A/N: This story is the first part of a series. I am letting everyone know that this is very Taichi-centric. So Taichi will be the main focus of this story. The other characters will still be relevant, just not in the forefront as much. So if you don't like Taichi that much or want other characters to get more spotlight than they do, then this might not be the story for you.

Also the italicized text before each chapter starts are memories/flashbacks.

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, it belongs to its rightful owners.

The little boy did not understand why the Digimon around him were more upset than usual. He could not explain it, but he knew something was wrong, and he wanted to know what it was. So, he crawled over to one of the Digimon and tugged on its leg to gain its attention. This strategy worked as the Digimon with glowing red eyes immediately looked down at him.

"What do you want, kid?" it asked with a slight growl in its tone.

However, the boy knew that this was how the Digimon always sounded, so he was not worried about bothering it.

"Why is everyone sad?" the boy questioned the Digimon.

The Digimon seemed to have been caught off guard by the boy's question as it did not respond right away. However, it soon let out an amused chuckle before answering the boy's question.

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you can sense everyone's unease. But to answer your question, it is because of you."

The boy frowned when he heard this. "Why did I do something wrong?"

The Digimon let out a tired sigh.

"No, you haven't done anything wrong, kid. Even though some heavily disagree with that."

The boy was confused when he heard this.

"Why do they believe that I did something wrong?"

The Digimon snorted in amusement. "Because they are scared of you but are too prideful to admit it. That's why they plan to wage war on us so that they can destroy you."

The boy became worried when he heard that other Digimon were willing to go to war just to hurt him. The Digimon quickly noticed the child's distress and kneeled to the child while placing its claw gently on the child's shoulder.

"Don't worry, kid. We will not let them hurt you. We plan to fight them with everything we have to keep you safe."

"Okay," replied the boy with a small smile, knowing that the Digimon meant every word.

"Good, now I need you to do a huge favor for me, alright."

"What is it?" curiously asked the boy.

"I need you to wake up Belphemon for us and bring him here. You're still the only one that can calm him when he is woken early from his sleep mode."

"Alright," happily said the boy before he immediately disappeared in front of the Digimon's eyes.

The Digimon was not surprised by the boy's disappearance as it was used to the boy frequently teleporting.

"You've grown quite fond of him, haven't you, Beelzebumon," teased one of the other Digimon in the area as soon as the boy left.

Beelzebumon snorted as he turned to the feminine Digimon that had spoken to him.

"Like you're one to talk, Lilithmon. I know that you're the one that keeps stealing toys for the kid to play with."

Lilithmon just smirked, not at all denying the claim. "And you're the one that plays with him the most using those toys."

Another Digimon decided to join in the conversation. "We've all grown fond of the child. I see no point in denying it."

"Demon speaks the truth. We were only meant to guard the child, and yet somehow he got us to care about him in the process," replied another Digimon.

"Yes, I'm still amazed that you continue to let the boy ride on you whenever he wants Leviamon," was a response from another Digimon.

"You're no better, Barbamon. You haven't stopped bragging about the fact that you have taken the child as your special apprentice ever since you discovered the boy's tactical prowess," retorted Leviamon.

"And why wouldn't I? I would be foolish to let such an opportunity to pass on my knowledge of the Machiavellian arts slip from my hands. Under my tutelage, the child will become a tactical mastermind in no time," bragged Barbamon.

However, the last Digimon in the room spoke in a severe tone.

"All that we have done with the child will amount to nothing if he is taken from us."

The other five Digimon grew silent at the reminder of the threat looming over their heads. Beelzebumon turned to the one that had spoken with anxiousness shown on his face.

"So, what's the plan, Lucemon? You must have one since you're the one that summoned us here for this meeting," he asked their leader.

"I do, but I'll explain once Belphemon arrives," was Lucemon's simple answer.

As soon as Lucemon said that, the child reappeared in the room with Belphemon. Everyone noticed that Belphemon was currently in his Rage Mode and that the boy had his arm clenched tightly around Belphemon's large muscular arm. They could tell that Belphemon was not happy about being woken earlier than usual and that only the boy's presence and touch kept the Digimon in check.

"Why have I been awoken!" angrily growled Belphemon.

Lucemon decided to be the one to answer Belphemon.

"Because our enemies plan to kill the child."

The boy frowned at the confirmation that his life was being threatened. As for Belphemon, pure fury came on his face as he pulled the child closer to him in a protective way.

"We won't let them harm him! The boy belongs with us! He is ours!" shouted Belphemon, which caused the boy to crack a light smile at hearing Belphemon's declaration.

"Of course, he's ours. We all agree on that. Which is why we're having this meeting in the first place," calmly stated Lilithmon.

"So, let's get started so Lucemon can tell us his plan already," Beelzebumon said in an impatient tone.

"Should the child be here for this?"suddenly askedLeviamon with a concerned glance towards the boy.

"I don't see why not. This meeting is about him after all," Demon said with a huff.

"Besides, he should be aware of what is going so that he can be prepared for what's to come. It would do none of us any good to keep such things from him now," Barbamon stated calmly.

The other Digimon seemed to agree with this, to which Lucemon turned towards the boy and spoke.

"We agree that you should attend this meeting. Do you wish to stay?" asked Lucemon.

A serious expression came on the boy's face.

"Yes," he answered.

Lucemon accepted the child's answer before facing the others in the area.

"Then let's begin," announced Lucemon as the urgent meeting of the Seven Demon Lords was now underway.

Prologue

Six-year-old Taichi groaned when he heard the loud sound of a whistle that unkindly woke him up. Taichi's eyes cracked open, and he saw that it was his three-year-old sister who had blown the whistle in his face. However, Taichi realized that it was still very dark outside and that the sun would not come up for a few more hours, which confused him on why his sister had woken him up so early.

"Hikari, it's not time to get up yet. Why did you wake me?" asked Taichi as he sat up to face his sister better.

Yet when he looked at his sister's face, Taichi noticed her worried expression as she stared at him.

"The bad dream made you sad," she replied as soon as she let the whistle drop from her mouth.

Taichi could not help but smile at how much his little sister cared about him. She had noticed his distress while he had been sleeping and managed to get herself to the top bunk so she could wake him and stop him from feeling bad.

"Thanks, Hikari. I'm okay now. Let's go back to bed, okay." he told her.

She gazed at her brother. Hikari seemed to hesitate for a moment before responding.

"Will Onii-chan have more bad dreams?"

Taichi frowned. He did not want to lie to Hikari, but he did not want to worry her either. He knew his sister was very insightful for her age and that her affinity with light is why she was so in tune with him in the first place. There would be no point in trying to hide his worries from her anyway. He decided to be honest and hoped that she would understand.

"They're not dreams, Hikari; I'm going someplace else. It's just that some visits are good, and some are bad," explained Taichi.

Hikari tilted her head as though contemplating her brother's words.

"Where do you go?" asked Hikari.

"To a place where monsters live," answered Taichi.

"Good or bad monsters?" wondered Hikari.

Taichi was not sure how to answer that question. He knew the monsters he usually hung out with did not look like good monsters and that they did not see themselves as good. However, they never hurt him or mistreated him, and they never seemed that bad to him anyhow, so he believed that they were good monsters deep down.

"Both," Taichi decided to say as his answer.

Hikari frowned as she looked at her brother with worry.

"Can I help Onii-chan?"

Taichi wondered what he did to end up with such a sweet, caring sister like Hikari. If there was a way she could help, he knew that his sister would do it without any hesitation. Sadly, this was one of those things that he had to deal with on his own.

"Not with this, Hikari. But don't worry. I can handle it. Promise," Taichi said to assure Hikari.

"You sure?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure," sincerely replied Taichi.

"Okay," Hikari said with a relieved smile.

Taichi returned the smile as he decided to help his sister get back into her bed and tuck her in for the night. Taichi then climbed up to his bed and went back to sleep, where his ventures to another world continued.

A/N: This had already been posted on AO3 and is further ahead but I decided to post this here too.