Fan-Fic: Kari's Quest-A Single Tear-Part 2
Author: Angel aka Kari Kamiya
We were all sitting there around his bed, silent, just staring at him, the one who we
thought was dead. I still couldn't believe that it was him, him who had tried to kill
himself in the alleyway, him who had been talking to me, him who had taken the
bullet, him who was dying... "I can't believe it." Stated Matt, the first words that
had been uttered in the presence of this room. "It all seems so unreal..." I know
what he meant. Ever since I had heard Matt cry his name... Flashback "TK!" he
yelled. A weak smile flickered over his features. "You know it." With that he
passed out, and I heard I cry of "We're loosing him!" There were cries of distress
from around me. Mimi was clutching Tai's arm, tears falling down her cheeks.
"But, but how?" she asked. Tai absently stroked her hair, a look of shock
plastered on his face. "In the alley, oh god, that was him? Why didn't I know?
What was he doing there?" Izzy and Yolei were trying to reason it out, while Matt
and Joe were attending him until the paramedics came. Cody was just staring at
him, with disbelief painted across his face. Davis just asked, "But why wouldn't he
just tell us that he was here?" No one could answer him. No one knew. End
Flashback Why hadn't I seen it before? How could I have been so stupid, so
blind? But then again, who would have thought that our TK, TK, would ever be
living homeless on the streets of his childhood, ready to end his life? Especially
when we all thought he was dead? Flashback We were all gathered at Matt's
house, or mansion, planning the party for the 10th anniversary of our return. Not
all of us wanted to, but the city said they were going to do it, so we may as well be
the ones to plan it. "Have you been able to get a hold of TK?" Tai asked Matt.
"No, I haven't, I'm not sure where he is-" he broke of as the phone rang. "Hold
on!" he told us. All we heard was "Hello, who is this?" then silence. After about a
minute of silence from Matt, we heard a muted groan, and a clatter of the phone
hitting the ground. We ran out to Matt, who was in the hallway. He was just
standing there, tears streaming down his face. He only said one thing, but it was
enough. "My mother's dead, and they tell me they think he is too." We all
understood. And I cried. End Flashback It must have been good, This can't be for
good. Everything's... Is everything ok? The voices were becoming clearer, and I
could manage to get my eyes open. Gazing around, I could see all the 'destined
sitting around, on chairs or the floor, or standing up. Kari noticed my eyes open,
and ran over to me. "TK, oh TK! Why didn't you just tell me? Why?" she sobbed.
"Because," I whispered, "I didn't think you'd care anyway. It was too painful, I
didn't want anyone to see what I had become." "Oh, TK, I cared, I did! When I
thought you were dead... it's my fault!" I was confused by that. "Your... fault?"
Looking down into his face I knew that it was now or never. "It's my fault," I
started, "Because I waited too long... to tell you that I love you." He looked up at
me with his clear azure eyes, and gave me a smile. "Oh Kari, I love you too." I had
wanted to hear that for so long, those words lifted me up, made me feel so happy,
but then something in my stomach clenched, and I doubled up on the bed in pain.
"TK! TK, what's wrong?" I can hear Kari screaming. A bustle of people are
around me, I can hear the doctors yelling. "He has massive internal bleeding! The
wound didn't completely shut! Quick, get him into surgery, before he flat lines!" I
feel myself starting to slip away, but I don't want to leave. I was just so happy a
moment ago, why now? Was it because I waited? And I feel myself slipping...
Back down. I'm here to wear you out, I'm here to watch you hide. Nothing to
figure out, I'm here to watch you die. Running away from the breast of, Your busy
giant healing machine. The Digidestined were all sitting in the small waiting room,
some pacing restlessly (Matt), some staring into space, or at their shoes,
(Everyone else but Mimi and Matt) and some counting ceiling tiles (Mimi). Jehana
tried to calm Matt down by placing a small hand on his arm, but he just gave her a
blank stare and kept walking. Out of all of them, he was taking it hardest. Except
maybe for Kari. It had been three hours. Three hours since I had told him that I
loved him, and three hours since he had told me the same. Three hours since he
had gone into cardiac arrest, and was wheeled into surgery. In three hours, my life
had changed so drastically. I couldn't believe it. Takeru, who I had known since I
was eight years old, was dying. None of use even knew it was him, until it was too
late. Until that bullet aimed for Matt had hit him instead, until he had woken up in
the hospital, only to be rendered helpless again by a wound that would not heal. I
heard the noise of a door opening, and my head jerked upwards to look into the
face of the doctor who was taking care of TK. He cleared his throat and began.
"Well, I have good news, and I have some bad news. The good news is, that for
the moment, TK is out of danger." Matt strode over to him quickly. "And the bad
news?" "The bad news is, that we do not know what caused this injury." Now it
was Tai that leapt up, to stand angerly beside Matt, despite Mimi's restraining
grasp. "What do you mean, you don't know? It was a gun you incompetent poor
excuse for a doctor! Someone shot him!" "Listen, I'm sorry, but if you'll all come
with me, I will let our experts here at Odaiba General explain it to you." So, me and
all the rest of the 11 digidestined, still dressed up in our party clothes, most of them
stained in blood, followed the doctor into the room where our friend lay pale and
unmoving on the bed. I quickly rushed to his side, picking up with hand. It felt cool
and clammy, not at all like the warm reassuring touch it had given me so many
times before. We all looked up to see two women, about 25 or so enter the room.
One had long auburn hair, and one short blonde hair. "Hello, it's nice to meet you,
Digidestined. I am Kate, and this is my partner Kyra." The blonde one spoke.
"Now, Doctor Kaide, if you would be so kind as to let us discuss this with the
patients friends..." The doctor nodded his head and left. Immedeatly after the door
shut, Kyra got up and locked it. When the digidestined gave her questioning looks,
she shot a look of her own at Kate who nodded. In a flash of light the two women
in front of them changed. Their forms shrunk, and they sprouted pixie-like
gossomer wings, their eyes changed to a wide oval shape, completely one color,
the same as their wings and hair. Kate was a flaming orange-red, and Kyra a light
violet. They were wearing long medieval druid-like robes, Kate's with the symbol of
courage on it, accompanied by a red and yellow tounge of flame, and Kyra had
the crest of knowledge along with a large bolt of lightning. The kids stared in shock
at the two fairy like creatures hovering in the air before them. Kyra smiled down at
them. "I am Kyra, the digi-goddess of knowledge, protector of the strength of
lightning, and this," she continued to the other girl, "Is Kate, the digi-goddess of
courage, and protector of the sacred flame. We are here to help you rescue TK."
Nobody left in line, No one to make you shine. Hanging on to the backs of
opinions, You've borrowed and betrayed. Tai was the first to speak. Figures the
first word out of my brothers mouth would be stupid. "Huh?" "Real intellegent Tai!"
Kate giggled. "Now, I suppose that we have some explaining to do." "Yes," Izzy
said, taking a step towards Kyra, "That would be a plausable idea." (I LUV that
word!) "I'll explain." Kyra stated, "Seeing as Kate here sometimes gets a bit ahead
of herself... anyways," she continued, after receiving a glare from her friend, "As you
have been told, TK was not attacked by a normal weapon, but by a digimon." she
forestalled any questions with a raised hand. "This digimon is named Shultmon. He
is an extremely powerful digimon, and cannot be beaten by any normal means. The
only way to save TK, is to destroy Shultmon with the artifacts of the eight
goddesses, and the power of light and goodness. Do you understand?" "Artifacts
of the eight goddesses? What are those? And where do we find these goddeses?"
Kate smiled. "Well, we are the first two. The others can be found within a vast
lake, in a deep forest, in the center of stone, the wings of a cloud, the peak of a
mountain and the birth of all life itself. The chosen one shall be brought to the next
place with the correct completion of a task from the previous goddess." "The
chosen one?" Davis asked. "Kari," Kate continued, "The child of light." I was
shocked. Me? Why me? Fortunatly, I didn't even have to voice my question.
Davis exploded. " Why Kari?" "Because, her soul is one with hope." Kyra simply
stated. Kate asked, "Kari, are you up to the challenge?" I looked at both her and
Kyra, so powerful, yet willing to help us. To help TK. I gazed down at his pale
face, and nodded. "I will do whatever it takes to save him." I affirmed. "Alright."
Kyra said. "Now light, tell me this. What is the true meaning of knowledge?" She
asked. I was shocked. What kind of question was this? But I had to answer, if I
wanted to save TK, so I just said the first thing that popped into my mind.
"Knowledge is knowing yourself, who you are, your dreams, and... and your
hopes." I finished. Kyra smiled. "That is correct. Now take this. With this I give
you my power and my blessing." She handed me a perfect shining ring of the
purest gold. I slipped it onto my finger, and turned to face Kate. She gave me a
smile. "What child, is the true meaning of Courage?" That one barely took a
moments thought. All I had to do was remember my brother. "Courage," I said, "Is
doing what is right, no matter what, no matter what anyone says, no matter how
afraid you are." To my answer she rewarded me with another smile. "Correct.
Take this, with my power and my blessing." Kate handed me out of her dainty
hand a deep red ruby, shaped as a curving tear. It looked like a tear of flame. I
was surrounded by a bright white light, and as everything faded from my vision I
heard the voice of Kyra calling, "Be warned, things are not always as they seem.
The road will get harder, but keep up your hope..." I woke to find myself laying on
a dusty path in the middle of a field of grass. Standing up, I could see the glimmer
of light on water ahead of me, in the distance. As I started walking towards it, a
million thoughts were racing through my head. What did Kyra mean by the road
getting harder? And what would the other goddesses be like? In a vast lake, that
must be the one that I am approaching now. I kept walking for what seemed like
an hour, until I finally reached the shore. There I saw the digimon from our
adventures from all those years ago. Agumon. Gabumon. Biyomon. Tentomon.
Gomammon. Palmon. Veemon. Hawkmon. Armadillomon. Wormmon. Lopmon.
Terriermon. Patamon and finally Gatomon. Gatomon yelled "KARI! We're here to
help. The rest of them will digivolve to help us. Patamon and I'll join you." I sat
down on the sand to take a breather, and look around for a way to get out onto
the lake. Conveniently, almost so that I suspecting the goddess had known of my
coming arrival, there was a canoe on the beach a little ways to the east. It looked
like a smaller version of the one we had escaped Shellmon in. I got to my feet and
walked over to it. Searching carefully for leaks, I pushed it into the water and
jumped in, striking out toward the middle of the lake. I finally got there, and saw a
very odd sight. It was a large rock with the crest of friendship engraved onto it. As
I got out of my boat and stood on it, a MarineAngemon popped out of seemingly
nowhere and faced me. It spoke. "What do you want here, child of light?" It
asked. I composed myself. "I wish to see the Goddess of this lake. The
digi-goddess of..." I hesitated for a moment, then continued. "...of friendship." He
nodded his head and looked me in the eyes. "To gain enterance to her dwelling,
first you must answer a riddle." I nodded and he continued. "What runs far without
winding, has banks yet no money, and you could not survive without?" "Does it
have fish in it?" asked Gatomon. I thought hard before answering. This sounded
familiar... "I know!" I exclaimed. "It's a river!" The MarineAngemon disappeared,
and the stone beneth me shifted to form stairs. I followed them down until I was
standing in a vast chamber, so wide and long that I could not see any walls. There
was a shimmer of light before me and suddenly I was looking at her. She looked
much like the other goddesses, dainty and fairy-like, but she had azure wings,
eyes, and hair, that looked much like the colour of TK's eyes. On the front of her
robe along with the symbol of friendship was a wave of water. "I am the
digi-goddess of friendship, protector of the will of water." She suddenly flashed me
a surprisingly mirthful grin. "But you can call me by my human name, Nikki. What
is it that you quest for?" I swallowed, and smiled back. "Godd- I mean, Nikki," I
said, "I quest for your artifact in helping me heal TK and destroying Shultmon."
She nodded and said, "Tell me child, what is the true meaning of friendship." I
thought of all my digidestined friends waiting back in TK's room, their hopes
resting on me. The answer came. "True friendship is being willing to sacrifice
yourself to help a friend, and to be able to understand them without judging." She
gave me a look of approval and said in a warm voice, "Correct. Now, take this
with my power and my blessing." She handed me a chain of milky white pearls that
I hung around my neck. "Goodbye Kari, I hope that you can come and visit again,
when the circumstances are not so grave." As the room faded around me I heard,
"Beware of the duel paths, that which may seem safe my not be the right road to
happiness." ~~~In another place~~~ This time as the light faded, I was conscious.
I found myself standing in a dense woods, filled with ancient trees and other types
of vegetation. Again on a path, I did the only sensible thing and started walking.
Geez, I though, They couldn't have dropped me a little closer to the next goddess,
could they've? Oh no, that would be too easy... After awhile, a found myself a
fork in the path. The left side continued pretty much as this had, and the other was
dark, and covered with brambles and sharp looking branches. Remembering
Nikki's words, she started towards the right one, but it was not that easy. And
Cherrymon stepped out and blocked the path. "Halt, child of light! You may not
pass!" "But why!?" I exclaimed. "I have to see the next goddess!" He chuckled,
"But don't you want to take the nice, safe path to see her? It would be so much
easier than this old unused piece of junk!" "No!" I cried. "I have to take that path!
Please move!" "I'll make you a deal. If you can make it to the start of this path
where I'm standing, I'll let you go. Agreed?" I knew that there had to be some sort
of trick, but I really had no choice. "Agreed. But incase you pull a trick Gatomon
will digivolve." I said. But then I wished that I hadn't, I couldn't have been
prepared for this. It felt like a million daggers were being stabbed through my
head, that an iron band was crushing my skull. As I struggled forward, horrible
images flooded my mind, TK dying because I had failed him, the rest of the
destined scorning my for my mistake, and other painful things. But I struggled one,
one single thought sustaining me. "Gatomon digivolve to Angewomon." Yelled
Gatomon. 'I must save TK, I must be his hope, or I may loose him forever. I love
him.' And the next thing I knew, I broke through to Cherrymon with one heaving
step, and the pain stoped. I realized that I had been clutching my head in agony
while I was moving along, at little more than a snail's pace toward my tormenter. I
gazed up at him. "I have completed your task." I said, "Now let me pass." He
shook his head, causing some leaves to fall from his branches and scatter on the
ground. "I could let you pat, but it would be no good. To get to the next
digi-goddess, the goddess of Sincerity, you must have a key. The only way to gain
it is my riddle. Answer correct, and you receive the key. Answer wrong, I will
send you back to your true reality. Are you ready?" I nodded silently. This was
much harder than Nikki's, she never had a tree that sounded like it was part of the
Italian Mafia drilling painful images into your mind. My head was still ringing, and
not pleasently. "What," he started, "Is ageless as time itself, as beautiful as a rose,
can survive though one half is gone, yet something lifeless cannot feel?" I stared
blankly at him for a moment, before reality set in. I didn't know the answer. I
would fail, TK would die, and leave me alone, our bond broken... I froze. That
was it! "The answer Cherrymon," I said, trying hard to let my voice break, "Is
Love." In a gust of wind he dissapeared, leaving a key in his wake. It was
burnished silver, with orient vines twined around the head. I picked it up, it was
conciderably lighter than it looked. Starting down the path, I was surprised to find
myself in front of a large metal gate, the safe material as the key, within about five
minutes. Maybe whoever decided where I was dropped wasn't so cruel after all.
Fitting the key into the lock with minimum effort, I turned and pushed. The door
swung open, and the key dissapeared from my hand. As I stepped in, I had little
time to think of this, as I was confronted with the Digi-Goddess of Sincerity. Like
the others she has wings, the same colour as the pretty soft moss green colour hair
and eyes, much like the colour of Mimi's crest. On her snow white robes she had
the images of sincerity an oak leaf. "Greetings child of light," she said is a warm
voice, "I am the digi-goddess of sincerity, protector of the serentity of forest. You
may call me Stacey. I know what you quest for, are you prepared for your
question?" I liked her, she was brusque, and to the point, but not in an unkind way.
She seemed very nice, maybe she knew that I was in somewhat of a hurry. I
smiled and nodded. "I am ready." "What," she asked, "Is the true meaning of
Sincerity?" I was prepared for this, so I barely had to think. All I did was remember
how good it felt, to let out to TK my true feelings for him. "Sincerity," I said, "Is
telling what you feel, not waiting, and not being afraid of the results." She smiled at
me and held out her hand. In it was a beautiful glass flower, a snow lily. "Take this,
Kari, with my power and my blessing. May your journey be a safe one." "Thank
you." I said. The now familiar white light surrounded me, and her parting words
were heard asd if they came from far away, "Remember, nothing is impossible, just
let your heart lead the way..." Feeling the rushing sensation of dimension hopping
fade, I looked around. "It... it can't be!" She was... in the digiworld??? And yet it
wasn't... it was like a piece of the digiworld, put into the middle of a giant field. An
big piece. Infinity Mountain to be exact. Not quite sure of what to do, I started to
climb. "Always walking... they really are trying to make this as difficult as possible,
arn't they?" I asked to no one in particular. What surprised me even more was that
I got an answer. "I can make it easier, for a price." It was a Unimon, standing a bit
ahead of me on the path. 'What in the world...' I wondered. "What does that
mean, for a price?" I asked warily. "You are short on time." He stated the obvious.
"I can fly you to Trinity's dwelling, for a simple price." He kept mentioning that. A
simple price. "And what exactly is that?" I asked, voicing my question. "So far,
everyone has just accepted that you love TK, but I am here to see how much you
value it. You will give your prized possesion, and I will take you to Trinity's." It
made sense I suppose. It figures, a materialistic mythical creature... oh gee, how
predictable. But who was Trinity? And who made up these tasks anyways?
"Well," I said, "What do I have to give up? The only thing I have with me is..." I
trailed off. "My.. my grandmothers ring..." The Unimon gave what I took to be a
smile. "That will do nicely. Now hand it over, child of light." I hesitated, but only
for a moment. I chided myself. 'How can you put a price on your love's life?
Anything is worth it, even this.' I took off the ring and held it out to him. He flew
over and picked it up daintily with his teeth, dropping into a small pouch on his
ankle. "Climb on." He said, and I complied. The ride took only a brief minute, but
that was all that it took me to remember the joy of flying. Even if it was on the back
of a strange digimon, it had not lost any of its charm. Almost, but not quite, too
soon, I was put down in front of a large stone door. The Unimon knelt to let me
off, then gently lipped the sleeve of my dress. "It was a pleasure doing business
with you mistress. You are an excellent rider. Good luck."
Author: Angel aka Kari Kamiya
We were all sitting there around his bed, silent, just staring at him, the one who we
thought was dead. I still couldn't believe that it was him, him who had tried to kill
himself in the alleyway, him who had been talking to me, him who had taken the
bullet, him who was dying... "I can't believe it." Stated Matt, the first words that
had been uttered in the presence of this room. "It all seems so unreal..." I know
what he meant. Ever since I had heard Matt cry his name... Flashback "TK!" he
yelled. A weak smile flickered over his features. "You know it." With that he
passed out, and I heard I cry of "We're loosing him!" There were cries of distress
from around me. Mimi was clutching Tai's arm, tears falling down her cheeks.
"But, but how?" she asked. Tai absently stroked her hair, a look of shock
plastered on his face. "In the alley, oh god, that was him? Why didn't I know?
What was he doing there?" Izzy and Yolei were trying to reason it out, while Matt
and Joe were attending him until the paramedics came. Cody was just staring at
him, with disbelief painted across his face. Davis just asked, "But why wouldn't he
just tell us that he was here?" No one could answer him. No one knew. End
Flashback Why hadn't I seen it before? How could I have been so stupid, so
blind? But then again, who would have thought that our TK, TK, would ever be
living homeless on the streets of his childhood, ready to end his life? Especially
when we all thought he was dead? Flashback We were all gathered at Matt's
house, or mansion, planning the party for the 10th anniversary of our return. Not
all of us wanted to, but the city said they were going to do it, so we may as well be
the ones to plan it. "Have you been able to get a hold of TK?" Tai asked Matt.
"No, I haven't, I'm not sure where he is-" he broke of as the phone rang. "Hold
on!" he told us. All we heard was "Hello, who is this?" then silence. After about a
minute of silence from Matt, we heard a muted groan, and a clatter of the phone
hitting the ground. We ran out to Matt, who was in the hallway. He was just
standing there, tears streaming down his face. He only said one thing, but it was
enough. "My mother's dead, and they tell me they think he is too." We all
understood. And I cried. End Flashback It must have been good, This can't be for
good. Everything's... Is everything ok? The voices were becoming clearer, and I
could manage to get my eyes open. Gazing around, I could see all the 'destined
sitting around, on chairs or the floor, or standing up. Kari noticed my eyes open,
and ran over to me. "TK, oh TK! Why didn't you just tell me? Why?" she sobbed.
"Because," I whispered, "I didn't think you'd care anyway. It was too painful, I
didn't want anyone to see what I had become." "Oh, TK, I cared, I did! When I
thought you were dead... it's my fault!" I was confused by that. "Your... fault?"
Looking down into his face I knew that it was now or never. "It's my fault," I
started, "Because I waited too long... to tell you that I love you." He looked up at
me with his clear azure eyes, and gave me a smile. "Oh Kari, I love you too." I had
wanted to hear that for so long, those words lifted me up, made me feel so happy,
but then something in my stomach clenched, and I doubled up on the bed in pain.
"TK! TK, what's wrong?" I can hear Kari screaming. A bustle of people are
around me, I can hear the doctors yelling. "He has massive internal bleeding! The
wound didn't completely shut! Quick, get him into surgery, before he flat lines!" I
feel myself starting to slip away, but I don't want to leave. I was just so happy a
moment ago, why now? Was it because I waited? And I feel myself slipping...
Back down. I'm here to wear you out, I'm here to watch you hide. Nothing to
figure out, I'm here to watch you die. Running away from the breast of, Your busy
giant healing machine. The Digidestined were all sitting in the small waiting room,
some pacing restlessly (Matt), some staring into space, or at their shoes,
(Everyone else but Mimi and Matt) and some counting ceiling tiles (Mimi). Jehana
tried to calm Matt down by placing a small hand on his arm, but he just gave her a
blank stare and kept walking. Out of all of them, he was taking it hardest. Except
maybe for Kari. It had been three hours. Three hours since I had told him that I
loved him, and three hours since he had told me the same. Three hours since he
had gone into cardiac arrest, and was wheeled into surgery. In three hours, my life
had changed so drastically. I couldn't believe it. Takeru, who I had known since I
was eight years old, was dying. None of use even knew it was him, until it was too
late. Until that bullet aimed for Matt had hit him instead, until he had woken up in
the hospital, only to be rendered helpless again by a wound that would not heal. I
heard the noise of a door opening, and my head jerked upwards to look into the
face of the doctor who was taking care of TK. He cleared his throat and began.
"Well, I have good news, and I have some bad news. The good news is, that for
the moment, TK is out of danger." Matt strode over to him quickly. "And the bad
news?" "The bad news is, that we do not know what caused this injury." Now it
was Tai that leapt up, to stand angerly beside Matt, despite Mimi's restraining
grasp. "What do you mean, you don't know? It was a gun you incompetent poor
excuse for a doctor! Someone shot him!" "Listen, I'm sorry, but if you'll all come
with me, I will let our experts here at Odaiba General explain it to you." So, me and
all the rest of the 11 digidestined, still dressed up in our party clothes, most of them
stained in blood, followed the doctor into the room where our friend lay pale and
unmoving on the bed. I quickly rushed to his side, picking up with hand. It felt cool
and clammy, not at all like the warm reassuring touch it had given me so many
times before. We all looked up to see two women, about 25 or so enter the room.
One had long auburn hair, and one short blonde hair. "Hello, it's nice to meet you,
Digidestined. I am Kate, and this is my partner Kyra." The blonde one spoke.
"Now, Doctor Kaide, if you would be so kind as to let us discuss this with the
patients friends..." The doctor nodded his head and left. Immedeatly after the door
shut, Kyra got up and locked it. When the digidestined gave her questioning looks,
she shot a look of her own at Kate who nodded. In a flash of light the two women
in front of them changed. Their forms shrunk, and they sprouted pixie-like
gossomer wings, their eyes changed to a wide oval shape, completely one color,
the same as their wings and hair. Kate was a flaming orange-red, and Kyra a light
violet. They were wearing long medieval druid-like robes, Kate's with the symbol of
courage on it, accompanied by a red and yellow tounge of flame, and Kyra had
the crest of knowledge along with a large bolt of lightning. The kids stared in shock
at the two fairy like creatures hovering in the air before them. Kyra smiled down at
them. "I am Kyra, the digi-goddess of knowledge, protector of the strength of
lightning, and this," she continued to the other girl, "Is Kate, the digi-goddess of
courage, and protector of the sacred flame. We are here to help you rescue TK."
Nobody left in line, No one to make you shine. Hanging on to the backs of
opinions, You've borrowed and betrayed. Tai was the first to speak. Figures the
first word out of my brothers mouth would be stupid. "Huh?" "Real intellegent Tai!"
Kate giggled. "Now, I suppose that we have some explaining to do." "Yes," Izzy
said, taking a step towards Kyra, "That would be a plausable idea." (I LUV that
word!) "I'll explain." Kyra stated, "Seeing as Kate here sometimes gets a bit ahead
of herself... anyways," she continued, after receiving a glare from her friend, "As you
have been told, TK was not attacked by a normal weapon, but by a digimon." she
forestalled any questions with a raised hand. "This digimon is named Shultmon. He
is an extremely powerful digimon, and cannot be beaten by any normal means. The
only way to save TK, is to destroy Shultmon with the artifacts of the eight
goddesses, and the power of light and goodness. Do you understand?" "Artifacts
of the eight goddesses? What are those? And where do we find these goddeses?"
Kate smiled. "Well, we are the first two. The others can be found within a vast
lake, in a deep forest, in the center of stone, the wings of a cloud, the peak of a
mountain and the birth of all life itself. The chosen one shall be brought to the next
place with the correct completion of a task from the previous goddess." "The
chosen one?" Davis asked. "Kari," Kate continued, "The child of light." I was
shocked. Me? Why me? Fortunatly, I didn't even have to voice my question.
Davis exploded. " Why Kari?" "Because, her soul is one with hope." Kyra simply
stated. Kate asked, "Kari, are you up to the challenge?" I looked at both her and
Kyra, so powerful, yet willing to help us. To help TK. I gazed down at his pale
face, and nodded. "I will do whatever it takes to save him." I affirmed. "Alright."
Kyra said. "Now light, tell me this. What is the true meaning of knowledge?" She
asked. I was shocked. What kind of question was this? But I had to answer, if I
wanted to save TK, so I just said the first thing that popped into my mind.
"Knowledge is knowing yourself, who you are, your dreams, and... and your
hopes." I finished. Kyra smiled. "That is correct. Now take this. With this I give
you my power and my blessing." She handed me a perfect shining ring of the
purest gold. I slipped it onto my finger, and turned to face Kate. She gave me a
smile. "What child, is the true meaning of Courage?" That one barely took a
moments thought. All I had to do was remember my brother. "Courage," I said, "Is
doing what is right, no matter what, no matter what anyone says, no matter how
afraid you are." To my answer she rewarded me with another smile. "Correct.
Take this, with my power and my blessing." Kate handed me out of her dainty
hand a deep red ruby, shaped as a curving tear. It looked like a tear of flame. I
was surrounded by a bright white light, and as everything faded from my vision I
heard the voice of Kyra calling, "Be warned, things are not always as they seem.
The road will get harder, but keep up your hope..." I woke to find myself laying on
a dusty path in the middle of a field of grass. Standing up, I could see the glimmer
of light on water ahead of me, in the distance. As I started walking towards it, a
million thoughts were racing through my head. What did Kyra mean by the road
getting harder? And what would the other goddesses be like? In a vast lake, that
must be the one that I am approaching now. I kept walking for what seemed like
an hour, until I finally reached the shore. There I saw the digimon from our
adventures from all those years ago. Agumon. Gabumon. Biyomon. Tentomon.
Gomammon. Palmon. Veemon. Hawkmon. Armadillomon. Wormmon. Lopmon.
Terriermon. Patamon and finally Gatomon. Gatomon yelled "KARI! We're here to
help. The rest of them will digivolve to help us. Patamon and I'll join you." I sat
down on the sand to take a breather, and look around for a way to get out onto
the lake. Conveniently, almost so that I suspecting the goddess had known of my
coming arrival, there was a canoe on the beach a little ways to the east. It looked
like a smaller version of the one we had escaped Shellmon in. I got to my feet and
walked over to it. Searching carefully for leaks, I pushed it into the water and
jumped in, striking out toward the middle of the lake. I finally got there, and saw a
very odd sight. It was a large rock with the crest of friendship engraved onto it. As
I got out of my boat and stood on it, a MarineAngemon popped out of seemingly
nowhere and faced me. It spoke. "What do you want here, child of light?" It
asked. I composed myself. "I wish to see the Goddess of this lake. The
digi-goddess of..." I hesitated for a moment, then continued. "...of friendship." He
nodded his head and looked me in the eyes. "To gain enterance to her dwelling,
first you must answer a riddle." I nodded and he continued. "What runs far without
winding, has banks yet no money, and you could not survive without?" "Does it
have fish in it?" asked Gatomon. I thought hard before answering. This sounded
familiar... "I know!" I exclaimed. "It's a river!" The MarineAngemon disappeared,
and the stone beneth me shifted to form stairs. I followed them down until I was
standing in a vast chamber, so wide and long that I could not see any walls. There
was a shimmer of light before me and suddenly I was looking at her. She looked
much like the other goddesses, dainty and fairy-like, but she had azure wings,
eyes, and hair, that looked much like the colour of TK's eyes. On the front of her
robe along with the symbol of friendship was a wave of water. "I am the
digi-goddess of friendship, protector of the will of water." She suddenly flashed me
a surprisingly mirthful grin. "But you can call me by my human name, Nikki. What
is it that you quest for?" I swallowed, and smiled back. "Godd- I mean, Nikki," I
said, "I quest for your artifact in helping me heal TK and destroying Shultmon."
She nodded and said, "Tell me child, what is the true meaning of friendship." I
thought of all my digidestined friends waiting back in TK's room, their hopes
resting on me. The answer came. "True friendship is being willing to sacrifice
yourself to help a friend, and to be able to understand them without judging." She
gave me a look of approval and said in a warm voice, "Correct. Now, take this
with my power and my blessing." She handed me a chain of milky white pearls that
I hung around my neck. "Goodbye Kari, I hope that you can come and visit again,
when the circumstances are not so grave." As the room faded around me I heard,
"Beware of the duel paths, that which may seem safe my not be the right road to
happiness." ~~~In another place~~~ This time as the light faded, I was conscious.
I found myself standing in a dense woods, filled with ancient trees and other types
of vegetation. Again on a path, I did the only sensible thing and started walking.
Geez, I though, They couldn't have dropped me a little closer to the next goddess,
could they've? Oh no, that would be too easy... After awhile, a found myself a
fork in the path. The left side continued pretty much as this had, and the other was
dark, and covered with brambles and sharp looking branches. Remembering
Nikki's words, she started towards the right one, but it was not that easy. And
Cherrymon stepped out and blocked the path. "Halt, child of light! You may not
pass!" "But why!?" I exclaimed. "I have to see the next goddess!" He chuckled,
"But don't you want to take the nice, safe path to see her? It would be so much
easier than this old unused piece of junk!" "No!" I cried. "I have to take that path!
Please move!" "I'll make you a deal. If you can make it to the start of this path
where I'm standing, I'll let you go. Agreed?" I knew that there had to be some sort
of trick, but I really had no choice. "Agreed. But incase you pull a trick Gatomon
will digivolve." I said. But then I wished that I hadn't, I couldn't have been
prepared for this. It felt like a million daggers were being stabbed through my
head, that an iron band was crushing my skull. As I struggled forward, horrible
images flooded my mind, TK dying because I had failed him, the rest of the
destined scorning my for my mistake, and other painful things. But I struggled one,
one single thought sustaining me. "Gatomon digivolve to Angewomon." Yelled
Gatomon. 'I must save TK, I must be his hope, or I may loose him forever. I love
him.' And the next thing I knew, I broke through to Cherrymon with one heaving
step, and the pain stoped. I realized that I had been clutching my head in agony
while I was moving along, at little more than a snail's pace toward my tormenter. I
gazed up at him. "I have completed your task." I said, "Now let me pass." He
shook his head, causing some leaves to fall from his branches and scatter on the
ground. "I could let you pat, but it would be no good. To get to the next
digi-goddess, the goddess of Sincerity, you must have a key. The only way to gain
it is my riddle. Answer correct, and you receive the key. Answer wrong, I will
send you back to your true reality. Are you ready?" I nodded silently. This was
much harder than Nikki's, she never had a tree that sounded like it was part of the
Italian Mafia drilling painful images into your mind. My head was still ringing, and
not pleasently. "What," he started, "Is ageless as time itself, as beautiful as a rose,
can survive though one half is gone, yet something lifeless cannot feel?" I stared
blankly at him for a moment, before reality set in. I didn't know the answer. I
would fail, TK would die, and leave me alone, our bond broken... I froze. That
was it! "The answer Cherrymon," I said, trying hard to let my voice break, "Is
Love." In a gust of wind he dissapeared, leaving a key in his wake. It was
burnished silver, with orient vines twined around the head. I picked it up, it was
conciderably lighter than it looked. Starting down the path, I was surprised to find
myself in front of a large metal gate, the safe material as the key, within about five
minutes. Maybe whoever decided where I was dropped wasn't so cruel after all.
Fitting the key into the lock with minimum effort, I turned and pushed. The door
swung open, and the key dissapeared from my hand. As I stepped in, I had little
time to think of this, as I was confronted with the Digi-Goddess of Sincerity. Like
the others she has wings, the same colour as the pretty soft moss green colour hair
and eyes, much like the colour of Mimi's crest. On her snow white robes she had
the images of sincerity an oak leaf. "Greetings child of light," she said is a warm
voice, "I am the digi-goddess of sincerity, protector of the serentity of forest. You
may call me Stacey. I know what you quest for, are you prepared for your
question?" I liked her, she was brusque, and to the point, but not in an unkind way.
She seemed very nice, maybe she knew that I was in somewhat of a hurry. I
smiled and nodded. "I am ready." "What," she asked, "Is the true meaning of
Sincerity?" I was prepared for this, so I barely had to think. All I did was remember
how good it felt, to let out to TK my true feelings for him. "Sincerity," I said, "Is
telling what you feel, not waiting, and not being afraid of the results." She smiled at
me and held out her hand. In it was a beautiful glass flower, a snow lily. "Take this,
Kari, with my power and my blessing. May your journey be a safe one." "Thank
you." I said. The now familiar white light surrounded me, and her parting words
were heard asd if they came from far away, "Remember, nothing is impossible, just
let your heart lead the way..." Feeling the rushing sensation of dimension hopping
fade, I looked around. "It... it can't be!" She was... in the digiworld??? And yet it
wasn't... it was like a piece of the digiworld, put into the middle of a giant field. An
big piece. Infinity Mountain to be exact. Not quite sure of what to do, I started to
climb. "Always walking... they really are trying to make this as difficult as possible,
arn't they?" I asked to no one in particular. What surprised me even more was that
I got an answer. "I can make it easier, for a price." It was a Unimon, standing a bit
ahead of me on the path. 'What in the world...' I wondered. "What does that
mean, for a price?" I asked warily. "You are short on time." He stated the obvious.
"I can fly you to Trinity's dwelling, for a simple price." He kept mentioning that. A
simple price. "And what exactly is that?" I asked, voicing my question. "So far,
everyone has just accepted that you love TK, but I am here to see how much you
value it. You will give your prized possesion, and I will take you to Trinity's." It
made sense I suppose. It figures, a materialistic mythical creature... oh gee, how
predictable. But who was Trinity? And who made up these tasks anyways?
"Well," I said, "What do I have to give up? The only thing I have with me is..." I
trailed off. "My.. my grandmothers ring..." The Unimon gave what I took to be a
smile. "That will do nicely. Now hand it over, child of light." I hesitated, but only
for a moment. I chided myself. 'How can you put a price on your love's life?
Anything is worth it, even this.' I took off the ring and held it out to him. He flew
over and picked it up daintily with his teeth, dropping into a small pouch on his
ankle. "Climb on." He said, and I complied. The ride took only a brief minute, but
that was all that it took me to remember the joy of flying. Even if it was on the back
of a strange digimon, it had not lost any of its charm. Almost, but not quite, too
soon, I was put down in front of a large stone door. The Unimon knelt to let me
off, then gently lipped the sleeve of my dress. "It was a pleasure doing business
with you mistress. You are an excellent rider. Good luck."