LEGACY OF DIGITA
Author's Notes: Third Chapter! Huzzah! Could anyone find the hidden line in the last chapter? Here it is: The final scene with the dark presence watching our heroes and not thinking of a witty thing to say was borrowed from an online comic called RPG World. Want the URL? Here: http://rpgworld.keenspace.com Anyway, ages in this chapter; Joe is 20, and Cody is 11. This chapter is going to be cheerful one minute, unbelievably sappy the next, then suspenseful. Enjoy.
Chapter 3- Orphans and Panacea
The morning was quiet and serene. Everyone was still asleep, minutes before the servants would come in and get them prepared for the day. Tai lay on his royal blue four-posted bed with the curtains opened. He was mumbling in his sleep, totally unintelligible. A few feet from his bed lay Augumon on a bed of gold coins like a dragon's hoard. Since there was always a chance he might breathe out a few sparks in his sleep, the family coudn't chance him igniting regular bedding material. Those two were always the last to get up, but were always wide awake seconds after sitting up. Tai yawned loudly and stretched out just as a servant with long green hair stepped in. "My lord Taichi, I have drawn you and Augumon your baths and a change of clothes is ready for you," he said, bowing respectfully.
"Thank you, Cray," Tai addressed the green-haired servant. He got out of bed wearing only a pair of dark blue braies and popped his neck a few times. "I'll awaken Augumon. You're dismissed. We'll just call if we need you."
Cray smiled and bowed. "Thank you, my lord." With that, he turned and walked down the hall. Cray had been one of Tai's three personal servants since childhood and the young lord regarded the green-haired man as an uncle instead of a butler.
Tai nudged Augumon. "Come on. Wake up."
Augumon stirred but didn't get off his bed of coins.
Tai smirked. He had an idea, though it was only a wild shot. "Hey Augumon? Biyomon wants to see you," he said slowly. Tai had noticed last night how the two digimon had been staying fairly close and talking animatedly for most of the evening. It was incredibly cute to watch, as Lady Kamiya never tired of reminding everyone. She hadn't been that excited since she saw Gatomon and Patamon in a similar scenario.
The orange lizard digimon sprang up with a start. "Where," he asked excitedly. When he saw Tai laughing he frowned. "Very funny." Augumon put his clawed hands on his hips and puffed and indignant cloud of smoke towards the cieling.
Tai regained his composure and straightened up. "I'm sorry. But we need to get ready. Come on."
Still grumbling, Augumon followed Tai down the hall to the bath room. As Cray promised, two hot baths were ready. Tai took off his braies and stepped into the water, taking a minute to relax. Augumon climbed into his digimon-sized bath and stared at the ceiling. The two friends sat in silence for a moment before an evil smirk crossed Augumon's face. Tai was now staring out the window, oblivious to reality and Augumon turned to the door. "Oh, hello Sora!"
Tai jumped and looked toward the door, his face beat red. When he saw no one their and turned to see Augumon choking back laughter, he scowled. The scowl quickly became a smile though and Tai soon started laughing heartily with his counterpart. "I suppose I deserved that."
"Yeah. We know each other too well, though," Augumon responded, wiping a tear from his cheek.
"So there is something between you and Biyomon," Tai smirked.
"Like you and Sora are any better," Augumon retorted. "You just fall all over a girl with brown eyes."
"Aha! Her eyes are red," Tai shot back haughtily.
"Aha! Thank you for proving my point," Augumon exclaimed.
************************
A half-hour later, Tai and Augumon joined everyone at breakfast. The meal went by rather uneventfully until the guards burst in dragging a tall blue-haired boy and a short young boy with brown hair and green eyes by chains. The blue-haired boy wore a blue tunic with black trousers and shoes with spectacles over his eyes and had a white tabard over all of it with a blue medical cross emlbazened on the front and a similar cross which everyone knew represented reliability on the back. The younger boy wore sandals, wide-legged white pants, and a powder blue gi. The young boy was glaring at a guard on his left who held a wakizashi in its scabbard.
"My lords," piped one of the men. He was Eckrin, one of the land owners. He had only been around a short while but no one in the royal houses liked him as he was very cold and uncaring. "We found these two foreigners going through my land. The small one carries a weapon, which I absolutely forbid on my territory, and the other claims to be a healer, though I think he has other intentions. Foreign scum are never what they seem."
Through all of this, everyone at the table was shocked, but Tai was seething. He stood up so quickly that he knocked his chair over. "How dare you," the young lord shouted. "How dare you make such foul accusations against anyone!"
Eckrin was surprised by Taichi's outburst along with everyone else but kept a level head. "But my lord, you know that we can't trust forgeigners. They always harbor ideas of coup and rebellion."
This time, Sora lost her temper. She stood beside Tai and shrieked at Eckrin. "You bastard!" Every head in the room snapped towards Sora. "I am not of this land! I am foreign to Odaiba! Don't you dare insult my honor!" She was going red in the face from yelling. Before Tai could speak to her, Sora jumped over the table, stormed over to Eckrin and to everyone's shock, slapped him so hard that he was sent staggering. The amazon was positively furious at the insults to her integrity and honor.
Eckrin sneered as he regained his orientation. "You little harlot," he shouted indignantly. "I'll have you thrown in chains for that!" With that threat, he slapped Sora right back.
Matt was about to open his mouth to speak when Tai jumped over the table as Sora did, but instead of slapping the cruel land owner, Tai surprised everyone, even Sora. He punched Eckrin in the stomach, pulled him into an arm lock, then threw him several feet after popping his arm out of the socket. As Tai walked over to the beaten land owner, his fists were visibly trembling with rage. "Don't ever do that again," Tai said in his most dangerous voice.
Sora was hurt by Eckrin's insults and was livid when he struck her, but was quickly growing afraid of Tai's anger. The guards holding the two boys were as pale as sheets.
Tai calmed himself a little with a few deep breaths. "I am revoking your privelages as a land-owner. You may keep what property you have bought with your own money, but I will hand the rights of the land over to someone with empathy and competence. Now get out of my sight, you heartless bastard." Tai was glaring death at the cowering Eckrin and his voice was like ice.
Eckrin wanted to say "Yes, sir," but only managed a feeble squeek and scurried out of the room.
Tai turned to the guards. "Release those two," he said and gestured toward the two stunned prisoners. "And return their possessions to them."
The guards did as they were told and faced a still stern-faced Tai. "I will not fault you for Eckrin's stupidity," he told them. "Dismissed."
The guards hurried off breathing sighs of relief. They soon rounded a corner and disappeared from view and Tai's icy glare.
There was a long silence before Lady Kamiya spoke up. "Son?"
Tai took a deep breath in and slowly exhaled. "I'm alright."
Matt clapped loudly. "Bravo, Tai," he shouted. "Stunning performance!"
Davis joined Matt in giving Tai a standing ovation as Takeru and Hikari just sat still as statues staring at Tai in disbelief. None of them had seen that side to him before.
Sora walked up to Tai and placed a hand on his forehead. He let his fingers hover only millimeters above the red hand mark on her face almost guiltily. "Thank you," the amazon told him, "for defending those two and me." She stood on tip-toes and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek, which sent a jolt through Tai's body.
Lady Kamiya went from stunned silence to absolute euphoria at the sight before her. She rushed up to her son and Sora and hugged both of them. "Oh that is so sweet," she shrilled. "When are you two getting married? I had no idea you had gotten along so well so quickly! Oh this is wonderful!"
"Mother," protested Tai, blushing furiously along with Sora. "We're not getting married." 'Why was I reluctant to say that? Could it be possible,' he thought. "It was just a kiss on the cheek." 'Just? Then why did it feel so... good,' he silently wondered.
Augumon was still at the digimon table sitting next to Biyomon and laughing hysterically. "I knew it! I knew it," he shouted between gasps for air.
"What's so funny," Gabumon asked, his voice dripping with curiosity.
Augumon explained the early morning events, except about Tai's teasing him about Biyomon, and soon had the whole table of digimon roaring with laughter.
TK recovered from his shock and went over to the two new guests. "I'm sorry about that. We've been looking for a reason to get rid of Eckrin for a while."
"It's alright," said the blue-haired healer. "Um... could you help us with these chains?"
"Certainly." Takeru picked up the keys Eckrin dropped during his beating and unlocked the manacles. "There. Again, I apologize for this inconvenience. I am Lord Takeru Ishida. And you two?"
"My name is Jyou Kido, some just call me Joe," said the blue-haired boy. "I was telling the truth when I said I was a healer. I'm a professional surgeon and well trained in poison antidotes."
The brown-haired boy bowed deeply. "I am Iori Hida, also known as Cody." He had an odd whispery tone to his voice, as if he was trying not to be heard. "I was only passing through these lands when that Eckrin arrested me for carrying my sword."
TK sighed. "For a third time, I am truly sorry. We should have just kicked Eckrin from the land a long time ago."
Joe raised a tentative hand. "Could you do us a favor? We both have digivices and digimon, but they were confiscated when we were arrested. Could you please return them to us?"
Izzy was at their side in a flash. "Digivices, you say? And bonded digimon?"
Joe had a samll sweatdrop. "Uh...yes."
Yolei put a hand on Izzy's shoulder and dragged him back to the table. "Finish your food and give those two some time to get over their ordeal before we drown them in questions."
************************
Out in the palace gardens, Tai was helping Sora with her melee skills. He was teaching her how to use an axe since it could also be thrown, a style she was already skilled with. "Widen your stance," he corrected her. Tai stood behind her and took her hand holding the weapon in his. "Now, up. Down. Up. Down," he said, guiding her through the motions. "One. Fluid. Stroke." He stepped away and looked into her eyes.
Sora, trying to hide her fluttering heartbeat simply stated "This could cleave a man's skull."
Tai took the axe from her hand and hurled it off in one direction where it embedded itself in a wooden bench. "Like a pudding," he smirked. He could feel his heart begin to slowly melt as the amazon smiled back at him.
Sora felt that each day, each moment, she was growing closer to Taichi. Remembering how he had defended her this morning, her heart skipped several beats.
Meanwhile, up on one of several balconies that over-looked the gardens, Takeru and Hikari watched the two of them. TK had a very amused smirk on his lips, while Kari was wearing a dreamy expression over her face. "Aren't they just so lovely together," she asked.
"Yes," the blonde-haired lord said, taking his betrothed's hand. "But not as much so as us."
Kari felt her cheeks redden. For the past several months, the sorceress noticed, TK was always acting very chivalrous and sometimes romantic. She turned to face him with an emberassed grin.
"Lord Takeru! Where is that boy!" A female servant could be heard shouting and storming around. She obviously was in a rather disgruntled mood.
"I guess I have to go," TK said reluctantly. He let go of Kari's hand and gave her a kiss on her forehead before turning and walking in the direction the bellowing came from.
Kari stood still. That kiss had sent a surge through her body greater than any lightning bolt. The sorceress just stood there, savoring the moment. She could have stood there all day if Davis hadn't picked that time to show up.
He smiled and walked over to her, trying to look charismatic, though unsuccessfully. "Hello there, Kari," he said leaning on the railing.
"Mm-hmm." Lady Hikari just continued staring off into space with her face red.
Daisuke's smile vanished. He snapped his fingers in front of the girl's face, but she didn't even blink.
"Hello?" The young squire was beginning to get a little worried now.
"Yes TK," she said dreamily.
Davis immediately scowled. "It's me! Davis! Your brother's squire?!"
Kari came out of her trance though still blushing. "Oh, I'm sorry." Her voice was still distant. She touched the spot where her betrothed had kissed her and giggled.
Davis sweatdropped as he stared at her. "Are you sick, or something?"
The sorceress just let out a lovestrrck sigh. "TK kissed me," she said, once again oblivious to reality.
"What?!" Daisuke was now seeing red. "That does it," he shouted indignantly. "Where did he go, its time we settled this!"
Tai and Sora looked up to where Davis was shouting. "Oh fantastic," Taichi groaned. "I know that tone of voice. He's about to do something emberrassing and stupid." Tai sighed then looked up at Sora. "Well he needs to learn the hard way. Want to go watch?"
"Sure," Sora shrugged.
Tai offered his arm and was surprised when the girl accepted it. The brown-haired knight looked up seeing his sister come out of her euphoric trance as Davis stormed off. "I'm guessing he's after TK. Kari only gets that look for one person."
The two of them walked arm-in-arm back into the palace. As Cray walked by, Tai asked where Lord Takeru was and the butler informed him that Lord and Lady Ishida had called for him to meet them in the atrium. (AN: Yes, I know the atrium is Roman, but I thought it would be cool to mix a few existing world cultures in this story. Don't like it? Bite me) "This should be interesting," Tai frowned.
*************************
Tai and Sora entered the atrium as Lord and Lady Ishida were nervously trying to give their youngest son 'The Talk' and so far had only managed to stammer out a few incomplete sentences. Sora went into a fit of giggling, though tried to hide it so she didn't interrupt them. TK was looking rather confused by his parents' incoherent babbling and wondered just what had them so unnerved.
Davis burst into the room, positively fuming. "There you are," he yelled at Takeru.
"Oh, hello Daisuke," TK said, relieved at a distraction from his parents. At this point, Kari ran in out of breath from trying to keep up with Davis. The blonde boy smiled and enthusiastically greeted Hikari. "Hello Hikari. What are you two doing here?"
Davis caught his breath and stood up straight. "I challenge yout to a duel for Lady Hikari!" His voice was dripping with anger, and his eyes almost seemed to glow red.
There was a silence in the air for a few moments. You could hear a pin drop in the stillness. Then, everyone except Davis burst out into hysterical laughter. Tai was leaning against the wall with one hand on his forehead and the other on his stomach while Sora put her arms around his neck and leaned against him to keep from falling over. Lord and Lady Ishida were holding onto each other with tears of laughter going down their faces. TK was staggering, unable to keep his footing steady, while Kari was on her knees, slapping one hand on the floor. Tai opened his eyes and saw Davis visibly shaking with rage. He stopped laughing immediately. "Wait a second he's serious." Abruptly, the laughter ceased as quickly as it came. There was silence once again, though this time it was a very tense stillness. No one even breathed for a few seconds.
Finally, TK scowled. "Daisuke Motomiya, I am not going to fight you," TK said. His composure remained totally unfazed, but his voice was dead serious. "I will not fight you for two reasons. First of all, because this is incredibly stupid. Lady Hikari is not some prize to be won. Second, you know I will win." There was no boasting behind the blonde lord's words. He spoke almost tonelessly, though his blue eyes were warning the brash Daisuke to back down.
Davis growled. "You'll fight me or I'll just kill you where you stand!"
"Davis!" Tai stormed over to his squire and slapped him smartly across the face (AN: There seems to be a lot of that in this chapter.). "Have I taught you nothing?!" Tai was now fuming. "A knight never murders in cold blood! He fights the wicked and those who threaten his kingdom and people!" Taichi balled his hands into fists until his knuckles were white.
"Tai," TK spoke up. All heads in the room turned to the young lord. "With your permission, I think I will fight and defeat Davis and teach him that violence isn't always the answer to a problem. It will also show him that there is always someone better."
Taichi stood still for a moment, considering the situation. "So be it. In one hour, you two will face each other in the courtyard. There is to be no killing!" Tai added a strict tone to his voice to make sure the last sentence was made clear.
Both boys nodded and glared at each other. This was guaranteed to be most interesting, as Tai had thought.
*************************
One hour later, half the castle arrived in the courtyard to witness the duel. When Kari had heard her brother declare they would fight, she felt her stomach turn a few flips. Her mother assured her that Takeru was an experienced fighter and could win this duel.
The consolation didn't ease the tension, though. As Cray drew the circle the combatants would enter in chalk, the anxiety in the air became almost tangible. Joe stood just outside the circle with Gomamon, ready to treat any wounds Takeru or Daisuke had once the duel was over. Kari stood next to them, nervously wringing her hands. Her brother had made it clear there was to be no killings, but this was a situation where so much could go wrong.
Tai looked down at his little sister. He too wished this didn't have to happen. Takeru was already beginning to feel like family to him and he already had begun treating the young lord as a baby brother instead of a friend. But Davis was the same. The brash squire looked up to Taichi like a father figure and the knight was beginning to grow into the role. Sora stood next to him, holding his hand with anxiety in her eyes. Tai squeezed her hand, seeking comfort as footsteps broke the silence. Matt stood on the opposite side of the circle from Kari and the others with his parents. They were all on the verge of tears. This wasn't like any fight they had been in before. This was a duel for a pointless cause made in malice. If something went wrong and either TK or Davis was killed, there would be no honor or glory in their demise, only grief. It was a grim situation indeed.
TK entered the courtyard first. He wore his usual leather cap with neckguard along with the same green doublet, trousers, and boots he always wore, but now he put on a flexible studded leather breastplate and strapped a leather pauldron to his left shoulder. His green cape flowed behind him as he walked, but he quickly unfastened the brooch and let it fall to the ground before he stepped in the circle and drew his swords. Even though there was a slim chance of Davis using real strategy when he fought, there was no sense in taking unnecessary risks and giving his opponent a leverage point.
Davis strode in stone-faced carrying a greatsword with him and wearing a steel breastplate strapped to his torso.
"Alright," shouted Tai when the two had entered the circle. "You two shall fight until I command you to stop. You shall not fight to kill your opponent. If one of you is rendered unable to fight or leaves the circle, you will lose the duel." Tai made gestures as he spoke to emphasize his points. Though he spoke calmly, the brown-haired lord was tempted to call off the duel right there. "These are highly unusual methods, but we don't want to lose anyone today. Understood?"
TK and Davis nodded, though they're eyes never strayed from each other.
Taichi sighed, realizing neither one was going to back down. "Good," he said flatly. There was nothing good about any of this. "Begin!"
Daisuke immediately rushed forward, bearing his sword above his head. A loud battle-cry erupted from his throat as he swung down.
TK nimbly jumped aside and kicked Davis in the hollow of his knee, sending him flat on his back. The blonde lord scowled. If he hadn't dodged, he probably would have been killed. Takeru was right, Davis wasn't thinking before acting. This made it so much more dangerous.
Davis recovered by rolling backwards and brought his sword up. The brash squire sneered. "You're going to pay for that TC."
"My name is Takeru," the blonde boy shot back. He threw a round kick at Davis and hit him in the side. TK took his window of oppurtunity and came in, batting his opponent's greatsword away with his longsword and putting his shortsword to Davis' throat. "You lose."
Davis scowled. "Not yet," he growled and brought his knee up hard into TK's groin, knocking the wind out of his adversary and sending him staggering backwards in pain.
As TK recoiled trying to catch his second wind, Kari was beside herself. She could plainly see that Davis was capable of killing her betrothed and fear and anxiety overtook the sorceress. Meanwhile, Tai was shaking with anger. Davis was blatantly going against everything Tai had taught him. His squire was too caught up in himself and his jealousy to care about anything else. Taichi wanted badly to stop this, but none of the circumstances were right to do so.
Daisuke charged Takeru and slammed his shoulder against him, sending the boy on his back. "You said something about you winning," Davis said arrogantly.
To everyone's surprise, TK stood up and got into a defensive stance, gritting his teeth against the dull ache in his groin. "I'm just getting started." The young lord came in with a diagnol cut upward which Davis blocked. TK then quickly swung his other arm down and bludgeoned Daisuke over the head with the pommel of his shortsword.
The brown-haired squire staggered backward. His head was reeling and he was seeing double.
TK jumped and pulled a flying round kick, striking Davis upside the head once again. He landed and swung both blades at his opponent's greatsword. The clash of metal on metal rang out through the courtyard and the two-handed blade hit the flagstone ground then slid out of the ring stopping at the feet of Lord Yamato, who until now, couldn't bear to watch the abuse his little brother was taking. Everyone gasped as they saw Daisuke laying on the ground with a trickle of blood running down his chin from his lip and his nose bleeding with TK sanding over him stone-faced with his longsword pointed inches from the fallen squire's forehead. "I'm going to let you up," the blonde lord said. There was no emotion behind his speech, it was delivered in a cold monotone that could send chills up your spine. "If you insist, I will give you your sword and we can continue this fracas to its final stupidity. Or," at this point TK lifted his sword away and moved away from Davis, "you can come to your senses. Which is it going to be?"
Davis stared at TK for a moment then finally sighed in defeat and humiliation. "You win," he said, almost inaudibly.
"The duel has ended," Tai shouted as he walked into the circle. "Lord Takeru is the victor!"
There was no cheering. Instead, there was murmuring among the servants and they moved aside to clear a path as the defeated Daisuke walked off without a word.
**************************
The next day during training, Taichi was still upset with his squire. He frowned as he lazily blocked each of Davis' attacks. The wooden swords clashed together loudly, echoing throughout the old ruins still stained with blood from the battle the other day. "Come on," Taichi ordered crossly. "Stop trying to hit me and hit me." The brown-haired knight was not holding back and without knowing it, began fighting offensively, pushing Davis back.
The brash young boy was hard-pressed to keep up with his master. Soon, Tai had knocked the practice sword from his hand and pinned him to a wall with the edge of his own weapon against the boy's throat.
"I'm still very disappointed in you," Tai growled. "Practice is over for today. I want you to reread the knight's code. Tomorrow, I will test you on how much you know about courage, valor, and honor." At this point Taichi narrowed his eyes. "If I am not satisfied, the lessons will be repeated again and again without leave until you get it right. Understood?"
Davis simply nodded. He hadn't spoken to anyone, even Veemon since the duel. He knew why his master was angry with him. The boy was wracked with guilt and shame. He no longer felt he could look Takeru or Hikari in the eye again.
The ride home was made in silence. Daisuke went to his quarters and laid upon the bed, staring towards the ceiling for hours.
"Davis?" Veemon shook his friend's shoulder. The draconic digimon had been worried about Daisuke. The boy's silence had been very unsettling.
"Why do these things always happen to me," the brown-haired squire asked softly.
"What?"
"Why do I always get humiliated in front of everyone? What did I do to deserve this?" Davis' voice was flat and monotone. He didn't have his usual spirit and manic energy.
"What do you mean? Just because you lost a duel..." Veemon was cut off by his counterpart.
"Exactly. I lost. I made a fool of myself in starting that fight." Davis sighed sadly. "Kari probably hates me now."
The little digimon patted his friend's arm reassuringly. "It's not the end of the world. So Tai's a little mad. You know he takes a while to let things drop. And Kari and TK told me they've forgiven you." That was all Veemon needed to say.
The brown-haired squire turned over to face his bonded companion. "Really?" Relief started to spread across his face when Veemon nodded yes. Davis sat up and smirked. "I guess I have been over-reacting a lot these days."
"Yeah," Veemon assured him. "Things aren't as bad as you think. Try to be more positive."
Davis nodded. "Thank you. I needed that."
***************************
In the courtyard, Cody was showing Tai his fighting abilities. For someone so young, the boy handled his wakizashi with great skill.
"Very nice," Taichi said, deeply impressed. "Where did you learn to fight like that? You're a natural."
Iori looked down sadly. "My mentor taught me much before he died. There was a plague back in my homelands. My family and teacher didn't make it."
"Oh." Tai put a comforting hand on the young warrior's shoulder. "I'm sorry." The brown-haired knight didn't know what else to say. He had never suffered such a loss, thus he couldn't say he fully understood what Cody must be feeling.
The young orphan was silent, but looked up to Taichi. His green eyes showed he was thankful for the sympathy of another.
At this time, Armadillomon walked into the courtyard. "Hey, Cody," the digimon called.
"Yes?"
"That scholar boy, Izzy, wants to talk with us. He said we wanted to ask some questions about me and how you got your digivice. You know, questions like that."
"Alright." Iori turned and bowed to Tai. "I'll talk with you later Lord Kamiya."
Tai smiled and put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You can call me Tai. All my friends do, and I feel I can trust you as a friend." Taichi really did trust this boy. He was always very honest and straightforward.
Cody smiled. "Thank you." With that, he turned and left with Armadillomon who headed for the castle's library where Izzy would be waiting.
***************************
Two weeks later, the kingdom was buzzing with excitement for the anniversary that day. Already, performers were wondering the streets. Fire eaters, magicians, musicians, jugglers, clowns and buffoons, knife-throwers, acrobats, and many more went throughout Odaiba entertaining the people. Good food was to be had by all, people were excused from their jobs that day to drink and make merry with friends and family. There was even talk of a fireworks display to be held that night.
At the royal castle, everyone was celebrating, watching the entertainment, and some people were spending time alone with their sweethearts. Matt was helping Mimi with her already exquisite singing voice, backing up her singing with his mandolin, as the two sang Greensleeves in the atrium. TK and Kari were in the grand ballroom helping hte servants set the place for the masquerade that night, while Davis wondered aimlessly trying to find where Kari was. Izzy and Yolei were chatting in the library, not really very concerned with many of the other festivities going on. Naturally, Tai and Sora were out in the courtyard sparring. She was an excellent sharpshooter, but the amazon needed to learn to fight melee eventually. Tai was going easier on her since she had less experience in hand-to-hand combat, but she was learning fast.
Finally, it was time for the masquerade to begin. The ballroom doors opened and dozens of guests, both noblemen and peasants, arrived in costume. The upper class members had very well-tailored expensive disguises, while the peasants wore home-made costumes that, while not of the same quality, were still well done. More guests showed up quickly. Soon, many people were either talking or dancing under the emmense brass chandaliers.
One girl, with shoulder-length red hair was dressed up in leather breeches, a white shirt with puffy sleeves, boots with a wide cuff, and a three-cornered hat. She had an unloaded pistol and a cutlass at her hip. A pirate. The black mask with storm clouds etched into the surface completed the look, and though she was definately very tough, it wasn't very hard to tell she was a woman. She looked around for one man in particular though she couldn't find him.
Suddenly, one of the servants blew a horn and shouted. "Announcing the arrival of two new guests. Very distinguished gentlemen who have come to honor Odaiba." The servant stepped aside and in marched two men. The first was very tall with long brown hair tied in a ponytail. He wore completely black, with armor that seemed to be made of the scales of a black dragon. His metal gauntlets ended in taloned fingers and on his boots he wore spurs. A large hand-and-a-half sword was at his hip with a dragon's head pommel and a hilt forged to resemble one of the dragon's wings and one of its talons. To enhance his dramatic apppearance, he also wore a flowing red cape with several scorched holes and tattered edges. Finally, he wore a mask of obsidian that left only his lips and lower jaw exposed, his eyes hidden in the shadows of the mask. Next to him was a shorter man also dressed in black, a black doublet, breeches, boots, gloves, a velvet black cape with a silk mask with the white sillouette of a serpent, its mouth open and fangs unsheathed, emblazened on front that covered his whole head and left his eyes in shadow. The two looked very impressive and many people applauded the sheer drama of their entrance.
The first man spoke in a deep, commanding voice. "I am Rei, demon slayer."
Rei's friend then spoke, but in a ghostly whispering voice. "And I am Wraith, bard of the shadows."
The sounds of the masquerade soon resumed. Rei proceeded toward the pirate girl, his spurs jingling as he walked. "May I have this dance," he asked. He still spoke in his deep rumbling voice, but the commanding tone was gone, instead replaced by a warmness that his dark appearance would not suggest.
Too stunned to reply, the pirate girl simply nodded. She distantly heard Rei ask her name as he took her hand. "My name is Storm." She tried to look through the shadows of his obsidian mask to his eyes, but in vain.
Rei guided his new partner to the dance floor. He wrapped his free arm around her waist and they started slowly rotating on the spot to the slow, pleasant music. He danced surprisingly well, considering his armor and the spurs on his boots.
Several men briefly considered cutting in for the next dance with Storm, but when Rei cast his dark visage at them, they quickly backed away.
Meanwhile, Wraith took to a dark corner. He stood in the shadows with his arms folded over his chest. Several young girls asked him to dance, but he turned them down with a wave of his gloved hand. It wasn't until a new woman entered that the young man became spellbound.
The new arrival wore a dress of purest velvet red like the petals of a rose. Her long brown hair was tied in a high ponytail and swung gracefully across her back. She wore several bejewled rings and bracelets on her slender fingers and wrists and had a beautiful cut ruby on a gold chain around her neck. She wore a soft pink mask over her face decorated with a border of tiny emeralds and diamonds. She looked around and soon spotted Wraith. The two stared at each other for a moment before she walked towards him slowly.
Wraith was captivated by the woman's beauty and slowly walked toward her. They stopped not more than three feet apart and the shadowy young man bowed deeply. "May I ask your name, milady," he inquired in his ghostly voice.
The young lady blushed under her mask. The voice sent shivers up her spine. Not cold chills, but shivers of excitement. For some reason, she felt drawn to the supernatural charm the man before her possessed. "I'm the Princess Scarlet. And you?"
"Call me Wraith. Would you honor me with a dance?" He extended his gloved hand to her and tilted his head slightly to one side.
Scarlet accepted his hand and smiled. "Certainly." Soon, she and Wraith were dancing together beside Rei and Storm. The two couples danced contentedly as the other guests cleared into a circle around them, watching with great interest the dark men and their beautiful ladies.
Meanwhile, two young people, in similar angel costumes danced together, staring into each other's eyes. Another young man in shining plate armor with a giant zweihander over his back watched them with mixed emotions of anger, sadness, and envy. He had tried to cut in with the girl several times but she only wanted to dance with the other angel. The three young people knew each other's identities, though they could recognize no one else.
Suddenly, the curtains on the giant stained-glass windows were drawn shut and Biyomon and Tentomon drew a velvet cover under the chandaliers, plunging the room into darkness. It was time for the unmasking.
Storm slowly reached up to Rei's mask as he placed a gloved hand on hers. Simultaneously, they drew back the masks and opened their eyes as the curtains and the veil were drawn away and light came flooding back into the room.
"Tai?"
"Sora?"
They both stared into each other's eyes, unmoving.
"Well," Tai said first. "This is interesting, though not completely unexpected. I should have known."
"Mm-hmm," Sora nodded. She smiled. "That's a really nice outfit. I was a little worried about those gauntlets though. What's to stop you from forcing me to dance with you? That sword doesn't help either," she teased him.
Tai chuckled. "Don't give me any ideas. The prospect of dancing with you all night sounds very appealling," he said.
Sora wasn't expecting that. She turned a light pink and playfully slapped his shoulder. "Do you want to go to the gardens to talk?"
The young knight offered his arm to the amazon. "Absolutely." With that, the two walked from the ballroom arm-in-arm.
While this was going on, two more people were pleasantly surprised.
"Matt?"
"Mimi? Wow, you really had me fooled. I've never seen you look better." Matt looked her up and down. It was true. He had never before met a girl this beautiful.
"I'm going to assume that was a compliment," Mimi said as she giggled. She brushed Yamato's hair from his dark blue eyes. "Really, you shouldn't try to cover up such handsome features. That mask didn't do you any kind of justice."
The young lord smiled and said in his whispery voice with a charismatic tone "I have this effect on women. It's not easy being popular."
Mimi giggled again. "Oh, shut up."
Th two younger dancers didn't need to remove the masks to know who the other was. Takeru and Hikari looked into each other's eyes smiling.
Davis sighed in defeat and walked out of the ballroom to go watch the fireworks that would be starting soon.
Takeru leaned down and kissed his betrothed on her cheek. "I love you," he whispered sweetly.
Kari gasped and her heart skipped a beat. She kissed him passionately and looked into his dark blue eyes. "I love you too." She kissed him again and this time he kissed her back. They stood in each other's arms for several minutes, oblivious to all the people around them.
**************************
Tai and Sora sat at the statue of Jubei Yagami, the founder of Odaiba and Taichi's ancestor. Tai had taken off his gauntlets and the armor over his torso. The two held hands and looked into each other's eyes. "Sora," Tai said at last.
"Yes Tai," she said, a dreamy expression on her face.
"I've become rather...fond of you," the brown-haired lord said, trying to find the right words. "You are like no other girl I've ever met. You're perfect in every way." Slowly, their faces drew closer and closer until they were centimeters apart. As Tai spoke, he and Sora started to slowly close their eyes. "What I'm saying is, Sora, I...think...I...lo-"
"Lord Kamiya! Lord Kamiya!" The shouts echoed throughout the courtyard. Tai and Sora jumped apart in surprise and scowled. The mood was ruined.
Cray came running into the courtyard, gasping for air and his face pale. "Lord Kamiya! Terrible news!"
Tai sprang to his feet. "What?! What happened, Cray?"
Cray struggled to regain his breath. "Dark digimon and enemy soldiers. They're attacking the kingdom and have razed several farms, killed several families. They're coming this way!"
"Bastards," Tai cursed. "Cray, have the alarm sent throughout the castle. I want every soldier and militia man ready in ten minutes outside the gates. Have the cannons readied. I'm going to the armory." At this point, Taichi turned to Sora. "Sora, will you please help us? Yours will be the best bow out there."
Sora stood up and looked to Tai and Cray. "Of course. Anyone who tries to hurt my friends shall have to answer to me."
Tai smiled and nodded. He dashed off back into the palace to get to the armory.
*************************
Ten minutes later, most of the army and militia stood waiting outside the palace along with Matt, Sora, Mimi, TK, Kari, and Davis. Towering above them all stood Greymon, Garurumon, Togemon, Birdramon, Angemon, Angewomon, and X-Veemon. Izzy, Yolei, Joe, Tentomon, Hawkmon, and Gomamon stayed in the palace to protect it in case the invaders got inside. The tension in the air was thick as everyone anticipated the arrival of Lord Kamiya and his son. They didn't have to wait long though, as Tai soon stepped out beside his father who was riding a great white steed. Lord Kamiya was wearing chain armor and was carrying a broadsword. Tai had a longsword at his hip with a pommel like Greymon's head and a black leather vest with extended shoulders that had a chain shirt fastened to the outside.
Everyone watched the top of the grassy hill, waiting for the incoming attack. "Are you ready Taichi," Lord Kamiya asked his son.
Tai smirked. "Always. I've seen battle plenty of times." The brown-haired lord drew his sword to emphasize his point. "Let the dogs come. We'll stop them."
"Hey," Garurumon snorted indignantly.
Tai chuckled. "Sorry."
Garurumon opened his mouth to speak, but shut it when the yelling of hundreds of voices came from past the hill. Soon, hundreds of soldiers and dark digimon no one had ever seen before charged forward, coming in throngs. The soldiers carried swords, maces, flails, and axes and wore studded leather armor and some of them had chain shirts. The digimon were black bipedal creatures with triple-jointed legs and long scrawny arms ending in talons. They had bulbous white eyes a large mouths with long sharp teeth. Only a few of these strange creatures had weapons, preferring to use whatever their natural attacks were. "This is it," the wolf digimon said grimly. "We fight to the death."
It only took a few seconds for chaos to erupt. The champion digimon struck first, decimating dozens of attackers. Lord Kamiya led his men into battle, his sword gleaming the in the light of fires sparked by nova blasts and the moon. He cut off limbs and heads that got too close to him and fought fearlessly in the midst of his enemies.
Sora fired arrow after arrow, never once missing her mark. She shouted orders to the other archers, strategically sending clouds of arrows to locations on the fields where the enemies were in large groups and easier to hit.
Matt and TK were rallying the militia men. They knew how to inspire courage and faith in the greatest coward, and went into battle with high hearts and spirits.
Tai and Davis rushed into battle fearlessly. Davis had some difficulty, but he had improved vastly since he started training and was able to hold his own. Tai on the other hand was effortlessly dispatching his opponents, fighting several at a time. He even stole a shortsword from one opponent he felled and began fighting like Takeru only with more grim determination behind his blows.
Kari stood in the ramparts, preparing a chain of spells. She hated having to kill, but these raiders left her with little choice. The sorceress sent forth a massive fireball of blue flame. It struck a group of dark digimon who were trying to flank Angemon and Angewomon. The evil digimon were consumed in the flames, screaming wildly before they died and disintegrated as all digimon do at death.
Mimi began chanting and soon her staff transformed itself into a boken, a wooden sword as sharp and deadly as any blade of steel. She wasn't much of a warrior, but she held her ground, determined to fight to defend the palace along with the royal guards.
Tai swept the legs out from under his opponent and skewered him, causing a small spray of blood. He turned one hundred and eighty degrees with a rising slash as he stood up, cutting open the belly of a dark digimon who disintegrated before anything other than his intestines touched the ground. Taichi was covered in blood now, though he did not pay attention to it, focused only on winning this battle. The young knight parried the two broadswords a soldier came at him with in such a way that he crossed both his arms and his opponent's. Before the evil soldier could react, Tai slashed out with both of his blades and nearly tore the man in two at the waist. The soldier fell to the ground in a puddle of gore, his intestines cut and his two halves linked by his badly damaged spine.
Takeru began a defensive spin to parry his attacker's mace. The defensive spin involved spinning two weapons in figure-eights so as to form a wheel that could be used offensively or defensively. The technique wasn't easy to do right, but it suited TK's fluid style of fighting. He broke the spin and thrust his longsword down into the soldier's foot, pinning him to the spot. The man only had a second to scream in pain before the young lord impaled his chest on his shortsword. TK turned his grip so he held his longsword point-down and pulled the blade from his opponent's foot while striking the now dead soldier in the face with the sword's pommel and knocking the corpse backward. Takeru quickly raised his shortsword to block an incoming blade from a soldier trying to flank him. The blonde boy swung his longsword, still held point-down, inwards and slashed the man's chest. He quickly slashed out again, cutting his legs this time. The body fell lifeless as TK quickly started twirling his longsword in a figure-eight, cleaving open the skull of a dark digimon that started to advance on him.
Daisuke made a wide upward sweep with his greatsword, knocking the soldier's flail from his grip. The brash squire then used the blades momentum to swing it completely around, switching hands as it passed behind his back, and brought up another upward cut into the man's torso. Unfortunately, the blade got stuck in the evil soldier's spine. Davis gave the sword a hard tug to release his weapon from the felled enemy and was met with a spray of blood and bodily fluids in his face that temporarily blinded him. The brown-haired boy managed to get his greatsword loose when he recoiled instinctively, and as luck would have it, the blade swung back and lopped off the head of a dark digimon that tried to pounce on him. Daisuke felt the warm spray of blood on his back and when he cleaned his face to get a look at what happened, he thanked the gods for that stroke of luck.
Yamato made a quick duck under the dark digimon's swinging talons and stabbed it through the heart. The digimon gave a brief death rattle and disintigrated. The blond lord stood up. He saw a man charging for him with a giant two-handed axe. Matt, thinking fast, picked up a rock he found at his feet, and threw it hard. The stone hit the soldier in the stomach, causing him to double over, his body parallel with the ground as he dropped his weapon and continued to blunder onward, unable to stop himself. Matt dropped into a split and stuck his rapier out. Just as the blonde bard had predicted, the soldier didn't stop himself in time. The sword went into his gasping mouth and straight down his throat, puncturing several organs. Yamato withdrew his sword, causing even more damage to the man's innards and let him drop dead on the ground.
Mimi began chanting. Two digimon were advancing on her and the guards. Her eyes glowed of their own brilliant green light and vine-like tendrils shot up from the ground around the digimon's feet, pinning them to the spot. They gaped in horror, helpless as Mimi brought her boken down and eviscerated one, while the guard beside her brought his halberd down in a devastating slash, splitting the other dark digimon's head like a watermelon.
Sora saw Taichi out on the fields. He was trying to confuse his opponent by leading him around a tree, using cover and evasion to his advantage. The amazon knocked an arrow, drew her bowstring and released. The arrow flew foreward and struck the mercenary in the back of the head. The metal tip came out his mouth and embedded itself in the tree. Tai looked to where the arrow came from and Sora smiled at him. He nodded his thanks and returned to the fight as the red-haired archer began firing arrow after arrow at her enemies.
Greymon lowered his head and scooped up half-a-dozen dark digimon in his massive jaws. Before they could fight back, the great dinosaur-like digimon brought his teeth down, and a torrent of blood sprayed from his mouth, showering the battlefield around him. Greymon spit out the disintegrating remains of the unfortunate dark digimon and brought his massive foot down on two soldiers, squashing them flat as insects.
Angemon and Angewoman launched their attacks simultaneously, causing a small crater where the blasts struck and the smell of scorched flesh filled the air as the corpses of the evil digimon they had just attacked dissipated into nothing.
Garurumon grabbed a soldier, a giant of a man standing seven feet tall, in his jaws and began violently shaking him from side to side. The wolf digimon then ran up to a tree and began slamming the screaming soldier repeatedly against the trunk. In moments, the mercenary was dead. Garurumon threw the body into a pair of dark digimon and blasted them away with his attack.
Then, in the midst of the bedlam and chaos, a dark figure strode to the top of the hill. He was seven feet and six inches tall with an enormous bastard sword (AN: Same thing as a hand-and-a-half sword.) with a hilt like two legs from a large spider and several barbs and hooks in the blade in his hand and a black helm over his head. He had long rippling black hair and seemed to radiate blood lust. Lord Kamiya spotted the figure instantly. He knew this warrior well. It was Hessianmon, (AN: Crappy name, I know. I promise you better next time.) a ruthless digimon warrior who never took prisoners. It was said that Hessianmon once served a master, but tried to betray him and failed. Instead of killing him, Hessianmon's master stripped him of his special attacks, leaving the evil digimon with only his sword as a means of destruction. Hessianmon surveyed the battlefield with an evil smile, a smile that widened when he saw Lord Kamiya riding forward. "Looks like we're going to have a rematch." His voice carried a tone of malevolent amusement and his breath smelt foul like rotting flesh. Hessianmon raised his sword and charged to meet Lord Kamiya for another battle.
Taichi spotted his father dismounting and clashing swords with the evil digimon up on the hill. "Father," he shouted, and rushed to meet the two, desperate to help. Alas, the young knight was too late. Hessianmon kicked him hard in the chest and used Lord Kamiya's temporary distraction from seeing his son knocked back, swinging his bastard sword right into the ruler's ribs. "No!" Tai was devastated seeing his father murdered before him. Deep inside, the flames that always burned in his heart and gave him his courage and spirit became a roaring bonfire.
Hessianmon laughed evilly at Lord Kamiya's dying body. "Now for the coup de gras," he taunted. As he was about to deliver the final blow, Tai slashed his side, causing the evil digimon to howl in pain and turn to face the brown-haired knight. "So you wish to join your father," he sneered. "Fine with me."
Tai was seeing blood. His soul was burning with hatred, remorse, and vengeance. He began furiously attacking Hessianmon, going toe to toe with the evil warrior and holding his own.
Hessianmon couldn't believe the boy's skill and blind determination. This only angered him more and he increased his efforts.
Tai searched for a weak spot and finally kicked Hessianmon hard in the groin, hoping he was humanoid in more than just his standing upright. Indeed, the evil digimon was, and he dropped to his knees in pain. Tai hooked his longsword in one of the barbs in Hessianmon's sword and wrenched the blade from the dark warrior's hand. Tai grabbed the bastard sword and sent several inches of it into his opponent's chest.
Hessianmon fell backward, his eyes wide in shock. He was having trouble breathing and Tai kept his own sword in his flesh.
"Your sins are like your sword," Taichi growled in a voice that sounded as if it was not his own. "They come back on you to make you pay. Now you'll burn in Hell. This is for my father!" Tai was about to drive the sword through Hessianmon's body and kill him, but the dark warrior interrupted him.
"Wait! Please... mercy..."
"Mercy," Tai said, highly enraged. "You murdered my father nad so many poeple in cold blood. You gave them no mercy, yet plead for it from those you've hurt?" The young knight spit in the digimon's face. "Don't sicken me."
"P...Pleasssse...," Hessianmon continued. "I'll give you anything..."
Taichi narrowed his eyes. "Offer me everything that I ask for," he said in a low voice.
"...Anything... you want..."
Tai twisted the sowrd three hudred and sixty degrees inside Hessianmon's chest, tearing the flesh and causing the dark digimon to scream in pain. "I want my father back, you son of a bitch." With that, the young knight thrust the sword down through Hessianmon's chest. The blade came out of its owner's back and sank into the ground, pinning the evil warrior.
At the death of their leader, the soldiers and dark digimon panicked and fled into the woods. The champion digimon gave chase. The invaders wouldn't get very far.
Kari came rushing out from the castle and saw her father's dying body, cradled in the arms of her older brother who was sobbing uncontrollably. "Father," she whispered and collapsed on her parent and brother's bodies.
Slowly, Yamato, Sora, Daisuke, Takeru, and Mimi walked up to the scene, their eyes clouded with tears. The sight before them was heart-breaking.
Lord Kamiya suddenly spoke, though his voice was hoarse and strangled. "Taichi... Hikari..." As he spoke, a trickle of blood came from his mouth. "Please... take my amulet. The heavens have given me enough time to... say only this much... Take the amulet... Your mother will explain from there..." Lord Kamiya's eyes began to roll up in his head.
"Father," Tai cried urgently. "Don't die! We'll get you to a healer. Just hang on," he said, choking on his sobs.
"Please Father," Kari weeped. "Please don't leave!" The young sorceress was beside herself with grief.
"Goodbye... my children... I'm proud of you two... I'll be watching you... from Heaven..." With that, Lord Kamiya expelled his final breath. He was dead.
*sniff* That's so sad. How will Lord Kamiya's death affect everyone? What is the significance of his amulet? In Chapter 4: Race Against Death, an assassin poisons Tai. Can the others find the plants Joe needs to make the antidote in time? Find out.
Author's Notes: Third Chapter! Huzzah! Could anyone find the hidden line in the last chapter? Here it is: The final scene with the dark presence watching our heroes and not thinking of a witty thing to say was borrowed from an online comic called RPG World. Want the URL? Here: http://rpgworld.keenspace.com Anyway, ages in this chapter; Joe is 20, and Cody is 11. This chapter is going to be cheerful one minute, unbelievably sappy the next, then suspenseful. Enjoy.
Chapter 3- Orphans and Panacea
The morning was quiet and serene. Everyone was still asleep, minutes before the servants would come in and get them prepared for the day. Tai lay on his royal blue four-posted bed with the curtains opened. He was mumbling in his sleep, totally unintelligible. A few feet from his bed lay Augumon on a bed of gold coins like a dragon's hoard. Since there was always a chance he might breathe out a few sparks in his sleep, the family coudn't chance him igniting regular bedding material. Those two were always the last to get up, but were always wide awake seconds after sitting up. Tai yawned loudly and stretched out just as a servant with long green hair stepped in. "My lord Taichi, I have drawn you and Augumon your baths and a change of clothes is ready for you," he said, bowing respectfully.
"Thank you, Cray," Tai addressed the green-haired servant. He got out of bed wearing only a pair of dark blue braies and popped his neck a few times. "I'll awaken Augumon. You're dismissed. We'll just call if we need you."
Cray smiled and bowed. "Thank you, my lord." With that, he turned and walked down the hall. Cray had been one of Tai's three personal servants since childhood and the young lord regarded the green-haired man as an uncle instead of a butler.
Tai nudged Augumon. "Come on. Wake up."
Augumon stirred but didn't get off his bed of coins.
Tai smirked. He had an idea, though it was only a wild shot. "Hey Augumon? Biyomon wants to see you," he said slowly. Tai had noticed last night how the two digimon had been staying fairly close and talking animatedly for most of the evening. It was incredibly cute to watch, as Lady Kamiya never tired of reminding everyone. She hadn't been that excited since she saw Gatomon and Patamon in a similar scenario.
The orange lizard digimon sprang up with a start. "Where," he asked excitedly. When he saw Tai laughing he frowned. "Very funny." Augumon put his clawed hands on his hips and puffed and indignant cloud of smoke towards the cieling.
Tai regained his composure and straightened up. "I'm sorry. But we need to get ready. Come on."
Still grumbling, Augumon followed Tai down the hall to the bath room. As Cray promised, two hot baths were ready. Tai took off his braies and stepped into the water, taking a minute to relax. Augumon climbed into his digimon-sized bath and stared at the ceiling. The two friends sat in silence for a moment before an evil smirk crossed Augumon's face. Tai was now staring out the window, oblivious to reality and Augumon turned to the door. "Oh, hello Sora!"
Tai jumped and looked toward the door, his face beat red. When he saw no one their and turned to see Augumon choking back laughter, he scowled. The scowl quickly became a smile though and Tai soon started laughing heartily with his counterpart. "I suppose I deserved that."
"Yeah. We know each other too well, though," Augumon responded, wiping a tear from his cheek.
"So there is something between you and Biyomon," Tai smirked.
"Like you and Sora are any better," Augumon retorted. "You just fall all over a girl with brown eyes."
"Aha! Her eyes are red," Tai shot back haughtily.
"Aha! Thank you for proving my point," Augumon exclaimed.
************************
A half-hour later, Tai and Augumon joined everyone at breakfast. The meal went by rather uneventfully until the guards burst in dragging a tall blue-haired boy and a short young boy with brown hair and green eyes by chains. The blue-haired boy wore a blue tunic with black trousers and shoes with spectacles over his eyes and had a white tabard over all of it with a blue medical cross emlbazened on the front and a similar cross which everyone knew represented reliability on the back. The younger boy wore sandals, wide-legged white pants, and a powder blue gi. The young boy was glaring at a guard on his left who held a wakizashi in its scabbard.
"My lords," piped one of the men. He was Eckrin, one of the land owners. He had only been around a short while but no one in the royal houses liked him as he was very cold and uncaring. "We found these two foreigners going through my land. The small one carries a weapon, which I absolutely forbid on my territory, and the other claims to be a healer, though I think he has other intentions. Foreign scum are never what they seem."
Through all of this, everyone at the table was shocked, but Tai was seething. He stood up so quickly that he knocked his chair over. "How dare you," the young lord shouted. "How dare you make such foul accusations against anyone!"
Eckrin was surprised by Taichi's outburst along with everyone else but kept a level head. "But my lord, you know that we can't trust forgeigners. They always harbor ideas of coup and rebellion."
This time, Sora lost her temper. She stood beside Tai and shrieked at Eckrin. "You bastard!" Every head in the room snapped towards Sora. "I am not of this land! I am foreign to Odaiba! Don't you dare insult my honor!" She was going red in the face from yelling. Before Tai could speak to her, Sora jumped over the table, stormed over to Eckrin and to everyone's shock, slapped him so hard that he was sent staggering. The amazon was positively furious at the insults to her integrity and honor.
Eckrin sneered as he regained his orientation. "You little harlot," he shouted indignantly. "I'll have you thrown in chains for that!" With that threat, he slapped Sora right back.
Matt was about to open his mouth to speak when Tai jumped over the table as Sora did, but instead of slapping the cruel land owner, Tai surprised everyone, even Sora. He punched Eckrin in the stomach, pulled him into an arm lock, then threw him several feet after popping his arm out of the socket. As Tai walked over to the beaten land owner, his fists were visibly trembling with rage. "Don't ever do that again," Tai said in his most dangerous voice.
Sora was hurt by Eckrin's insults and was livid when he struck her, but was quickly growing afraid of Tai's anger. The guards holding the two boys were as pale as sheets.
Tai calmed himself a little with a few deep breaths. "I am revoking your privelages as a land-owner. You may keep what property you have bought with your own money, but I will hand the rights of the land over to someone with empathy and competence. Now get out of my sight, you heartless bastard." Tai was glaring death at the cowering Eckrin and his voice was like ice.
Eckrin wanted to say "Yes, sir," but only managed a feeble squeek and scurried out of the room.
Tai turned to the guards. "Release those two," he said and gestured toward the two stunned prisoners. "And return their possessions to them."
The guards did as they were told and faced a still stern-faced Tai. "I will not fault you for Eckrin's stupidity," he told them. "Dismissed."
The guards hurried off breathing sighs of relief. They soon rounded a corner and disappeared from view and Tai's icy glare.
There was a long silence before Lady Kamiya spoke up. "Son?"
Tai took a deep breath in and slowly exhaled. "I'm alright."
Matt clapped loudly. "Bravo, Tai," he shouted. "Stunning performance!"
Davis joined Matt in giving Tai a standing ovation as Takeru and Hikari just sat still as statues staring at Tai in disbelief. None of them had seen that side to him before.
Sora walked up to Tai and placed a hand on his forehead. He let his fingers hover only millimeters above the red hand mark on her face almost guiltily. "Thank you," the amazon told him, "for defending those two and me." She stood on tip-toes and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek, which sent a jolt through Tai's body.
Lady Kamiya went from stunned silence to absolute euphoria at the sight before her. She rushed up to her son and Sora and hugged both of them. "Oh that is so sweet," she shrilled. "When are you two getting married? I had no idea you had gotten along so well so quickly! Oh this is wonderful!"
"Mother," protested Tai, blushing furiously along with Sora. "We're not getting married." 'Why was I reluctant to say that? Could it be possible,' he thought. "It was just a kiss on the cheek." 'Just? Then why did it feel so... good,' he silently wondered.
Augumon was still at the digimon table sitting next to Biyomon and laughing hysterically. "I knew it! I knew it," he shouted between gasps for air.
"What's so funny," Gabumon asked, his voice dripping with curiosity.
Augumon explained the early morning events, except about Tai's teasing him about Biyomon, and soon had the whole table of digimon roaring with laughter.
TK recovered from his shock and went over to the two new guests. "I'm sorry about that. We've been looking for a reason to get rid of Eckrin for a while."
"It's alright," said the blue-haired healer. "Um... could you help us with these chains?"
"Certainly." Takeru picked up the keys Eckrin dropped during his beating and unlocked the manacles. "There. Again, I apologize for this inconvenience. I am Lord Takeru Ishida. And you two?"
"My name is Jyou Kido, some just call me Joe," said the blue-haired boy. "I was telling the truth when I said I was a healer. I'm a professional surgeon and well trained in poison antidotes."
The brown-haired boy bowed deeply. "I am Iori Hida, also known as Cody." He had an odd whispery tone to his voice, as if he was trying not to be heard. "I was only passing through these lands when that Eckrin arrested me for carrying my sword."
TK sighed. "For a third time, I am truly sorry. We should have just kicked Eckrin from the land a long time ago."
Joe raised a tentative hand. "Could you do us a favor? We both have digivices and digimon, but they were confiscated when we were arrested. Could you please return them to us?"
Izzy was at their side in a flash. "Digivices, you say? And bonded digimon?"
Joe had a samll sweatdrop. "Uh...yes."
Yolei put a hand on Izzy's shoulder and dragged him back to the table. "Finish your food and give those two some time to get over their ordeal before we drown them in questions."
************************
Out in the palace gardens, Tai was helping Sora with her melee skills. He was teaching her how to use an axe since it could also be thrown, a style she was already skilled with. "Widen your stance," he corrected her. Tai stood behind her and took her hand holding the weapon in his. "Now, up. Down. Up. Down," he said, guiding her through the motions. "One. Fluid. Stroke." He stepped away and looked into her eyes.
Sora, trying to hide her fluttering heartbeat simply stated "This could cleave a man's skull."
Tai took the axe from her hand and hurled it off in one direction where it embedded itself in a wooden bench. "Like a pudding," he smirked. He could feel his heart begin to slowly melt as the amazon smiled back at him.
Sora felt that each day, each moment, she was growing closer to Taichi. Remembering how he had defended her this morning, her heart skipped several beats.
Meanwhile, up on one of several balconies that over-looked the gardens, Takeru and Hikari watched the two of them. TK had a very amused smirk on his lips, while Kari was wearing a dreamy expression over her face. "Aren't they just so lovely together," she asked.
"Yes," the blonde-haired lord said, taking his betrothed's hand. "But not as much so as us."
Kari felt her cheeks redden. For the past several months, the sorceress noticed, TK was always acting very chivalrous and sometimes romantic. She turned to face him with an emberassed grin.
"Lord Takeru! Where is that boy!" A female servant could be heard shouting and storming around. She obviously was in a rather disgruntled mood.
"I guess I have to go," TK said reluctantly. He let go of Kari's hand and gave her a kiss on her forehead before turning and walking in the direction the bellowing came from.
Kari stood still. That kiss had sent a surge through her body greater than any lightning bolt. The sorceress just stood there, savoring the moment. She could have stood there all day if Davis hadn't picked that time to show up.
He smiled and walked over to her, trying to look charismatic, though unsuccessfully. "Hello there, Kari," he said leaning on the railing.
"Mm-hmm." Lady Hikari just continued staring off into space with her face red.
Daisuke's smile vanished. He snapped his fingers in front of the girl's face, but she didn't even blink.
"Hello?" The young squire was beginning to get a little worried now.
"Yes TK," she said dreamily.
Davis immediately scowled. "It's me! Davis! Your brother's squire?!"
Kari came out of her trance though still blushing. "Oh, I'm sorry." Her voice was still distant. She touched the spot where her betrothed had kissed her and giggled.
Davis sweatdropped as he stared at her. "Are you sick, or something?"
The sorceress just let out a lovestrrck sigh. "TK kissed me," she said, once again oblivious to reality.
"What?!" Daisuke was now seeing red. "That does it," he shouted indignantly. "Where did he go, its time we settled this!"
Tai and Sora looked up to where Davis was shouting. "Oh fantastic," Taichi groaned. "I know that tone of voice. He's about to do something emberrassing and stupid." Tai sighed then looked up at Sora. "Well he needs to learn the hard way. Want to go watch?"
"Sure," Sora shrugged.
Tai offered his arm and was surprised when the girl accepted it. The brown-haired knight looked up seeing his sister come out of her euphoric trance as Davis stormed off. "I'm guessing he's after TK. Kari only gets that look for one person."
The two of them walked arm-in-arm back into the palace. As Cray walked by, Tai asked where Lord Takeru was and the butler informed him that Lord and Lady Ishida had called for him to meet them in the atrium. (AN: Yes, I know the atrium is Roman, but I thought it would be cool to mix a few existing world cultures in this story. Don't like it? Bite me) "This should be interesting," Tai frowned.
*************************
Tai and Sora entered the atrium as Lord and Lady Ishida were nervously trying to give their youngest son 'The Talk' and so far had only managed to stammer out a few incomplete sentences. Sora went into a fit of giggling, though tried to hide it so she didn't interrupt them. TK was looking rather confused by his parents' incoherent babbling and wondered just what had them so unnerved.
Davis burst into the room, positively fuming. "There you are," he yelled at Takeru.
"Oh, hello Daisuke," TK said, relieved at a distraction from his parents. At this point, Kari ran in out of breath from trying to keep up with Davis. The blonde boy smiled and enthusiastically greeted Hikari. "Hello Hikari. What are you two doing here?"
Davis caught his breath and stood up straight. "I challenge yout to a duel for Lady Hikari!" His voice was dripping with anger, and his eyes almost seemed to glow red.
There was a silence in the air for a few moments. You could hear a pin drop in the stillness. Then, everyone except Davis burst out into hysterical laughter. Tai was leaning against the wall with one hand on his forehead and the other on his stomach while Sora put her arms around his neck and leaned against him to keep from falling over. Lord and Lady Ishida were holding onto each other with tears of laughter going down their faces. TK was staggering, unable to keep his footing steady, while Kari was on her knees, slapping one hand on the floor. Tai opened his eyes and saw Davis visibly shaking with rage. He stopped laughing immediately. "Wait a second he's serious." Abruptly, the laughter ceased as quickly as it came. There was silence once again, though this time it was a very tense stillness. No one even breathed for a few seconds.
Finally, TK scowled. "Daisuke Motomiya, I am not going to fight you," TK said. His composure remained totally unfazed, but his voice was dead serious. "I will not fight you for two reasons. First of all, because this is incredibly stupid. Lady Hikari is not some prize to be won. Second, you know I will win." There was no boasting behind the blonde lord's words. He spoke almost tonelessly, though his blue eyes were warning the brash Daisuke to back down.
Davis growled. "You'll fight me or I'll just kill you where you stand!"
"Davis!" Tai stormed over to his squire and slapped him smartly across the face (AN: There seems to be a lot of that in this chapter.). "Have I taught you nothing?!" Tai was now fuming. "A knight never murders in cold blood! He fights the wicked and those who threaten his kingdom and people!" Taichi balled his hands into fists until his knuckles were white.
"Tai," TK spoke up. All heads in the room turned to the young lord. "With your permission, I think I will fight and defeat Davis and teach him that violence isn't always the answer to a problem. It will also show him that there is always someone better."
Taichi stood still for a moment, considering the situation. "So be it. In one hour, you two will face each other in the courtyard. There is to be no killing!" Tai added a strict tone to his voice to make sure the last sentence was made clear.
Both boys nodded and glared at each other. This was guaranteed to be most interesting, as Tai had thought.
*************************
One hour later, half the castle arrived in the courtyard to witness the duel. When Kari had heard her brother declare they would fight, she felt her stomach turn a few flips. Her mother assured her that Takeru was an experienced fighter and could win this duel.
The consolation didn't ease the tension, though. As Cray drew the circle the combatants would enter in chalk, the anxiety in the air became almost tangible. Joe stood just outside the circle with Gomamon, ready to treat any wounds Takeru or Daisuke had once the duel was over. Kari stood next to them, nervously wringing her hands. Her brother had made it clear there was to be no killings, but this was a situation where so much could go wrong.
Tai looked down at his little sister. He too wished this didn't have to happen. Takeru was already beginning to feel like family to him and he already had begun treating the young lord as a baby brother instead of a friend. But Davis was the same. The brash squire looked up to Taichi like a father figure and the knight was beginning to grow into the role. Sora stood next to him, holding his hand with anxiety in her eyes. Tai squeezed her hand, seeking comfort as footsteps broke the silence. Matt stood on the opposite side of the circle from Kari and the others with his parents. They were all on the verge of tears. This wasn't like any fight they had been in before. This was a duel for a pointless cause made in malice. If something went wrong and either TK or Davis was killed, there would be no honor or glory in their demise, only grief. It was a grim situation indeed.
TK entered the courtyard first. He wore his usual leather cap with neckguard along with the same green doublet, trousers, and boots he always wore, but now he put on a flexible studded leather breastplate and strapped a leather pauldron to his left shoulder. His green cape flowed behind him as he walked, but he quickly unfastened the brooch and let it fall to the ground before he stepped in the circle and drew his swords. Even though there was a slim chance of Davis using real strategy when he fought, there was no sense in taking unnecessary risks and giving his opponent a leverage point.
Davis strode in stone-faced carrying a greatsword with him and wearing a steel breastplate strapped to his torso.
"Alright," shouted Tai when the two had entered the circle. "You two shall fight until I command you to stop. You shall not fight to kill your opponent. If one of you is rendered unable to fight or leaves the circle, you will lose the duel." Tai made gestures as he spoke to emphasize his points. Though he spoke calmly, the brown-haired lord was tempted to call off the duel right there. "These are highly unusual methods, but we don't want to lose anyone today. Understood?"
TK and Davis nodded, though they're eyes never strayed from each other.
Taichi sighed, realizing neither one was going to back down. "Good," he said flatly. There was nothing good about any of this. "Begin!"
Daisuke immediately rushed forward, bearing his sword above his head. A loud battle-cry erupted from his throat as he swung down.
TK nimbly jumped aside and kicked Davis in the hollow of his knee, sending him flat on his back. The blonde lord scowled. If he hadn't dodged, he probably would have been killed. Takeru was right, Davis wasn't thinking before acting. This made it so much more dangerous.
Davis recovered by rolling backwards and brought his sword up. The brash squire sneered. "You're going to pay for that TC."
"My name is Takeru," the blonde boy shot back. He threw a round kick at Davis and hit him in the side. TK took his window of oppurtunity and came in, batting his opponent's greatsword away with his longsword and putting his shortsword to Davis' throat. "You lose."
Davis scowled. "Not yet," he growled and brought his knee up hard into TK's groin, knocking the wind out of his adversary and sending him staggering backwards in pain.
As TK recoiled trying to catch his second wind, Kari was beside herself. She could plainly see that Davis was capable of killing her betrothed and fear and anxiety overtook the sorceress. Meanwhile, Tai was shaking with anger. Davis was blatantly going against everything Tai had taught him. His squire was too caught up in himself and his jealousy to care about anything else. Taichi wanted badly to stop this, but none of the circumstances were right to do so.
Daisuke charged Takeru and slammed his shoulder against him, sending the boy on his back. "You said something about you winning," Davis said arrogantly.
To everyone's surprise, TK stood up and got into a defensive stance, gritting his teeth against the dull ache in his groin. "I'm just getting started." The young lord came in with a diagnol cut upward which Davis blocked. TK then quickly swung his other arm down and bludgeoned Daisuke over the head with the pommel of his shortsword.
The brown-haired squire staggered backward. His head was reeling and he was seeing double.
TK jumped and pulled a flying round kick, striking Davis upside the head once again. He landed and swung both blades at his opponent's greatsword. The clash of metal on metal rang out through the courtyard and the two-handed blade hit the flagstone ground then slid out of the ring stopping at the feet of Lord Yamato, who until now, couldn't bear to watch the abuse his little brother was taking. Everyone gasped as they saw Daisuke laying on the ground with a trickle of blood running down his chin from his lip and his nose bleeding with TK sanding over him stone-faced with his longsword pointed inches from the fallen squire's forehead. "I'm going to let you up," the blonde lord said. There was no emotion behind his speech, it was delivered in a cold monotone that could send chills up your spine. "If you insist, I will give you your sword and we can continue this fracas to its final stupidity. Or," at this point TK lifted his sword away and moved away from Davis, "you can come to your senses. Which is it going to be?"
Davis stared at TK for a moment then finally sighed in defeat and humiliation. "You win," he said, almost inaudibly.
"The duel has ended," Tai shouted as he walked into the circle. "Lord Takeru is the victor!"
There was no cheering. Instead, there was murmuring among the servants and they moved aside to clear a path as the defeated Daisuke walked off without a word.
**************************
The next day during training, Taichi was still upset with his squire. He frowned as he lazily blocked each of Davis' attacks. The wooden swords clashed together loudly, echoing throughout the old ruins still stained with blood from the battle the other day. "Come on," Taichi ordered crossly. "Stop trying to hit me and hit me." The brown-haired knight was not holding back and without knowing it, began fighting offensively, pushing Davis back.
The brash young boy was hard-pressed to keep up with his master. Soon, Tai had knocked the practice sword from his hand and pinned him to a wall with the edge of his own weapon against the boy's throat.
"I'm still very disappointed in you," Tai growled. "Practice is over for today. I want you to reread the knight's code. Tomorrow, I will test you on how much you know about courage, valor, and honor." At this point Taichi narrowed his eyes. "If I am not satisfied, the lessons will be repeated again and again without leave until you get it right. Understood?"
Davis simply nodded. He hadn't spoken to anyone, even Veemon since the duel. He knew why his master was angry with him. The boy was wracked with guilt and shame. He no longer felt he could look Takeru or Hikari in the eye again.
The ride home was made in silence. Daisuke went to his quarters and laid upon the bed, staring towards the ceiling for hours.
"Davis?" Veemon shook his friend's shoulder. The draconic digimon had been worried about Daisuke. The boy's silence had been very unsettling.
"Why do these things always happen to me," the brown-haired squire asked softly.
"What?"
"Why do I always get humiliated in front of everyone? What did I do to deserve this?" Davis' voice was flat and monotone. He didn't have his usual spirit and manic energy.
"What do you mean? Just because you lost a duel..." Veemon was cut off by his counterpart.
"Exactly. I lost. I made a fool of myself in starting that fight." Davis sighed sadly. "Kari probably hates me now."
The little digimon patted his friend's arm reassuringly. "It's not the end of the world. So Tai's a little mad. You know he takes a while to let things drop. And Kari and TK told me they've forgiven you." That was all Veemon needed to say.
The brown-haired squire turned over to face his bonded companion. "Really?" Relief started to spread across his face when Veemon nodded yes. Davis sat up and smirked. "I guess I have been over-reacting a lot these days."
"Yeah," Veemon assured him. "Things aren't as bad as you think. Try to be more positive."
Davis nodded. "Thank you. I needed that."
***************************
In the courtyard, Cody was showing Tai his fighting abilities. For someone so young, the boy handled his wakizashi with great skill.
"Very nice," Taichi said, deeply impressed. "Where did you learn to fight like that? You're a natural."
Iori looked down sadly. "My mentor taught me much before he died. There was a plague back in my homelands. My family and teacher didn't make it."
"Oh." Tai put a comforting hand on the young warrior's shoulder. "I'm sorry." The brown-haired knight didn't know what else to say. He had never suffered such a loss, thus he couldn't say he fully understood what Cody must be feeling.
The young orphan was silent, but looked up to Taichi. His green eyes showed he was thankful for the sympathy of another.
At this time, Armadillomon walked into the courtyard. "Hey, Cody," the digimon called.
"Yes?"
"That scholar boy, Izzy, wants to talk with us. He said we wanted to ask some questions about me and how you got your digivice. You know, questions like that."
"Alright." Iori turned and bowed to Tai. "I'll talk with you later Lord Kamiya."
Tai smiled and put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You can call me Tai. All my friends do, and I feel I can trust you as a friend." Taichi really did trust this boy. He was always very honest and straightforward.
Cody smiled. "Thank you." With that, he turned and left with Armadillomon who headed for the castle's library where Izzy would be waiting.
***************************
Two weeks later, the kingdom was buzzing with excitement for the anniversary that day. Already, performers were wondering the streets. Fire eaters, magicians, musicians, jugglers, clowns and buffoons, knife-throwers, acrobats, and many more went throughout Odaiba entertaining the people. Good food was to be had by all, people were excused from their jobs that day to drink and make merry with friends and family. There was even talk of a fireworks display to be held that night.
At the royal castle, everyone was celebrating, watching the entertainment, and some people were spending time alone with their sweethearts. Matt was helping Mimi with her already exquisite singing voice, backing up her singing with his mandolin, as the two sang Greensleeves in the atrium. TK and Kari were in the grand ballroom helping hte servants set the place for the masquerade that night, while Davis wondered aimlessly trying to find where Kari was. Izzy and Yolei were chatting in the library, not really very concerned with many of the other festivities going on. Naturally, Tai and Sora were out in the courtyard sparring. She was an excellent sharpshooter, but the amazon needed to learn to fight melee eventually. Tai was going easier on her since she had less experience in hand-to-hand combat, but she was learning fast.
Finally, it was time for the masquerade to begin. The ballroom doors opened and dozens of guests, both noblemen and peasants, arrived in costume. The upper class members had very well-tailored expensive disguises, while the peasants wore home-made costumes that, while not of the same quality, were still well done. More guests showed up quickly. Soon, many people were either talking or dancing under the emmense brass chandaliers.
One girl, with shoulder-length red hair was dressed up in leather breeches, a white shirt with puffy sleeves, boots with a wide cuff, and a three-cornered hat. She had an unloaded pistol and a cutlass at her hip. A pirate. The black mask with storm clouds etched into the surface completed the look, and though she was definately very tough, it wasn't very hard to tell she was a woman. She looked around for one man in particular though she couldn't find him.
Suddenly, one of the servants blew a horn and shouted. "Announcing the arrival of two new guests. Very distinguished gentlemen who have come to honor Odaiba." The servant stepped aside and in marched two men. The first was very tall with long brown hair tied in a ponytail. He wore completely black, with armor that seemed to be made of the scales of a black dragon. His metal gauntlets ended in taloned fingers and on his boots he wore spurs. A large hand-and-a-half sword was at his hip with a dragon's head pommel and a hilt forged to resemble one of the dragon's wings and one of its talons. To enhance his dramatic apppearance, he also wore a flowing red cape with several scorched holes and tattered edges. Finally, he wore a mask of obsidian that left only his lips and lower jaw exposed, his eyes hidden in the shadows of the mask. Next to him was a shorter man also dressed in black, a black doublet, breeches, boots, gloves, a velvet black cape with a silk mask with the white sillouette of a serpent, its mouth open and fangs unsheathed, emblazened on front that covered his whole head and left his eyes in shadow. The two looked very impressive and many people applauded the sheer drama of their entrance.
The first man spoke in a deep, commanding voice. "I am Rei, demon slayer."
Rei's friend then spoke, but in a ghostly whispering voice. "And I am Wraith, bard of the shadows."
The sounds of the masquerade soon resumed. Rei proceeded toward the pirate girl, his spurs jingling as he walked. "May I have this dance," he asked. He still spoke in his deep rumbling voice, but the commanding tone was gone, instead replaced by a warmness that his dark appearance would not suggest.
Too stunned to reply, the pirate girl simply nodded. She distantly heard Rei ask her name as he took her hand. "My name is Storm." She tried to look through the shadows of his obsidian mask to his eyes, but in vain.
Rei guided his new partner to the dance floor. He wrapped his free arm around her waist and they started slowly rotating on the spot to the slow, pleasant music. He danced surprisingly well, considering his armor and the spurs on his boots.
Several men briefly considered cutting in for the next dance with Storm, but when Rei cast his dark visage at them, they quickly backed away.
Meanwhile, Wraith took to a dark corner. He stood in the shadows with his arms folded over his chest. Several young girls asked him to dance, but he turned them down with a wave of his gloved hand. It wasn't until a new woman entered that the young man became spellbound.
The new arrival wore a dress of purest velvet red like the petals of a rose. Her long brown hair was tied in a high ponytail and swung gracefully across her back. She wore several bejewled rings and bracelets on her slender fingers and wrists and had a beautiful cut ruby on a gold chain around her neck. She wore a soft pink mask over her face decorated with a border of tiny emeralds and diamonds. She looked around and soon spotted Wraith. The two stared at each other for a moment before she walked towards him slowly.
Wraith was captivated by the woman's beauty and slowly walked toward her. They stopped not more than three feet apart and the shadowy young man bowed deeply. "May I ask your name, milady," he inquired in his ghostly voice.
The young lady blushed under her mask. The voice sent shivers up her spine. Not cold chills, but shivers of excitement. For some reason, she felt drawn to the supernatural charm the man before her possessed. "I'm the Princess Scarlet. And you?"
"Call me Wraith. Would you honor me with a dance?" He extended his gloved hand to her and tilted his head slightly to one side.
Scarlet accepted his hand and smiled. "Certainly." Soon, she and Wraith were dancing together beside Rei and Storm. The two couples danced contentedly as the other guests cleared into a circle around them, watching with great interest the dark men and their beautiful ladies.
Meanwhile, two young people, in similar angel costumes danced together, staring into each other's eyes. Another young man in shining plate armor with a giant zweihander over his back watched them with mixed emotions of anger, sadness, and envy. He had tried to cut in with the girl several times but she only wanted to dance with the other angel. The three young people knew each other's identities, though they could recognize no one else.
Suddenly, the curtains on the giant stained-glass windows were drawn shut and Biyomon and Tentomon drew a velvet cover under the chandaliers, plunging the room into darkness. It was time for the unmasking.
Storm slowly reached up to Rei's mask as he placed a gloved hand on hers. Simultaneously, they drew back the masks and opened their eyes as the curtains and the veil were drawn away and light came flooding back into the room.
"Tai?"
"Sora?"
They both stared into each other's eyes, unmoving.
"Well," Tai said first. "This is interesting, though not completely unexpected. I should have known."
"Mm-hmm," Sora nodded. She smiled. "That's a really nice outfit. I was a little worried about those gauntlets though. What's to stop you from forcing me to dance with you? That sword doesn't help either," she teased him.
Tai chuckled. "Don't give me any ideas. The prospect of dancing with you all night sounds very appealling," he said.
Sora wasn't expecting that. She turned a light pink and playfully slapped his shoulder. "Do you want to go to the gardens to talk?"
The young knight offered his arm to the amazon. "Absolutely." With that, the two walked from the ballroom arm-in-arm.
While this was going on, two more people were pleasantly surprised.
"Matt?"
"Mimi? Wow, you really had me fooled. I've never seen you look better." Matt looked her up and down. It was true. He had never before met a girl this beautiful.
"I'm going to assume that was a compliment," Mimi said as she giggled. She brushed Yamato's hair from his dark blue eyes. "Really, you shouldn't try to cover up such handsome features. That mask didn't do you any kind of justice."
The young lord smiled and said in his whispery voice with a charismatic tone "I have this effect on women. It's not easy being popular."
Mimi giggled again. "Oh, shut up."
Th two younger dancers didn't need to remove the masks to know who the other was. Takeru and Hikari looked into each other's eyes smiling.
Davis sighed in defeat and walked out of the ballroom to go watch the fireworks that would be starting soon.
Takeru leaned down and kissed his betrothed on her cheek. "I love you," he whispered sweetly.
Kari gasped and her heart skipped a beat. She kissed him passionately and looked into his dark blue eyes. "I love you too." She kissed him again and this time he kissed her back. They stood in each other's arms for several minutes, oblivious to all the people around them.
**************************
Tai and Sora sat at the statue of Jubei Yagami, the founder of Odaiba and Taichi's ancestor. Tai had taken off his gauntlets and the armor over his torso. The two held hands and looked into each other's eyes. "Sora," Tai said at last.
"Yes Tai," she said, a dreamy expression on her face.
"I've become rather...fond of you," the brown-haired lord said, trying to find the right words. "You are like no other girl I've ever met. You're perfect in every way." Slowly, their faces drew closer and closer until they were centimeters apart. As Tai spoke, he and Sora started to slowly close their eyes. "What I'm saying is, Sora, I...think...I...lo-"
"Lord Kamiya! Lord Kamiya!" The shouts echoed throughout the courtyard. Tai and Sora jumped apart in surprise and scowled. The mood was ruined.
Cray came running into the courtyard, gasping for air and his face pale. "Lord Kamiya! Terrible news!"
Tai sprang to his feet. "What?! What happened, Cray?"
Cray struggled to regain his breath. "Dark digimon and enemy soldiers. They're attacking the kingdom and have razed several farms, killed several families. They're coming this way!"
"Bastards," Tai cursed. "Cray, have the alarm sent throughout the castle. I want every soldier and militia man ready in ten minutes outside the gates. Have the cannons readied. I'm going to the armory." At this point, Taichi turned to Sora. "Sora, will you please help us? Yours will be the best bow out there."
Sora stood up and looked to Tai and Cray. "Of course. Anyone who tries to hurt my friends shall have to answer to me."
Tai smiled and nodded. He dashed off back into the palace to get to the armory.
*************************
Ten minutes later, most of the army and militia stood waiting outside the palace along with Matt, Sora, Mimi, TK, Kari, and Davis. Towering above them all stood Greymon, Garurumon, Togemon, Birdramon, Angemon, Angewomon, and X-Veemon. Izzy, Yolei, Joe, Tentomon, Hawkmon, and Gomamon stayed in the palace to protect it in case the invaders got inside. The tension in the air was thick as everyone anticipated the arrival of Lord Kamiya and his son. They didn't have to wait long though, as Tai soon stepped out beside his father who was riding a great white steed. Lord Kamiya was wearing chain armor and was carrying a broadsword. Tai had a longsword at his hip with a pommel like Greymon's head and a black leather vest with extended shoulders that had a chain shirt fastened to the outside.
Everyone watched the top of the grassy hill, waiting for the incoming attack. "Are you ready Taichi," Lord Kamiya asked his son.
Tai smirked. "Always. I've seen battle plenty of times." The brown-haired lord drew his sword to emphasize his point. "Let the dogs come. We'll stop them."
"Hey," Garurumon snorted indignantly.
Tai chuckled. "Sorry."
Garurumon opened his mouth to speak, but shut it when the yelling of hundreds of voices came from past the hill. Soon, hundreds of soldiers and dark digimon no one had ever seen before charged forward, coming in throngs. The soldiers carried swords, maces, flails, and axes and wore studded leather armor and some of them had chain shirts. The digimon were black bipedal creatures with triple-jointed legs and long scrawny arms ending in talons. They had bulbous white eyes a large mouths with long sharp teeth. Only a few of these strange creatures had weapons, preferring to use whatever their natural attacks were. "This is it," the wolf digimon said grimly. "We fight to the death."
It only took a few seconds for chaos to erupt. The champion digimon struck first, decimating dozens of attackers. Lord Kamiya led his men into battle, his sword gleaming the in the light of fires sparked by nova blasts and the moon. He cut off limbs and heads that got too close to him and fought fearlessly in the midst of his enemies.
Sora fired arrow after arrow, never once missing her mark. She shouted orders to the other archers, strategically sending clouds of arrows to locations on the fields where the enemies were in large groups and easier to hit.
Matt and TK were rallying the militia men. They knew how to inspire courage and faith in the greatest coward, and went into battle with high hearts and spirits.
Tai and Davis rushed into battle fearlessly. Davis had some difficulty, but he had improved vastly since he started training and was able to hold his own. Tai on the other hand was effortlessly dispatching his opponents, fighting several at a time. He even stole a shortsword from one opponent he felled and began fighting like Takeru only with more grim determination behind his blows.
Kari stood in the ramparts, preparing a chain of spells. She hated having to kill, but these raiders left her with little choice. The sorceress sent forth a massive fireball of blue flame. It struck a group of dark digimon who were trying to flank Angemon and Angewomon. The evil digimon were consumed in the flames, screaming wildly before they died and disintegrated as all digimon do at death.
Mimi began chanting and soon her staff transformed itself into a boken, a wooden sword as sharp and deadly as any blade of steel. She wasn't much of a warrior, but she held her ground, determined to fight to defend the palace along with the royal guards.
Tai swept the legs out from under his opponent and skewered him, causing a small spray of blood. He turned one hundred and eighty degrees with a rising slash as he stood up, cutting open the belly of a dark digimon who disintegrated before anything other than his intestines touched the ground. Taichi was covered in blood now, though he did not pay attention to it, focused only on winning this battle. The young knight parried the two broadswords a soldier came at him with in such a way that he crossed both his arms and his opponent's. Before the evil soldier could react, Tai slashed out with both of his blades and nearly tore the man in two at the waist. The soldier fell to the ground in a puddle of gore, his intestines cut and his two halves linked by his badly damaged spine.
Takeru began a defensive spin to parry his attacker's mace. The defensive spin involved spinning two weapons in figure-eights so as to form a wheel that could be used offensively or defensively. The technique wasn't easy to do right, but it suited TK's fluid style of fighting. He broke the spin and thrust his longsword down into the soldier's foot, pinning him to the spot. The man only had a second to scream in pain before the young lord impaled his chest on his shortsword. TK turned his grip so he held his longsword point-down and pulled the blade from his opponent's foot while striking the now dead soldier in the face with the sword's pommel and knocking the corpse backward. Takeru quickly raised his shortsword to block an incoming blade from a soldier trying to flank him. The blonde boy swung his longsword, still held point-down, inwards and slashed the man's chest. He quickly slashed out again, cutting his legs this time. The body fell lifeless as TK quickly started twirling his longsword in a figure-eight, cleaving open the skull of a dark digimon that started to advance on him.
Daisuke made a wide upward sweep with his greatsword, knocking the soldier's flail from his grip. The brash squire then used the blades momentum to swing it completely around, switching hands as it passed behind his back, and brought up another upward cut into the man's torso. Unfortunately, the blade got stuck in the evil soldier's spine. Davis gave the sword a hard tug to release his weapon from the felled enemy and was met with a spray of blood and bodily fluids in his face that temporarily blinded him. The brown-haired boy managed to get his greatsword loose when he recoiled instinctively, and as luck would have it, the blade swung back and lopped off the head of a dark digimon that tried to pounce on him. Daisuke felt the warm spray of blood on his back and when he cleaned his face to get a look at what happened, he thanked the gods for that stroke of luck.
Yamato made a quick duck under the dark digimon's swinging talons and stabbed it through the heart. The digimon gave a brief death rattle and disintigrated. The blond lord stood up. He saw a man charging for him with a giant two-handed axe. Matt, thinking fast, picked up a rock he found at his feet, and threw it hard. The stone hit the soldier in the stomach, causing him to double over, his body parallel with the ground as he dropped his weapon and continued to blunder onward, unable to stop himself. Matt dropped into a split and stuck his rapier out. Just as the blonde bard had predicted, the soldier didn't stop himself in time. The sword went into his gasping mouth and straight down his throat, puncturing several organs. Yamato withdrew his sword, causing even more damage to the man's innards and let him drop dead on the ground.
Mimi began chanting. Two digimon were advancing on her and the guards. Her eyes glowed of their own brilliant green light and vine-like tendrils shot up from the ground around the digimon's feet, pinning them to the spot. They gaped in horror, helpless as Mimi brought her boken down and eviscerated one, while the guard beside her brought his halberd down in a devastating slash, splitting the other dark digimon's head like a watermelon.
Sora saw Taichi out on the fields. He was trying to confuse his opponent by leading him around a tree, using cover and evasion to his advantage. The amazon knocked an arrow, drew her bowstring and released. The arrow flew foreward and struck the mercenary in the back of the head. The metal tip came out his mouth and embedded itself in the tree. Tai looked to where the arrow came from and Sora smiled at him. He nodded his thanks and returned to the fight as the red-haired archer began firing arrow after arrow at her enemies.
Greymon lowered his head and scooped up half-a-dozen dark digimon in his massive jaws. Before they could fight back, the great dinosaur-like digimon brought his teeth down, and a torrent of blood sprayed from his mouth, showering the battlefield around him. Greymon spit out the disintegrating remains of the unfortunate dark digimon and brought his massive foot down on two soldiers, squashing them flat as insects.
Angemon and Angewoman launched their attacks simultaneously, causing a small crater where the blasts struck and the smell of scorched flesh filled the air as the corpses of the evil digimon they had just attacked dissipated into nothing.
Garurumon grabbed a soldier, a giant of a man standing seven feet tall, in his jaws and began violently shaking him from side to side. The wolf digimon then ran up to a tree and began slamming the screaming soldier repeatedly against the trunk. In moments, the mercenary was dead. Garurumon threw the body into a pair of dark digimon and blasted them away with his attack.
Then, in the midst of the bedlam and chaos, a dark figure strode to the top of the hill. He was seven feet and six inches tall with an enormous bastard sword (AN: Same thing as a hand-and-a-half sword.) with a hilt like two legs from a large spider and several barbs and hooks in the blade in his hand and a black helm over his head. He had long rippling black hair and seemed to radiate blood lust. Lord Kamiya spotted the figure instantly. He knew this warrior well. It was Hessianmon, (AN: Crappy name, I know. I promise you better next time.) a ruthless digimon warrior who never took prisoners. It was said that Hessianmon once served a master, but tried to betray him and failed. Instead of killing him, Hessianmon's master stripped him of his special attacks, leaving the evil digimon with only his sword as a means of destruction. Hessianmon surveyed the battlefield with an evil smile, a smile that widened when he saw Lord Kamiya riding forward. "Looks like we're going to have a rematch." His voice carried a tone of malevolent amusement and his breath smelt foul like rotting flesh. Hessianmon raised his sword and charged to meet Lord Kamiya for another battle.
Taichi spotted his father dismounting and clashing swords with the evil digimon up on the hill. "Father," he shouted, and rushed to meet the two, desperate to help. Alas, the young knight was too late. Hessianmon kicked him hard in the chest and used Lord Kamiya's temporary distraction from seeing his son knocked back, swinging his bastard sword right into the ruler's ribs. "No!" Tai was devastated seeing his father murdered before him. Deep inside, the flames that always burned in his heart and gave him his courage and spirit became a roaring bonfire.
Hessianmon laughed evilly at Lord Kamiya's dying body. "Now for the coup de gras," he taunted. As he was about to deliver the final blow, Tai slashed his side, causing the evil digimon to howl in pain and turn to face the brown-haired knight. "So you wish to join your father," he sneered. "Fine with me."
Tai was seeing blood. His soul was burning with hatred, remorse, and vengeance. He began furiously attacking Hessianmon, going toe to toe with the evil warrior and holding his own.
Hessianmon couldn't believe the boy's skill and blind determination. This only angered him more and he increased his efforts.
Tai searched for a weak spot and finally kicked Hessianmon hard in the groin, hoping he was humanoid in more than just his standing upright. Indeed, the evil digimon was, and he dropped to his knees in pain. Tai hooked his longsword in one of the barbs in Hessianmon's sword and wrenched the blade from the dark warrior's hand. Tai grabbed the bastard sword and sent several inches of it into his opponent's chest.
Hessianmon fell backward, his eyes wide in shock. He was having trouble breathing and Tai kept his own sword in his flesh.
"Your sins are like your sword," Taichi growled in a voice that sounded as if it was not his own. "They come back on you to make you pay. Now you'll burn in Hell. This is for my father!" Tai was about to drive the sword through Hessianmon's body and kill him, but the dark warrior interrupted him.
"Wait! Please... mercy..."
"Mercy," Tai said, highly enraged. "You murdered my father nad so many poeple in cold blood. You gave them no mercy, yet plead for it from those you've hurt?" The young knight spit in the digimon's face. "Don't sicken me."
"P...Pleasssse...," Hessianmon continued. "I'll give you anything..."
Taichi narrowed his eyes. "Offer me everything that I ask for," he said in a low voice.
"...Anything... you want..."
Tai twisted the sowrd three hudred and sixty degrees inside Hessianmon's chest, tearing the flesh and causing the dark digimon to scream in pain. "I want my father back, you son of a bitch." With that, the young knight thrust the sword down through Hessianmon's chest. The blade came out of its owner's back and sank into the ground, pinning the evil warrior.
At the death of their leader, the soldiers and dark digimon panicked and fled into the woods. The champion digimon gave chase. The invaders wouldn't get very far.
Kari came rushing out from the castle and saw her father's dying body, cradled in the arms of her older brother who was sobbing uncontrollably. "Father," she whispered and collapsed on her parent and brother's bodies.
Slowly, Yamato, Sora, Daisuke, Takeru, and Mimi walked up to the scene, their eyes clouded with tears. The sight before them was heart-breaking.
Lord Kamiya suddenly spoke, though his voice was hoarse and strangled. "Taichi... Hikari..." As he spoke, a trickle of blood came from his mouth. "Please... take my amulet. The heavens have given me enough time to... say only this much... Take the amulet... Your mother will explain from there..." Lord Kamiya's eyes began to roll up in his head.
"Father," Tai cried urgently. "Don't die! We'll get you to a healer. Just hang on," he said, choking on his sobs.
"Please Father," Kari weeped. "Please don't leave!" The young sorceress was beside herself with grief.
"Goodbye... my children... I'm proud of you two... I'll be watching you... from Heaven..." With that, Lord Kamiya expelled his final breath. He was dead.
*sniff* That's so sad. How will Lord Kamiya's death affect everyone? What is the significance of his amulet? In Chapter 4: Race Against Death, an assassin poisons Tai. Can the others find the plants Joe needs to make the antidote in time? Find out.