Disclaimers: I don't own Digimon Frontier. This is just a fanfiction.

Rated T for mild languages, fighting scenes, mild sensuality scenes, and bloody-violence

Bloody Nightmares

Chapter Twenty-four: The Tenth Member

The night was wet, cold, and dark…and Dusk loved it. Normally he would laugh cynically and appreciated Gali and Kaze's contributions by summoning a storm and creating this cold atmosphere. Unfortunately, this was no time for him to be enjoying the dark weather. He was thirsty for blood and without Kouichi as his host he would have to search for another temporary host so that he may feed.

He found another one somewhere near the man-made island of Odaiba. The boy was named Ken Ichijouji and he was just minding his own business in trying to escape the rain. Like Kouichi, Dusk whispered into his mind and summoned Ken's dark thought. He saw how much he was suffering due to his older brother's death and used that memory of guilt to his advantages. Convinced that his parents neglected him in favor of his older brother, Ken agreed to the dark voice and Dusk successfully possessed him.

His next victim was a young man who works at the Ristorante Italiano del Orimoto. Apparently, he had a sudden brawl with two fellow employees at the back of the restaurant. Apparently Teresa heard the sudden commotion and alerted her husband. Romano was furious with his employee's behavior and had threatened to fire him on the spot. Fortunately, Teresa convinced to let him off with a lighter punishment. Instead of losing his job, the young man must work an extra five hours. He cursed bitterly to himself as he prepared the food for restaurant tomorrow. He didn't mean to get upset. His girlfriend had just broke-up with him and he couldn't get over it. The other two employees heard about this and tried to cheer him up. Unfortunately, due to their poor choices of words, they accidentally insulted his ex-girlfriend and he just couldn't stand that.

The young man had planned to go to his ex-girlfriend's house and beg her to give him another chance that night. But thanks to his rash behavior, he wouldn't be able to see her tonight.

Unfortunately for him, he wouldn't be seeing anyone for a while now that Dusk had caught a scent of his negative emotion. The last thing the young man saw after he locked the place up was a boy avoiding the light of the streetlamps and he was smiling at him with a savage pleasure in his eyes.

"Man! Those two are late!"

Junpei was pacing back and forth flipping a copper and nickel coin up and down around his arm without missing a beat. He and Tomoki where the first to arrive at their usual hang out spot at the park while Takuya and Izumi arrived a few minutes later. They had agreed to meet up here on the dot today and so far, only the twins are still missing.

"Urgh! I swear, sometime that Kouji makes me so mad!" Junpei scowled. "He was the one who told us to meet here on the dot! And yet he's the one who's late! Man, sometime I hate him!"

"Kouji must have a reason," Tomoki said, trying for the umpteenth time to reason with his friend. "Maybe he and Kouichi ran into something and it's probably why they're late right now."

"And pray why they haven't called to inform us about it?" Izumi spoke up. Like Junpei, Izumi was losing her patience as well. She just really hates it when boys leave her hanging and not calling her about it. "Honestly, it's only common courtesy to inform us if there's something that's delaying them."

"You said it, Izumi-chan," Junpei agreed but not because he wants to please her. "To be honest, I'm getting sicke of waiting for those two. They were late the last time and they're late right now, too." He sighed and put his coin away in his pocket.

Izumi's temper was rising. She placed both of her arms on her hips and said, "Honestly, if I have to wait ten more minutes for them, I'm leaving!"

"Calm down, Izumi," Takuya spoke up for the first time that day and pointed. "I don't think that we have to wait any longer. I hear voices coming." Izumi pouted in reply and crossed her arms. "Well, it's about time!"

Sure enough, two voices were approaching their special spot. But to their disappointment, they found out that it wasn't the twins as the voices came closer and closer.

"Okay, tell me again why we have to come back here, Masaki?" Takashi kicked a small rock as he and Masaki continued walking.

Masaki shook his head. "I told you. Kyochi-kun called us. He told us to come here," he explained patiently. Sometimes it takes more than a scolding to get Takashi to understand what is going on. It was Masaki's turn to kick the little rock now as they climbed up the small hill. "Kyochi said that we should meet up here and he said that there's a surprise for us."

Takashi's eyebrows raised. "Really?"

"Well, not really. More specifically, he said you were going to be the one who will be surprise the most," Masaki shrugged. "Don't ask me because I have no idea what he really means."

"Hey! You two!" Junpei called from his side of the bench. "What are you two doing here?"

Both Masaki and Takashi looked up to see Takuya and his friends sitting at their usual spot in the park. Apparently, it seems that it's also some other group's spot as well.

Takashi scowled and said, "What are you guys doing in our spot?"

Junpei crossed his arms. "Hey, I asked you first and this is our spot! We were here first."

As soon as he said this, Junpei felt someone elbowing him in the side. He turned to see Izumi frowning at him as she said, "Junpei! Be nice!"

"Oh, c'mon, Izumi," Junpei protested. "Don't you start defending him now. Have you forgotten the things he said to you a few days ago?"

"He didn't insult us," she lectured back. "And if it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have known what had happened to Ami in first place."

"But we probably would have found out sooner or later," Takuya commented. Izumi gave him an unreadable look but Takuya could tell that her eyes were saying 'you-are-not-helping'.

Izumi shook her head and turned her attention back to the two newcomers, "Sorry, about that. Sometimes these guys can be a bit thickheaded." Takuya smirked at the joke while Junpei pouted at her criticism.

"Hey, no worries!" Masaki said, raising a hand up to signify that he wasn't insulted. "Sometimes Takashi-kun can be like that, too."

"Would you like to join us?" Izumi offered out of courtesy.

"Thanks," Masaki replied. He turned to face Takashi and said, "Might as well, since we were told to wait here anyway."

"Whatever," Takashi shrugged.

"So what brings you here?" Tomoki asked curiously.

"Kyochi called us and told us to come to this spot and wait for someone," Masaki said brightly and gave a shrug. "He said it was going to be a surprise or something like that. What about you guys?"

"We're waiting for Kouji and Kouichi," Tomoki replied. "We were going to hang out today so we told them to meet us here in the park. But usually, they're not always this late."

"Why? Did something happen?"

"You could say that," Tomoki nodded before he continued. "Their dad is doing a business meeting with a new client and he needed his family to be there with him."

"Plus, there was a storm last night," Takuya added. "It probably delayed the entire city one way or another."

He and Izumi had taken shelter in Kaze's home. He could remember talking to Izumi of their…secret mission and Izumi had asked him out. But the next thing they knew, they woke up in their own beds. It was as if the entire thing last night was a dream. But when he called Izumi, she said she remembered the same thing. Izumi also found the magical bracelets in her backpack that Kaze gave her. It was a sure sign that it was no dream.

"I agree. That was such a freak storm," Tomoki commented. "For some reason, it doesn't feel normal."

"I know what you mean," Masaki agreed. "It felt as if someone deliberately pressed a switch-on-monsoon-button all over the city."

"Hey, speaking of things that are not normal…" Takashi began nervously. He turned to face Izumi. "How's your…um…you know…your friend in the hospital?"

Junpei gave him an instant death glare for reminding Izumi of a grim topic, but surprisingly, Izumi smiled and said, "She's much better! Thanks to your friend, Kyochi-kun. Thanks for asking. That was sweet of you."

Takashi blushed and both Junpei and Takuya blinked. Izumi giving someone other than her best friends a compliment? Well, that was slightly irritating, Takuya thought. He saw that Junpei was about to make another scene so he decided to come up with another topic or else Izumi would have his head. "So…" he began casually. "Who are you guys waiting for?"

"I'm assuming it's Kyochi-kun, but since he's busy at the hospital, I'm not entirely sure." A leaf from one of the branches above them fell in front of Masaki. He flicked it with his fingers and it blew away after being caught in a passing gust of air.

"Isn't there another person in your group?" Izumi asked. "What about his sister?"

"You mean Kimi?" Masaki asked. "Well, she can't go out much."

"Why? Is she sick or something?" Izumi asked.

"No, she's not supposed to," Takashi replied bitterly. "Her dad is extremely overprotective. He objected to the idea of letting her go out with us to the Obon Festival in the first place."

"Wait a minute," Takuya interrupted. "I'm a little bit confused. He won't let Kimi go out, but what about Kyochi? Isn't that playing favoritism?"

"It's complicated," Masaki replied. "It's probably best not to explain it."

Tomoki suddenly noticed something and tried to stretch in order to see better from where he was standing. Smiling, he said, "Hey guys, Kouichi and Kouji are here and so are their pets." He jumped up on the bench and waved to them. "Hey, guys! Over here!"

Kouichi waved back as he and his brother came closer and closer. Lobo and Löwe followed suite with Kimi on both of her sides.

"Hey, I think someone's with them!" Tomoki said.

"Really?" Izumi stood up to see. At first, it looks as if the girl was just going in the same direction as the twins. But as they got closer, Izumi realized that she really was accompanying them. "You're right, Tomoki," said Izumi. "But that's not Chiaki or any of the girls from our school. I've never seen her before."

"Hey, guys," Kouichi greeted when they finally reached the others. "I'm sorry we're late. We got delayed because of a few…unexpected situations." He glanced at Kimi but her face remained emotionless.

"Well, you could have called to inform us first, you know," Izumi frowned before turning to face the new girl. "So who's your new friend?" Rather than introducing herself, Kimi remained speechless. She looked around and realized that she had never spoken to a group of ordinary citizens before. Or more specifically, she had never spoken to a group of city people around her age before. Frankly, she doesn't know what to say. All of her life, she was used to greeting only her relatives and if it had to be strangers, it was only those who were of political power. The only kids that she were introduced to (not including her brother and Masaki and Takashi) were children of political leaders, royalties, businessmen and women (including Kouji and Kouichi, of course), and various celebrities.

"So what's your name?" Izumi asked. Kimi remained speechless. The words were in her mouth and no matter what she does, she can't make them come out. For a moment, Izumi and the others thought that she was mute, and if she was nervous, she was doing a good job of not showing it. "You do have a name, don't you?" Izumi asked, trying to approach a more casual and relax method. "Where are you from?"

"Hey, Tomoki," Masaki spoke. Out of curiosity, he and Takashi have decided to see what all of the fuss was about. "Who are you guys talking to—Kimi-san!" The young brown hair boy realized that it was Kimi. Takashi heard him and came closer, both of their eyes wide open. The red head couldn't believe it. They couldn't recognize her before because she looked so much like an ordinary city girl in her city clothes. He was speechless when he realized that it really was Kimi and began to stutter at first when he tried to force himself to speak. "K-K-K-Kimi? What are you doing here? And why are you with these two?" he pointed to the twins furiously.

Takuya and his friends' eyes snapped open as wide as a full moon. Takuya pointed at the new girl, "Wait a minute! She's Kimi? This is Kyochi's sister?" Kouichi nodded. Takuya was a bit confused now. "How did you guys ran into each other?"

Kimi gave him a blank look before approaching closer. Takuya and his friends began to notice the details in her appearance. Her eyes were so piercing blue that Takuya couldn't find the right word to speak. He noticed how much she looked like her brother, except her face was more feminine due to her gender and the fact that her hair was so long and flowing. When they first met Kyochi, Izumi was a bit smitten by him. Sure enough, he was handsome, but his sister was gorgeous. Takuya could now understand why Takashi seemed to be so fond of her.

"Hi, Kimi," Masaki spoke. "Sorry, but this is the first time we've seen you out here."

"Likewise," Kimi spoke and smiled at the younger boy. At last, the words came out. Apparently, seeing two familiar faces gave her some courage and Kimi found it easier and easier to speak. "Are you surprised?"

"Yeah, of course. Kyochi-kun called but we didn't really expect to see you," Masaki admitted and gave a big laugh. "Why didn't you come with him? We thought that he was going to bring you here himself."

"I wished, but he's busy," Kimi replied.

"So why are you with them?" Takashi repeated. Needless to say, he was afraid to hear the answer himself. Kimi suddenly remembered what Kyochi told her last night and as she thought about it, she felt a strong urge to punch Takashi. But her twin's words echoed through her head. Oh, Kimi! Don't punch him, too! He's our friend! Kimi had promised Kyochi that she wouldn't, but rather, she would pay Takashi back with something less violent. Kimi looked over to see Kouji smirking at Takashi's obvious jealously and realized what she should do.

"Isn't it obvious, Takashi?" said Kimi. She came close to Kouji's side and wrapped both of her arms around his left arm and she leaned on his shoulder. "I'm on a date."

Everyone's eyes widen in shock including the Guardian Knights. Takashi and Takuya gaped at her and Kouji. "You're…w-what?" Takashi sputtered.

"I'm sorry, did I stutter?" she said. "We ran into each other and things just fell into place. So now, I'm on a date. It's as simple as that."

"B-b-but… You don't even know this guy!" Takashi accused.

"Of course I know him," Kimi replied. "Kyochi introduced us."

"But he…how could he?" Takashi cried. "You know I would have taken the liberty of escorting you myself if given the chance! How could you have listen to Kyochi?"

"First of all, he's my brother," Kimi said nonchalantly. "And secondly, Kouji isn't as big of a flirt when I'm around him as you always are." She smiled at him and Takashi appeared as if he was about to break down and cry.

Takuya whistled and said, "Gee, Kouji. It's about time you got yourself a girlfriend!"

Kouji's cheeks blushed at this remark. He turned and glare at his friend furiously. "Shut up, Takuya!" Kouji snapped. "It's not what you think." But since Kouji was too quick to retort, his denial doesn't sound so convincing to any of them, not even to himself.

"What's there to think about, buddy?" Takuya teased. "You know, I always thought that you have bad taste…or no taste at all…when it comes to women. But now…" Takuya walked over ot Kouji's side, brushing Kimi away from him in a friendly manner. He slapped his friend on his back and grinned even wider. "…well, I take it back." He glanced at Kimi's figure. "You really land yourself a big one."

"What are you saying?" Kouji dared him.

"Oh, c'mon, buddy! You know she's hot!"

"Excuse me?" Kimi blinked in confusion. To be honest, she wasn't very familiar to urban slang and terms.

"Takuya here is complimenting you," Izumi spoke up, giving him an annoyed look. Takuya held up both hands in defense.

"Hey, chill!" he said.

"Thank you, but I'm afraid that Kouji's right," Kimi smiled. Now it was everyone's turn to blink in confusion.

"What?" Takashi spoke up, sounded a bit stupid.

"I'm not going out with Kouji," Kimi said flatly.

"But you just…but…what?" Takashi sputtered again. He sounded even more stupid than Takuya just now.

"Let me say this slowly and clearly so that even you will understand what I am saying," Kimi smiled coldly at him. She stepped closer and said, "I am not going out with anyone. I am just teasing you."

"Why?"

Kimi put her hands on her hip and gave him a warning look, "Next time, think before you speak. You are not to swear at my twin whether I'm presented or not."

There was a snicker behind Takashi. "Serves you right for being such a foul mouth, Takashi-kun," Masaki laughed. "Boy, you should have seen the look on your face when you actually thought that Kimi and Kouji were going out!" He turned to face the blue-haired girl, "That was hilarious, Kimi."

"He deserved it," she replied with a sly smile. Takashi felt his checks flushed as they turn bright pink. Seeing this, others couldn't help but laugh.

After everyone have calmed down, Kouichi stepped in and politely introduced Kimi to the others. "Everyone, this is Kimi Watsuki, Kyochi-sensei's twin sister."

One of Junpei's eyebrows arched up. "Fraternal?"

"Naturally," Kimi replied.

"Kimi-hi—Kimi-san," Kouichi said, but he almost addressed her with the Japanese suffix for princess when he realized that she was supposed to be posing as Kyochi's sister. Luckily he caught himself in time before she could notice his slip. He gestured to the others. "These are our friends. This is Takuya."

"Takuya Kanbara," Takuya grinned widely and shook her hand. "And may I saw that you're looking very fine on this beautiful day!"

Izumi purposely cleared her throat. "Ahem! You didn't say that to me this morning."

"Oh, come on. I'm just being friendly, you know," said Takuya, laughing it off.

Izumi rolled her eyes and said, "Takuya, if you grin too much, you'll scare her."

Kouichi and Kouji laughed while Takuya gave Izumi a sheepish look. "And this is Izumi," said Koichi.

"Ciao," Izumi greeted in her native tongue. "My name is Izumi Orimoto. It's so nice to have finally met you. Sorry, if my accent bothers you. My family and I have just moved back here from Italy a few years ago."

Suddenly, to Izumi's surprised, Kimi returned her greeting in Italian. "Italia? Io ci sono stato una volta. È un paese molto bello," she smiled.

"Hang on a second, you can speak Italian?" Izumi's eyes widen.

Kimi nodded. "Does that surprise you?"

"Well, yes," Izumi replied. "It's not everyday that I meet someone other than my family who can understand what I'm saying."

"How can we? She always does that, you know?" Takuya whispered to Kimi. "Sometimes she just blurts out things in Italian and she tends to forget that no one can understand her. It didn't make her very popular at first."

"Thanks for bringing that up, goggle-head!" Izumi snapped, her arms crossed.

"But I like it," Junpei jumped in. "Honestly, it really makes you unique, Izumi-chan!"

Kimi leaned over to Kouji and whispered, "Is that the boy that you were talking about? The one who flirts a lot?"

"You have no idea," Kouji answered. "He's always trying to make things sound better for Izumi, whether to flatter her intentionally, or he's just being nice because he really likes her."

"Oh, sorry! I'm Junpei Shibayama," Junpei said, taking out a hand for Kimi to shake. She didn't take it. Seeing this, Junpei put his hand into his sleeves and pulled out a little daisy and gave it to her with a smile. "But you can call me J.P., the Incredible Sparkler."

"It's a stage name that he came up with for his series of magic tricks," Takuya pointed out.

Kimi smiled and took the little flower. She let it drop to the ground, but before it did, it landed on Löwe's nose. He scratched at it irritably. "I'll keep that in mind."

"And this little guy over here is Tomoki. He's the prince of video games."

"Tomoki Himi," Tomoki grinned. "It's about time that we finally get to see Kyochi's mysterious sister," He added and laughed.

"Am I really that mysterious?" Kimi asked.

"Well, we've heard a lot about you from your friends," Junpei gesture towards Takashi and Masaki.

"It's nice to know that they're still thinking of me," Kimi replied. Takashi and Masaki turned away sheepishly in order to compose themselves.

"And you've met Kouichi and Kouji, of course," Takuya said. Lobo and Löwe gave a quick bark and a meow. "And their mascots, Lobo and Löwe," Takuya added. Kouji glared at him. "Well, now that we've cleared the introduction, would you like to join us, Kimi?"

"Where?" Kimi asked.

"Shibuya shopping district, of course!" Izumi said. "And later, we're going to go and see a movie and drop by my place for some dinner! C'mon, you should definitely come with us. I'll show you all of the best stores in town!"

"Why are you so enthusiastic?" Kimi asked.

Before Izumi replied, she lowered her voice to a whisper. "Because, I really need someone else to talk to…who isn't a boy."

Before Kimi could reply, Izumi grabbed her by the arm and they both ran ahead. But before she started to sprint, Izumi turned to Takashi and Masaki and said, "You guys should come with us, too!"

"Are you sure you won't mind?" Masaki asked cautiously. He hadn't forgotten about what had happened the last time he and Takashi were hanging out with them.

Izumi snorted. "Oh, don't be such boys! C'mon, it will be fun. The more the merrier!" She tightened her grip around Kimi's arm again, ran down the hill and cried, "Last one there has to pay for the popcorns!"

"Hey! No fair!" Takuya shouted, sprinting after the girls. "You have a hostage with you!"

Everyone laughed as they ran to catch up with the girls without a care in the world. Unknown to Takuya and his friends, they were being watched from a distance.

Shibuya was known for its shops and it was always crowded, especially on weekends. For those who are not from Tokyo, they would have thought that the reason Shibuya was packed was because the people are there for the sakura viewing event or even any of the other Japanese festivals of the sort. Occasionally, one of the kids would see something that they really like, popped into the store for a few minutes and came out to join the others with a bag. For Tomoki, he walked out of a video game store with a small bag. Five stores later, it was Masaki's turn as he disappeared into a book store and came out with six books in his bags. His face was glowing with satisfaction. One look and Tomoki could clearly tell that he finally got the ones that he had been saving up for.

"I didn't think you were into books," Tomoki said.

"Nah, only the ones on computers and robots," Masaki noted, showing him two of his new books. One cover had a picture of computer chips and the other has a little robot that people invented for science conventions. "So what did you get?"

Tomoki reached into his bag and pulled out what he had bought. It was a new game controller, "My old one broke," he grinned at Masaki but then he hissed at the thought of his now smaller allowance in his wallet. "But now, I don't have enough for two!"

"Maybe I can fix it," Masaki offered. "I'm really handy with electronics."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I may not look like it, but I really love inventing. I can even take a computer apart and put it back together." Tomoki remembered the robot book that he had showed him and asked his friend if he could make one of them. Masaki grinned proudly, "Of course! But so far, getting to do what I want is a challenge. I was able to create a robot that brings a bottle to my hungry baby sister. I based it off from one of those Japanese mechanical dolls."

As they continued on, Masaki and Tomoki are finding more and more things about each other and saw how much they have in common, especially when it came to their electronic hobbies. A few steps later, they came across a few clothing and fashion stores. As predicted, Izumi squealed with delight at the latest designs and dragged Kimi into the stores with her.

The waiting took a while and out of boredom, Takashi and Masaki walked up a few paces ahead to look at the next shops' windows. Following their examples, Takuya walked over to the twins who were giving their pets some travel sized snacks. "So…" Takuya began casually, "…how did it go with your dad's business meeting?"

"Boring," Kouji replied and continued to feed his dog and scratch him behind his ears.

Takuya raised an eyebrow at this comment. "How can it be boring this time? You did get to meet that royal family from Lusteria right?"

"I meant the business discussion was boring, Takuya," Kouji pointed out.

"So the rest wasn't?" Takuya laughed. Kouji shook his head and rolled his eyes. Takuya decided to continue his questioning. "So did you get to meet the princess? Izumi's been dying to know what she looks like!" Kouji didn't answer him as he silently tries to come up with a way to not reveal Kimi's secrets. Confused, Takuya glanced at Koichi and asked, "You did get to see her, didn't you?" Kouichi nodded. "Well? What does she look like?"

Takuya's persistence caught Tomoki and Junpei's attentions. They came over quickly to hear the juicy details as well. "Are you guys talking about the mysterious Lusterian princess?" Junpei pressed.

"Well, tell us! Was she pretty? Did you get a picture with her?"

Kouichi nodded and answered cautiously, "You could say she's pretty," his tone suddenly switched to being friendly so that his friends would think that he's teasing, "And she tried to kill us at first sight."

"Kouichi, you really need to work on your sarcasms," Takuya pointed out.

Wanting to change the subject quickly, Kouichi asked, "So how was the book signing event? Did you get to meet the author?"

"Um…yeah, more or less," Takuya said, twiddling his fingers. Ironically, it was now his turn to try and hide the truth from his friends. He really was starting to get uncomfortable about this. He couldn't blame Kouichi. After all, the older twin could not have known that the author, Kaze, is a centuries-old witch.

"Well, what was she like?" Kouji asked.

"Well, she was kind of like Gali," Takuya replied automatically but then he realized his mistake. The twins turned their heads quickly as well as their Guardian Knights.

"Gali? You mean she's…?" Kouichi started.

Quickly, Takuya put up his hands in defense and said, "Um, no! No! That's not what I meant! I didn't mean that she was just like the Oracle. I meant that she was…pretty like Gali."

The twins and their pets didn't seem to buy it at first but seeing how goofy Takuya looks, they relaxed and gave a laugh. "For a moment there, I thought you meant that she did your readings as well," Kouji said, smirking.

"Ha, ha, ha…yeah…like that really happen," Takuya reply, trying to hide the fact that Kaze did in a way gave him and Izumi a reading last night. Apparently Kouji doesn't know how close he was to the truth. It was a close call though. If the two of them were going to find the bearer of the Galis Star, then its best to keep their friends in the dark unless absolute necessary. Ironically, the twins were thinking the same. They can't risk telling their friends of Kimi's real identity nor the connections that they had with Dusk and their past lives. Both sides have decided that it was best to keep the others in the dark in order to keep them safe. What both teams does not realized is that they are all already involved in this twisted fate since the beginning of their summer. It was only a matter of times until they both come to realize that their missions are to meet at a certain crossroads sooner or later.

In the distances, both Gali and Kaze watched the nine teenagers and the tenth one at the hospital with Ami. Needless to say, they were not the only ones doing their jobs. As the Oracle and the Prophetess watched the events in their separate magical mirrors on different sides of the city, they both noticed something. It appeared at the corner of their magical mirrors. Upon closer inspections, both women noticed that two men are following them from a safe distance. While their attires made them look like ordinary tourists, Gali and Kaze knew better. It wasn't because they were magical that they could tell. Far from it. It was because both women noticed that these men have wires attached to their ears and bulging pockets which could only mean that they're carrying those annoying walkie-talkies. Amused, Kaze opened up a mental link with her friend.

"Gali, did you see that?" she asked. "Who are they exactly? I know that they're not tourists."

"Of course not," Gali replied. "They're bodyguards."

"Let me guess," Kaze mused. "They are there to protect the little Lusterian princess?"

"Indeed," said Gali. "The Duke insisted that his daughter should have them around, but she would only agree if they were in disguises."

"Well, I must admit that they're not doing a very good job at it," Kaze rolled her eyes before adding, "The disguises, I mean. Speaking of which…" Kaze's tone turned cold as she changed the subject. "…Gali?"

"Yes?"

"Where is Dusk right now?"

The question was quick, flat, and serious. Gali didn't answer the Prophetess at first. Instead, she turned on her television set in her living room. Pressing down the higher arrow button, she flicked to the news. Right now, it was weather time. The anchorman on screen was looking down at his notes quickly before informing Japan of the upcoming forecast. It was going to be clear in the next few days. Then, he informed of the coming lunar eclipse. It was to be an event of the century he said. A very special total lunar eclipse which can only happen once every hundred years. For now, the night weather for that moon-viewing event was uncertain. He then advised astronomy fans that they should pray there will be a clear sky by then. The news broke for commercial and Gali returned to her mental contact with Kaze. "The news hasn't reported yet, but in a few minutes, the city will know that Dusk has struck again."

Kaze gasped quietly and asked, "He's using another host isn't he?"

Gali nodded to herself sadly. "Yes, and this time, it's another boy around the twin's age. Ken Ichijouji-kun."

"The boy genius?" Kaze gasped again. "Gali, I knew he was having problems, but I didn't think it was dark enough for Dusk to…"

"Dusk was desperate," Gali pointed out. "He was dying, Kaze. That's why he needed to feed, even without Kouichi as a host."

"If he can't have him…" Kaze began.

"…he'll take the next best candidate," Gali finished grimly.

"And this time, it's Ken," Kaze noted. "But he'll need Kouichi again. Sooner or later, he will have to let Ken go."

"But he won't do it unscathed," Gali pointed out. "By the time he leaves Ken's body, the boy will suffer a great trauma and he will be guilt-ridden."

"Unless there is a flame of hope out there to help him," Kaze sighed. Her thoughts suddenly turned to her own old flame from the past. "If only Aguni was here. He would know what to do and how to help that poor boy…"

"Aguni…" Gali remembered. "Aguni…the Fire Wizard. He was just like us. He was a member of the Ten Legendary Warriors."

Kaze was silent for a moment as she remembered the golden days when she, Gali, Aguni, Dusk, and the other six Warriors were at the top of their game. They had been in control centuries ago. They were part of an order made up of the finest wizards, magicians, and witches in all of the lands. Each one of them had represented one of the ten elements. While Kaze had been the representation of Wind, Gali of Water, Aguni was of Fire. As predicted, Dusk and his brother were the representation of Light and Darkness. But it wasn't the evil darkness. From their names alone, Dusk and his brother, Dawnius, were to represent their everlasting circle of powers from dawn to dusk. But when Dusk betrayed them and his own brother, the dark side of the shadow grew and killed the light. Without light and darkness, the other eight Warriors could not continue to uphold the order.

"The others are gone," Gali reminded her friend. "They're spread across the world and have moved on with their lives. It's up to the two of us to challenge Dusk."

"I know, Gali. I know," Kaze whispered. She felt a tear coming and quickly wiped it away before Gali could notice. No matter how strong she may seem, she must not appear weak, not even to her best friend. "But can we really fight against him with our powers alone?"

"Dusk may be powerful," Gali said, "but he's not invincible. I've already made sure of that when I tricked him."

"He still hates you for it," Kaze replied. "He'll want to strike at you…if given the chance."

"He'll never have it," Gali said confidently. "We've already pitted against him with those children," she glanced back at her magic mirror. On its reflective surface, Takuya and his friends were still talking while the girls were still clothes shopping. "Dusk is without his real body and he still doesn't have the Gali Star. That makes him weak."

Kaze realized how confident her friend sounds. For a moment, she hardly recognized Gali. The Oracle never talked like this before. Does this mean that she knows that they have an actual chance this time? Could they really win against Dusk this time for sure?

"Gali," Kaze began cautiously. "Even if Dusk's is weak now, it still doesn't mean that he's helpless. May I remind you that he's very cunning and resourceful."

"So are we, Kaze," Gali pointed out. "Dusk may have all the dark and twisted manipulative powers and skills in the world, but he will never be able to fight against that one true power…"

"What? What power? You don't mean…?"

"Yes, Kaze. It's love," Gali finished. "Can you imagine it? Once Dusk was a creature who was capable of compassion. But since Dawnius's murder, Dusk has yet to experience and understand anything of it. Because of his past life to feel emotions, he believed that he could understand it. That's why he assumed that Princess Marina gave the Galis Star to Prince Jason out of love…but he miscalculated. No thanks to you, Kaze," she added with a mischievous wink.

"Because I managed to convince the princess to give it to someone else?" Kaze questioned.

"Do you remember exactly who she gave the Galis Star to?"

Kaze was silent before she said, "Her brother…the King."

Gali nodded. "And so, Dusk failed to see that love doesn't exist only between the closest friends, but also between siblings."

Kaze nodded in agreement, but she still can't help but feel doubtful. "But that was centuries ago. Can we still fight against him by manipulating love?"

"We're not manipulating love," Gali corrected her. "We're guiding it. Only people like Dusk would manipulate it."

"Whatever the game stage is, Gali," said Kaze. She looked out of her window as doves took flight. "I just hope that we're on the winning side this time. I'm tired of losing, even though Dusk hasn't won either."

Gali nodded. "I hope so, too, my dear friend." She returned her gaze back to her television set. The commercial was over and the news program switched back to breaking news. The topic was murder scenes again, but this time, the camera was showing a familiar place…it was the Ristorante Italiano del Orimoto.

Gali shook her head and repeated, "I hope so, too."

Author's note:

Italia? Io ci sono stato una volta. È un paese molto bello—Italy? I've been there once before. It is a very beautiful country. (Sorry if my grammar might be wrong. I only have my English-Italian dictionary to go by.)

Ken Ichijouji is one of the new Digidestined from Digimon season 02. I've been meaning to put him in as a good cameo for this fanfic. Since he also has a dark past, what with losing his brother and becoming the evil Digimon Emperor and all, he would have made an excellent temporary host for Dusk.

Originally, this chapter was supposed to be a lot longer. But once again, it got too long for its own good, so I'm going to have to cut it here. The action will be in the next chapter, I promise. I apologized that this chapter took me so long. It's just that I've been going through some tough time lately. First of all, my paternal grandfather passed away about a month ago and it's been hell for the entire family as we all tried to go through the funeral and the mourning period. But life goes on, right? And before you start, I'll answer the questions. Yes, I'm feeling much better since my grandfather's death. Sure, I still missed him like hell, but that's a part of life. I knew that I was going to lose him but I just wasn't prepared to lose him like now. Just goes to show that life can make a turn for the better or worse in just a matter of seconds.

Anyway, I'm working on my other projects right now, so this chapter was a struggle to get finished. Especially the middle part of this chapter, it was hell because I kept changing alternated events of how Takuya and his gang would react when they meet the tenth and final member of the team. Kimi's prank on Takashi was planned for a while. I wanted to show how devious she can be, especially when it comes to dealing with Takashi's constant jealously and tendency to overreact against her twin a lot. I was a bit torn between having Izumi excited to meet Kimi or being jealous with the new girl. In the end, it was a little bit of both, but she was happier to be her friends since Kimi can speak Italian like her. Hey, if you were the only girl in a group of eight guys, how would you feel? Of course she's going to be happy to have a new friend who is a girl, can speak Italian, and share her secrets to! Boy, is she in for a surprise in the next chapter…

Well, there you go. All ten characters for each ten elements are together…well, not really, since Kyochi's not there at the moment because he's at the hospital with Ami.

Please read and review. They motivate me.