Powers of Crests

by Debbie Dai-chan

The Digidestined are seeking the true meanings of their crests.

6. Vigor of Spirit

~*~ My special Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon: Digital Monsters. All your Digimon are belonging to me. Ha. Ha. Ha. I wish. :p Criticism will be bowed to and flames will be . . . hmm . . . sacrificed to the God of Flames. If it exists. ~*~

Powers of Crests Saga:

Part Six: Vigor of Spirit

By Debbie (Dai-chan) *^_^*

Yamato pushed away a low branch and ducked under it. He held it away for Takeru to pass through. His little brother grinned up to him with thanks and kept on walking. Patamon hovered after him. Gabumon passed through and waited by his side, as always. Yamato let go the branch and took up the end of the line so he could keep all of his friends in his vision. Kimika and Koushiro, along with their Digimon, were far ahead. Although he would not admit it out loud, he was extremely concerned about them.

He just couldn't believe it. Kimika and Koushiro finally found their powers, and he didn't like it at all. He still couldn't understand why they must change because of those strange powers. He missed Kimika's gentle brown eyes - now they were all white, giving him the uneasy feeling that she was actually blind, yet she can see everything. Koushiro didn't change that much as Kimika, but his eyes did. They didn't change color, but they seemed to be more aware and clear. Flawless. They seemed to hold everything known and everything yet to be known. Yamato and Takeru were the only ones who don't have that kind of power. Yet.

Yamato slowed down into a stop, tilting his head to one side. He heard something. A whispering voice. He gazed upward, trying to listen for the voice and trying to see where it came from. Without a thought, Yamato made a humming sound, a kind of habit he developed when he ponders for a while. His hums attracted his friends' attention.

"What's the matter?" he heard Gabumon saying, lightly worried.

Yamato's gaze turned to his friends. They were watching him, so many eyes. The sightless eyes of Kimika, the all-knowing eyes of Koushiro, and the innocent eyes of Takeru. Yamato felt his cheeks going hot; he was not used to all the attention. He was more solitude than companionable. He shook his head in a reassuring gesture. "Nothing. Just thinking." He gazed around the surroundings. The group was in a part of the jungle where it was difficult to walk through low branches and barren bushes. Not a good place to rest, but they have walked nonstop since morning without any rest. Yamato cleared his throat. "Guys, I think we should stop for a while."

Koushiro shook his head firmly. "No, Matt. We should keep going."

"You are still weak, Izzy, from your power." He remembered when Koushiro found his power. He can't believe how weak he was. Koushiro never stirred from his deep stupor in Yamato's arms as the group left the ruins behind. He slept soundly all night, until he finally woke up the next morning. Yamato was surprised at how weak Koushiro was, but Koushiro had the determination to continue. He was often aided by the faithful Tentomon and Kimika, his strength slowly regaining. Koushiro's body may be weak, but his soul was not. His eyes were very vivid, almost shining with an inner light. Yamato watched Koushiro, who was leaning against a tree, looking exhausted.

Koushiro averted his sharp eyes away. "I am fine, Matt."

Yamato sighed faintly at the redhead's hurt dignity. "It's not just that. How could we know where to find our friends? We are totally lost."

Tentomon gazed at him from his usual side by Koushiro. "You say that there is absolutely no way to find them?"

Yamato shook his head. "I didn't mean by that, Tentomon. I mean, do we know where are we? If we don't know where we are, we would not know where the others are, either."

He saw Koushiro gazing over to Kimika, awareness in his eyes. Kimika had her hands together at her waist, and she looked soft and patient. She gazed to Yamato with the gentle eyes. "I can use my power to see," she offered.

"No, Kim. You can't," He made a negating gesture with his hand. "I don't want you to risk your life for that . . . power."

Kimika's eyes seemed to shade into a sad light blue hue. "It might be our only chance, Matt."

Yamato frowned, shaking his head. He didn't want to lose Kimika because of that. He stepped forward to her to settle down the argument, and then he stopped, alarmingly looking around. He suddenly heard soft mumbles from around him, so soft that he wondered if he was hearing things.

"What's wrong?" he heard Kimika saying. She walked to him, holding on his arm, looking concerned.

"Did you hear that?" he said, still gazing around.

"Hear what, Matt?" Iyumon asked.

Yamato looked to his friends. They were watching him, waiting. "I hear voices." The friends gazed around and cocked their heads to listen. Yamato still heard mumbles, too soft.

Koushiro shrugged. "I don't hear anything."

Yamato began to think he was getting crazy, hearing voices that no one else hears. Trying to ignore the mumbles, Yamato shrugged, "Maybe it's just me." He saw Kimika gazing to him, looking perceptive. It seemed to him that she was seeing thought his soul, knowing the truth. He simply smiled back, winking. He cherished it when Kimika blushed prettily.

Then he looked up at Patamon's voice, "It's getting dark. We need to find a shelter now."

Yamato noticed that the sky was darkening with several clouds gathering together. The clouds were turning deep grey, the sign of oncoming rain. The group walked on, following each other, just trusting their faith and instincts. Yamato kept Koushiro and Takeru in his vision, deeply concerned, and enjoyed Kimika's silent company as she stayed by his side. He noticed that the soft mumbles were getting louder, but not annoyed, anyway. They were almost like whispers and wails of numerous voices around him. They were not displeased and he grew curious about the voices.

He noticed his friends stopped walking after a while, their eyes on a point in far left of them. Yamato turned to see and saw a massive, ominous-looking mansion standing in a larger grove of shadowing trees. The mansion was hued deep midnight blue, looked broke-down. The windows were uncovered with no glass to shelter inside. The mansion was so solitude and abandoned that Yamato wondered why was it standing alone, far from everything?

Gabumon seemed to think alike as Yamato. "What in the earth is that?"

"Maybe no one's there," said his brother, sounding hopefully. "We could use it as a shelter."

"No," Yamato said firmly, his eyes hard as he stared at the mansion. "I would rather stay outside."

Koushiro glanced over his shoulder to him. "What's the matter? It appears vacant. It's not hazardous, it seems."

Yamato averted his gaze downward from the mansion. He thought bitterly, I don't like the look of it.

Suddenly, booms of thunders were heard. The friends gazed up to sudden flashes of lightning leaping among blackish-grey clouds. Raindrops fell from the clouds, showering down to the kids and Digimon. "Come on!" Iyumon ordered, and all ran after her toward the mansion. Yamato shielded the icy rain from his eyes with an arm as he and his friends stopped at the giant doors. Koushiro pushed them open, discovering them unlocked, and all entered. Koushiro and Yamato shut the doors and shook the cold water from their hair.

Yamato looked around his surroundings. The inside was a kind of lobby with two massive stairways curling upward to the second floor. There were two doors, one at his right and another from ahead of him. A narrow hall came out from his left, leading to somewhere. An unlighted chandelier hanged from the ceiling, silently unmoving, dust all over. There was a dim light coming from somewhere that he was not certain where. The place reminded him of similar haunted houses he often had seen in horror movies.

And he could hear the voices. Inside, they were clear, mumbling only few words, but enough to make him uneasy. Give us your energy. Give us your energy. He gazed around in caution.

Takeru moved closer to him, holding on his hand. "Matt, I am scared."

Yamato was nervous, too, but he won't let his brother know. He gave him a comforted squeeze on his hand. "Stay by me, kiddo." He looked up at the open second floor from the stairways. He saw wide, formal paintings decorating the walls, nine in total. He wondered what were they. Looking down, he saw Koushiro and Tentomon walking by the first floor wall, searching thoughtfully. "What are you doing, Izzy?" he asked.

"Looking around," answered Koushiro, not even looking back.

Kimika was studying the paintings with curiosity. She grinned almost enchantingly at him, her white eyes shining as bright as - he used the term loosely - stars. "Are you curious, Matt?" she said, her eyes flickering up to the paintings.

Yamato was dumbfounded at her sudden divine radiance. He did what he thought he would never do - stammer. "Well - well, um . . . I . . ."

Kimika giggled joyfully. She held on his arm. "Come on, Matt. Let's look at some paintings." Yamato let Kimika hold his hand as she led him upstairs. The stairs groaned and creaked alarmingly under their sudden weight. He heard Takeru and the Digimon following behind. Yamato and Kimika stopped before a wide painting, its frame hued dark blue. Yamato stood gaping at it as Kimika spoke, "Why, Matt! It's you!"

'It is me.' In the painting, a strikingly replica of Yamato in similar clothing was sitting in a brownish background, one leg up and an arm resting on the knee. The replica leaned on the other arm, long bangs of ash-blond hair shadowing his rare smiled face. The eyes were powerful grey-blue, seeming to stare right straight to the kids.

Yamato's eyes flickered to the painting by the Yamato painting's right. He pointed to it, saying to Kimika, "And that is you, too!"

In the silver-framed painting, Kimika's head was showed, her chin resting on her crossed arms, looking peaceful and gentle with the soft brown eyes. She was smiling, too. There were no red sunglasses, and tiny, long braids fell across her cheeks, giving the picture of Kimika a mysterious, intelligent way.

The rest arrived to them, also gaping at the painting. "It's all you humans," remarked Gabumon.

Surely enough, every kid was in the paintings. By Yamato's painting's other side, was the pale blue-framed painting of Jyou. He was leaning against a wall, hands in his khaki shorts pockets, an unusual gesture for the nervous boy. But Yamato remembered that Jyou found his power, and he was composed, just like the replica of a calmly smiling Jyou. By Kimika's painting's side, was the red-framed painting of Sora. Her head was showed, like Kimika, but her back was facing them. She was watching over her shoulder, her amber eyes hooded in a divinely, wise way. Her blue hat was not present, and her chestnut hair curled over her shoulders. The next painting was Takeru's. He was the only one who had his eyes upward. He was standing, hands together, looking like he was praying, looking so heavenly. His green-blue hat was gone, and the single lock of fair hair curled over his forehead, giving the innocent, angelic appearance. The frame was, Yamato noticed, hued bright golden, like it was polished nonstop.

At the other end of the nine painting, was the green-framed painting of Mimi. She knelt, her pink dress flowing around her. She was smiling radiantly, with hands together in her lap. She had no pink hat with her, and her golden-brown hair flowed around her shoulders. The next painting was of Koushiro. He looked ecstatic, his head leaned a bit to one side, his arms crossed. His grin was bright, eager. The frame was hued deep purple. And, the sun orange-framed painting belonged to Taichi. He was standing, fists on hips, feet apart, looking every inch as the determined, persistent boy Yamato remembered. He had his favorite goggles off, and his usual unkempt hair clouded his sharp eyes, but not shadowed him. He had the courageous grin.

Yamato felt the creeps running up his back. The painted kids were the exactly same as the real kids, with their characteristic features and distinctive traits. He wondered why or how did the Digimon know about the kids. Was it because of the so-called legends of the Digidestined? Why was Digidestined so well known that the Digimon chose to paint exact replicas of them?

Yamato and Kimika walked over to where Takeru was. The boy was staring at the last ninth painting between the paintings of Taichi and Takeru. The frame was muted pinkish. There was a face on it, but there was no way to tell if it was female or male. The paint was waterlogged, dripping over the face in a rain of colors, making it impossible to see the details.

"Wonder who this is?" Takeru asked when Yamato and Kimika arrived, his azure eyes curious.

Patamon spoke in wondering awe, "Would there be nine Digidestined, not eight?"

Yamato gazed at him in surprise, then turned to the painting, trying to see the details. "If so, I don't know who."

Then Koushiro's voice rang from the first floor, sounding excited. "Hey, guys! I found a fascinating room!"

The kids and Digimon ran downstairs. Yamato stopped in the middle of the stairs and looked back for a last gaze to his painting. The grey-blue eyes seemed to stare at him, and then something happened. The posed Yamato's faint smile abruptly changed into a devilishly sneer as the grey-blue eyes shifted into burning red. Yamato was startled and shook his head. Looking again, he saw the posed boy back to normal. I'm dreaming things, he thought. Turning around, he ran downstairs. He heard clear voices from behind, hissing softly, The Guardian is here at last. Yamato didn't look back, running faster to the first floor. He entered the door between the two stairs.

It was a massive chamber, lightened by somewhere he can't find from above. The walls were hued dark blue, the same as the outside walls of the mansion. The group was gathered together, gazing around as Koushiro and Tentomon walked to the other side. And the room was empty.

Yamato gazed at the redhead with disbelieved puzzlement. "Izzy, you brought us to this 'fascinating room,' which is empty?"

Koushiro turned to grin at him. His eyes were suddenly shining, seeming the only source of light in the room. He silently gestured around with a sweep of his yellow-gloved hand.

Yamato didn't have the chance to take a good look around before. He saw the symbols of the kids' crests on the walls, two on each. The crests were painted with their own colors.

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and eight," Takeru counted them out. "Eight crests." He then yawned, holding on Yamato's hand.

Tentomon also gestured to the floor. "Look under your feet."

Looking down, Yamato saw the crests' symbols, also engraved into the floor, seven of them set into a circle around one crest. His symbol was in between of the Crest of Empathy at its right and the Crest of Knowledge at the other. At the other side of Knowledge, was the Crest of Reliability. The next was the Crest of Sincerity. Next was the Crest of Love. Then the Crest of Courage was set in between Love and Empathy. In the center of the circle, was the Crest of Hope.

Koushiro was standing near his symbol, pointing down at the symbol of Hope. "See that the seven crests encircle one crest - Hope."

Yamato shrugged. "So?"

"So that the circle must has been set like this for a particular reason." Koushiro sat down, opening his green backpack that contained his yellow-white laptop.

Yamato watched him with an arched eyebrow. He heard Takeru yawning and looked down to him. His brother's eyes were drooping, looking weary. "Tired?" Takeru looked up and nodded. Yamato knelt down, saying, "Get on my back." Takeru climbed on his back, setting his cheek on his shoulder, his arms around his neck. Holding him up by legs, Yamato stood up easily under his brother's light weight. He watched Kimika kneeling by her symbol, her hand fingering the edges, looking thoughtfully. Iyumon sat by her side, studying the symbol.

Yamato listened to his Digimon as he asked Koushiro a question, "But, Izzy, there are eight crests symbols here, but nine pictures of the Digidestined upstairs. Why? What is that the ninth Digidestined not involved in this yet?"

"That's what are we trying to find out," answered Tentomon as his human friend tapped at his computer, h is sharp eyes concentrated.

Yamato looked down to his symbol on the floor. It looked exactly the same as his crest. A circle with two half-circles within, along with two curved points at both sides, was carved in the floor, its diameter approximately a couple of feet across. Holding up Takeru firmly on his back, Yamato reached to touch the symbol with his foot. The very moment the foot touched the edges, the symbol suddenly brightened with a dark blue light, its rays shining upwardly. Startled, Yamato withdrew his foot, and the glow quickly faded, leaving the symbol back to normal.

Yamato gazed to his sides to see if his friends saw it. Koushiro was so focused as he worked at his computer. Kimika kept studying her symbol with her hand. No one saw it. He looked down to Gabumon. The blue wolf was gazing back with anxious concern, perhaps wondering why he was startled. He didn't see the glow.

Yamato flushed and averted his eyes to something else. His gaze laid on the Crest of Hope in the center. It was surprisingly small, compared to the other crests. A small sun stood above a small pyramid. The appearance made it seem heavenly, angelic. Yamato wondered. He knew his brother was special in his way. Takeru was always generous, kind, and so pure. He had so much faith that he seemed to have his own light from inside, radiating from his pure azure eyes. His childish smile seemed to hold wisdom beyond his age. 'Takeru may be special,' thought Yamato, 'but he is still my brother.'

Yamato looked over his shoulder to see Takeru peacefully sleeping, his cheek on his shoulder. The single lock of fair hair always fell over his eyes during sleep, so innocently. Yamato smiled warmly and lovably at his brother. Turning around, he found something unexpected. Kimika and Iyumon were gone.

"Kim?" Yamato was startled. Hysterically, he gazed around. "Where did you go? Kim!"

Koushiro looked up from his computer. "What's wrong?"

"Kim and Iyumon are gone!"

Koushiro gazed around. "She must have left the room earlier."

"Kim!" Holding up his brother on his back, Yamato ran out of the room with Gabumon by his side. He ran back so he could see upstairs from the first floor. He couldn't see anything else except the paintings of the Digidestined.

"What's like her to leave without letting us know?" Gabumon said, looking around.

Yamato shook his head, worried. "It's not like Kim." He gazed around and found that Koushiro was not with him as he thought so. "Izzy!" He ran inside the room.

"What?" Koushiro said. He was just putting on his green backpack.

Yamato grunted impatiently. "Come on! We must search for Kim and Iyumon!"

"But -"

"Your curiosity can wait!" Yamato snapped. Koushiro fell in silence, his aware eyes suddenly as sharp as ice. Yamato sighed. He didn't mean to snap at him. "Finding our friends is more important, okay? Let's go." He turned to get out of the room, and he heard the running footsteps of Koushiro following from behind.

The group went in the hall, which went underneath the ground. Yamato quickened his pace, anxious to find the girls. Koushiro ran behind, trying to get up to his pace. Gabumon, Patamon, and Tentomon followed.

"Matt, Kim will be fine," said Koushiro. "She can take care of herself."

Yamato ignored him, his lips tightened. All he wanted was finding Kimika completely safe and not harmed. They continued until they stopped at tall, wide doors at the end of the hall. Yamato made a furious grunt.

"Calm down, Matt," Koushiro tried to soothe him.

Yamato turned to him with such fury in his gray-blue eyes that they seemed to change into pure steel. Koushiro stared back in astonishment, along with the Digimon. Unable to say anything, Yamato knelt and let go of a sleepy Takeru to the floor. He went to the doors and pulled on the metal rings that acted as knobs. The doors won't budge at all. He then pushed on with all his strength. The doors won't move, either.

Yamato sighed, unconsciously slammed on one of the doors with a fist. He turned around, saying, "I guess we have to find -" He paused in mid sentence. Koushiro and Tentomon were gone.

"Izzy!" Yamato gasped. "Ok, guys! It's not funny! We are not here to play foolish games!"

As if was answering back, he heard a feminine voice, ravishing and tempting, laughing from everywhere. The laugh echoed in his ears. Then he suddenly felt a breezy draft touching his cheek, seeming seductive, playful. Yamato startled, holding his hand over his cheek.

"Matt?" Gabumon gazed up to his human friend with worry.

Yamato never felt so shaken before. He took a deep breath. "We need to find our friends and get the heck out of here." He hasted to his brother, kneeling. "TK, wake up! It is no time to sleep."

Takeru rubbed his sleepy eyes, sitting up. "But, Matt, I am so tired." He stifled back a yawn. "Can't we rest for a while?"

Yamato's grey-blue eyes stared right in Takeru's azure eyes, different colors for the eyes of brothers. "What got in you, TK? Our friends are gone, and we must find them."

Takeru blinked upward to Yamato with confusion. "Gone? What do you mean? They are here. Look." He held up a pointing finger toward to behind of Yamato.

Yamato whirled around. He saw the hazy images of Kimika, Koushiro, Iyumon, and Tentomon in the hall. Their backs were to him, walking away. "Kim! Izzy!" He stood and ran after them. "Come back!" Then he skidded into a stop. The kids and Digimon lazily faded into thin air, like ghosts.

A sudden thought came to him, and he turned around, afraid to know. Takeru and Patamon were gone. Unexpected, Yamato screamed in fear. "TK! TK!" Panicked, he ran to the doors, trying to open them as his Digimon called his brother and Digimon's names.

Then Yamato heard voices. They were laughing, giggling high-pitched, taunting. Yamato let go of the rings and cautiously gazed around. Where are those voices coming from?!

. . . Guardian . . . Guardian . . .

Yamato whirled around, nervous. It's too much for him. The voices were so aggravated and irksome. "Stop it! Stop it!" He slapped his hands over his ears, screaming to drown the awful voices. He stepped back, and suddenly, he fell backward through the open doors. He laid there in shocked silence. Gabumon ran to him, concerned. Then he heard laughing voices from behind him. Yamato hasted to his feet. Many floating misty physiques drifted in silence. They were too vague in detail to tell which ones were Digimon or humans.

"What are they?" Gabumon murmured.

Yamato looked down to his Digimon. "Aren't they Digimon, Gabumon?"

Gabumon shook his head. "No, they aren't."

Yamato returned his gaze to the images. "Then they must be ghosts."

The ghosts seemed to stop drifting and slowly turned to face the duo. Their eyes were misty and lifeless. Their mouths were moving, and he could hear them. Guardian . . . Guardian . . . Yamato began to shake in paranoid confusion. What do the ghosts want with him?! Yamato stepped back and was stopped by closed doors. They were locked inside! Yamato and Gabumon pounded on the doors. They won't open.

Yamato looked back and saw the ghosts drifting toward them, their misty hands outreached. And the voices kept coming, calling for him. He can't stand it! He screamed, slapping his hands over his ears, running away. He heard Gabumon calling his name, but all he wanted was getting away from the voices. He ran blindly, unaware he was running down a narrow stairway.

The voices grew louder, taunting and calling, until they were ringing shrilly in his ears. He dropped to his knees, hunched over, trying to resist the voices. He felt the concerned, comforted touches of Gabumon on his arms. He shut his eyes tightly, shaking his head to defy the voices.

"Why, how nice of you to bow to me, Guardian."

The voices abruptly stopped, and Yamato popped his eyes open. Where was that voice coming from? He gazed around and found himself in some empty chamber. To his shock, he found his friends in the center.

"Guys?" Yamato stood and ran to him. To his confusion, His friends were sleeping. They were in a row, eyes closed. Takeru laid in between Kimika and Koushiro, all breathing deeply and regularly. Yamato knelt and shook his little brother gently. "Wake up! Please!" He tried to shake Kimika and Koushiro, too, but they seemed to refuse to wake.

"It's like they have no energy," said Gabumon from the row of his sleeping Digimon friends.

Yamato looked up to him in perplexity. "No energy?"

"They were so kind to give me their energies."

Yamato startled at the feminine voice. It was the one who first laughed at him. He gazed around, demanding, "Who are you? Where are you?"

Then he saw a misty, white-robed female ghost drifting downward. She was as large as Garurumon, floating in mid air. He could see the details: crystal eyes set in a pale face, a robe covering her body, a lip-less smile at the boy.

"She is a Digimon," said Gabumon, creeping closer to Yamato in order to protect him.

The ghost Digimon slightly bowed her head. "I am Banshemon, and yes, I am a Digimon. The phantasm you seen earlier are nothing but mere energies passed on from useless bodies. You might call them ghosts."

Yamato stood, guarding his sleeping friends. "What is your right to take their energies?"

Banshemon hooded her crystal eyes. "I didn't take them. They gave them to me."

"How come?"

"Because you failed to guard them, Guardian."

Yamato scowled at the Digimon. His hands slowly clenched into tense fists. Banshemon saw what he did and simply smiled blankly. Her voice was taunting, however. "Face it, Guardian. You cannot fight me. The Guardian of Friendship never fights."

Yamato's scowl deepened, but he lowered his fists. "I may not fight, but I do protect. Is that why I am called the Guardian? I am supposed to protect my friends."

Banshemon shrugged. "But you didn't. You let your guard down and they came to me."

Yamato took a deep breath, trying to ease his anger. "Is there a way to get my friends' energies back?"

Banshemon remained silent.

"Let me fight her, Matt," growled Gabumon. "I will shake the energies out of her."

Banshemon chuckled lightly.

"No, Gabumon," Yamato said, his eyes on the ghost. Gabumon looked back in concerned puzzlement. Yamato shook his head at him. "You cannot fight her. I cannot fight her. But there must be a way to defeat her." He saw Banshemon smirking in amusement. "Well, Banshemon? Is there a way?"

Banshemon opened her crystal eyes, and they seemed hungry. "To give back your friends' energies, you have to give up yours. Your energy alone is immense, powerful. I want it."

Yamato gazed down to his sleeping friends. They looked so peaceful like that. Kimika looked almost pretty, all deep concern fading from her face. Koushiro's intelligence remained in his face even in sleep. Even Takeru looked innocent, peacefulness and harmony among his face. They were helpless like this, and it was up to him to protect them. He knew he was willing to sacrifice himself for his friends. Looking up to Banshemon, Yamato spoke calmly, "I will."

Gabumon whirled to him in alarm. "No, Matt!"

"I have to," he said quietly. He stood taller, braver. His grey-blue hardened into steel. "I will do everything to protect my friends, for their friendship means the most to me. The power they have over me is sweet and reverent. Without them, I would be lost. That's why I am the Guardian because I devoted to protect them, so they wouldn't lose themselves."

His crest began to glow with a night-blue dark color. The aura surrounded him, giving the appearance of a cloak of night around his body. The aura was misty, soft and silent. Yamato looked at his hand, smiling at the nightglow. Yamato returned his secretive grin to a now tense Banshemon and said, "No one will make me lose myself. I will protect them with all my heart and energy. You want my energy? Take it! Vigor of Spirit!"

Yamato let go his power. The aura radiated brighter until the chamber was illuminated with the misty, night-blue aura. He couldn't see anything because his power was blinding him. However, he could hear Banshemon screeching with a thousand voices screaming along. They came from everywhere. Yamato felt his energy draining from him in rapid speed, but he couldn't stop it. In the middle of his power, he collapsed to the floor, his energy gone.

***

He felt a soft draft on his cheek when he woke up. He must be outside somewhere. He fluttered open his eyes and saw that it was night. The sky was night-black with few stars twinkling dimly. How long have he been sleeping? Out of the corners of his eyes, he could see the dancing light of a small fire near. He lolled his head to one side, and his gaze met the sleeping face of Takeru. He was holding Patamon in his arms, huddled near Yamato. Gabumon snoozed at the little boy's other side. Nearby, Yamato could see Koushiro and Tentomon sleeping. Iyumon curled near Gabumon, her snout buried by her large paws.

Yamato smiled to see his friends safe, then was startled. He felt two sharp teeth in his mouth, seeming unnatural. He felt them with his tongue, startled to find them curled, not straight. He sat up, gazing for something to reflect off his face. He saw that the group was sleeping near a small pond. He silently stood and hasted to the pond. He looked at his reflection.

He was shocked at his changes. Somehow, he grew two small fangs in place of his front teeth, looking like a wolf. His grey-blue eyes were unchanged, but his pupils have shifted into slits, again looking like a wolf. For moment, he seemed to look like his Digimon, Gabumon. And also, he had a lock of snow-white hair among his blond hair, few bangs of white clouding over his wolf-like eyes. Yamato stared speechlessly at his reflection, and then he heard soft footsteps coming closer to him. He shut his mouth and eyes, turning away.

"Stay back, Kim," he said ashamedly. "I look horrible."

He felt the kneeling of Kimika by him. "Why would you look horrible, Matt?" Her voice was gentle.

Yamato shook his head. "You don't want to know."

"I think that no matter what changes, you are still Matt. Tell me, when I got my power, am I changed?'

Yamato faintly smiled. He remembered her white eyes. She may be changed from outside, but she was still the same inside. "No. You are still Kim." Then he grew somber. "But I am really changed."

"Let me see." Yamato opened his eyes and gazed up to Kimika. She was not looking alarmed or frightened. She gently held his face in her hands, her thumbs touching his fangs. Her white eyes studied his eyes with slit pupils. She touched the white lock with two fingers. She looked so quiet and gentle.

Kimika let go of his face and smiled. "Well, Matt, you are changed." Yamato flushed lightly, beginning to look away, but Kimika stopped him, gently pushing his face to her. "But it didn't matter. You are still Matt, aren't you? You are still our Matt." She smiled almost lovingly, her eyes soft.

Yamato smiled back warmly, and he hugged her, a gesture he rarely used to anybody. He welcomed her compassion and warmth. She warmly embraced back. Then Yamato felt a cool breeze touching his cheek. Both looked up at the sudden breeze, watching it swaying the branches. Slowly, Yamato could feel something. He could feel three different spirits filling his body like warm drinks in his chests. He can recognize them. His power allowed him to sense spirits, and he felt the spirits of the other friends in a distance. They were coming closer. Soon, they will be back together.

Yamato secretively smiled. I am the Guardian.

To be continued.