The Friends of the Stones:
Part Eleven: Searching for the Stone and the Heart
By Debbie (Dai-chan) and Chicobo, too!


He felt like he was soaked wet through his clothing. His hair was stuck on his forehead and neck, feeling a few drops of water slipping down his neck. His recollection was vague, but he did remember that he was plunged into an ocean by a sea monster, something white passing by . . .

Frankie groaned and cracked his eyes open. The vision was blurred, but he saw the hue of white with lines of purple around, and two orbs of pale green in the middle. He rubbed his eyes and blinked to clear his vision. Slowly, the details came in, and he found himself staring into the jade green eyes of a purple-streaked white Digimon, its small fangs pointing downward from its closed mouth.

Somehow, it looked familiar. Frankie raised his head from the cool, moist floor, murmuring, "Gomamon?" The seal Digimon rose one wavy ear, but responded none. He sat up. "Gomamon, don't you remember me? Frankie? We thought you are gone!" Then his grin faded as he gazed around. "Okay, this is confusing…"

Around him was four Gomamons at least, eying him with the cautious green eyes. Then he remembered. Jyou's Gomamon always had the mild mischief on his face, but the other Gomamons had cynical caution reflecting in their eyes.

Frankie turned to one side and saw Taichi laying on his back nearby, his head lolled to one side, his eyes closed. He was also drenched, the cloak hood sticking on his cheeks. Frankie reached to rouse him until, murmuring unintelligibly, Taichi sat up, blinking. His weary eyes went open as he saw the Gomamons. Beside him, the girls were waking.

Frankie took a good look around the surroundings. They were in some sort of building, or at least, he thought so. Everything was white; the walls were free of algae. The floor was screened with a pale sheen of slick green algae. The ceiling was so high that he almost didn't see it. At one side, there was a high, wide stairway reaching for the ceiling, almost literally, and at the other side was a spacious pool of deep blue water, its sheen reflecting off the wall, lazily billowing. How could there be such a kind of light that seemed to have no source here?

"Where are we?" Mimi whispered, gazing at the Gomamon in awe.

"Underwater," came a dormant voice behind them.

The Gomamons respectfully bowed their heads as the kids whirled around to face who spoke. It was a Gomamon, but he was larger than the usual size of the others, his jade green eyes reaching to the height of a kid. He bore an air of authority, although he looked honored to greet the famous Digidestined. He bent his head slightly, saying, "I'm pleased to see you here, Digidestined."

The kids stood, also bowing to the Digimon. Then Taichi stepped forward, asking, "Who are you, may I ask?"

"I'm called as the Gomamon Guardian." The Digimon gestured toward his fellows, then turned to Taichi. "You were in danger some hours ago, and we rescued you."

"So, you are the ones who saved us," Taichi grinned and bowed again. "But what about the Seamon?"

"Safe on the island where they dwell. Don't worry, Master. The Seamon are allies of ours, and we always see to their safety."

Taichi shared a smile with the Guardian. "We thank you for that. But where are we, exactly?"

"You are underwater, inside a sunken building. Don't worry," the Guardian laughed at the paranoid faces of the kids, "You are safe in one of the air bubbles that are scattered around through the building."

Mimi spoke, "We need to be at the surface. We need to find the Fountain of Purity."

Around the kids, the small Gomamons murmured among each other, gazing upon them with perplexity. The Guardian blinked, then smiled. "Well, you are near to it now."

"You must be the Guardian of the Fountain!" Hikari said, comprehension brightening her face.

"'Seek the Guardian that swims within one of your companions'," Frankie quoted the second verse to the puzzled Taichi and Mimi. "The Guardian is a Gomamon, and Joe's Digimon is a Gomamon, too."

"Oh, I see," Taichi understood, then turned to the Digimon. "Can you take us to the Fountain? We need the water to cure three of our friends, who are cursed."

The Guardian bowed his head in remorse, along with the other Gomamons. "We have heard of the unfortunate incident, but what you are asking from me, I cannot do it."

"Why?" Hikari asked.

The Guardian gazed back silently. "Two things. You don't have what I need, and if we let you go, you will reveal the whereabouts of the Fountain. We work hard to keep it a secret. How did you come to know about it is a mystery to me."

"Akemimon told us," Mimi answered. The Guardian cocked his head, but kept silent. She continued, "We would never tell anybody about the Fountain. We will keep a promise not to tell a soul of it."

The Guardian shook his head, not satisfied.

"Come on," Taichi bartered. "We are the Digidestined. We would never mention it. I promise. We all promise." He gazed to his friends, who nodded in agreement. "Digidestined's Honor."

The Guardian took his time eying the children, seeming to 'read' them until he found something worthy to trust. "Even if you vow to keep the Fountain a secret, you still don't have what I need to give you the purified water."

"What do you need?" Hikari queried.

The Guardian didn't reply, instead wobbled to the bounds of the pool, the Gomamons swarming after. Pausing there, he turned back. "Dry yourself and discuss with each other to find what I need. We will return when you find the item." With that, he and his fellows dove into the water with barely a splash.

Hikari could sense her brother was seething inside, but at least, they were safe for a while. She was shivering a bit because of her drenched clothing. She probed around to see if there was anything effective to used for fire, although she wondered how could she find anything in this spooky place. She then noticed a batch of floating seaweed near the bounds of the water.

"Hey, Oniichan," she tugged on his cloak, "We can use those seaweed to burn for fire. I'm cold."

The kids hauled the thick foliage out from the water - there was a lot more underwater. The pool must have been exposed to the ocean, and the kids inquired how deep they were below the surface. Taichi summoned his Fire Power to dry the water from the seaweed, then enkindled it. Soon, the tangy smell of burning plants filled the space.

Frankie again quoted the riddle from his notebook, "'Follow the Sun as it wakes. You shall be buried in the prison of blue. You shall find white and violet among the rainbow. Seek the Guardian that swims within one of the your companions. He shall aid you with a stone that matches the color. And you shall be given the water that brings peace.'"

"Ok, the first verse means that we have to go east, but what's up with the second?" Taichi wondered.

"I think I know," said Mimi, shivering in her drying cloak. "We are underwater, and the ocean is blue. The ocean is a prison in which we cannot escape by any way."

"This place's where we're supposed to be," the russet-haired boy agreed. "And we already met the Guardian."

"What about the fourth verse?" Hikari queried.

"White and violet among the rainbow . . ." Taichi was concentrating, his eyes watching the variegated luminescence of the liquid reflecting on the walls, then he jerked up. "Hey, the Gomamons! They are all white with purple stripes."

Frankie grinned at him, then his attention focused on the riddle. "The Guardian will help us with a stone that matches the color. Ok, what is this 'color'?"

"It could be either white or violet," Mimi suggested.

"If it's so, the stone would be either mine or Izzy's, only -" Frankie paused as he seized his cone stone out - "Mine is greyish. I'm pretty sure that all the Digistones are grey, too. The riddle doesn't even say which kind of stone."

Taichi wearily brushed his hands through his mane. "My mind is a blank."

"Mine, too," Frankie admitted.

Mimi let her hazel eyes scrutinize the scene. She was abruptly interested about the stairway. Where was it heading for? Was it leading to somewhere or was it just for display? She heedfully studied the peak of the stairway, then she could pick out the misty framework of two massive doors, firmly shut, the identical hues of the ivory walls.

"Where are you going, Mimi?" the littlest lass questioned as the pink-clad girl stepped toward the stairway.

"I saw a doorway up on the stairway. Maybe we could find something to help us out," Mimi answered.

"Do you think your instincts are right?" Frankie remarked.

Mimi tilted her head. "I don't know. I just think there must be some clues." A sudden thought appeared in her mind, and she grinned. "After all, I'm the Guide."

Taichi cracked a grin. "Then, guide us, Mimi." He eased down the flames so it won't provoke a wildfire with the thick seaweed, and the trio followed the girl upstairs. Once they got there, it took the muscles of the boys to budge the doors into a crack. The children squeezed through, and they stood in a spacious corridor, blandly lightened by a glow that indicated to have no source, or perhaps it came from the ivory walls themselves.

Accompanying Mimi, the children passed several passageways that branched from the main corridor, each narrower and empty, no interest to their curiosity. But, shortly, something caught Hikari's eyes as they passed yet another hallway. She paused in her tracks, then jogged down the left-heading hall, and came to a section of the wall, her tan eyes picking out a vague, water-washed resemblance on the surface.

"Is this Joe's symbol?" she questioned as the older kids arrived. Sure enough, it was the Reconciler's emblem of the four-rayed cross, faint and blurred in a misty blue shade. How could her sight notice the almost obscure symbol was amazing.

"Wait a sec," Frankie wondered. "What if the stone the Guardian needs is Joe's Digistone? It would make good sense."

"Joe's gone," Mimi remembered sadly. "And there is no way we can find him, not while we are trapped here."

Then a soft resonance quieted them. It was like the hushed sound of water streaming through the narrow passageways. They could feel the faint vibration below their feet and to their far right, back from where they came from. The children trailed the sound for a meantime until they entered another leviathan chamber that was identical to the chamber they briefly remained. The wide floor ended into a narrow stairway downward from the floor near the far wall. The kids were blocked from entering it because of the water silently floating midst the perimeter.

The sound came out from underwater of the stairway, puzzling the kids. The sound was getting nearby.

Suddenly, a swirling jet of icy-cold water burst right from the stairway, and the kids shattered, eluding the water. The jet eased down as the water still billowed wildly, the kids a tad water-logged. Then, as it appeared so, a strip of the bluish-silver liquid came alive, wetly skulking over the floor, took a few feet forward, then stopped into an animated puddle. Then it rose, not into the air, but gained in size until it stopped on foot - or what it seemed to stand on -, its height surprisingly like a kid's. Almost wistfully, the water transfigured, as if it took in a solid physique.

Soon, as it embodied distinguished details, the children had no trouble to identify it as the missing boy.

"Joe?" Mimi's face brightened as the other were speechlessly astonished.

The black-haired lad gazed over to her, and Mimi suddenly received a bittersweet tingle creeping up her back. She instantly knew there was something wrong. She noticed that he was shrouded with the too-familiar aura of hidden corruption. He appeared dormant, but somewhat dormant in darkness. His dusky eyes were emotionless, his usual wistful face plain and impassive. But there was a simple sneer on his lips, like he knew something dark.

"Joe?" he spoke, tasting the name. He quietly shook his head as he stepped close to her. "I'm not Joe, Mimi darling. You should know who I am, dearest." He then caressed Mimi's cheek and grinned darkly at her visible shudder at his touch.

Mimi slowly remembered and, gasping quietly, jerked herself from his caress, stepping close to Taichi. "No . . . It can't be. You aren't Joe! You're the Betrayer!"

"Ah, how my heart rejoices when you remember my name," the Betrayer said, then his gaze cunningly laughed at the whitening face of Taichi. "We meet again, Master. It's a good thing I didn't destroy you before because I could be delighted to do it again."

"What's going on?" Frankie hissed, almost to himself. "Why is he called as the Betrayer?"

Taichi was too shaken to answer.

The Betrayer shrugged at Frankie's question and turned to the leader. "Now, shall we?"

"No!" Taichi refused, his gaze hard. "I won't fight you. I know somewhere in you, there's Joe. Try and stop the curse from controlling you."

"Spare me those tall tales of goodness and righteousness," the Betrayer growled. "There's no one here but me." Around him, the pale blue aura glowed, along with the unseen aura of darkness, and the Betrayer motioned toward the dusky-haired boy. "Chaos of Sea!"

Abruptly, a thick tentacle of liquid rose from the water that occupied the stairway top and snaked toward Taichi. He sidestepped, but not quick enough. The tentacle bound itself around Taichi's left leg and yanked backward. He tumbled on the ground, banging his head, white stars bursting in his mind's eye. The tentacle swiftly hauled a struggling Taichi toward the water, striving to drown him underwater. The girls hasted to grab on his arms, straining with all their strength against the powerful might of the tentacle. The struggling boy groaned under the agony of being stretched.

"Heart of Ice!" The white-glowed Frankie lunged toward the tentacle, enveloping his arms around the stubby build. Steadily, the bluish-white ice slid over the tentacle until it was a pure ice sculpture. He then struck it until it fractured, finally released Taichi from its grip.

Frankie had a swift thought occurring in his mind - he could freeze the water, the only source the Betrayer could use for his power, leaving him vulnerable. He hastily headed for the small opening, but the Betrayer's voice stopped him.

"You just can't think of that, Keeper," the Betrayer calmly spoke, turning to him. "If you freeze the water, I could simply gather water to come in from another way. I would use it to collapse the building. The water would rush in and drown you."

Frankie narrowed his eyes, taking a calculated glance at the water. "You wouldn't."

"Oh, you doubt me? Want me to prove it?"

The lad inwardly seethed and retreated from the opening, wondering how could he read his mind.

The Betrayer nodded in satisfaction. "I think you are a worthy fighter, unlike the cowardly Master." He aimed his hand at Frankie, who froze in place, having no heart to battle his oniichan, even though he was cursed.

Without a sensible warning, there was the resonant noise of rushing water, this time mad and speedy, ferociously reverberating through the tunnels below. The Betrayer looked greatly startled as the kids became apprehensive. Without a moment of hesitation, a vigorous jet of cold water burst out from the opening and soared through the air for its target - the Betrayer.

He shrieked in disbelieved surprise before he was impelled backward by the water jet. The force was so mighty that the water pushed the Betrayer through the doorway, and whacked him on the wall, holding him up. Finally, the jet eased down, leaving a path of liquid, and the Betrayer slid down the wall, drenched. The kids could hear an upset growl from the Betrayer as he evaded down the corridor out of sight.

Closest to the opening, Frankie heard a light splash from his near right and turned to see an adolescent rising up from the water, as though he was climbing the stairway. Frankie recognized him immediately. Jyou.

And he was the Reconciler.

***

Sora balanced herself from a slick stone, her arms wide to hold her stability. Around, a swift but shallow stream flowed beneath. Behind her, Koushiro was grunting as he nearly slid off a step stone, but caught himself. Sora leaped onto the bank and reached to hold on Koushiro's waiting hand.

Koushiro's subdued demeanor puzzled her. She knew Koushiro was corrupted by the curse, but somehow Yamato's amazing display of his true power brought him back. She thought only the purified water from the Fountain can remove the corruption temporarily. And the way Koushiro acted confused her, too. He didn't appear entranced or distracted. He was aware of everything, but he never responded to anything. It was like he was mute.

Yamato also bewildered her, too. Just last night, he penetrated through his power and released one of the most incredible manifestations she ever had seen. The ghosts . . . They seemed too real, and she was frightened to touch one, not knowing what would happen. After he freed Koushiro from his prison, they lost consciousness almost instantly. Sora presumed that Yamato used his entire energy to free Koushiro, and Koushiro had struggled against him, using all his energy. Yamato did remember everything, and he appeared uncertain, almost frightened to use his power again, to release the ghosts again.

Sora and Koushiro waited until Yamato and Takeru arrived safely, and they moved on. Sora has started to sense a presence nearby, like a heartbeat within her heartbeat. So that's how Mimi senses essences, she remarked. But who was the one she was sensing?

"Wait," Sora spoke as she slowed down. The boys paused behind.

"Is something wrong?" asked Takeru.

Sora shook her head. "No. It's just that I sense someone here."

"How could you sense someone if it's not in your power?" Yamato said, but was cautiously scanning around.

"To seek someone, you don't have to use your power, Guardian," came a tender, feminine voice from above.

The children gazed upward and spotted a small figure standing on a low branch nearby, vaguely hidden by the shadows of the leaves. Moving closer, Sora could see that the figure was a diminutive female Digimon. Human-like, she stood a mere foot tall. Her upper body was covered by two red rose petals like a sleeveless shirt as a simple skirt of long, slender white daisy petals, their stems tied to a hidden strap of thin vine, covered her legs. Her head was covered by a white-tinted mask, lengthening from the bridge of her nose to the back of her head. There was a small blossom fixed on the left side of her mask. Long blond hair curled to her waist, pale and soft. Her skin was pale blue, and there was a pair of white butterfly wings on her back.

"You must be the Guardian we are seeking," said Sora as she sensed the Digimon's heartbeat in her chest.

The Guardian smiled slightly and, flapping her wings, drifted downward until she floated in front of Sora. "You are doing great, Seeker, using your heart, not your mind, to seek me."

The Guardian's hidden eyes slid over to Yamato, who had a pondering visage on his face. She hovered near and spoke, "I see that you have a question in your mind that is demanded to be answered."

Yamato wasn't a bit surprised. "If you know the question, then answer it."

The Guardian again smiled. "Clever boy. There are many Guardians in the Digital World. We have no idea how many are there. We are Guardians, yes, but you are the Human Guardian. You are merely the Guardian of the Digidestined. I am merely the Guardian of the Friends of the Stones."

Yamato slightly smiled, satisfied with her answer. The Guardian nodded. "To avoid any confusion about which Guardian is which, I'm known as Dasalmon."

"Would you lead us to the Friends of the Stones?" Takeru asked.

Dasalmon turned to drift beside Sora. "I would love to, little Savior, but you lack something that I need."

"What do you need?" Sora asked.

"You should know already," replied Dasalmon with a small frown. "What do you sense from me, Seeker?"

"Heartbeats."

"Yet I have no heart."

Sora blinked, not sure she heard right. "You . . . have no heart? But how? How could you have no heart when there is a heartbeat from you?"

Dasalmon shrugged. "I don't know, Seeker. I'm bound to guard the Stones, and I have slept for many years until your heart woke me, giving me heartbeats, but I have no heart."

"So, you are saying that you need a heart so you could lead us to the Stones?" Yamato queried.

"Yes, but I need an immortal heart, not a mortal heart, as you are wondering."

"How can we find an immortal heart for you?" Sora mused, her mind racing for any possible methods.

Dasalmon gave out a light, piping laugh. "That's what you are the best at, just seek." Then her gaze turned to the silent Koushiro, seeming concerned. Sora almost forgot that Koushiro was here; he was too still. Dasalmon drifted to Koushiro. He did notice her, but silently gazed at her, said nothing. Dasalmon seemed to frown. "What's the matter with the Warder?"

Sora flickered a careworn glance at Yamato. He grimaced a bit, then answered, "He's cursed."

Dasalmon's body took in a wave of sorrow as she placed a tiny hand on Koushiro's cheek. He seemed to hesitate, but eased down under the Digimon's comforting touches. She turned to the others. "It's unfortunate about what occurred, but I believe the curse could be removed with his stone."

"What stone?" Takeru was curious. "His Digistone?"

"Follow me, Digidestined." Dasalmon headed east under low branches, the kids following. After a moment, Sora could feel another heartbeat, so like her, yet different from inside her chest. The heartbeat was almost . . . corrupted. At the same time, Sora gasped, along with a small yelp from behind. She whirled around and saw Koushiro struggling in the arms of another Sora. She paled at the dark sneer on her identical twin, her amber eyes sparkling with hunger of something. Her clothing were exactly the same. The only things different from the real Sora was that she didn't wear a cloak and had the craving on her dark face.

The dark Sora seemed to snatch something from around Koushiro's neck and roughly shoved him down the ground. Yamato and Takeru ran to his side as the dark Sora cackled, running back into the shadows, but remained seen, her sly amber eyes on the real Sora.

"Are you all right, Izzy?" Yamato questioned as he helped Koushiro kneeling up. The fiery-haired boy shook his head. He reached to point at Yamato's chest, then to his chest, kept shaking his head.

Sora immediately understood what Koushiro tried to say. "Give back Izzy's crest!" she hollered as she faced the dark girl.

"Oh, you mean this?" the shadowed Sora spoke, her voice seeming to laugh devilishly. A flicker of her hand, and the swaying Crest of Knowledge dangled from a finger, reflecting off a ray of daylight.

"Who are you?" Sora demanded, stepping forward.

The dark Sora seemed to shrug. "I'm the Thief of Hatred." She then smirked, as if knowing some sort of secret. "Ironic, isn't it?" She gave the crest necklace a wiggle. "You want it back? Then go and get it. Nobody ain't stopping you, Seeker."

"Why are you called as the Thief?" the girl kept asking, hoping to distract her dark sister.

The Thief made an annoyed sigh, her free hand opening and closing, as though it was mimicking a babbling mouth. "Gee, is that all you goodies do, talking us to death? I'm the Thief because I am. Simple as that."

Sora swiftly aimed a hand to grab on the crest, but somehow, the Thief was possessing astounding strength. She leaped up several feet, impossible for a girl child to do, avoiding her grasp. Sora stumbled into a bush and glared upward. The Thief was giggling in dark delight, crouching on a low branch.

"Good, good, Seeker," the Thief was saying, "But still too slow. You should be swift like the wind, you know?"

Her collected temper suddenly began to burn in her chest. She was so upset that there was a Sora who would hate so much like that, being so hostile. Without a warning, the calm air suddenly blasted into a violent squall. Sora was astonished at the strength of her power as she was nearly blown off the ground. She could almost hear the boys yelling in surprise from afar, the words muddled.

The Thief hollered in alarm as the gale jostled her off the branch, sending her crashing in a bush near Sora. The gale finally quieted down, and Sora stood to face the Thief. The dark girl sat up, growling, and aimed a hand toward Sora. "Hush of Wind!" Despite the word 'hush', a swirling gust of red wind soared from her hand.

Sora summoned her strength to aid her. Gracefully, she sprang upward and backward, gaining several feet high, and the gust uselessly traversed below her, fading in the still air. The Seeker smoothly landed on her feet, her cloak settling around her, facing the Thief.

The Thief stood and strolled closer, her face now taking the glow of desirable, fierce hunger. "You actually think you are going to fight me? You can't. I'm your dark side. I'm you. You just can't get rid of me, Sister. Hush of Wind!"

"Breath of Wind!" Sora summoned her power to form a tempest dome as the Thief called on a similar dome of squalls. The blood-red domes, the winds violently twirling among the surfaces, expended in size until they contacted. Inside the domes, Sora held firm as her cloak wildly fluttered around her, and the Thief appeared eager to weaken her, lustful passion in her eyes. The domes gained strength, powering up as the girls grew unstable, falling to their knees. Their energy lessened until the domes of wind, at the instant same time, vanished, leaving both girls collapsing and gasping for breath.

As she gulped for air, Sora just caught a blurred flash of orange and green passing her, and the Thief just gave out a surprised yell as she got tackled by it. Sora could see that it was Koushiro, wrestling with the Thief. He had the silent, bitter ire on his otherwise sensible face.

Koushiro appeared to snatch on something, and, with new strength, the Thief managed to push him off her body. Koushiro hasted to his feet and raised a hand toward the dark girl. A bolt of silver glided, but the Thief gave out an angered yowl before she disappeared into the shadows. The bolt missed her by a mite.

Koushiro knelt by Sora's side, seeming worried. Sora was able to take deep breaths, feeling her energy returning bit by bit. "I'm all right, Izzy, but are you okay?"

He silently nodded.

"Arigatou for helping, but I'm sorry she has your crest."

The redhead simply smiled and held up a fist. Sora saw two necklaces dangling, one the Crest of Knowledge and the other an unfamiliar one. She took a wary gaze at the unknown crest. The crest was blood-red like hers, but the engraved hollow heart was cracked in two, a few of outlined gore oozing out. A title appeared in her mind.

The Crest of Hatred.

"Are you both all right?" Yamato asked as he, his brother, and the Digimon arrived to their sides.

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks to Izzy," Sora reassured as Koushiro placed his necklace around his neck, seeming undistracted of the battle. Why can't he speak at all?

Dasalmon fluttered close to the dark crest, gazing at it for a good moment, then bobbed her head in certainty. "That's the heart I was waiting for."

"Nani?" Sora was befuddled. "This heart? It's dark! Surely, it's not what you need."

"In a way, it's your heart," Dasalmon calmly replied. Before the girl protested in horror, she continued, "There are always two sides to you. The Seeker is the good side, and the Thief is the dark side. Even though you do love, there's always someone you're bound to hate."

Sora was silent, her mouth partially open in hesitant denial. She felt the littlest boy touching her arm in concern, but she didn't respond, her face now possessing heavy grief. There was someone Sora had the faintest hatred for. Herself. Every so often, she scorned herself when she didn't do what she pledged to her friends. She knew she shouldn't have blamed herself, but sometimes, when her friends seemed to fail, she always condemned herself for not doing what she had devoted to. She didn't realize that until now when Dasalmon opened her eyes. Or, to be precise, her heart's eyes.

"Okay," Sora finally spoke. "I understand what do you mean. But why this heart? It's a dark and evil heart. You don't want it."

"Nonetheless, it's your heart. And I need your heart."

Sora silently handed the Crest of Hatred to the Digimon. Dasalmon settled her tiny hand upon the glass screen, and the crest seemed to becloud, then evaporated. Sora wasn't a bit surprised; somehow, she lost the ability of sensing Dasalmon's heartbeat, and assumed that she now had a heart beating within.

Then Dasalmon bowed to Sora, speaking, "Greetings, Seeker Guardian."

The girl was only speechless, her eyes wide. "Why are you calling her 'Guardian'?" Yamato demanded.

"She's now the Guardian of the Friends of the Stones," was the reply from the sprite-like Digimon.

"But - but -" Sora suddenly felt lighthearted. Koushiro quickly soothed her down, she being grateful for his support. "What do you mean, Dasalmon?" she finally inquired. "Answer me this!"

"You should know this from the riddle," Dasalmon acknowledged, slightly defensive.

"Oh, I remember!" Takeru uttered, turning to Sora. "In the riddle, it says that Dasalmon asks for a heart to leave. Give her that, and you will take over. Remember that, Sora?"

Sora appeared distressed, then looked up to the Digimon. "But I can't be a Guardian. I'm the Seeker, not a Guardian."

Dasalmon held up hands to quiet her protests. "Before you can decide, let me show you the Friends of the Stones as I promised so. I'm not motivating you to be a Guardian. Just think it over." Then she headed for the east, beckoning the children to follow.

During the walk, Sora's mind was hazed, stunned. If she accepted to be the Guardian, that would mean she has to stay in the Digiworld as long as she lives. She couldn't. She had a family she longed to go home to. She missed her mother endlessly, and she never really had the chance to tell her she loves her.

After a quiet while, Dasalmon paused in midair and focused a finger toward the thick bushes in the front. "Behind the bushes, you will find the Friends of the Stones."

The serious tone to her voice seemed to rouse the kids, remembering their mission. Yamato was first to break through the vegetation, with Takeru and Koushiro following behind. Sora, anxious to get the task done, stepped through last. Before her, there was a simple ring of imperfect grey stones set on the ground, several old leaves scattering over a blanket of untouched snow. Long grass have broke through, nearly covering the stones from sight, as if they sprouted swiftly overnight. The kids knelt nearby and began to tug grasses away, clearing the area.

Soon, the turf revealed a perfect circle of seven crude, vaguely cube-shaped stones, the top as large as an adult man's hand and a foot tall, set around a slightly smaller stone in the center. Each had the crest symbol of the kids, reminding Sora instantly of the Circle of the Crests in the dark mansion.

A visage of puzzlement crossed her face, and she gazed up to Yamato, who had the same confused look as he fingered his crest emblem on one of the stones. He caught her eye and spoke quietly, "I thought we are supposed to find two circles, one within another."

Sora nodded and glanced over to Koushiro. He silently held up eight fingers, then pointed at his Digistone he was bearing in his other hand, looking bewildered. She understood what he was trying to say. "Hai, Izzy, there are eight stones here, not ten."

Takeru spoke out from beside his brother, "I don't see Frankie's and Kari's symbols here."

"Are you trying to trick us, Dasalmon?" Yamato grumbled as he turned to her.

The Digimon was drifting beside Sora, and she shook her head. "I didn't do anything. Sora's the Guardian."

Sora bit back another objection of being the Guardian, then sighed, her eyes sliding across the stones. "Would this circle be fake?"

"What would you do to find the real Friends of the Stones?" Dasalmon said with a secret smile on her lips.

Sora bit on her lip as she gazed back. "I would do what I'm destined to do - seek."

To be continued . . .