Chapter 10
The Temple of Harmony
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Tomorrow we'll have good weather,
And continue into my dreams
Let's make friends with the weather god
Look, if we shake hands, it's like telepathy
Let me see your smile, I'm sure it'll be all right
"Be All Right" (Takeru's theme)
"If you were on our side, why did you attack our digimon?" asked Cody. He, Yolie, and Davis stood in front of the two large Sphinxmon, talking with them.
"We were asleep for a long time," the Sphinxmon replied. His voice was deep, and it spoke slowy and carefully. "It took a while to wake up completely. The first thing I was aware of was being attacked from above."
The other Sphinxmon, a female, spoke up in a bright contralto voice. "We are the guardians of this place. Our duty is to defend, not to attack. We responded in self-defense."
"It was a misunderstanding," said Angemon. "Everything else in here was dangerous, and we believed you would be, too. I decided to launch a pre-emptice strike to prevent you from running after the Digidestined.""
"We apologize for it," said Angewomon. "I hope we did not harm you."
"No harm," said the male Sphinxmon. "Your apology is accepted."
"We now return to our duty," said his partner. And she and the other Sphinxmon returned to their places and settled in.
Then Cody and his friends heard TK calling from the pyramid. "Angemon! Angewomon! I need your help here!"
"Wow! What a sight!" exclaimed Davis. "You can almost see Primary Village from here!"
"Nothing new for me," said Hawkmon, "I see the Digital World like this all the time."
Yolei giggled. "Yeah, but we can't fly, Bird Brain!" She said it both with humour and affection.
After the battle, Just as Cody had finished his discussion with the Sphinxmon, TK had come out of the Crestuary whole and restored, showing neither bump nor bruise from his fall off the patio. Surmising the Crestuary held potent healing powers, he had called for Angemon and Angewomon to carry the injured Cyan and Cantomon there and take them within.
Then Halsemon and Digmon reverted to Rookie form and joined the other Digidestined climbing the pyramid. Now they were gazing out over the Digital World. All save Kari, who had joined TK in the Crestuary, watching over Cyan and Cantomon as they lay at the base of the crest of Honour. Within a minute Cyan opened his eyes; in three he was strong enough to speak; and in five he could stand.
A few minutes later they walked out of the Crestuary, Cyan and Cantomon showing no hint of the injuries they had sustained in the battle. Now all the Digidestined and their digimon stood on the patio at the top of the pyramid. The sun was just starting to set, turning the white stones of the patio a delicate orange. Behind them the Crestuary glowed softly. But Cyan and Cantomon did not immediately join the others. Instead, Cantomon asked Cyan to go with him to another corner of the patio, and there the two talked quietly for a short time. Then Cyan wandered over to Davis.
"May I have a word?" he asked quietly.
"Sure," said Davis. "What about?"
Cyan started walking back to Cantomon, beckoning Davis to follow. Davis did so, leaving Veemon behind, and together they went around the side of the Crestuary, out of sight of the others. When Cyan stopped and turned to speak, Davis appeared worried.
"Cantomon tells me you were hesitating before deciding to save TK," said Cyan. "What made you actually decide to?"
Davis started. He had not expected anyone to have noticed his moment of doubt. And even now he did not fully understand why he had acted the way he did. The words did not come easily.
"TK's as much a part of this group as any of us ..." he began.
"I don't believe that, coming from you!" Cyan was noticeably upset. "I expected you to just leave him, to get Kari to yourself."
Davis shook his head. "Cyan, we're all Digidestined. That's what counts. As for Kari, well, yeah, I might have gotten her, but if she ever found out, she'd never have anything to do with me again ..."
Cyan turned his gaze away from Davis and out over Digiworld, and muttered, "That's if she had time to find out before I killed you first."
Davis defended himself. "But when I was thinking about it, I also realized I probably wouldn't be able to live with myself, either. I don't have the Digimental of Friendship for nothing, you know."
"Sometimes I wonder about that," said Cyan, returning his gaze to Davis.
"C'mon, Cyan, I know we don't really get along--you'll always support TK. But well, I had to save him. He's my friend, too. And so are you."
Cyan tried to be conciliatory, despite his poor opinion of Davis' competency. "I don't like the way you do things--you know that for a fact--but I will follow you as long as you're the leader." But even as he said that, he thought to himself, as long as you're not about to get us all killed!
"OK," said Davis. "Let's go back and join the others. We should be heading back soon."
They returned to where their friends had gathered. Yolei and Hawkmon were still looking out over the panorama before them, and beside them Cody and Armadillomon were doing the same. TK and Kari stood a little distance off, marvelling at the deep red sunset. Patamon lay on TK's hat, while Kari held Gatomon in one arm. Her other was around TK.
Had Cyan not been beside him, Davis would have immediately run over to them. But he held his pace. To Davis' relief, Cyan walked in TK's direction. Davis tagged along behind; he knew Cyan would be wanting to talk with TK, so he could have a few moments with Kari.
"This place is so beautiful!" they heard Kari say as they came up behind them. "I really wish we could stay here forever!"
"Be careful what you wish for," said TK. "You just might get it."
"We'll have to come back here, you know. I'd love to spend a whole day and a whole night here."
"We will come back. Now that we know this place exists, we'll have to look after it. It's too powerful to be ignored for long."
"Hi Kari! Hi TT!" said Davis as he and Cyan approached. Kari jumped, startled.
"TT?" asked TK, turning around and grinning.
"Sorry," said Davis. "You know I have trouble with your name sometimes." But he had a silly grin on his face as he said it.
Cyan ignored Davis and spoke to TK. "There was something strange about that Goldtyrramon that kind of disturbs me."
"Like what?"
"Well, for one thing, it was yellow in colour--the same colour as your hair. And it had blue eyes. How many here have blue eyes?"
TK's eyes went wide open. "Just me and my brother. Yours are kind of blue, too, but not nearly as much as mine or the Goldtyrramon's."
"Right. And Cantomon told me that it started climbing the pyramid, even though he had injured it pretty badly. That thing had a goal in mind."
"It was trying to get you!" cried Patamon. He flew off TK's hat and came around to look the boy in the face. "It might have killed you, and I wasn't there to protect you. Oh, TK, I'm so sorry!"
TK reassured his little orange digimon. "Don't talk like that, Patamon. I told you to go away and help fight the Sphinxmon. At the time I thought Cyan and Knightmon and Flamedramon would take care of the Goldtyrramon. I hadn't counted on them being taken out five seconds later." He held out his arms. "Come here." Patamon flew into them, and TK drew him close.
Cyan continued. "What worries me is that someone put a lot of work into making that Goldtyrramon. Too much work just to make one. I wouldn't be surprised if he made six of them--"
Kari finished his thought. "--in six different colours! One for each of us."
"That's a scary thought," said TK. "Six--well, five now--of those things running around the Digital World. We're lucky we caught up with this one when it was by itself."
"Not even I fancy the thought of having to fight a group of those things at once," said Cantomon.
"And mine's likely to be a fair bit larger than the others," mused Cyan. "I don't know if want to meet that guy after fighting the Goldtyrramon!"
"Save the Tyrranomon!" quipped Davis. "Collect the whole set!"
"Oh, be quiet!" said Cyan. "We're going to have keep our eyes open from now on, until we've taken care of the lot of them. Hopefully we'll meet no more than two at a time."
"At least we can all count on each other," said Kari. "Veemon told me how Davis ordered him to save TK after he fell down the pyramid. That was such a noble thing to do!"
Cyan did not tell her that Veemon had related only half the story. The other half -- Davis' hesitation at giving the order -- he would keep to himself. It might prove useful in the future.
They all went quiet, content to let the birds and insects sing while the sun slipped below the horizon. And when the last rays of light had disappeared from the pyramid, a thousand torches spontaneously lit along both walls of the Temple, first the inside and then the outside, bathing the entire complex in a soft flickering light that danced off everything within. A myriad fireflies began flicking about the pyramid.
"I guess it's time we went home," said TK at length. "We'll have to find a digiport somewhere."
"I already have," said Yolei. "Check your D-3. There's one inside there." She pointed to the Crestuary.
"But I didn't see a TV set in there," said Cody.
"Neither did I," Yolei responded. "But my D-3 says there's one."
"So let's go in and see," Davis said.
Their digimon beside them, the six Digidestined entered the Crestuary. And when all six were inside, their crests flashed briefly as if in welcome, then the obilisk in the centre came to life. From within it, on each of its four faces, came a rectangular glow, as though a TV screen had been set behind a thin veneer. On those screens the familiar pattern of the digiport appeared.
"All right!" exclaimed Yolie. "Digiport open!"
They were drawn inside, and then the pyramid and the great Temple of Harmony about it disappeared, and they were back in the familiar surroundings of the computer lab.
"Hey, this reminds me of something," said Davis to Kari. "Do you have that Wada Kouji CD you were gonna lend me?"
Kari laughed. "Actually, no. I loaned it to TK instead."
"I have it here," said TK, reaching into his pack. "You can have it for a few days."
"Gee, thanks OK," said Davis.
Patamon smiled. Finally his Digidestined and Veemon's were talking to each other again.
If you made it this far, either you've read through the whole thing, or you just skipped to the end :)
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Thank you from both Cyan and Bradmon.