Knights of the Crests World Wide
Switzerland
Note, this is the beginning of the Emperor Saga, meaning that battles will now be in the real world in Switzerland and in the Digital World.
To my Cousin Gaby, Happy B-Day
(January 30, 2002)
----------------------------------------------------*----------------------- ---------------------------The Battle For Geneva
The Emperor sat on his dark throne, pondering why his Prince had not signed in for more than two weeks. As he did, he did not notice the arrival of his closest servant, Etheniel. He did not speak until the Emperor's gaze finally came in contact with him.
"What is it, Etheniel?" asked the Emperor.
"Sire, we have finally received news from the Prince's Palace." reported Etheniel
"Splendid. Have the Rebels been crushed finally?" asked the Emperor
"That is the problem, sire. They are not, and the Rebel emblem is hoisted on top of the Palace. We believe the Prince has been beaten." answered Etheniel.
"I see…so, the Prince, my second, has been beaten by a ragtag group of Rebels? Are you mocking me?" asked the Emperor angrily.
"No sire, I am not. Please forgive me if I seemed to. Yet we have proof of the Prince's defeat at the hands of the Rebels." apologized Etheniel
"Which are?" asked the Emperor
"We were able to retrieve the security camera tapes from the Throne Room. There appeared to have a fight there, where the Prince was almost winning, but then the Rebels got smart and won over Kaizer and Dark Angemon. Then, one of the Rebels, presumably the leader, took on the Prince and they both had a ferocious battle, where the Rebel eventually split the Prince's sword in two. That's where the tape ends." reported Etheniel.
"I see…so, Takato has mastered his power. We shall see if it is the same for his brother and sisters…" said the Emperor with an evil smile.
Etheniel bowed and then left the room, leaving the Emperor to his thoughts. They had beaten the Prince, and he guessed they were now heading for him. Good thing he had a hostage, just in case.
-------------------------------------------------------*-------------------- ---------------------------
Jonathan and his group walked for miles and miles, until they finally came to a small village. There, the digimon were all busy carrying on their lives as usual, as if no war was going on. Jonathan gave his team a sign to move on and they all nodded. As they entered into the town, some digimon turned their heads towards them, but then got back to work. They then reached the town bar-hotel. Jonathan came in first, followed by Hyryuu and Legolas. The girls then came in and Aragorn, Boromir, and Gimli came behind them, as rear guard. Jonathan and Hyryuu came up to the bartender.
"Excuse me, but do you have any spare rooms?" asked Jonathan
"'Fraid not, son. This gang from the West came in and took all of the rooms." apologized the bartender digimon, an old Barmon.
Jonathan nodded in understanding and left the bar, accompanied by Hyryuu, and came back to the others.
"Well?" asked Christina
"No rooms." replied Hyryuu
"So how do we spend the night?" asked Hikaru
"Well, we could sleep outside…" suggested Gimli
"Not a good idea. I've heard an assassin has been roaming this area for weeks now. They say he works for no one but himself. No one has been able to defeat him, much less survive him." replied Aragorn.
"Well, why don't we try?" asked Boromir. "I'm not afraid of no assassin!" he exclaimed, making every sound in the bar cease.
Jonathan slapped his forehead and Hyryuu gave a sigh of exasperation. Every digimon was now looking at them in horror and surprise. Murmurs could be heard throughout the whole bar.
"Did you hear that? He's defying the Hitokiri!" said one
"He must have lost all will of living." said another
"No one defies the Hitokiri and survives the night!" said another one.
Jonathan looked around and heard some of the murmurs. From behind them, Gandalf had just entered the bar-hotel, after accomplishing some unknown task to the others.
"Seems, Boromir, that your big mouth has opened once more when it was not needed." he said
"I still can't believe they are afraid of one assassin. I mean, if he's not an Imperialist, and he's not a Rebel or Council Member, then what is he?" asked Boromir.
"There are some things you are not supposed to know in life, Boromir." replied Gandalf
They were about to leave when someone grabbed Hikaru from behind and stopped her, causing her to give a small gasp. Hyryuu turned back to look who had done that. Two drunken digimon were smiling nastily at her.
"Hey babe, what's your sign?" asked one
"Want to have a little fun with us?" asked the other
"You two got some nerve to say that to my girlfriend!" shouted sharply Hyryuu at them
"Bug off kid. MEGA FIST!" shouted the first one, causing Hyryuu to fly backwards and into a wall at full speed.
Hyryuu hit the wall at full strength, but it did not break. Hyryuu's face was bowed down, as if unconscious, but they could see he was still breathing. After about five minutes, he slowly got up, head still bowed. After he had gotten himself up fully, he shot his head up suddenly, showing that his brown eyes were now of a golden color.
"What the…?" asked one of the drunk digimon
Hyryuu left no space for answer. He took out his blade and ran at them. He ran right pass them, but on the way made two fatal slashes at the digimon. After he came to a stop, the digimon started to vanish into data. Hyryuu then put his sword back, just as his friends were starting to leave the place. Once they had gotten outside, several rough looking digimon came out and blocked their way.
"Please remove yourself from our way." requested Jonathan calmly.
"Hell now way! Not after your friend here cut our pals into slices." said one of them
"They started the conflict and assaulted my brother's girlfriend. The blame is on them." replied Jonathan calmly, though his patience was ending.
"I don't give a damn who started it! Both of them are gone because of him, so he's going down, and if any of you get in the way, we'll take you down too!" threatened the digimon.
"This is my son you are talking about, mister…" said Legolas, his fists shaking.
"Bug off stranger! This is between us and the kid." said another digimon
Legolas looked up, his eyes turned pure white. His clothing changed into his Elven Angel clothes, his two white wings protruded from his back.
"I will not allow you to hurt my son. Not now, not ever." announced Legolas, taking out a sword from it's hilt at his side.
"Taking us on, eh stranger?" mocked one of the digimon, unimpressed by this transformation
"Damn right I am." replied Legolas
Jonathan and Hyryuu had seen enough and where about to transform when a gust of wind shot past them and onto the digimon, making them lose their balance a bit, but quickly recovering. All of them looked back and saw that the sun had set. A look of horror came upon the digimons' faces, as they knew this was the time of the Hitokiri.
"You made us stay out here until sun set! We are doomed!" cried one.
"We can still save ourselves, get into the bar-hotel!" shouted the leader
"We can't! The owner locked up the place." answered another digimon.
Just then, the town clock sounded, and the digimon looked at the clock tower. On top of the tower was a lone figure, a katana in hand, flashing in the moonlight. Flapping around him was an orange-like cloak and on his shoulder was a digimon.
"Night has fallen. The wrong shall be corrected." exclaimed the figure
"The Hitokiri!" the digimon cried
The figure jumped off the tower and landed safely onto the ground and walked towards them.
"I hear you digimon have been acting badly for a while…how much is the Emperor paying you for your services here?" asked the figure to the digimon
"I…we don't know what you are talking about, Mr. Hitokiri." replied the leader
"Right…well, I do know how much…you get fifteen thousand digicredits for each job done, most of them being murder, assault, terrorism, among others." said the figure, his tone a lot more cold than it was. "Now then, what shall I do with you? Patamon? What do you say?" asked the figure to his digimon
"Let them go. Everyone deserves a second chance." replied Patamon
"True. This is my verdict. You are to leave this town and never come back, unless you are not under the Emperor's service or influence." said the figure, before turning his back on the digimon and going towards Jonathan and his team.
"You may deform, Holy Angel, father of Jonathan and Hyryuu, Knights of Loyalty and Justice. Go to the north, a camp will be ready for you there. No one shall bother you there, I promise." the figure told them
After that, the figure got a bit back and threw something on the floor, causing a flash. After the flash disappeared, so had the figure. He was nowhere to be seen. The digimon then looked at the team and prepared to attack them.
"I don't care what the Hitokiri says! We can't go back without some prize!" exclaimed the leader. That proved to be the last thing he said that night or ever again.
Just as the leader had said that, the figure had appeared in front of him and slashed him through the chest, killing the leader instantly. The figure then proceeded towards the other digimon, killing them all quickly. An Angemon had appeared with him, helping the Hitokiri in his work. After all the digimon had fallen, the figure retreated quickly into the shadows. Jonathan and Hyryuu stood shocked at what had just happened.
"Well, we should go now I guess…nothing more to watch." suggested Kim
"True…let's go. We must get some sleep for tomorrow, we must find that floating fortress." said Gandalf.
The others nodded and followed Aragorn, who led them to the north, where, just as the figure had said, there lay a camp, ready to accommodate anyone. They all went to sleep except for Jonathan and Christina, who couldn't sleep. Jonathan got up form his sleeping bag and went to sit on a log. Hyryuu, who was sleeping next to him, was snoring. Jonathan looked upwards and looked at the stars. Christina, who was just laying there, trying to go to sleep, noticed him then, and quietly got up, so as to not wake up Hikaru or Kim. She got up and then went to sit beside Jonathan on the log. Jonathan had heard her, but had made her think he hadn't. She was silent for a while, until Jonathan finally spoke up.
"Couldn't sleep either, huh?" asked Jonathan, still looking at the stars.
"Well…yes…I couldn't." she replied, somewhat surprised by his sudden statement.
"I was thinking…after we are done here…that means I have to go back home to Japan. I may never see you again after this adventure." he said
"Don't think like that!" she told him. "You leaving Switzerland does not mean we won't see each other again!"
"Kinda hard for someone to talk to his girlfriend two continents away…" said Jonathan
"Only if the person deems it so. Tell me Jonathan, are you in love with me?" asked Christina, stunning him a bit.
"What do you mean? Of course I am! I mean, for me, you are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen I my life. Believe me, I've seen LOTS of girl in my life, all of them fans." he said
"I know you are, but how deep?" she pressured
"To the heart of my soul" he replied honestly
"Then there shouldn't be a problem. If you do love me that way, then we will meet again. Destiny does that to lovers, it separates them to test them, and then bring them back together if they pass the test. I'm ready to pass mine. Are you?" she asked him
"I am…For you, I am ready for any test, be it of strength, will, or thinking." he replied, still honestly.
That was enough of an answer for her. She closed up on him and kissed him gently on the lips. He returned the kiss happily, but they soon broke apart.
"We better get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long day." he said
"Yes, you're right. We better go to sleep." she agreed.
They both nodded and went to their respective sleeping bags. Soon after, they both fell asleep. From atop one of the trees surrounding the camp, stood a loone figure watching.
"Soon…very soon…I will be able to kiss upon a girl like that again." it sighed, before jumping up and disappearing with the wind.
The next day came and the team slowly woke up one by one. They decided all to go to the bar-hotel for breakfast, but found that on one was in town.
"Call me crazy, but this seems too familiar…" said Hyryuu
"Only thing missing is a crazed maniac with two swords trying to kill us." agreed Jonathan.
They all went back to camp and there tried to cook something, but there wasn't enough food to fill everyone. After Jonathan and Hyryuu volunteered to go find some food somewhere, the rest decided to take a nap, that way, they would forget their hunger. When they woke up, they saw Jonathan and Hyryuu running up to them, and a very close smell of smoke in the air. They looked up and saw that the sky was darkened by smoke and quickly got up. They turned to where the town is and saw a great blazing fire consuming the town slowly. Jonathan and Hyryuu finally reached them.
"Let's go! The town is burning up! We have to stop that fire!" ordered Jonathan
"Right!" they all said.
"I'll try and see if I can do anything to stop it!" said Jin, taking out her pendant. "Power of the Pendant AWAKE!" she shouted, making a green light appear from her pendant. "Flower of Life!" she cried. Soon after, she was standing in her armor, as a teenager, of course.
"Quickly, catch up when you can. I will try to stop the fire!" she said before rushing off with Gandalf.
The others quickly got out their pendants/weapons.
"Pendants of Power AWAKEN!" shouted the Knights
"Fire of Compassion!" shouted Catherine, a red tornado of flame engulfing her, making her armor appear.
"Wind of Compassion!" shouted Kim with a smile, her armor appearing on her body.
"Typhoon of Loyalty!" shouted Hyryuu, growing taller and becoming fully armored.
"Sword of Justice!" shouted Jonathan, growing taller and fully armored.
Christina felt a sudden surge of energy as she glowed silver. "Cross of Faith!" shouted Christina.
Christina's clothes were immediately changed into a silver fabric, as armor started appearing on her body. Her chest and thigh were all covered with silver armor. Her chest armor mostly covered her chest, and shoulders, leaving the stomach unprotected. On her arms appeared elbow protectors, also silver. Her hands were covered with white gloves and at in one hand was a silver staff with a golden star on one end. Her thigh armor had four long pieces of armor coming out of it and pointing downwards. One was covering the front, one her right, one her left, and one her back. Her legs were covered with the fabric and her shoes had silver wings protruding from their sides. Her hair was allowed to flow through the air freely.
Hikaru felt the same surge of energy and gave a smile. "Creation of the World!" she shouted, making a light of brown, green, blue, and white engulf her
Her armor resembled that of Christina's except for the fact that the armor was light blue, the fabric white, her gloves brown, and her staff green with a small orb at one end.
Legolas' eyes once again turned white, before angel wings came out of his back and his clothing changed once more. Aragorn's eyes seemed to turn golden, before gray armor appeared on him, making him look like a medieval knight, were it not for his kingly face. Boromir, who was already in armor, only took out his sword and blew his horn, telling everyone he was ready. Gimli simply took out his axe and gave a battle cry to scare any monster away. The whole team stood there, ready for battle.
"Let's do this." said Jonathan
Yells of approval greeted this statement as they all rushed out of the forest and into the burning town. Jin and Gandalf could be seen, trying to stop the fire from spreading. Jonathan and Hyryuu rushed ´passed them and into the fire.
"Water Pillar!" shouted Hyryuu, producing exactly that.
The Water Pillar managed to extinguish most of the fire, but there was still a lot more to bring down. Jonathan's turn came.
"Balance of Justice!" he shouted, twirling his sword, which had started glowing gold. After a while, it shot a golden beam into the fire, making the fire turn golden, then disappear.
The fire had been put out, but there was no digimon in town. They did not de-armor, but instead started searching for the inhabitants. At last they reached the middle of the town, where the bar-hotel and the clock tower where. They looked inside of the bar-hotel but found no one. Then, a sharp whistle came from the clock tower. They turned to see who it was. On top of the tower was the Hitokiri, looking down onto them.
"If you are looking for the inhabitants, they are all dead." he said.
"You killed them?" asked Jonathan
"No, the Emperor did. After hearing that you were here, he sent his Dark Bearers here to kill and destroy the town. They took advantage of your disappearance from the town to slaughter the town and make it into one big bonfire." the Hitokiri said
"I see…where did they go?" asked Jonathan.
"They are not in this world." replied the Hitokiri
"Where are they then?" asked Hyryuu
"Home." simply said the Hitokiri.
A look of horror appeared on the Knights' faces as they heard that word. Angelique…Nancy…their friends…the world…
"How? How did they get there?" demanded Jonathan
"The Emperor, as you know, is a destined, he can choose to go from dimension to dimension at his will." replied the Hitokiri
"Very well, we are following him then!" shouted Jonathan
"Wise decision…and don't worry, your mother is still alive. I can feel it." replied the Hitokiri.
"Thank you. Let's move out!" ordered Jonathan to his team.
All of them nodded and followed him to the nearest portal, where they transported back to Switzerland. There, they got a transmission from Angelique.
"Kids, be careful. The Dark Bearers have brought an army of evil digimon with them. They are attacking the whole world at once! Do not worry about the other countries, their Digidestined are holding off the digimon very well. Keep Switzerland safe, though. They have no Chosen at all!" she said.
Jonathan nodded and led the Knights up to the top of a building and led them from building top to building top into the center of the city. Aragorn, Boromir, Gandalf, and Gimli were following them through the streets on horseback. Legolas was flying over all of them with his angel wings. As they were trying to reach the center of the city, an alarm wail rang throughout the city. The Knights knew what this meant, the digimon were attacking Geneva.
"A tous les hommes disponible! Aux Armes! Genève est en pleine attaque! Les villes Zurich et Berne son aussi en trein de se fair attaquer! Ne laisser pas que Genève tombe! Vive la Confederation Suisse!" said several loudspeakers throughout the city in French.
"If my knowledge in languages does not fail me…I think those speakers just said Geneva is under attack as well as Zurich and Bern…" muttered Jonathan, while jumping onto another roof.
Smoke could be seen coming out from the center of the city, as well as gunfire.
"I never knew the Swiss had an army!" said Hyryuu, seeing man upon man, armed to the tooth running through the streets into the heart of the city.
"They don't. The Swiss train every man in their country as soldiers to afterwards be a potential soldier. Most of the recruits go there voluntarily, with the exception of the pacifists, that is." replied Christina, as she jumped onto another roof.
They were rapidly reaching the center of the city, where more smoke could be seen rising. From time to time, they would see tanks and other military vehicles roam through the streets to the center of the city. They greatly admired the patriotism that the Swiss showed. Even when they knew that the invaders were more powerful than they, they would not fall without a strong fight.
"These people are fascinating…they will not give up under any circumstances!" exclaimed Gandalf from his horse.
"Indeed…had we had enough of those, The War of the Ring would of ended a lot faster!" said Aragorn from his seat.
They finally reached the center of the city, were the city hall was. At the doors of the hall were many armed men fighting the incoming digimon invaders. The fighting the men had put up seemingly impressed some of the digimon, but still they came on. Jonathan knew that the men could not hold out any longer. Atop of the men was a flying digimon who was about to attack them, it's attack would kill them instantly, yet Legolas would have any of that happen. He flew at full speed into the digimon, knocking the digimon to the ground. The guards down below looked up and at the sight of the angel, cheered and fought on in renewed hope. Legolas brought forth his sword and pointed it to the incoming wave of digimon. Out of the sky dove hundred of Elves, all on top of giant eagles, bows out. Aragorn then dove out of the streets followed by Boromir, Gandalf, and Gimli, and the Shadow Army behind them. Form the rooftop of a nearby building, Jonathan and the Knights dove down onto the huge digimon army. The Swiss National Guard then cheered at the sight of their reinforcements and fought on so valiantly and fiercely, that they were able to turn the tide of battle against the digimon army. SAM missile holders were brought up and fired against the flying digimon, even if they were already being slaughtered by the Elven Flying Army. Tanks rolled into battle and fired upon the ground digimon, blowing them to bits. Men fired guns, rifles, automatic weapons, among other more close weapons and brought down digimon after digimon. The commander of the Digimon Army was not surrendering, however, and instead was fighting himself, bringing down good men. The Commander was a Myotismon. Jonathan went up to meet him, and Myotismon came onto him. Hyryuu, on the other hand, was busy fighting alongside the Swiss soldiers. Fighting one digimon after another one, they were able to break the enemy lines and, giving a loud battle cry, led the soldiers into the digimon ranks. The girls however, were busy helping the wounded. Jin, with her gift of healing, was making miracles come true. A soldier on the verge of death would suddenly heal, and be able to fight. The others were using their own powers to encourage, or enflame the soldiers with Passion, Faith, or Compassion. Hikaru was helping refugees of that area to evacuate safely until the battle was over. Jonathan and Myotismon were fighting ferociously, not letting the other have a break at any time. Soon, after both of them had dealt each other sufficient wounds to have killed fifteen normal people, Jonathan stood up, twirled his sword, and rushed at Myotismon, taking him by surprise. Jonathan's sword stopped twirling suddenly and went through Myotismon's chest and into his heart.
"I hear swords can't kill vampires, let's see if that's true." hissed Jonathan.
Myotismon only gasped from the sudden loss of air and slumped down to the floor, dead. At his death, the digimon suddenly back away from the defenders and began retreating out of the city. Hyryuu gave another battle cry and the Swiss Guard gave chase, Aragorn leading them on horseback. Behind them, the Shadow Army was also giving chase to the digimon army, led by Gimli, Gandalf, and Boromir. The Knights once again got on top of a building and jumped from rooftop to rooftop. Suddenly, when they almost reached the digimon army, a black gap appeared in the sky and out came a Dark Bearer, followed by an enormous amount of digimon, ready for battle.
"It's a trap! Fall back!" shouted Jonathan
Christina shouted the same, but in French. The soldiers nodded and ran back to the center of the city, firing backwards from time to time to cover their escape. Aragorn did not retreat though, he sat there, majestically on top of his horse, sword in hand. His friends quickly caught up and did likewise. The Elven Flying Army was still in the sky, led by Legolas. Behind Aragorn was the Shadow Army, ready for battle with lustful eyes. Aragorn then gave a sudden battle cry so loud and ferocious that some of the digimon shrank back. The Shadow Army took the sign and dashed forward towards the enemy. Aragorn bid his horse forward and went through the digimon ranks, hacking at the digimon. Boromir and Gimli did likewise. Gandalf had taken out his staff and was making mass attacks against the digimon army. The Dark Bearer was nearing them with eyes full of hatred. He caught Aragorn off guard and slashed away Aragorn's sword. Aragorn was then thrown off his horse, leaving him helpless at the Dark Bearer's mercy, had he any. The Dark Bearer was about to strike down his sword when a portal opened in the sky and out came eight figures onto the digimon army. The lead figure took out a golden sword and came down onto the digimon like a flying blade of death. As soon as he touched the ground, the figure cut his way through towards the Dark Bearer. The other seven figures were taking a pretty high toll on the digimon. The figure then caught up onto the Dark Bearer and lunged at him. The Dark Bearer blocked the lunge, though with difficulty.
"You again!" shouted the Bearer
"Yep…Miss me?" asked the figure mockingly.
"You wish! I will bring you down once and for all Knight of Hope!" shouted the Bearer
"Takato?!" shouted Aragorn in evident surprise
"Hey Aragorn! How're you doing? Came as fast as I could. But bozo here cut me off halfway here." Takato said, slashing at the Dark Bearer
"Don't call me bozo!" shouted the Dark Bearer, lunging at Takato, who simply side-stepped it.
"You really should practice on your aiming." suggested Takato smugly
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" shouted the Bearer in frustration, still trying to hit Takato, who kept dodging each attack.
Finally, Takato got tired of this and took out his own sword. He started to run around the Bearer at such speed that only a blur could be seen. He then suddenly came onto the Bearer, took him by his chest armor, and threw him into the sky. Takato then pointed his sword at him, which shot a golden beam at the Bearer. The beam was about to connect with the Bearer when it suddenly exploded. From the clouds of the explosion dove out the Bearer, his eyes red, sword out.
"Uh-oh…" muttered Takato
The Bearer came onto him at such speed and strength that Takato was thrown off balance and flew into a wall. The Bearer left him no space to breathe, as he kept attacking at every moment. Finally, the Bearer was able to connect a jab in Takato's sword arm. Takato screamed in pain and slumped to his knees in pain, clutching his arm. The Dark Bearer was about to bring down his sword on Takato when something hit him from behind. The Bearer flinched but then turned to see who had hit him. Behind him was Kang-Lin, in a fighting stance. Takato's face became one of horror as he saw her.
"NO! Kang-Lin RUN! RUN!" he shouted to her.
She remained where she was, but then decided to follow Takato's instructions. Too late. The Dark Bearer jabbed her in the back. If she hadn't started running when she did, she would have had been dead, but this time, the sword only penetrated deeply, but not mortally deep. Kang-Lin fell to the floor, blood falling out of her wound. When she fell to the ground, Takato suddenly had flashbacks of every time he had been with her, up to the time he kissed her after the Riders had died. He then shot his head upwards and gave a cry of agony and rage. All throughout the city was the cry heard, chilling the hearts of the enemy, and saddening the hearts of the allies. Takato got up slowly and went towards the Bearer, his eyes filed with flames of hate. When the Bearer took notice of him, he turned around and dashed at Takato. Takato was about to receive the final strike when he kicked his foot onto the ground, making his sword flip into his hand, and jabbing it into the Bearer's stomach, making it protrude through the other side. The Bearer fell to the ground, dying. Takato took out his sword and then, making the end face downwards, brought it down into the Bearer's heart. The Bearer gave one last gasp, spitting out blood, and fell dead. Takato then moved slowly to where his beloved lied and kneeled next to her. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he looked upon the love of his life, dying. He gave a wolf cry of agony and then was quiet. Back to the digimon army, Saitoh and the others were fighting ferociously, after they had seen the fate of Kang-Lin, their fighting grew even more ferocious and wrathful. Kenshin's eyes had turned gold, indicating he had gone into Battousai mode. Sanosuke was fighting with tears in his eyes, as was Yahiko, stabbing repeatedly at his enemies while Misao was throwing and stabbing knives at her enemies with such speed and anger that the digimon were afraid of her. Aoshi was fighting with a scowl to kill the dead once more and Saitoh was attacking without mercy. When he heard the wolf cry, he knew who it was: Takato. It was a cry of agony, meaning something bad was happening to Kang-Lin. Saitoh's wrath multiplied times four as he gave a slash with such force he cut through the armor of an Evil Guardromon and made his sword come out through the other side. In the city, Jin was helping the wounded soldiers when she heard that same cry, making her eyes water.
"Brother…" she started, before actually starting to cry, not from wrath, but from sadness "Brother…what have they done…?" she asked to no one in particular.
Though she was unaware of what had happened to Kang-Lin, she had felt a surge of pain and sadness come over Takato telepathically, indicating that something had happened, not to Takato, but to someone else. She quickly made up her mind and turned to the Red Cross nurses.
"Take care of the wounded, I have to go help my brother." she ordered, before leaving the place at full speed. She quickly got to where Takato was and saw him holding Kang-Lin in his arms. She appeared dead, but Jin still felt her presence in her mind. She approached Takato with a sad look on her face.
"It's all my fault…why did I bring her into this?" asked Takato, with tears in his eyes.
"It's not your fault, big brother…she wanted to come…she loved you and even if we didn't allow her to come, she would've still came…Here, put her down…I'll see what I can do to help her." she requested.
Takato obeyed, though his face was still sad. Jin closed her eyes and put her hands over Kang-Lin's body, searching for the wound. After finding it, she concentrated more and managed to close it. She then telepathically quickened the blood production in her body to make up for blood loss. After about five minutes, Kang-Lin's eyes fluttered open. Takato looked at her with such joy that he forgot his sister was there and kissed Kang-Lin with joy. She gladly returned the kiss. Jin smiled and then went back to the wounded soldiers. After Jin had left, Takato and Kang-Lin broke their kiss and smiled at each other.
"I thought I had lost you…" he whispered
"Never…you will never lose me…" she whispered back, before kissing him again, something which he gladly returned.
Farther away, where the digimon army was, the enemy was being slowly slaughtered into oblivion. Four hours later, the Battle for Geneva had finished with the Swiss National Guard and the Knights and Council members victorious. All over the city cheers rang out through every street. The Swiss flag was hanged out of every window and raised at every post. The soldiers gave cheers at the Knights as they came back to the center of the city. News had come from Zurich and Bern that they too had managed to repel the invasive digimon army, though the armies were not destroyed. Two days after, any information about the digimon armies ceased to come. Everyone but the Knights and their allies thought the digimon armies had retreated back to their world. A week after the defeat of the Digimon Army, a great celebration was organized by the Lake of Geneva. Rides were put up, whole places were dedicated for food and places to sit and chat. That date became then a national holiday called "Jour de la Victoir de la Liberté" or in English, "Day of Victory of Freedom". The Knights and their allies were all guests of honor. Amazingly, the Elves that Legolas had led agreed to come, chatting between themselves and humans and having fun. Angelique had flown from Japan especially for this occasion. Soon, the family was together once more. Takato and Kang-Lin, though, wanted the evening for themselves and so separated themselves from the group. Angelique and Legolas consented, as they both knew what had happened and decided to give them their well-earned private time. After parting his gaze from Takato, Legolas looked at his sons and gave them a smile.
"Ok, who wants to go on the roller coaster with me?" he asked them
Jonathan and Hyryuu gave an approving yell, and felt as if they were five- year old again. Angelique watched them run towards the roller coaster smiling. Christina and Hikaru giggled at the way their boyfriends were acting. Kim and Catherine had seen that a small dancing platform had been set up and ran towards it, Jin close behind. All three of the girls loved to dance, contrarily to the boys. Hikaru then followed them and Christina dragged Angelique with her to the dancing platform. In honor to the Knights, the Swiss had agreed to play some Japanese music, being their favorite. Contrarily to what everyone expected, they actually like the music and began dancing. Form the roller coaster, Hyryuu and Jonathan heard the music and looked at each other and nodded. Legolas saw their looks and gave a smile. He had never heard his sons play their instruments before, but he would this time. All three of them ran back to the platform and Legolas joined Angelique in her dancing. Hyryuu and Jonathan walked up to the DJ and whispered something in his ear. The DJ nodded and made a sign to one of his helpers. The man came and nodded at the instructions given to him by the DJ. He later came back with an electric guitar and a base guitar. Behind him were two other people, bringing up a drum set and an electrical organ. Hyryuu then ran off the platform and began looking for someone in the crowd. After about ten minutes of searching, he saw a familiar blonde ponytail fluttering in the wind in front of him.
"Zidane! Yo! Zidane! Over here!" shouted Hyryuu
The call made the blonde boy turn around, revealing shock on the boy's face.
"Hyryuu! What in the world are you doing here?" asked Zidane, the band's drum player.
"Uh…nothing really…just on vacation with my family." replied Hyryuu, remembering that Zidane had no knowledge of the identities of the Knights.
"Say, were you here during the battle?! It was so cool!" exclaimed Zidane in excitement.
"Not when you're in the front lines, it ain't…" muttered Hyryuu
"Say what?" asked Zidane
"Huh? Nothing! Say, since we're here and they are playing Japanese music, how about we play for these people?" proposed Hyryuu
"Sure! Show me to the drums!" said Zidane.
Hyryuu led him back to the platform, where the drum set was ready as were the guitars and organ. Now all they needed was Takato and Kang-Lin. As if hey had both read Hyryuu's mind, they were just approaching the platform. Takato had his personal electric guitar with him. He never went anywhere or sang without it. Kang-Lin came up to the piano and tested it. Takato just looked at his brothers with a smile and greeted Zidane. Hyryuu then went to the DJ and whispered something in his ear. The DJ nodded and as soon as the song ended, he did not put a new one. When everyone had demanding faces looking at the DJ, he gave a general apology saying he was looking for a new CD to put. The people grumbled their acceptance and stood there, waiting for the next song. The DJ gave Hyryuu a thumbs up, which he returned, saying he was ready. They were to play out of everyone's view, everything being heard on the platform. As soon as the DJ patched the sounds through, the band started playing. The DJ announced that the song was called "Joujou na Kanjou" from Five Swords. Hyryuu then started playing his solo intro, and then afterwards, everyone came in, playing and Takato singing. Everyone on the platform started dancing like crazy, for they loved the song. After finishing that song, they continued with "Heart of Sword" and "Ice Blue Eyes". Finally, for their closing song, they played "Freckles". Throughout the whole 'concert' on one had suspected that they were listening to live music except for Legolas, who was into the plan. After they were done, Takato and the gang quietly and stealthily crept out of the platform while the DJ played some other Japanese music. After they had gotten away from the platform, they returned to it, looking absolutely unaware of what had just happened. Kim and Catherine were dancing like maniacs to the music while Jin was trying to keep up with them. Legolas and Angelique were both dancing and laughing. Hikaru and Christina were both dancing alone, as if the wind was making them flow. Jonathan and Hyryuu went up to their respective other and started to dance with them, as bad as they were. Takato was no better, point demonstrated when Kang-Lin took him out to dance. He had danced a bit at the disco because he knew the steps, but for these songs, he had totally forgotten. After about two hours of dancing, or in the case of the boys, TRYING to dance, they decided that it was time to sleep. Takato and Kang-Lin were authorized to share a room, as were the other two couples. They had all checked into a hotel, though the manager insisted that their stay was to be free. In their room, Takato and Kang-Lin were changing into their pajamas/night robe. When Kang-Lin came out of the bathroom in her nightgown, Takato was already in the bed, reading a book. It was a routine Takato had. He would always read a passage off a book before going to sleep. As Kang-Lin got into bed, he closed his book and looked at her. She looked back at him and they both smiled. Suddenly, Kang-Lin asked Takato the question most unexpected in his life.
"Takato…do you like children?" she asked, though her question had another meaning to it.
"Sure…I guess…I mean, they're cute and all…" he replied, uncertain of what she meant.
"If we ever get married…would you like to have sons or daughters?" she continued asking.
Takato sweatdroped in uncertainty and looked at her.
'Us getting married…now there's something I had NEVER thought about…I mean…Jonathan is…what? 21 years old? Good thing he got his teacher job at our school to help us with the band…" he thought. "I'm only 17...though going to be 18 in a month…Kang-Lin is a month younger than me…heck…Hyryuu has a better chance of getting married…I mean…he's 18 already as is Hikaru. Jin…Hell no way she's getting married at fourteen so better dismiss that thought….but…Do I want to get married?"
"Takato? Are you still awake?" asked Kang-Lin, snapping him to reality.
"What? Oh…yes. Sorry, was just in my thoughts…and yes, I would love to have children." he said with a smile.
'Note to self: Must talk to the guys and get an engagement ring quick.' he thought
Kang-Lin gave a nod of approval and went to sleep. Takato stayed up for a while before going to sleep. The next day, he arose early and got dressed before going outside and knocking onto his brothers' rooms. Both boys answered the doors and Takato told them to come outside for a moment.
"Guys…I have a problem." he said
"What's the matter?" asked Hyryuu, yawning
"Yeah, what's up bro?" asked Jonathan
"Kang-Lin wants to get married." Takato told them simply
Their reactions differed. Jonathan caught his breath and coughed while Hyryuu just froze.
"Guys? You two still with me here or not?" asked Takato
"Uh…well…what do you want? Do YOU want to get married?" asked Hyryuu
"Well…I had never thought of that…I mean, I love her dearly…but…" he started, before Jonathan cut him off
"You don't know if you can live up to the commitment?" he asked
"Exactly…I don't know if I can live up to the commitment or to her expectations" replied Takato
"How, may I ask, did this subject come up?" asked Jonathan
"She started asking me if I liked children." answered Takato "And then it kinda went downhill from there."
"I see…well then, you two have my full support." said Jonathan
"Same here." agreed Hyryuu
"Let's just hope Mom and Dad will approve." muttered Jonathan
'As if they don't already know. Jonathan, you disappoint me…' said a voice in Jonathan's mind.
'Jin…what are you doing in my head? And more, what do you mean they know?' asked Jonathan mentally.
'I was bored and decided to go mind exploring…you wouldn't believe how boring the people around here are in their minds…I actually found one who was a crazed maniac…calmed him down though…and as for dad and mom, I told them after hearing the conversation Takato and Kang-Lin had yesterday.' replied Jin
'Takato isn't going to like that…' warned Jonathan
'He need not know. If you don't tell him, I won't tell on YOUR conversation with Christina' she replied
'Blackmail' he thought
'All's fair in love and war' she said 'and we aren't in war.' she finished, before disrupting the connection
Jonathan sighed before turning his attention to Takato.
"Mom and Dad approve." he announced
"How do you know?" asked Takato.
"Jin told me." replied Jonathan
"Ah." answered Takato, not wanting to know HOW she found out about last night and right now.
"Well, I guess we should go get a ring, right?" proposed Hyryuu
"Yep…sure looks like it." answered Jonathan
Jonathan and Hyryuu went back into their rooms, washed, and came back out in normal street clothes. They searched everywhere for a jewelry store but found none. Then, at the corner of the street, they spotted a jewelry store. They went inside and started looking around. Little did they know that Legolas had asked Aragorn to follow them. Aragorn had slipped into the store and crept up on Takato and his brothers. Just when Takato was turning around, he gasped as he recognized Aragorn.
"Jewelry shopping? This isn't like you Takato…Looking for something special? Like a RING?" he asked
"Let me guess, Legolas sent you…" said Takato
"Sharp as ever I see. Very good. Anyway, I understand you are looking for a ring…let me help you." he asked.
"Sure, why not?" said Takato
"Ok, then I found one already." said Aragorn, bringing out a small box, furred with red cloth, the crest of Hope engraved on the top part.
"Where did you get that?" asked Jonathan
"It's a secret." said Aragorn.
Takato took the box and opened it. Inside was a golden ring with a medium sized orange gem in the middle. All around the ring were engravings of some weird language.
"Who made this? This isn't human craft…that I can tell." asked Takato, looking at Aragorn
"This is an Elven ring. It was forged by Elves. They made it especially for you, for the day that you would marry your beloved one. The engravings on it are also of Elven origin. They read in your tongue "Yours in Life, Death, and Eternity. You shall always be my heart." he translated
"I see…but how much does it cost?" asked Takato
"Were you listening? This is a gift from the Elves! They want you to have it free of charge. The gold is pure and the gem is what we call a Krushta gem. It translates into Sun Gem. It is only found in the mines of Moria, where the dwarves now live. They brought it up from the mines and gave it to the Elves for making this ring. You could say it is a gift from the Dwarves and Elves. The humans are also giving something. They are giving you your future house. When you decide what you want it to be like, just tell us and the carpenters, stone-workers and others will come to build it. Takes a lot less time than here." answered Aragorn
"I see…give them my thanks…tell them I will someday repay them for their kindness." requested Takato
"Your deeds right now are enough of a reward already." answered Aragorn. "Now then, if we have the ring, I guess it is wise for us to go back to bed so as to not raise any of the girls' suspicions?" proposed Aragorn, to which all three nodded.
All four returned to the hotel and went to their rooms. Several hours later, Kang-Lin woke up to see Takato sitting on a couch not far form the bed, but facing away. She got up and sat beside him, startling him a bit.
"Kang-Lin! Jeez…don't scare me like that! After all, if this is how you're going to act through our marriage, I might as well think twice!" he said jokingly
"Our marriage? What do you mean?" asked Kang-Lin, a flame of hope burning inside her.
"I mean this…" he started, kneeling in front of her. "Kang-Lin, love of my life, my own angel…" he continued, bringing out the box "will you make this joker and fool your Knight and husband for the rest of your life?" he asked.
Kang-Lin only stayed quiet, but her heart was bouncing around in joy.
"Translation of what I just said is: Kang-Lin, will you marry me?" he said, half jokingly, half serious.
"I know what you just said! You're right about something, though…you are a fool and joker…but you are MY fool and joker. Of course I'll marry you Takato-kun!" she said giving him a tight embrace. After she let him go, he put on the ring on her finger, making her gasp at how beautiful and warm it was.
"Now is the time when I pass out from joy…g'night." he said, before slumping down from joy.
Switzerland
Note, this is the beginning of the Emperor Saga, meaning that battles will now be in the real world in Switzerland and in the Digital World.
To my Cousin Gaby, Happy B-Day
(January 30, 2002)
----------------------------------------------------*----------------------- ---------------------------The Battle For Geneva
The Emperor sat on his dark throne, pondering why his Prince had not signed in for more than two weeks. As he did, he did not notice the arrival of his closest servant, Etheniel. He did not speak until the Emperor's gaze finally came in contact with him.
"What is it, Etheniel?" asked the Emperor.
"Sire, we have finally received news from the Prince's Palace." reported Etheniel
"Splendid. Have the Rebels been crushed finally?" asked the Emperor
"That is the problem, sire. They are not, and the Rebel emblem is hoisted on top of the Palace. We believe the Prince has been beaten." answered Etheniel.
"I see…so, the Prince, my second, has been beaten by a ragtag group of Rebels? Are you mocking me?" asked the Emperor angrily.
"No sire, I am not. Please forgive me if I seemed to. Yet we have proof of the Prince's defeat at the hands of the Rebels." apologized Etheniel
"Which are?" asked the Emperor
"We were able to retrieve the security camera tapes from the Throne Room. There appeared to have a fight there, where the Prince was almost winning, but then the Rebels got smart and won over Kaizer and Dark Angemon. Then, one of the Rebels, presumably the leader, took on the Prince and they both had a ferocious battle, where the Rebel eventually split the Prince's sword in two. That's where the tape ends." reported Etheniel.
"I see…so, Takato has mastered his power. We shall see if it is the same for his brother and sisters…" said the Emperor with an evil smile.
Etheniel bowed and then left the room, leaving the Emperor to his thoughts. They had beaten the Prince, and he guessed they were now heading for him. Good thing he had a hostage, just in case.
-------------------------------------------------------*-------------------- ---------------------------
Jonathan and his group walked for miles and miles, until they finally came to a small village. There, the digimon were all busy carrying on their lives as usual, as if no war was going on. Jonathan gave his team a sign to move on and they all nodded. As they entered into the town, some digimon turned their heads towards them, but then got back to work. They then reached the town bar-hotel. Jonathan came in first, followed by Hyryuu and Legolas. The girls then came in and Aragorn, Boromir, and Gimli came behind them, as rear guard. Jonathan and Hyryuu came up to the bartender.
"Excuse me, but do you have any spare rooms?" asked Jonathan
"'Fraid not, son. This gang from the West came in and took all of the rooms." apologized the bartender digimon, an old Barmon.
Jonathan nodded in understanding and left the bar, accompanied by Hyryuu, and came back to the others.
"Well?" asked Christina
"No rooms." replied Hyryuu
"So how do we spend the night?" asked Hikaru
"Well, we could sleep outside…" suggested Gimli
"Not a good idea. I've heard an assassin has been roaming this area for weeks now. They say he works for no one but himself. No one has been able to defeat him, much less survive him." replied Aragorn.
"Well, why don't we try?" asked Boromir. "I'm not afraid of no assassin!" he exclaimed, making every sound in the bar cease.
Jonathan slapped his forehead and Hyryuu gave a sigh of exasperation. Every digimon was now looking at them in horror and surprise. Murmurs could be heard throughout the whole bar.
"Did you hear that? He's defying the Hitokiri!" said one
"He must have lost all will of living." said another
"No one defies the Hitokiri and survives the night!" said another one.
Jonathan looked around and heard some of the murmurs. From behind them, Gandalf had just entered the bar-hotel, after accomplishing some unknown task to the others.
"Seems, Boromir, that your big mouth has opened once more when it was not needed." he said
"I still can't believe they are afraid of one assassin. I mean, if he's not an Imperialist, and he's not a Rebel or Council Member, then what is he?" asked Boromir.
"There are some things you are not supposed to know in life, Boromir." replied Gandalf
They were about to leave when someone grabbed Hikaru from behind and stopped her, causing her to give a small gasp. Hyryuu turned back to look who had done that. Two drunken digimon were smiling nastily at her.
"Hey babe, what's your sign?" asked one
"Want to have a little fun with us?" asked the other
"You two got some nerve to say that to my girlfriend!" shouted sharply Hyryuu at them
"Bug off kid. MEGA FIST!" shouted the first one, causing Hyryuu to fly backwards and into a wall at full speed.
Hyryuu hit the wall at full strength, but it did not break. Hyryuu's face was bowed down, as if unconscious, but they could see he was still breathing. After about five minutes, he slowly got up, head still bowed. After he had gotten himself up fully, he shot his head up suddenly, showing that his brown eyes were now of a golden color.
"What the…?" asked one of the drunk digimon
Hyryuu left no space for answer. He took out his blade and ran at them. He ran right pass them, but on the way made two fatal slashes at the digimon. After he came to a stop, the digimon started to vanish into data. Hyryuu then put his sword back, just as his friends were starting to leave the place. Once they had gotten outside, several rough looking digimon came out and blocked their way.
"Please remove yourself from our way." requested Jonathan calmly.
"Hell now way! Not after your friend here cut our pals into slices." said one of them
"They started the conflict and assaulted my brother's girlfriend. The blame is on them." replied Jonathan calmly, though his patience was ending.
"I don't give a damn who started it! Both of them are gone because of him, so he's going down, and if any of you get in the way, we'll take you down too!" threatened the digimon.
"This is my son you are talking about, mister…" said Legolas, his fists shaking.
"Bug off stranger! This is between us and the kid." said another digimon
Legolas looked up, his eyes turned pure white. His clothing changed into his Elven Angel clothes, his two white wings protruded from his back.
"I will not allow you to hurt my son. Not now, not ever." announced Legolas, taking out a sword from it's hilt at his side.
"Taking us on, eh stranger?" mocked one of the digimon, unimpressed by this transformation
"Damn right I am." replied Legolas
Jonathan and Hyryuu had seen enough and where about to transform when a gust of wind shot past them and onto the digimon, making them lose their balance a bit, but quickly recovering. All of them looked back and saw that the sun had set. A look of horror came upon the digimons' faces, as they knew this was the time of the Hitokiri.
"You made us stay out here until sun set! We are doomed!" cried one.
"We can still save ourselves, get into the bar-hotel!" shouted the leader
"We can't! The owner locked up the place." answered another digimon.
Just then, the town clock sounded, and the digimon looked at the clock tower. On top of the tower was a lone figure, a katana in hand, flashing in the moonlight. Flapping around him was an orange-like cloak and on his shoulder was a digimon.
"Night has fallen. The wrong shall be corrected." exclaimed the figure
"The Hitokiri!" the digimon cried
The figure jumped off the tower and landed safely onto the ground and walked towards them.
"I hear you digimon have been acting badly for a while…how much is the Emperor paying you for your services here?" asked the figure to the digimon
"I…we don't know what you are talking about, Mr. Hitokiri." replied the leader
"Right…well, I do know how much…you get fifteen thousand digicredits for each job done, most of them being murder, assault, terrorism, among others." said the figure, his tone a lot more cold than it was. "Now then, what shall I do with you? Patamon? What do you say?" asked the figure to his digimon
"Let them go. Everyone deserves a second chance." replied Patamon
"True. This is my verdict. You are to leave this town and never come back, unless you are not under the Emperor's service or influence." said the figure, before turning his back on the digimon and going towards Jonathan and his team.
"You may deform, Holy Angel, father of Jonathan and Hyryuu, Knights of Loyalty and Justice. Go to the north, a camp will be ready for you there. No one shall bother you there, I promise." the figure told them
After that, the figure got a bit back and threw something on the floor, causing a flash. After the flash disappeared, so had the figure. He was nowhere to be seen. The digimon then looked at the team and prepared to attack them.
"I don't care what the Hitokiri says! We can't go back without some prize!" exclaimed the leader. That proved to be the last thing he said that night or ever again.
Just as the leader had said that, the figure had appeared in front of him and slashed him through the chest, killing the leader instantly. The figure then proceeded towards the other digimon, killing them all quickly. An Angemon had appeared with him, helping the Hitokiri in his work. After all the digimon had fallen, the figure retreated quickly into the shadows. Jonathan and Hyryuu stood shocked at what had just happened.
"Well, we should go now I guess…nothing more to watch." suggested Kim
"True…let's go. We must get some sleep for tomorrow, we must find that floating fortress." said Gandalf.
The others nodded and followed Aragorn, who led them to the north, where, just as the figure had said, there lay a camp, ready to accommodate anyone. They all went to sleep except for Jonathan and Christina, who couldn't sleep. Jonathan got up form his sleeping bag and went to sit on a log. Hyryuu, who was sleeping next to him, was snoring. Jonathan looked upwards and looked at the stars. Christina, who was just laying there, trying to go to sleep, noticed him then, and quietly got up, so as to not wake up Hikaru or Kim. She got up and then went to sit beside Jonathan on the log. Jonathan had heard her, but had made her think he hadn't. She was silent for a while, until Jonathan finally spoke up.
"Couldn't sleep either, huh?" asked Jonathan, still looking at the stars.
"Well…yes…I couldn't." she replied, somewhat surprised by his sudden statement.
"I was thinking…after we are done here…that means I have to go back home to Japan. I may never see you again after this adventure." he said
"Don't think like that!" she told him. "You leaving Switzerland does not mean we won't see each other again!"
"Kinda hard for someone to talk to his girlfriend two continents away…" said Jonathan
"Only if the person deems it so. Tell me Jonathan, are you in love with me?" asked Christina, stunning him a bit.
"What do you mean? Of course I am! I mean, for me, you are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen I my life. Believe me, I've seen LOTS of girl in my life, all of them fans." he said
"I know you are, but how deep?" she pressured
"To the heart of my soul" he replied honestly
"Then there shouldn't be a problem. If you do love me that way, then we will meet again. Destiny does that to lovers, it separates them to test them, and then bring them back together if they pass the test. I'm ready to pass mine. Are you?" she asked him
"I am…For you, I am ready for any test, be it of strength, will, or thinking." he replied, still honestly.
That was enough of an answer for her. She closed up on him and kissed him gently on the lips. He returned the kiss happily, but they soon broke apart.
"We better get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long day." he said
"Yes, you're right. We better go to sleep." she agreed.
They both nodded and went to their respective sleeping bags. Soon after, they both fell asleep. From atop one of the trees surrounding the camp, stood a loone figure watching.
"Soon…very soon…I will be able to kiss upon a girl like that again." it sighed, before jumping up and disappearing with the wind.
The next day came and the team slowly woke up one by one. They decided all to go to the bar-hotel for breakfast, but found that on one was in town.
"Call me crazy, but this seems too familiar…" said Hyryuu
"Only thing missing is a crazed maniac with two swords trying to kill us." agreed Jonathan.
They all went back to camp and there tried to cook something, but there wasn't enough food to fill everyone. After Jonathan and Hyryuu volunteered to go find some food somewhere, the rest decided to take a nap, that way, they would forget their hunger. When they woke up, they saw Jonathan and Hyryuu running up to them, and a very close smell of smoke in the air. They looked up and saw that the sky was darkened by smoke and quickly got up. They turned to where the town is and saw a great blazing fire consuming the town slowly. Jonathan and Hyryuu finally reached them.
"Let's go! The town is burning up! We have to stop that fire!" ordered Jonathan
"Right!" they all said.
"I'll try and see if I can do anything to stop it!" said Jin, taking out her pendant. "Power of the Pendant AWAKE!" she shouted, making a green light appear from her pendant. "Flower of Life!" she cried. Soon after, she was standing in her armor, as a teenager, of course.
"Quickly, catch up when you can. I will try to stop the fire!" she said before rushing off with Gandalf.
The others quickly got out their pendants/weapons.
"Pendants of Power AWAKEN!" shouted the Knights
"Fire of Compassion!" shouted Catherine, a red tornado of flame engulfing her, making her armor appear.
"Wind of Compassion!" shouted Kim with a smile, her armor appearing on her body.
"Typhoon of Loyalty!" shouted Hyryuu, growing taller and becoming fully armored.
"Sword of Justice!" shouted Jonathan, growing taller and fully armored.
Christina felt a sudden surge of energy as she glowed silver. "Cross of Faith!" shouted Christina.
Christina's clothes were immediately changed into a silver fabric, as armor started appearing on her body. Her chest and thigh were all covered with silver armor. Her chest armor mostly covered her chest, and shoulders, leaving the stomach unprotected. On her arms appeared elbow protectors, also silver. Her hands were covered with white gloves and at in one hand was a silver staff with a golden star on one end. Her thigh armor had four long pieces of armor coming out of it and pointing downwards. One was covering the front, one her right, one her left, and one her back. Her legs were covered with the fabric and her shoes had silver wings protruding from their sides. Her hair was allowed to flow through the air freely.
Hikaru felt the same surge of energy and gave a smile. "Creation of the World!" she shouted, making a light of brown, green, blue, and white engulf her
Her armor resembled that of Christina's except for the fact that the armor was light blue, the fabric white, her gloves brown, and her staff green with a small orb at one end.
Legolas' eyes once again turned white, before angel wings came out of his back and his clothing changed once more. Aragorn's eyes seemed to turn golden, before gray armor appeared on him, making him look like a medieval knight, were it not for his kingly face. Boromir, who was already in armor, only took out his sword and blew his horn, telling everyone he was ready. Gimli simply took out his axe and gave a battle cry to scare any monster away. The whole team stood there, ready for battle.
"Let's do this." said Jonathan
Yells of approval greeted this statement as they all rushed out of the forest and into the burning town. Jin and Gandalf could be seen, trying to stop the fire from spreading. Jonathan and Hyryuu rushed ´passed them and into the fire.
"Water Pillar!" shouted Hyryuu, producing exactly that.
The Water Pillar managed to extinguish most of the fire, but there was still a lot more to bring down. Jonathan's turn came.
"Balance of Justice!" he shouted, twirling his sword, which had started glowing gold. After a while, it shot a golden beam into the fire, making the fire turn golden, then disappear.
The fire had been put out, but there was no digimon in town. They did not de-armor, but instead started searching for the inhabitants. At last they reached the middle of the town, where the bar-hotel and the clock tower where. They looked inside of the bar-hotel but found no one. Then, a sharp whistle came from the clock tower. They turned to see who it was. On top of the tower was the Hitokiri, looking down onto them.
"If you are looking for the inhabitants, they are all dead." he said.
"You killed them?" asked Jonathan
"No, the Emperor did. After hearing that you were here, he sent his Dark Bearers here to kill and destroy the town. They took advantage of your disappearance from the town to slaughter the town and make it into one big bonfire." the Hitokiri said
"I see…where did they go?" asked Jonathan.
"They are not in this world." replied the Hitokiri
"Where are they then?" asked Hyryuu
"Home." simply said the Hitokiri.
A look of horror appeared on the Knights' faces as they heard that word. Angelique…Nancy…their friends…the world…
"How? How did they get there?" demanded Jonathan
"The Emperor, as you know, is a destined, he can choose to go from dimension to dimension at his will." replied the Hitokiri
"Very well, we are following him then!" shouted Jonathan
"Wise decision…and don't worry, your mother is still alive. I can feel it." replied the Hitokiri.
"Thank you. Let's move out!" ordered Jonathan to his team.
All of them nodded and followed him to the nearest portal, where they transported back to Switzerland. There, they got a transmission from Angelique.
"Kids, be careful. The Dark Bearers have brought an army of evil digimon with them. They are attacking the whole world at once! Do not worry about the other countries, their Digidestined are holding off the digimon very well. Keep Switzerland safe, though. They have no Chosen at all!" she said.
Jonathan nodded and led the Knights up to the top of a building and led them from building top to building top into the center of the city. Aragorn, Boromir, Gandalf, and Gimli were following them through the streets on horseback. Legolas was flying over all of them with his angel wings. As they were trying to reach the center of the city, an alarm wail rang throughout the city. The Knights knew what this meant, the digimon were attacking Geneva.
"A tous les hommes disponible! Aux Armes! Genève est en pleine attaque! Les villes Zurich et Berne son aussi en trein de se fair attaquer! Ne laisser pas que Genève tombe! Vive la Confederation Suisse!" said several loudspeakers throughout the city in French.
"If my knowledge in languages does not fail me…I think those speakers just said Geneva is under attack as well as Zurich and Bern…" muttered Jonathan, while jumping onto another roof.
Smoke could be seen coming out from the center of the city, as well as gunfire.
"I never knew the Swiss had an army!" said Hyryuu, seeing man upon man, armed to the tooth running through the streets into the heart of the city.
"They don't. The Swiss train every man in their country as soldiers to afterwards be a potential soldier. Most of the recruits go there voluntarily, with the exception of the pacifists, that is." replied Christina, as she jumped onto another roof.
They were rapidly reaching the center of the city, where more smoke could be seen rising. From time to time, they would see tanks and other military vehicles roam through the streets to the center of the city. They greatly admired the patriotism that the Swiss showed. Even when they knew that the invaders were more powerful than they, they would not fall without a strong fight.
"These people are fascinating…they will not give up under any circumstances!" exclaimed Gandalf from his horse.
"Indeed…had we had enough of those, The War of the Ring would of ended a lot faster!" said Aragorn from his seat.
They finally reached the center of the city, were the city hall was. At the doors of the hall were many armed men fighting the incoming digimon invaders. The fighting the men had put up seemingly impressed some of the digimon, but still they came on. Jonathan knew that the men could not hold out any longer. Atop of the men was a flying digimon who was about to attack them, it's attack would kill them instantly, yet Legolas would have any of that happen. He flew at full speed into the digimon, knocking the digimon to the ground. The guards down below looked up and at the sight of the angel, cheered and fought on in renewed hope. Legolas brought forth his sword and pointed it to the incoming wave of digimon. Out of the sky dove hundred of Elves, all on top of giant eagles, bows out. Aragorn then dove out of the streets followed by Boromir, Gandalf, and Gimli, and the Shadow Army behind them. Form the rooftop of a nearby building, Jonathan and the Knights dove down onto the huge digimon army. The Swiss National Guard then cheered at the sight of their reinforcements and fought on so valiantly and fiercely, that they were able to turn the tide of battle against the digimon army. SAM missile holders were brought up and fired against the flying digimon, even if they were already being slaughtered by the Elven Flying Army. Tanks rolled into battle and fired upon the ground digimon, blowing them to bits. Men fired guns, rifles, automatic weapons, among other more close weapons and brought down digimon after digimon. The commander of the Digimon Army was not surrendering, however, and instead was fighting himself, bringing down good men. The Commander was a Myotismon. Jonathan went up to meet him, and Myotismon came onto him. Hyryuu, on the other hand, was busy fighting alongside the Swiss soldiers. Fighting one digimon after another one, they were able to break the enemy lines and, giving a loud battle cry, led the soldiers into the digimon ranks. The girls however, were busy helping the wounded. Jin, with her gift of healing, was making miracles come true. A soldier on the verge of death would suddenly heal, and be able to fight. The others were using their own powers to encourage, or enflame the soldiers with Passion, Faith, or Compassion. Hikaru was helping refugees of that area to evacuate safely until the battle was over. Jonathan and Myotismon were fighting ferociously, not letting the other have a break at any time. Soon, after both of them had dealt each other sufficient wounds to have killed fifteen normal people, Jonathan stood up, twirled his sword, and rushed at Myotismon, taking him by surprise. Jonathan's sword stopped twirling suddenly and went through Myotismon's chest and into his heart.
"I hear swords can't kill vampires, let's see if that's true." hissed Jonathan.
Myotismon only gasped from the sudden loss of air and slumped down to the floor, dead. At his death, the digimon suddenly back away from the defenders and began retreating out of the city. Hyryuu gave another battle cry and the Swiss Guard gave chase, Aragorn leading them on horseback. Behind them, the Shadow Army was also giving chase to the digimon army, led by Gimli, Gandalf, and Boromir. The Knights once again got on top of a building and jumped from rooftop to rooftop. Suddenly, when they almost reached the digimon army, a black gap appeared in the sky and out came a Dark Bearer, followed by an enormous amount of digimon, ready for battle.
"It's a trap! Fall back!" shouted Jonathan
Christina shouted the same, but in French. The soldiers nodded and ran back to the center of the city, firing backwards from time to time to cover their escape. Aragorn did not retreat though, he sat there, majestically on top of his horse, sword in hand. His friends quickly caught up and did likewise. The Elven Flying Army was still in the sky, led by Legolas. Behind Aragorn was the Shadow Army, ready for battle with lustful eyes. Aragorn then gave a sudden battle cry so loud and ferocious that some of the digimon shrank back. The Shadow Army took the sign and dashed forward towards the enemy. Aragorn bid his horse forward and went through the digimon ranks, hacking at the digimon. Boromir and Gimli did likewise. Gandalf had taken out his staff and was making mass attacks against the digimon army. The Dark Bearer was nearing them with eyes full of hatred. He caught Aragorn off guard and slashed away Aragorn's sword. Aragorn was then thrown off his horse, leaving him helpless at the Dark Bearer's mercy, had he any. The Dark Bearer was about to strike down his sword when a portal opened in the sky and out came eight figures onto the digimon army. The lead figure took out a golden sword and came down onto the digimon like a flying blade of death. As soon as he touched the ground, the figure cut his way through towards the Dark Bearer. The other seven figures were taking a pretty high toll on the digimon. The figure then caught up onto the Dark Bearer and lunged at him. The Dark Bearer blocked the lunge, though with difficulty.
"You again!" shouted the Bearer
"Yep…Miss me?" asked the figure mockingly.
"You wish! I will bring you down once and for all Knight of Hope!" shouted the Bearer
"Takato?!" shouted Aragorn in evident surprise
"Hey Aragorn! How're you doing? Came as fast as I could. But bozo here cut me off halfway here." Takato said, slashing at the Dark Bearer
"Don't call me bozo!" shouted the Dark Bearer, lunging at Takato, who simply side-stepped it.
"You really should practice on your aiming." suggested Takato smugly
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" shouted the Bearer in frustration, still trying to hit Takato, who kept dodging each attack.
Finally, Takato got tired of this and took out his own sword. He started to run around the Bearer at such speed that only a blur could be seen. He then suddenly came onto the Bearer, took him by his chest armor, and threw him into the sky. Takato then pointed his sword at him, which shot a golden beam at the Bearer. The beam was about to connect with the Bearer when it suddenly exploded. From the clouds of the explosion dove out the Bearer, his eyes red, sword out.
"Uh-oh…" muttered Takato
The Bearer came onto him at such speed and strength that Takato was thrown off balance and flew into a wall. The Bearer left him no space to breathe, as he kept attacking at every moment. Finally, the Bearer was able to connect a jab in Takato's sword arm. Takato screamed in pain and slumped to his knees in pain, clutching his arm. The Dark Bearer was about to bring down his sword on Takato when something hit him from behind. The Bearer flinched but then turned to see who had hit him. Behind him was Kang-Lin, in a fighting stance. Takato's face became one of horror as he saw her.
"NO! Kang-Lin RUN! RUN!" he shouted to her.
She remained where she was, but then decided to follow Takato's instructions. Too late. The Dark Bearer jabbed her in the back. If she hadn't started running when she did, she would have had been dead, but this time, the sword only penetrated deeply, but not mortally deep. Kang-Lin fell to the floor, blood falling out of her wound. When she fell to the ground, Takato suddenly had flashbacks of every time he had been with her, up to the time he kissed her after the Riders had died. He then shot his head upwards and gave a cry of agony and rage. All throughout the city was the cry heard, chilling the hearts of the enemy, and saddening the hearts of the allies. Takato got up slowly and went towards the Bearer, his eyes filed with flames of hate. When the Bearer took notice of him, he turned around and dashed at Takato. Takato was about to receive the final strike when he kicked his foot onto the ground, making his sword flip into his hand, and jabbing it into the Bearer's stomach, making it protrude through the other side. The Bearer fell to the ground, dying. Takato took out his sword and then, making the end face downwards, brought it down into the Bearer's heart. The Bearer gave one last gasp, spitting out blood, and fell dead. Takato then moved slowly to where his beloved lied and kneeled next to her. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he looked upon the love of his life, dying. He gave a wolf cry of agony and then was quiet. Back to the digimon army, Saitoh and the others were fighting ferociously, after they had seen the fate of Kang-Lin, their fighting grew even more ferocious and wrathful. Kenshin's eyes had turned gold, indicating he had gone into Battousai mode. Sanosuke was fighting with tears in his eyes, as was Yahiko, stabbing repeatedly at his enemies while Misao was throwing and stabbing knives at her enemies with such speed and anger that the digimon were afraid of her. Aoshi was fighting with a scowl to kill the dead once more and Saitoh was attacking without mercy. When he heard the wolf cry, he knew who it was: Takato. It was a cry of agony, meaning something bad was happening to Kang-Lin. Saitoh's wrath multiplied times four as he gave a slash with such force he cut through the armor of an Evil Guardromon and made his sword come out through the other side. In the city, Jin was helping the wounded soldiers when she heard that same cry, making her eyes water.
"Brother…" she started, before actually starting to cry, not from wrath, but from sadness "Brother…what have they done…?" she asked to no one in particular.
Though she was unaware of what had happened to Kang-Lin, she had felt a surge of pain and sadness come over Takato telepathically, indicating that something had happened, not to Takato, but to someone else. She quickly made up her mind and turned to the Red Cross nurses.
"Take care of the wounded, I have to go help my brother." she ordered, before leaving the place at full speed. She quickly got to where Takato was and saw him holding Kang-Lin in his arms. She appeared dead, but Jin still felt her presence in her mind. She approached Takato with a sad look on her face.
"It's all my fault…why did I bring her into this?" asked Takato, with tears in his eyes.
"It's not your fault, big brother…she wanted to come…she loved you and even if we didn't allow her to come, she would've still came…Here, put her down…I'll see what I can do to help her." she requested.
Takato obeyed, though his face was still sad. Jin closed her eyes and put her hands over Kang-Lin's body, searching for the wound. After finding it, she concentrated more and managed to close it. She then telepathically quickened the blood production in her body to make up for blood loss. After about five minutes, Kang-Lin's eyes fluttered open. Takato looked at her with such joy that he forgot his sister was there and kissed Kang-Lin with joy. She gladly returned the kiss. Jin smiled and then went back to the wounded soldiers. After Jin had left, Takato and Kang-Lin broke their kiss and smiled at each other.
"I thought I had lost you…" he whispered
"Never…you will never lose me…" she whispered back, before kissing him again, something which he gladly returned.
Farther away, where the digimon army was, the enemy was being slowly slaughtered into oblivion. Four hours later, the Battle for Geneva had finished with the Swiss National Guard and the Knights and Council members victorious. All over the city cheers rang out through every street. The Swiss flag was hanged out of every window and raised at every post. The soldiers gave cheers at the Knights as they came back to the center of the city. News had come from Zurich and Bern that they too had managed to repel the invasive digimon army, though the armies were not destroyed. Two days after, any information about the digimon armies ceased to come. Everyone but the Knights and their allies thought the digimon armies had retreated back to their world. A week after the defeat of the Digimon Army, a great celebration was organized by the Lake of Geneva. Rides were put up, whole places were dedicated for food and places to sit and chat. That date became then a national holiday called "Jour de la Victoir de la Liberté" or in English, "Day of Victory of Freedom". The Knights and their allies were all guests of honor. Amazingly, the Elves that Legolas had led agreed to come, chatting between themselves and humans and having fun. Angelique had flown from Japan especially for this occasion. Soon, the family was together once more. Takato and Kang-Lin, though, wanted the evening for themselves and so separated themselves from the group. Angelique and Legolas consented, as they both knew what had happened and decided to give them their well-earned private time. After parting his gaze from Takato, Legolas looked at his sons and gave them a smile.
"Ok, who wants to go on the roller coaster with me?" he asked them
Jonathan and Hyryuu gave an approving yell, and felt as if they were five- year old again. Angelique watched them run towards the roller coaster smiling. Christina and Hikaru giggled at the way their boyfriends were acting. Kim and Catherine had seen that a small dancing platform had been set up and ran towards it, Jin close behind. All three of the girls loved to dance, contrarily to the boys. Hikaru then followed them and Christina dragged Angelique with her to the dancing platform. In honor to the Knights, the Swiss had agreed to play some Japanese music, being their favorite. Contrarily to what everyone expected, they actually like the music and began dancing. Form the roller coaster, Hyryuu and Jonathan heard the music and looked at each other and nodded. Legolas saw their looks and gave a smile. He had never heard his sons play their instruments before, but he would this time. All three of them ran back to the platform and Legolas joined Angelique in her dancing. Hyryuu and Jonathan walked up to the DJ and whispered something in his ear. The DJ nodded and made a sign to one of his helpers. The man came and nodded at the instructions given to him by the DJ. He later came back with an electric guitar and a base guitar. Behind him were two other people, bringing up a drum set and an electrical organ. Hyryuu then ran off the platform and began looking for someone in the crowd. After about ten minutes of searching, he saw a familiar blonde ponytail fluttering in the wind in front of him.
"Zidane! Yo! Zidane! Over here!" shouted Hyryuu
The call made the blonde boy turn around, revealing shock on the boy's face.
"Hyryuu! What in the world are you doing here?" asked Zidane, the band's drum player.
"Uh…nothing really…just on vacation with my family." replied Hyryuu, remembering that Zidane had no knowledge of the identities of the Knights.
"Say, were you here during the battle?! It was so cool!" exclaimed Zidane in excitement.
"Not when you're in the front lines, it ain't…" muttered Hyryuu
"Say what?" asked Zidane
"Huh? Nothing! Say, since we're here and they are playing Japanese music, how about we play for these people?" proposed Hyryuu
"Sure! Show me to the drums!" said Zidane.
Hyryuu led him back to the platform, where the drum set was ready as were the guitars and organ. Now all they needed was Takato and Kang-Lin. As if hey had both read Hyryuu's mind, they were just approaching the platform. Takato had his personal electric guitar with him. He never went anywhere or sang without it. Kang-Lin came up to the piano and tested it. Takato just looked at his brothers with a smile and greeted Zidane. Hyryuu then went to the DJ and whispered something in his ear. The DJ nodded and as soon as the song ended, he did not put a new one. When everyone had demanding faces looking at the DJ, he gave a general apology saying he was looking for a new CD to put. The people grumbled their acceptance and stood there, waiting for the next song. The DJ gave Hyryuu a thumbs up, which he returned, saying he was ready. They were to play out of everyone's view, everything being heard on the platform. As soon as the DJ patched the sounds through, the band started playing. The DJ announced that the song was called "Joujou na Kanjou" from Five Swords. Hyryuu then started playing his solo intro, and then afterwards, everyone came in, playing and Takato singing. Everyone on the platform started dancing like crazy, for they loved the song. After finishing that song, they continued with "Heart of Sword" and "Ice Blue Eyes". Finally, for their closing song, they played "Freckles". Throughout the whole 'concert' on one had suspected that they were listening to live music except for Legolas, who was into the plan. After they were done, Takato and the gang quietly and stealthily crept out of the platform while the DJ played some other Japanese music. After they had gotten away from the platform, they returned to it, looking absolutely unaware of what had just happened. Kim and Catherine were dancing like maniacs to the music while Jin was trying to keep up with them. Legolas and Angelique were both dancing and laughing. Hikaru and Christina were both dancing alone, as if the wind was making them flow. Jonathan and Hyryuu went up to their respective other and started to dance with them, as bad as they were. Takato was no better, point demonstrated when Kang-Lin took him out to dance. He had danced a bit at the disco because he knew the steps, but for these songs, he had totally forgotten. After about two hours of dancing, or in the case of the boys, TRYING to dance, they decided that it was time to sleep. Takato and Kang-Lin were authorized to share a room, as were the other two couples. They had all checked into a hotel, though the manager insisted that their stay was to be free. In their room, Takato and Kang-Lin were changing into their pajamas/night robe. When Kang-Lin came out of the bathroom in her nightgown, Takato was already in the bed, reading a book. It was a routine Takato had. He would always read a passage off a book before going to sleep. As Kang-Lin got into bed, he closed his book and looked at her. She looked back at him and they both smiled. Suddenly, Kang-Lin asked Takato the question most unexpected in his life.
"Takato…do you like children?" she asked, though her question had another meaning to it.
"Sure…I guess…I mean, they're cute and all…" he replied, uncertain of what she meant.
"If we ever get married…would you like to have sons or daughters?" she continued asking.
Takato sweatdroped in uncertainty and looked at her.
'Us getting married…now there's something I had NEVER thought about…I mean…Jonathan is…what? 21 years old? Good thing he got his teacher job at our school to help us with the band…" he thought. "I'm only 17...though going to be 18 in a month…Kang-Lin is a month younger than me…heck…Hyryuu has a better chance of getting married…I mean…he's 18 already as is Hikaru. Jin…Hell no way she's getting married at fourteen so better dismiss that thought….but…Do I want to get married?"
"Takato? Are you still awake?" asked Kang-Lin, snapping him to reality.
"What? Oh…yes. Sorry, was just in my thoughts…and yes, I would love to have children." he said with a smile.
'Note to self: Must talk to the guys and get an engagement ring quick.' he thought
Kang-Lin gave a nod of approval and went to sleep. Takato stayed up for a while before going to sleep. The next day, he arose early and got dressed before going outside and knocking onto his brothers' rooms. Both boys answered the doors and Takato told them to come outside for a moment.
"Guys…I have a problem." he said
"What's the matter?" asked Hyryuu, yawning
"Yeah, what's up bro?" asked Jonathan
"Kang-Lin wants to get married." Takato told them simply
Their reactions differed. Jonathan caught his breath and coughed while Hyryuu just froze.
"Guys? You two still with me here or not?" asked Takato
"Uh…well…what do you want? Do YOU want to get married?" asked Hyryuu
"Well…I had never thought of that…I mean, I love her dearly…but…" he started, before Jonathan cut him off
"You don't know if you can live up to the commitment?" he asked
"Exactly…I don't know if I can live up to the commitment or to her expectations" replied Takato
"How, may I ask, did this subject come up?" asked Jonathan
"She started asking me if I liked children." answered Takato "And then it kinda went downhill from there."
"I see…well then, you two have my full support." said Jonathan
"Same here." agreed Hyryuu
"Let's just hope Mom and Dad will approve." muttered Jonathan
'As if they don't already know. Jonathan, you disappoint me…' said a voice in Jonathan's mind.
'Jin…what are you doing in my head? And more, what do you mean they know?' asked Jonathan mentally.
'I was bored and decided to go mind exploring…you wouldn't believe how boring the people around here are in their minds…I actually found one who was a crazed maniac…calmed him down though…and as for dad and mom, I told them after hearing the conversation Takato and Kang-Lin had yesterday.' replied Jin
'Takato isn't going to like that…' warned Jonathan
'He need not know. If you don't tell him, I won't tell on YOUR conversation with Christina' she replied
'Blackmail' he thought
'All's fair in love and war' she said 'and we aren't in war.' she finished, before disrupting the connection
Jonathan sighed before turning his attention to Takato.
"Mom and Dad approve." he announced
"How do you know?" asked Takato.
"Jin told me." replied Jonathan
"Ah." answered Takato, not wanting to know HOW she found out about last night and right now.
"Well, I guess we should go get a ring, right?" proposed Hyryuu
"Yep…sure looks like it." answered Jonathan
Jonathan and Hyryuu went back into their rooms, washed, and came back out in normal street clothes. They searched everywhere for a jewelry store but found none. Then, at the corner of the street, they spotted a jewelry store. They went inside and started looking around. Little did they know that Legolas had asked Aragorn to follow them. Aragorn had slipped into the store and crept up on Takato and his brothers. Just when Takato was turning around, he gasped as he recognized Aragorn.
"Jewelry shopping? This isn't like you Takato…Looking for something special? Like a RING?" he asked
"Let me guess, Legolas sent you…" said Takato
"Sharp as ever I see. Very good. Anyway, I understand you are looking for a ring…let me help you." he asked.
"Sure, why not?" said Takato
"Ok, then I found one already." said Aragorn, bringing out a small box, furred with red cloth, the crest of Hope engraved on the top part.
"Where did you get that?" asked Jonathan
"It's a secret." said Aragorn.
Takato took the box and opened it. Inside was a golden ring with a medium sized orange gem in the middle. All around the ring were engravings of some weird language.
"Who made this? This isn't human craft…that I can tell." asked Takato, looking at Aragorn
"This is an Elven ring. It was forged by Elves. They made it especially for you, for the day that you would marry your beloved one. The engravings on it are also of Elven origin. They read in your tongue "Yours in Life, Death, and Eternity. You shall always be my heart." he translated
"I see…but how much does it cost?" asked Takato
"Were you listening? This is a gift from the Elves! They want you to have it free of charge. The gold is pure and the gem is what we call a Krushta gem. It translates into Sun Gem. It is only found in the mines of Moria, where the dwarves now live. They brought it up from the mines and gave it to the Elves for making this ring. You could say it is a gift from the Dwarves and Elves. The humans are also giving something. They are giving you your future house. When you decide what you want it to be like, just tell us and the carpenters, stone-workers and others will come to build it. Takes a lot less time than here." answered Aragorn
"I see…give them my thanks…tell them I will someday repay them for their kindness." requested Takato
"Your deeds right now are enough of a reward already." answered Aragorn. "Now then, if we have the ring, I guess it is wise for us to go back to bed so as to not raise any of the girls' suspicions?" proposed Aragorn, to which all three nodded.
All four returned to the hotel and went to their rooms. Several hours later, Kang-Lin woke up to see Takato sitting on a couch not far form the bed, but facing away. She got up and sat beside him, startling him a bit.
"Kang-Lin! Jeez…don't scare me like that! After all, if this is how you're going to act through our marriage, I might as well think twice!" he said jokingly
"Our marriage? What do you mean?" asked Kang-Lin, a flame of hope burning inside her.
"I mean this…" he started, kneeling in front of her. "Kang-Lin, love of my life, my own angel…" he continued, bringing out the box "will you make this joker and fool your Knight and husband for the rest of your life?" he asked.
Kang-Lin only stayed quiet, but her heart was bouncing around in joy.
"Translation of what I just said is: Kang-Lin, will you marry me?" he said, half jokingly, half serious.
"I know what you just said! You're right about something, though…you are a fool and joker…but you are MY fool and joker. Of course I'll marry you Takato-kun!" she said giving him a tight embrace. After she let him go, he put on the ring on her finger, making her gasp at how beautiful and warm it was.
"Now is the time when I pass out from joy…g'night." he said, before slumping down from joy.