Chapter Thirty-Six
The snarls of the Devidramon still echoed from outside, loud and angry.
I could understand some of the curse words they were using as I shivered underneath the cold dark sky next to Tai and trust me?
They were not complimentary towards Digidestined…or stars….
"Myotismon has sealed the Gate shut." Gennai said heavily as we all crowded around his hologram, the only light around us. "You can't possibly follow him now…"
"Listen pops," Matt said angrily, "you gotta get us through that Gate! The Eighth child is doomed if we don't!"
"And that's not all!" Sora agreed. "If that rotten creep goes on a rampage in the real world, hundreds of people are gonna get hurt!"
"Or worse…" I muttered under my breath, clenching my fists slightly.
Tai sighed as he looked at Gennai. "There has to be some other way of getting that Gate open!"
"Well of course there is!"
"No kidding?" Tai exclaimed as I glared at Gennai.
"You tell us this…NOW?" I demanded, my voice rough from the cold and exhaustion.
"How?" Sora asked, shooting me a warning look. "Be polite…"
Fine…
"Any door can be opened…with the right keys…"
"Thank you, Mr. Fortune Cookie." I muttered.
"Follow me to my house, and I will explain everything."
Koromon blinked. "Where's that?"
He just smiled as his image started to fade slightly. "Look above you…"
"What kind of directions are those?" Mimi exclaimed incredulously.
"Very good ones…" he replied, as his voice started to fade away. "If you just listen…"
"Huh?"
I glanced up at the sky…but I didn't have a clue what the nutzo geezer expected me to be looking for.
"Keep looking—you'll find it."
Matt's eyes flickered back and forth till he gazed past Patamon who was fluttering right in front of us. "There!" He exclaimed. "A search light!"
Sure enough, a small orb of light glew right above the light, it's image reflected on the lake's surface.
"I ran out of maps…" Gennai's voice ended. "Follow…the light…you can't miss…it…"
"Excellent!" Tai exclaimed. "Let's jet!"
"But what are we supposed to do?" Joe demanded, refusing to budge. "Swim?"
"No!" Mimi shrieked, clutching her hands to her head. "My hat! Not my beautiful hat!"
Yggdrasil…she cares more about her hat than Myotismon does his hair!
Matt just sweatdropped as the orb slowly descended into the deep water. "You don't think…it's not UNDER the lake, do you?"
Izzy let out a low breath. "So THAT's why I never found it…"
I raised an eyebrow and looked at him. "What do you mean?…"
"I've been looking for Gennai for months…I started right after Tai disappeared." Izzy exclaimed. "I was…hoping he could help."
"Gack!" Viximon yelped as Gomamon let out a squeal with joy before leaping into the river and splashing her. "Watch it you overgrown otter!"
Gomamon just grinned as he poked his head out. "Come on in! The water's great!"
I hesitated before gently dipping my toes in the water. It felt so good…warm…like a hot bath.
"H-huh?"
I backed away, shock in my eyes as the water bubbled before slowly pulling apart…as if it were splitting in half.
"Lily?" Tai yelped. "H-how did you-"This is NOT me!"
"Look!"
I looked back to see a rocky path form between the crests of waves…with stairs going down it.
"They must lead to Gennai's house…" Matt said slowly.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Tai demanded before charging ahead. "Let's go!"
Honestly…that boy…"Tai!" I yelped before following him, clutching Viximon in my arms. "Wait up!"
Joe shuddered as the rush of water roared above us. "I was kind of hoping he'd send us a boat…guess not…"
I glanced to my left and then my right. The curtains of water on either side shimmered with purple light, as fish of all colors and shapes swam next to us.
"If anyone wants sushi…" Mimi said hopefully. "Now's our chance!"
Viximon drooled. "Yum…sushi…"
I bonked her on the head. "Don't even think about it."
Sora peered through the steam rising up ahead of us. "Um…is that it?"
A dark shadow loomed up ahead of us, before slowly forming into what looked like…a small Japanese house, softly colored with a brown roof, clear peach colored walls. The front side was decorated with a beautiful small lake, a fountain playing softly in the middle of it.
Joe blinked. "Seriously—HOW?"
I shrugged. "Magic. Who knows?"
A soft chuckle echoed. "Glad you like it children…"
We all whirled around to see Gennai smiling, standing there with his hands behind his back.
"GENNAI!"
"You kids definently don't need a doorbell…" he sighed, wincing slightly at the shouts.
My eyes widened as I didn't notice the regular light shining around him…he smelled like a mixture of data and human stink… "Whoah…are you the?"
Izzy's jaw dropped. "Are you the real Gennai?"
"Who did you expect? Santa Claus?"
Mimi twitched. "The old geezer has a sense of sarcasm…"
"No kidding." Joe muttered.
'I just blinked before nudging Tai. "Who's Santa Claus?"
Tai forced back a snicker before shaking his head. "Sorry Gennai…we've just never seen the real you before!…So…" he raised an eyebrow as he leaned against the door. "Why are you always hiding anyway?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Who said I was hiding?…"
"Well you could've come in person! Why do you always use those holographs anyway?"
"It's just a show to impress you kids…every artist needs some style, right?"
I was starting to wonder if Gennai was clinically senile, as Joe asked warily, "What kind of person are you…really?"
He just chuckled.
"A human or some kind of Digimon?"
"That is not important."
Mimi rose her voice to a scream. "HOW COME YOU CALL US THE DIGIDESTINED?"
"Ouch!" I hissed, clasping my hands over my ears. "You do that again and I'll gag you—UNDERSTAND?"
"Sorry…"
Gennai winced too. "Easy! I'm old, not deaf!" He took a deep breath. "Anyway…you kids were chosen to help protect the Digital World…and your own."
Matt frowned. "But why were we chosen? Why us?"
He just smiled as he looked at me. "Oh…it's a long story. But never mind that! You kids must be tired and hungry…in order to get ready to travel to your own world and save the eighth child…"
I hesitated as the others all followed him through the screen doors. Something about this felt…wrong…I shook my head. I was probably being too paranoid—but in case something went bad I'd better stick around these morons and make sure they didn't get themselves killed.
"Food!" Mimi squealed happily as she spotted Gennai's dinner table, the scent drifting upwards towards us…
I rolled my eyes. Honestly, is food the only th-holy crud, is that steamed halibut?
Joe blinked with confusion as we all drooled hungrily. "But…those are salt-water fish. How?…"
"Quite right!" Gennai chuckled. "So I feed them pretzels…popcorn…"
"…" Matt looked over at us. "You think he's messing with us?"
"I have NO idea…"
Gennai cleared his throat before yanking down a screen, which displayed a black screen that to me…"Now with a look at the weather-State…" The screen zoomed on a small island to the right, enlarging it. "County…City…" He pointed at a small flashing red dot at the top of the island. "Anyone recognize this place?"
Tai's eyes widened. "Is that…our home town?"
He nodded. "And see this flashing red dot?…That;s Myotismon's location."
"WHAT?"
I almost spewed the water I was drinking. "He's WHERE?"
Matt's face was ash white—the others shaking. Mimi looked close to tears. "He's…only a mile from where we live."
"I'm afraid so…" Gennai said softly.
Tai clenched his teeth. "I bet he's going downtown…this is not good…"…
"Find anything?" one of the construction workers down, frowning slightly as the ladder of the truck was lowered.
He shook his head, completely mystified. "I don't know…cable's fine."
"So what's causing all this interference?"
Neither of them noticed the dark shadow playing down from above them…
Myotismon chuckled cruelly as he stood on top of the roof, his army crowded around him, their eyes shining a malevolent red.