Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Takeru and Hikari sat by the door of Koushirou's house, holding hands, and almost falling asleep on each other's shoulder.

Takeru then noticed that there was an awkward shaped bird heading towards the manor, seemingly coming from the castle. He sat up, causing Hikari to wake up from her tiny nap.

The bird was orange and flying erratically towards them. It was rather large to be a bird, but Takeru couldn't think of what else it could be.

"TK!" He barely heard. Takeru strained his ears, had he heard someone scream TK?

"Did you hear that?" He asked Hikari. She now was paying close attention to the world around her.

"TK!" This time for sure, they both heard TK, and Takeru realized that the funny orange bird wasn't a bird; it was Patamon!

Takeru shot up from his seated position and headed towards Patamon. The small orange Digimon flapped his angel wings hard, but he wasn't able to hold himself any more. He fell to the ground, spinning, causing the wind to blow his ears straight up.

Takeru saw this and his jog turned into a sprint and he raced towards his falling friend. When he was sure that he would catch him, Takeru made a baseball slide (although baseball hasn't been invented) towards his friend and caught him just before he hit the ground.

The dust cleared and Takeru coughed. He looked down at the little bundle in his arms and shook it softly.

"Pata?" He said softly. The orange Digimon coughed, and looked up at Takeru with his big blue eyes.

"The King—he's going to come and get your wives…he's going to kill them…." He whispered, falling unconscious. Takeru gasped at these words, and stood up quickly, Patamon still in his arms. He ran out of the field and into the court of the manor where Hikari was still standing.

"We have to get away!" He screamed. Hikari looked confused, and met her husband in the middle.

"What ever are you talking about?" she asked, looking at Patamon and frowning.

"Patamon, he just told me that the King was going to kill our wives!" Hikari looked up from Patamon and caught Takeru's eyes. Hers were wide and filled with fright. She turned around quickly, running into Koushirou's house and up the stairs.

Meanwhile Takeru tried to wake Patamon.

"I need to sleep…" He whispered, and he changed into Tokomon. Takeru sighed. He placed Tokomon in the flower bush, giving the tired Digimon a makeshift bed.

Takeru looked at his friend for a second, and then ran inside the house.

"HURRY IT UP WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!" He screamed. The upstairs door slammed open, and the groups stormed out down the stairs stormed Koushirou, Dr. Jyou, Yamato (carrying Mimi for who knows what reason "Put me down Yama!"), and Hikari wasn't far behind. Takeru was surprised when he saw Gatomon and two other Digimon hop (well, at least one did, the other flew) down the stairs behind the group.

Koushirou stopped in front of Takeru, letting the others run out the door (except for Hikari, she stayed with the two).

"Is what Hikari says true? The King is—" Takeru nodded, taking hold of Hikari's hand. Koushirou sighed, "I sent them to the Church. Father Ichijouji will hide you all in the Church's bell tower." Koushirou placed his hand on his forehead. "Oh Lord, we are in some serious trouble." Takeru nodded, taking in a deep breath.

"Thank you Koushirou, you've been a friend through thick and thin. We will prevail."

~*~*~

Gabumon ran down the hallways of the dark castle. "Where is the King??" He thought to himself. "He couldn't have gotten that far!!" His padded feet made a soft tapping sound, causing the two princesses (who had run to the powder room after the princes' outbursts) to come out of the room and see who was running around.

"What's the matter Gabumon?" Sora asked, bending down to look the Digimon in the eyes.

"The King, he's out to kill the princes' wives!" The girls gasped, Sora standing up and banging into Miyako.

"Why in heaven would he do that?!" Miyako said, getting frightened. Gabumon sighed.

"The two maidens are disrupting the treaty! He needs to dispose of them!" The two princesses shared a look. They had each discussed with each other their situation with their knights…it wouldn't be fair to the princes or their loved ones if they went through with this marriage.

"I think I may know where he is. Gabumon, you do know that we each brought our Digimon, correct?" Gabumon thought for a second, then he remembered the two unknown Digimon he had seen in the courtyard the other day. He nodded. Sora breathed again. "Tell them to meet us in the front of the castle, it's time to finish this once and for all." Miyako and Gabumon's eyes widened but the Digimon nodded and ran off. Then Miyako remembered something,

"OH!! GET IORI'S DIGIMON! ARMADILLOMON!" Gabumon raised a hand, acknowledging that he heard her.

Sora ran back into her room. She pulled off her dress (she was wearing her long undergarments), Miyako walked in after her, a confused look on her face.

"What are you doing Sora?" Sora rummaged through a chest and pulled out a pair of pants and a shirt. She pulled both of them on, and after she was done, she released her hair from the top of her head, in one single gesture.

"We're going to stop this foolishness right now!" She stood up straight, after tying her hair back with some sort of string. "What are you waiting for? Get dressed into something comfortable!" Miyako raised an eyebrow.

"You really thought I brought something like that to wear?" Sora rolled her eyes and placed a hand on her hip. Miyako blushed and nodded, crossing the room and pulling out a chest from under the table, and flinging it open and searching for her 'play' clothes.

~*~*~

Father Ichijouji couldn't believe what was going on. He rushed the group up towards the bell tower, whispering many different prayers under his breath.

After the hidden door was locked, he went back downstairs, and acted like nothing was happening. Although you could tell by the nervous shaking of his hands that he knew something no one else did.

Wormmon sat by his friend, at his feet trying to calm him down.

"Don't worry Ken, it'll be ok, you're just helping friends." Ken sighed and leaned his head on his podium.

"I'm betraying my King." He sighed, combing his hand through his long hair. Wormmon sighed and leaned on Ken's foot.

"Well, if what they say is true, he's the one that should be worried. The Lord won't like what he's doing." Ken sighed in agreement, falling back to land in his chair. He leaned his elbow on the armrest, and rested hi head in his hand.

"That is true, but I think the King has gone so far off the deep end that he's not going to worry about morals." Ken shook his head. "What I don't understand is why he hasn't realized that his family is more important then some peace treaty? He should have realized before hand that his sons were not going to agree with this and it just wasn't right…oh if only I had listened to my father and become a noble…but no I had to choose becoming a priest! I do love it of course, but I think I would have more of an effect on the country if I was closer to the king…" The young priest sighed and looked down at his Digimon.

Wormmon sighed and laid his head on Ken's shoe.

"We'll just see what we can do." The worm-like Digimon replied.

~*~*~

Sora and Miyako ran through the castle, making sure that they were not seen by any of the knights (although they would've loved to run into Sir. Taichi and Daisuke). The two princesses passed the guards of the gates, too easily for comfort, and they made it outside, into the sunlight.

"Where are the Digimon?" Miyako asked, shading her eyes for the sun was right overhead. Sora turned around, looking each and every way.

"I…don't know. I would think they'd be here by now." Then a loud squawk from around the castle wall caused the two girls to jump in place. They watched as Iori walked with the four Digimon, Gabumon, Armadillomon, Biyomon, and Hawkmon.

"You stepped on my foot!" Hawkmon screamed, hopping over towards Miyako. The girls smiled, meeting the group halfway. Iori crossed his arms and tapped his foot.

"What's the meaning of this arrangement your highness? I know of the King's intentions, but what are we to do about it?" He asked, clearly annoyed. His brown hair was wet, and Miyako assumed by the look of him, he had just been taking a bath. Miyako bit her lip and turned to Sora for an answer. Sora sighed and started,

"We need to settle this whole marriage thing now. The King has gone off the deep end and wants to kill two innocent girls. We can't let him do that." Iori gestured for her to continue. Sora breathed in deeply. "Back home, I used to read old myths, and prophecies. One spoke about the destined children, the ones who are believed to be sent here by unknown forces to help this world and the problems that occur in it. These children were able to befriend and control their Digimon without the Digimon reacting strangely or running away. These Digimon have been with the children since birth, though no one knows why or how they were joined." She looked towards Miyako, then back at Iori. "From what I've seen, each of the people involved with this entire situation has a Digimon and sees it as a friend, not a pet…I don't think it's a coincidence that we all came together. I think we are the chosen children." Iori let out his breath.

"How many of 'us' are there supposed to be?" He asked. Sora looked up at the sky and thought for a second.

"I think around twelve, not positive though." Iori tugged at his chin and thought for a moment.

"Takeru and his wife…Yamato and his wife…me…" He looked up at the two princesses, each of the girls blushed.

"We too have a special someone waiting for us." Miyako whispered, turning away, embarrassed. Iori sighed.

"Okay then…you two and your men…who else?" Sora raised her hand slightly.

"Lord Koushirou, I'm sure. And the doctor that we saw earlier." Iori nodded.

"So if the people we said, including the doctor, are the destined children, who is that last one?" Sora thought as hard as she could. Who was connected to at least one of these people? Maybe more? Then Miyako gasped. The others turned to her and asked,

"What??" Miyako bit her lip.

"The priest! He performed the marriages of both Takeru and Yamato! He has to be!" Sora's face brightened.

"Of course! That explains the Wormmon my Taichi saw in the flowerbed!" She clapped her hands together. "Listen, if this is going to work, we have to keep the King here for as long as possible." She turned to Iori,

"Iori, we need our two knights, they are in the town, in the hotel, there is only one hotel in the town, so it won't be so hard. Look for Tai and Daisuke, tell them Sora and Miyako need them." Iori nodded, waiting for more directions. "When you find them, bring them to…the Church, we will be waiting." Iori agreed and nodded towards Armadillomon.

"Yes, your majesty." And the two were off, racing down the main road towards the town. Sora watched as they ran off and then turned to Miyako.

"You and Hawkmon have to keep the King away from the Koushirou's manor for as long as possible! He needs to be kept away!" Miyako shivered. Would she be able to do this? She took in a breath and nodded.

"Okay, you have my word." Hawkmon joined her, and the two set off back inside the kingdom, in search of the King.

Biyomon then came up to Sora.

"Sora, what are we doing?" She asked her friend. Sora sighed.

"We're going to get the other destined children…and hopefully the priest is one of them."

~*~*~

Iori and Armadillomon ran down the hill that leads to the town in full speed.

"I…hadn't…realized…how…far…the…castle…was…from…the…town!" Iori said, gasping for breath. Armadillomon nodded, just a little behind his friend.

"You've…got…that…right!" The yellow Digimon gasped. After about fifteen minutes of running at full speed, the two reached the entrance to the town. There was a lone guard standing in the middle of the road eyeing Iori and Armadillomon carefully.

"Halt! Who goes there?" The tall guard said. Iori dusted his clothes off and bowed.

"I am Count Iori Hida, advisor and friend of the Inoue Kingdom. I need to get to the…um, hotel, right away. It's an emergency." The blonde guard watched him carefully.

"And why may I ask, do you need to go there? That is where the knights live, a rowdy bunch if you ask me." The guard said with an odd accent. Iori sighed.

"I need to speak with a couple of knights, would you mind taking me there?" The guard bit his lip, and pushed some of his blonde hair out of his face.

"HEY WILLIS!" Someone from behind the group called. The guard turned around and saw another armed man heading towards him. "Your shift is over, go take a break!" The guard, Willis, looked back at Iori and Armadillomon,

"I guess I can take you there. My name's Willis, I'll take you to the hotel in no time." Iori smiled and motioned for Armadillomon to follow.

The streets of the town were crowded and busy. People were pushing carts and selling their items ("FRESH FISH HERE! GET'EM WHILE THEY'RE FRESH!" "UNIQUE CRYSTAL NECKLACES! RUBIES THAT ONLY A QUEEN SHOULD WEAR!" "THE MAGIC CRESTS OF THE DESTINED CHILDREN!") The last shout caught Iori's attention. He turned towards the voice, and saw a little old man behind a stand.

"Hold on Willis." Iori said, heading towards the old man. Willis and Armadillomon shared a look, but they followed Iori to the stand.

Iori stood in front of the old man, and looked at the crests. They were each surrounded by a golden rim and tied onto a black string.

"Excuse me sir," Iori said to the old man. "Are these supposedly the crests of the destined children? The destined Digimon children?" The old man smiled and sat back in his seat.

"The DigiDestined to be exact." He said, laughing. "I've been waiting for you Iori, I knew you were the one that was going to find me." Iori stepped back; this old man knew his name! But how? He's never been here before in his entire life!

"How do you know my name?" The old man smiled again.

"I know everything about the DigiDestined children, although they aren't children anymore, are they? You, a Count at the age of fifteen! Amazing!" Iori blushed.

"I am only a Count because my father died in battle." He said softly. The old man nodded.

"I know, what a terrible invasion. Damn those Norseman." Iori eyed the man carefully, not noticing Willis and Armadillomon come up behind him.

"Hey!" Willis said, pointing towards the necklaces, and also causing Iori to jump. "Those necklaces, they look like mine!" Willis dug into the neck of his shirt and pulled out a necklace that shimmered a bright purplish color. "I've had this forever." He said, admiring it. The old man's eyes widened.

"You! You are the thirteenth child!" Willis stepped back; looking around as if he didn't know who the man was talking about. "I've been searching for the thirteenth necklace, it was lost many years ago…when I first received these, they had flown down from the heavens and the crest of Destiny was blown away by a strange gust of wind. " Willis looked at his crest, or whatever the man had called it, thinking that he never thought it would be something special.

The old man, taking all the crests, stood up and turned towards the door behind him. Iori now realized how short he was, not that he was one to talk, but still, even he was taller then him.

"Come with me, oh, by the way," The old man turned around to face to them. He smiled at the three. "My name is Gennai."

A/N Hehe. I love Willis, I had to throw him in there somewhere!!