I do not own InuYasha or Digimon Adventure in any way!

Speech Key:

"The" – Oral/Normal Speech

'The' – Thoughts

PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE BEGINNING!

AN: I know this will seem a touch confusing, but what I'm going to do is place the episodes "The Good, the Bad, and the Digi", "The Samurai of Sincerity", "Big Trouble in Little Edo", and "2000 Leagues Under the Sea" will be placed right after one another, BUT they will be skipped. This leaves "The Master's Voice" to be the main episode this will be based on with the next being a filler. But because that's how I'm arranging things, this chapter and the next won't be too long.

Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

Review, but if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all!

-The Ninth Child-

xX-The Dark Realm-Xx

-Kamiya Residence; Kamiya Siblings' Room-

Kudamon watched from atop Kagome's bed as his partner sped back and forth from the dresser and closet to the large lavender trolley suitcase she was packing, muttering under her breath all the while.

"What's going on?" Kari asked, coming into the room with Tai right behind her.

"If I knew I would tell you," Kudamon answered weakly, "But it doesn't look like she's heard a single word I've been trying to say for the last few minutes."

"Kagome," Tai said loudly. "Kagome…KAGOME!"

The raven-haired teen gave a squeak and dropped the pile of clothes she was carrying over to the suitcase. "What? When did you get here?"

"We've been here a while," Kari sweat-dropped. "So what are you packing for? An overnight fieldtrip or something?"

"If it is, then you are packing quite a bit for just one night," Kudamon nodded.

Kagome shook her head. "Actually, the Archery Tournament Regionals start the day after tomorrow, so I'll be gone at least four days, five maximum if nothing gets delayed. Last year there was some fiasco with schools trying to sabotage each other, so it took a while to get everything straightened out so they resume the tournament."

"Regionals, huh?" Tai whistled. "So when do you leave?"

"Tomorrow night," Kagome replied, "So I'll be having dinner on the train or something."

"Um, where are the nationals anyway?" Kari asked.

"Kyoto, if I remember correctly," the raven-haired teen told them.

"But what about the Digital World?" Gatomon popped in. "What if something happens and we need to go there?"

"I really am sorry, Gatomon," Kagome apologized, "But you'll have to go without me. The team is counting on everyone to be there and I can't just skive off like that. If you need anything, even advice, you know to message me on the D-Terminal. Besides, you'll be just fine."

"Another vision?" Tai raised an eyebrow.

"Nope," the raven-haired girl shook her head, "Just a gut feeling."

The~Ninth~Child

"Beware…Child…the…Dark…Ocean…"

"Who's there?" Kagome asked, looking for the voice's owner.

"It comes…to consume…to corrupt…"

"Consume? Corrupt? Dark Ocean?" the raven-haired girl shook her head. "What are you talking about? Who are you?"

"It…is…calling…"

Kagome's eyes snapped opened as she panted heavily. 'It's that same dream again! This is the sixth night straight! Just what is going on here?!'

Icy-blue orbs narrowed when she heard heavy breathing from above her in Kari's bunk. Quietly, without waking her brother or partner, the raven-haired teen climbed out of bed and looked in on her sister.

She stifled a gasp when she saw the youngest Kamiya tossing and turning in bed, beads of sweat rolling down her face. Gatomon was trying to quietly awaken the young girl, but to no avail. Upon seeing Kagome, the feline Digimon threw the older girl a pleading glance.

"Kari," Kagome whispered shaking her sister gently. "Kari!" She said a little more forcefully as she shook the girl a little harder.

Suddenly, cinnamon eyes snapped open, fright written in them clear as day. Kari breathed heavily as she sat up, trying to calm down. "Kagome?" she whispered when saw her sister. "What are you doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep," the raven-haired teen answered. "Now do you want to tell me what's going on or do I need to force it out?"

"It's nothing," Kari said weakly, "Really!"

Kagome threw her sister a bland look. "Does it look like I'm going to believe that?"

Kari only remained silent, her eyes dropping to stare at her blanket.

The elder Kamiya sister sighed. "Do you want to bunk with me tonight?" the raven-haired teen asked gently.

"C-Can I?" Kari asked hesitantly.

"You don't need to ask, silly," Kagome smiled softly at her sister. "If you don't want to be alone, just climb in; you never have to ask me, okay?"

Kari gave her sister a small smile as she climbed down the ladder and into Kagome's bed, Gatomon being used as a teddy-bear this time.

"Sleep well," Kagome kissed the younger girl's forehead softly before closing her eyes, falling into a dreamless sleep.

Had Kagome been more alert, she'd have seen the pale-azure glow that had briefly lain in the place where Kagome's lips touched Kari.

-Hamasaki Academy; The Next Day-

'I haven't done anything stressful and there haven't been any more of those violent visions,' Kagome thought as she winced when she felt another pang of pain shoot through her head, 'So why is my head pounding?' She rested a hand on her temple as she tried to concentrate on the words their teacher was saying.

"It comes…to consume…to corrupt…"

'That voice again,' icy-blue orbs shifted around quickly, trying to pinpoint the source, 'But there's nothing he—what is THAT?!' Her eyes widened when she saw the shadowy figure with glowing red eyes peeking in through the small window in the door.

Matt noticed this and his brow crinkled in worry. 'Something doesn't seem right with Kagome today…did she have another one of those visions? Or did she hurt herself? Is something bothering her?'

His eyes widened when he saw the girl's figure start flickering as it lightened and was run through with static. 'What the—' "Kagome!" he shouted as he caught the girl just as she fell out of her seat.

The class turned around when they heard Matt's shout, to find the blonde on the ground with his hand atop Kagome's shoulders.

"Are you okay?" Matt asked, looking her over for any visible sign of injury.

"I'm-I'm fine," Kagome told her friend, shaking her head a little. "I just got a little dizzy, that's all."

"Miss Kamiya, is everything all right?" the teacher asked. "Do you need to go to the Infirmary?"

"May I?" Kagome asked, to which she received a nod from the teacher. With a hand to her temple as Matt helped her up. "It's okay," she told him quietly, "I can make it there myself."

And before the blonde could protest, the raven-haired teen was out of the room.

The~Ninth~Child

"What's the matter with me?" Kagome shook her head, trying to clear the foggy, warping scenery swimming before her eyes.

"Kagome, are you sure you're all right?" Kudamon asked worriedly.

"After a little rest I should be fine," the teen told her partner, "It's nothing to worry abo—" She cut herself off when she saw a darkened silhouette with glowing red eyes. It was the same figure she'd seen only moments before peeking into her classroom.

"CoMe…tO…Me…" the figure crooked one shadowy clawed finger forward.

'Go…to…him…' Kagome thought as her mind went blank of all save that one sentence.

"Kagome?" Kudamon spoke when he saw his partner and friend stop right in the middle of the hallway staring off into space. "Kagome!" He watched as her eyes grew blank, but rather than glow as they did when she usually was in a trance, they grew duller and duller until her eyes were a deep-teal hue.

The fox-like Digimon's gold eyes widened in horror when he saw the raven-haired teen's figure fade and crackle with static, slowly flickering back and forth between her normal form and the fading silhouette. He noticed that with each time her form flickered back and forth, she would fade lighter and lighter until she was no longer there and he was falling to the floor. "Kagome!"

Kudamon quickly glided back to classroom, merely looking like a streak of silver to those he passed. He paused outside of the door, wondering how he could get in without garnering any unwanted attention. The Digimon, it seemed, didn't have to wait very long as the door was slid open by a student.

Taking off as quickly as he had before, Kudamon zoomed into the classroom to Matt's desk where slithered up until he rested inside the blonde's desk. "Matt," he whispered quietly.

The blonde blinked, surprised, when he heard a soft voice calling his name. He looked around discreetly, doing his best to not draw the teacher's attention to him.

"Matt!" Kudamon whispered with a little more force. This time Matt looked down to see Kudamon's head popping out just slightly out of his desk. The blonde bit his tongue to stifle the shocked noise he'd have let out had he done otherwise.

Matt picked up the history novel the class was reading along with their teacher and stood it up slightly so that it looked like he was reading at a different angle. "Kudamon? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Kagome?"

"I would be if she hadn't disappeared!" Kudamon answered.

"What do you mean?" Matt said quietly.

"It's exactly as I said," the fox-like Digimon replied, "she was walking to the infirmary, but the next thing I know, she starts fading in and out like static and before I knew it, she was just…gone! Poof!"

"How is that even possible?" Matt asked.

"I don't know," Kudamon shook his head, "I'm a Digimon and I've never seen of heard of anything like this ever happening!"

Matt sighed, frustrated. "I can't do anything right now, while we're in class," he told the fox-like Digimon, "But once everyone's out for lunch, I'll see what I can do…even if I have to ditch class…"

The~Ninth~Child

As soon as the class was dismissed for their lunch break, Matt quickly packed his things up and ran out the door Kudamon carefully hidden inside his blazer. He'd managed to sneak outside the school gates when he heard someone calling to him.

"Matt?!" came a surprised shout. "What're you doing?"

The blonde looked towards the source of the voice and sighed in relief when he saw that it was his brother. But he looked closer at the younger blonde; something seemed…strange about him. 'He's worried…and scared? But what could've happened? Does he know about what happened to Kagome? Is that why he's like this?'

"T.K?" Matt asked his brother. "Is everything okay?"

"Kari's missing!" T.K shook his head. "Gatomon and Patamon said that she was jus there one minute and then gone the next! It happened in class, too! She just looked like she was fizzling out or something. She said that she kept feeling some kind of pull into another dimension, but…ARGH! I just left her alone! I knew she needed me and I just left her!"

Matt's attention was on T.K the moment he'd said that she'd been there and then not. "Okay, calm down," He placed his hands on his brother's shoulders, "You said she disappeared? Like just poof into nothing?"

"Yeah," T.K nodded. "What're you getting at?"

"Because the same thing that happened to Kagome," Kudamon popped out from underneath Matt's collar.

"T.K!" Patamon called as he flapped over to the blonde duo, Gatomon running right after him.

"Hey," T.K held his Digimon in his arms, "Any sign of her?"

Gatomon shook her head. "She's not at home and no one's seen her around this area."

"Yeah I didn't think she would be, but it was worth a shot," T.K nodded. "Hey, what about the beach?"

"The beach?" Matt parroted. "Why would she go to beach?"

"She was mumbling about how she was at the beach," T.K explained. "Maybe she went there to figure out what was going on?"

Matt and Kudamon shared a looked.

"It couldn't hurt to look," Kudamon conceded.

-Elsewhere-

"You must wake, Little One," a gentle, but deep baritone voice spoke.

Kagome groaned as her icy-blue eyes blinked open. "What happened?"

"You were nearly taken by a Demon Lord, Little One," the voice answered.

"Who said that?" Kagome blinked. "And where am I?" She looked around and saw a grayish sky with darker grey clouds. But what really caught her attention was what she was on. Kagome seemed to be sitting on a smooth gold platform, from which large spiked scales emerged from behind. "Um, what's going on?"

"Do you not recognize me, Little One?" the voice chuckled, sending slight vibrations thrumming through the platform Kagome sat upon.

'I'm on something!' Kagome thought in surprise. 'Or maybe that's a someone?' She leaned over slightly to get a good look at whoever was speaking to her and found the being to be a large golden dragon with glowing magenta orbs hovering over its back.

Something clicked in Kagome's mind and she blinked. "Are you Oryu?"

"Not quite, Little One," the dragon answered, "and yet, I may be."

"You're not all stiff like you were back then," Kagome said bluntly.

The dragon chuckled, making Kagome squeak at the stronger vibrations pulsing through her body from her position atop the dragon's head.

"Time changes everyone, Little One," the dragon replied. "But now is not the time for pleasantries, There are more pressing matters to attend to."

Kagome made a sound of agreement.

"This, Little One," the dragon answered, "Is known as the Dark Realm. It is neither a part of the Digital World, nor your own; it is a dimension that exists in between, and yet it cannot be accessed so readily."

(AN: Okay, I know that it's technically the Dark Ocean, but there was little to no information on it beyond the fact that Kari and Ken encountered the area, so I went off and deviated…)

"Then how did I get here?" Kagome's brow furrowed.

"You, Little One, had nearly been taken by the Demon Lord, Barbamon," the dragon answered. "Due to the chaos the Tyrant Child wreaks upon the Digital World, Digimon under his control have tried reaching out for help. However, you and your sibling were the only ones with the capability to help them and so they have tried contacting you."

"Those nightmares," Kagome muttered. "Were they trying to communicate to us through our dreams? But why, then didn't I dream of the Digimon that needed help? Or even about what Kari was seeing?"

"The Seven Great Demon Lords are what they call themselves," the dragon said after a few moments, "they have the capability of passing back and forth between the Dark Realm and the Digital World. These Demon Lords preside over the deleted data of corrupted Digimon and often manipulate it in such a way that it suits to their needs."

"How?" Kagome asked.

"As you know, there can never be one without the other," the dragon spoke, "Light cannot exist without dark, just as good cannot exist without evil. These Demon Lords creates small instances of evil to maintain the balance of the Digital World."

"But wait," Kagome interrupted, "Does that mean that they created Myotismon, the Dark Masters, and Apocalymon? And all the other evil Digimon my brother and friends had to face?"

The Dragon nodded slightly, enough so that Kagome wouldn't fall off. "They only began the creations of those Digimon, however. The creations of what should have been minor evils soon were out of the Demon Lords' control and became the enemies you and the rest of the DigiDestined had fought, hence the creations of the Prophecy."

"But that doesn't explain why that Barbamon wanted me," Kagome shook her head.

"He wanted the gift I granted you so long ago, Little One," the dragon answered, "He is the Demon Lord of Greed and as such, he only wanted your gift for himself so as to increase his own power; it is in his nature."

Kagome nodded in understanding. But it was then that she remembered something that the dragon had said a little bit back. "But wait, you said that Kari received those messages, so does that mean that she's here, too?"

The dragon nodded. "She is; Barbamon had used the link the other Digimon had tried using to contact you to bring you here under his control. And as such, you sibling was brought here by force to help them when they could not reach you."

"Where is she?" Kagome asked worriedly. "Can you take me to her?"

"I can," the dragon nodded again slightly, "But you must leave her to face this trial alone."

"What?" Kagome was taken aback.

"She must understand that she is and should never have to be anyone but herself," the dragon explained, "Your sibling must understand that each and every being has a strength all of their own and that she is no different. She has power, but she must see it for herself."

Kagome nodded in understanding, though reluctantly. "Will you ever tell me who you are?"

"In time, Little One," the dragon told her, "When the time is right."

-On Earth-

"We've looked everywhere I can think of and we still can't find them!" T.K stamped his foot in frustration.

They were standing on a grassy path just above the beach, having search it up and down for any sign of the girls, but to no avail.

"Look, I'm just as worried as you are right now," Matt tried calming his brother, "But getting worked up about it isn't going to help us find Kari and Kagome!"

T.K just shook his head and ran as close to the ledge as he could. He cupped his hands together and started shouting. "Kari! Kari where are you! KARI!"

"He's gone nuts," Gatomon said weakly as she, Matt and Kudamon watched the younger blonde sadly.

Patamon, however, flew up right next to his partner and began yelling as well. "KARI! KARI!"

"Oh no," Gatomon's eyes widened, "They've both flipped!"

"KARI!" T.K gave a particularly loud shout, and Matt was quite surprised no one had noticed yet.

Suddenly, as if on cue, an image of Kari surround by a halo of pink light appeared in the sky, much to the rest of the small group's surprise.

"He's not gonna do what I think he's about to do, is he?" Matt murmured, watching the apparition skeptically. 'How do we even know that that's really Kari, anyway?'

T.K stepped back a few paces, a determined glint in his eyes, and took off running at the ledge, jumping at the very last moment into the place where Kari's image lay suspended in the air.

"I knew it," Matt muttered, "I just knew he'd do something like that!" He quickly picked up Patamon and Gatomon under his arms before taking off after his brother.

"Are you crazy?!" Gatomon yelped. She then shrugged after a moment. "Oh well, I've got nine lives, anyway…"

Much to everyone's surprise, the moment they touched Kari's image, they found themselves tumbling through a multi-coloured portal crackling with electricity. Unfortunately, their exit wasn't nearly as graceful as their entry, as they fell into a jumbled heap upon a grassy cliff above a beach, where everything was tinted in shades of grey.

"I feel like I just went through the spin cycle," the elder blonde shook his head to clear his dizzy vision.

"T.K," the feline Digimon stated quietly, "Don't ever do that again!"

"T.K! Gatomon!" they heard someone calling. "I'm down here!"

They looked down towards the source to find Kari waving up at them from the beach below. "Good, now stay down there!" T.K called back. He turned to his partner. "You ready?"

"Let's do it!" Patamon nodded.

"Digi-Armour: Energize!"

"Patamon Armour-Digivolve to: Pegasusmon, the Soaring Hope!"

Matt and Kudamon (Gatomon had sped down to Kari the first chance she'd gotten) watched as T.K rode off on Pegasusmon, going in to fight the Airdramon that had been attacking Kari and the shadowed Digimon with her. "If Kari's here, then where's Kagome?" he whispered worriedly.

"Matt! Kudamon!" came a familiar voice from above them.

The blonde the fox-like Digimon looked up, only for their jaws to drop when they saw Kagome riding atop the head of a massive golden dragon. "K-Kagome?" Matt said weakly.

The ground shook underneath their feet a bit when the dragon landed just behind Matt to let Kagome down. "Stay safe, Little One," he rumbled, nuzzling the top of her head lightly, "I will be watching." And with that said, he dissolved into hundreds of tiny golden sparks.

"Why were you riding on a dragon?" Matt asked dazedly.

"There's no time for that right now," Kudamon said urgently, "We have to help T.K and Pegasusmon! I don't think they can hold out much longer!"

"Except there's one problem," Kagome pointed out.

"What?" the blonde asked.

"I don't have my D3 or my D-Terminal," Kagome answered directly.

"We're done for," Kudamon groaned.

"Maybe not," Kagome said as an image of a Control Spire overlapped by a lighthouse flashed through her mind. "Does anyone see a lighthouse anywhere?"

"Lighthouse?" Kudamon and Matt parroted. "What good would a lighthouse be in this situation?" the blonde asked.

"Because that's where the Control Spire is hidden," the raven-haired teen answered. "If we can get Pegasusmon to destroy it, Gatomon and Kudamon can Digivolve to help Pegasusmon."

The blonde and fix-like Digimon both nodded and started searching their surroundings as best as they could through the thick fog. "It's over there!" Matt pointed out to a cliff where the shadow of a Control Spire stretched parallel to a long building that was assumed to be a lighthouse.

"Pegasusmon!" Kagome shouted as loud as she could. "Destroy that Control Spire!"

Whether or not the winged Digimon heard her or not, she didn't know, but was relieved to see Gatomon pointing Pegasusmon in the right direction. "Equus Beam!"

The green triangular beam shot out of the Pegasusmon's armoured helmet, hitting the lighthouse dead on. Everyone watched as the Lighthouse itself crumbled while the Control Spire toppled over from the force of the attack.

"Get ready, Kudamon!" Kagome told her partner.

"Right!" the fox-like Digimon nodded. "Kudamon Digivolve to: Reppamon!"

"Gatomon Digivolve to: Angewomon!"

The Airdramon that had been pursuing T.K and Pegasusmon gave a loud screech as it turned around to charge Angewomon.

"Equss Beam!"

"Heaven's Charm!"

"Sky Fissure!"

The three attacks collided right at Airdramon, dissolving both it and the Dark Ring around its neck.

"That was close," Matt sighed in relief. He held his hand out to Kagome, "C'mon, let's go and get those two and head on home."

Kagome nodded and took his hand, the teens carefully sliding down the Cliffside to the sandy ground below. They arrived just in time to see five shadowy silhouettes wade off into the water and disappear into the fog.

"Are we missing something?" Matt asked, getting Kari and T.K's attention.

"Kagome!" Kari cried out in relief, tackling her sister and holding her tight. "You're here!"

"Of course I am," Kagome smiled lightly, "You didn't think I'd leave you, did you?"

"No," Kari smiled weakly, "Can we go home now? And besides, you have to leave soon." Kagome missed the raised eyebrow Matt threw in her direction.

"Let's get going then," T.K climbed onto Pegasusmon while Angewomon carried Kari in her arms and Kagome sat atop Reppamon with Matt right behind her, "Last one home's a rotten Digi-Egg!"

"So what's this about leaving?" Matt asked as they all headed into the portal that would lead them home.

"Archery Regionals start tomorrow," Kagome explained, "So the team's leaving tonight so we can get to Kyoto early enough to get settled in."

"Regionals already?" Matt asked, surprised. "That was pretty quick."

"It's only the first stage, actually," the raven-haired girl clarified, "High school Archery divisions from all over Japan will be competing, but grouped by their particular Prefecture. So we'll be going up against other high school Archery teams from our region and the next time, we'll be narrowing everything down at the Second Stage, where schools will compete against each other and then after that comes the Nationals."

(AN: No clue if this process even exists, but as it's my story, I've decided to break this up the way I did since it'll also help with certain areas in my story.)

"How long are you supposed to be gone?" Matt asked.

"Four or five days," Kagome answered. "It depends on if there's some sort of delay or not."

"Well, whatever the case," the blonde spoke, "Good luck out there."

Ciao,

TsukiyoTenshi