "We don't know what causes it, and since TK hasn't used it since and we don't know the status of the Dark Being, we can't assume that it's connected to Saiyans alone. After all, I'm sure that the Dark Being himself isn't a Saiyan."

"He could've known that it existed in Matt's body and he used the one in Matt's body."

I looked at it before pulling it away. I smiled to myself, glad that there was one more thing that connected me to them. I remembered what Kenmon told me about the first two groups. That most were Saiyans, but I was one that wasn't, but I was equaled to TK. I wondered if that was known to us before our memory lost. I really hoped that TK meant what he said about Matt was true, though. That I could go to Matt as if he was my brother and think of TK as my brother as well. I really hoped he remembers what he said to me so that I don't have to hide my hurt again like all the other times.

"We should probably get some sleep. How many more hours is it going to be?" Ryan asked.

Ceres looked out the window, before looking at Tim, "Or can you ask someone about it?"

Tim blinked before sighing. He looked at the window, staring at it before placing his hand on it. He then started to speak in another language for a while before placing his hand back on the window. "Seven more hours."

"Can you stay up for that much?" Ceres asked.

Ryan narrowed his eyes for some reason, "No, I can't."

"Do we need to take the opposite of that?"

He nodded, "I thought it was that short."

"Oh, okay. But that is pretty short, in a way." She smiled, "Okay, we'll play games for the time." She brought out cards and we started to play random games with them. The Digimon joined in too since Pegasus was in another part of the plane.