*Note: Chapter 15, Chapter 16, and the Epilogue were uploaded together.*

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or any of the main characters in this fic except for Rime and Phloem.  I also came up with the idea of 'weremon.'

Chapter 15: Growth

Phloem stared at Tapirmon.  "Daemon escaped?"

Tapirmon nodded.  "I was still around as a ghost when it happened, but even then it was easy for me to sense his presence.  Now he's just…gone."

Vahn shook his head.  "This explains too much.  Daemon reportedly had some ties with MaloMyotismon, who was destroyed, not just sealed.  Maybe he learned a few tricks from MaloMyotismon, like controlling people…"

"We should get the others," Phloem commented.  Vahn and Tapirmon traded looks of silent agreement, and then they all went away from the cavern in a quick walk, a sudden sense of urgency pushing them to hurry.

********

Sho stared at the dark portal.  It had reacted to his D-Seed's light by clearing up slightly.  "What the…?"

"Go in," whispered a soft, childlike voice.  He looked around for the owner, but it seemed to have come from his D-Seed.  "Go in.  Your destiny awaits if you can make it through the Dark Ocean."

"The Dark Ocean…" SnowAgumon repeated in surprise.  "No one can make it through there."  Looking into the portal, Sho had to agree with his Digimon's assessment.

"Go in," the voice urged again.  "Find your destiny.  Survive."

"How can I, in there?" asked Sho.

"Run.  Run and don't stop running until you are out once again."  The voice fell silent.

Sho looked at SnowAgumon.  "I think we should go," said the Digimon.

Sho nodded in accord.  "Then let's go."  Digimon and human took off at a run into the place of people's worst nightmares.

********

Now gathered at the portal, the other Digidestined and their Digimon were receiving a similar message from each D-Seed.  Soft children's voices were telling them to go in, to run and keep on running until they found their destiny.  "Go…"

Pixie frowned.  "Should we really go in…there?" she said, gesturing towards the dark portal.

"I don't think that there's anything else we can do," Rime answered.

Alan shook his head, but not in disagreement.  He just didn't like even to look at the place.  "Let's just get it over with."

"Look at it this way, Alan," said Veemon cheerfully.  "We could end up saving the world."

"Or we could end up dead," Rime's Tapirmon added.  "Be careful."

All was silent for a moment.  "Just try to stay alive, then," Kurai said.  Everyone nodded.  "Let's go!"

********

Sho stumbled slightly on the gray sand in the almost lightless world.  The shadows were beginning to catch up to him.  One finally grabbed his ankle, causing him to trip and curse.  He kicked it off as it took on the form of a colorless Scubamon.  SnowAgumon couldn't Digivolve in the dark world; he'd already tried.  The Scubamon/shadows quickly surrounded them.  "This is a crappy situation," Sho commented to SnowAgumon.

The Scubamon drew closer, and SnowAgumon and Sho got into fighting stances.

Suddenly, a blast shook the area.  "GRAND CROSS!"  Several of the Scubamon were instantly killed by the attack.  Lucemon-Vahn floated above Sho and SnowAgumon.  "You two had better get out of here," he said to them.  "The others are just ahead of you, on top of the cliff.  I'll watch your back."  He released another Grand Cross attack towards the Scubamon to clear a path.  Sho nodded, and began to run with SnowAgumon again.

Vahn floated down to the ground.  The Scubamon looked unimpressed as they turned their attention to him.  "You should've ran away," he told them before powering up another attack.  "Grand Cross!"  He let out a barrage of powerful attacks. Whenever a dark Scubamon was hit, it vanished, and he kept on attacking until they were completely gone.

The ground seemed to shake beneath his feet, so he hastily took to the air.  He reached the cliff top where the rest were just as Sho and SnowAgumon reached the top.  Vahn transformed back into his human form as the rest observed the scene in front of them.  A jagged, circular area was swirling with several hues of colors; red, orange, yellow, and blue, it was like a prism in the world of darkness.  Each color was concentrated in a section of it.

The ground continued to rumble.  Magnus and Relaina looked back, only to see something large rising out of the ocean in the distance.  Near the shore, red-eyed shadows slithered and slinked across the beach, quickly making their way to the cliff, which they began to climb.

"It looks like we're supposed to go into this," observed Brian.  He grinned.  "Pick the color you like best, and let's go!"

Rime put a hand to his head and sighed.  "This Digidestined…stuff…makes being an emperor seem easy."

Kurai smiled.  "Relax, Rime.  It'll be all right."

Tatsu stepped forward.  "I'll go in first," he said.  With Monodramon, he stepped up to the barrier.  It flashed gold, and then they were gone.

Looking puzzled, Sakura said, "Did I just see the moon…?  I guess I'll go next."  With Salamon, she approached the barrier.  Again it flashed gold as the partners vanished.

As the others hesitated, Sho and SnowAgumon stepped forward and disappeared in gray light.  The rest followed, a human going with their Digimon partner and disappearing in a light the color of their crest.  Finally only Phloem, Vahn, and Tapirmon were left.

"Let's go together, just in case," Phloem suggested while holding out his hand.  "It seems to have something to do with the D-Seed."  Nodding in agreement, Vahn took Phloem's hand and the three walked to the barrier.  It flashed blue, and the barrier itself disappeared.

Seconds later, when the first of the shadows had scaled the cliff, they hissed in annoyance when they saw no one.  Ramming their forms against where the portal had been, the air flicked.  A cracking sound was audible; the barrier was breaking.

********

Tatsu looked around him.  As far as he could see, there was a dusty, rocky plain with no grass growing, and the stars overhead were unusually bright.  They were also not in the same places that he remembered.  Then he turned around, and he saw the Earth.  His golden eyes widened in surprise behind his bandages.  Carefully he removed the wrappings so that he could more clearly see everything.  With his enhanced eyesight uninhibited, he could see the glitter of cities with busy nightlives and the peaks of mountains that pierced the clouds.  "Monodramon," he said to the Digimon at his side, "we're on the moon, aren't we?"

The Digimon nodded.  "I don't know how.  I don't even know how we can breath."

"Some dimensions are getting closer together," said a voice far to their right.  Sitting on top of a large boulder halfway between them and the low horizon line were two familiar beings: Shiro, formerly of the Dark Destroyers, and his GrappLeomon.  "Laws of nature are beginning to break; it could be the Realization all over again," he continued as he took in the view of the Earth.  "You and your friends may be able to stop it… or at least the Digital Gods think so."

"You're much calmer than you were before," remarked Tatsu to the gray-haired man.

Shiro looked at Tatsu with controlled anger in his eyes.  "Believe me, I haven't forgotten that you almost killed me.  There are just some things more important than revenge."  He looked at the world with its blue oceans and green and brown landmasses.  "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Tatsu nodded.  "It is."

Another voice spoke.  "Tatsu!  Hey, Tatsu!"  Sakura and Salamon came jogging over a hill.  Rime and Sorcerymon followed behind them.  She stopped when she reached him, smiled at him, and then frowned in the direction of Shiro.  "What's he doing here?"

"And how are we breathing on the moon?" wondered Rime.  "It's not supposed to be that way."

Shiro and GrappLeomon stood and faced them.  "Exactly.  The first step to putting everything back to the way it's supposed to be is defeating me," he said.  "Then, maybe, you can go on to saving the Earth."  For a moment, gold and pink lights flickered over both human and Digimon.  "If you wish to fight me, you may… however, it is my partner that you should worry about."

********

Magnus and Relaina stared warily at Cleo and JewelBeemon.  Around them, snow was falling, but they weren't very cold.  That was surprising, considering that they were at the South Pole.  The icy landscape was calm and pure; the only blemishes to the bleached land were the colorful forms of three each of humans and Digimon.  "Are we going to fight or not?" Cleo asked.  A red glow swept across her skin suddenly, but just as quickly died down.

Relaina looked at Magnus, who nodded.  Their D-Seeds lit up, and Guilmon and Gabumon evolved into WarGrowlmon and WereGarurumon.  "We're ready," said Relaina.

Cleo looked at them curiously.  "You two are planning to fight me?  If you wish…" She pulled a sword out of the sheath at her side.  They rushed to attack her… but both strikes were easily blocked.  Yet after she had parried their blows, she made no move to strike back and just stood there, waiting.

********

On an island somewhere in an eastern ocean, another battle was taking place.  "This will be a Digimon-only battle," Luc said as he looked down at them from the top of a cliff.  "Mind battles won't work this time around."

In the air between them, MagnaAngemon, AeroVeedramon, and Karatenmon were already fighting.  Yet, somehow, the crow-like Digimon was holding its own against the other two Ultimates.  Even MagnaAngemon's Gate of Destiny failed to stop Karatenmon.  Then, he had simply used his twin swords to block AeroVeedramon's Magnum Crasher and V-Wing Blade.

"How are you going to win this way?" asked Karatenmon as he slashed AeroVeedramon with one of his swords.    He sped towards MagnaAngemon with his swords crossed, but the angel Digimon pulled out Excalibur and blocked the attack.

********

The cat-like Bastemon gracefully raced through the snow, knocking back Paildramon and LadyDevimon easily.  Kurai glared at Sierra from the other side of a large fault in the ice and snow.  "I despise you!" she shouted across the gap.  Alan, standing next to her, winced at the volume as the snow swirled around them.

Sierra half-smiled as she calmly flipped her throwing knives into the air before catching them as they fell.  "Then why don't you do something about it?"

The Digidestined of Sincerity scowled.  "If I teleported, you'd probably 'push' me into the ground!"

"And your point is?"

Alan winced as Paildramon crashed into the ground.  Against Bastemon's somehow enhanced speed and power, their Digimon weren't holding up well at all.  He interrupted Kurai's retort to Sierra's comment.  "Arguing is useless right now!  We need to find someway to help our Digimon."

Falling silent, Kurai glanced worriedly at LadyDevimon as the Digimon barely dodged another attack.  "But…  How?"

An idea came to him suddenly as his gaze fell to his D-Seed.  "Maybe-"

********

"If you don't attack me, I won't attack you," Cleo said with a smile towards Magnus and Relaina.  "Fighting me is not helping you're situation at all."

Relaina frowned and looked at the still-fighting Digimon.  "If only they could Digivolve further, they could win."

"If only they could…" said Magnus.  "Maybe we can help."

********

Panjyamon unleashed another freezing punch at Mammothmon, smoothly dodging both Mammothmon's Tusk Crusher attack.  Running agilely across the sand, the white lion-like Digimon punched at his other opponent, BlueMeramon, and knocked him back into a tree.  Stopping, he waited for the other two to get back to their feet.

Phloem held his side in pain as Mammothmon took another blow.  Sweat that wasn't just from the island's heat coated his brow.  "Hang…in…there…" he whispered as his Digimon got up again.  "You can win…" Vahn's arms steadied Phloem and kept him from falling.

Panjyamon's human, Killey, smirked from where he was standing a few yards away in the shade of a tree.  "Aw, poor baby.  Are you too close to your Digimon?"  His eyes flickered to where Sho was standing.  "You're not, though."

Sho glared coldly back.  "If it would help anything, I would kill you right now."  Killey simply shrugged.  He had already found out that he could not heal Phloem's wounds caused by the younger Digidestined's bond with his Digimon because Mammothmon was still fighting.

So softly that it was almost inaudible, Phloem said, "It wants to grow."

Vahn leaned down.  "What is it, Phloem?"

More firmly, Phloem said, "It wants to grow."  He looked at Mammothmon's battle.  "The D-Seed wants to grow."

Sho looked at his own Digivice.  'It wants to grow?'  Gently, he laid one finger on the D-Seed.  "Grow," he said as he sent his healing energies into it.  The cover popped open, and a small CD rolled out to the ground.

Killey looked at it in bemusement.  "What…?"

The shiny CD imprinted with the gray Crest of Reliability glimmered for a second, even though a plant's shadow blocked out the sun.  It glowed brightly, and then a sapling was rapidly growing into a tree where the disk had been.

As if that had broken some final lock, a similar disk, but this time with the Crest of Friendship, came out of Phloem's D-Seed.  Phloem smiled as he watched the two trees get larger and larger.

********

Brian and Pixie watched in wonder as the two trees grew from the CDs that had been in their Digivice.  Quickly they grew larger and larger, sending out many roots deep into the ground as the trunk branched out into the sky.  Perfectly shaped, large emerald green leaves sprouted from the branches just as quickly.  Soon, they were standing in front of a pair of intertwined trees that could have easily have overshadowed the entire city of Sanctus.

A burst of light to their side made them turn to look.  Their Digimon were once again evolving, this time from a burst of power that they had received from the trees themselves.

"MagnaAngemon Digivolve to… Goldramon!"

"AeroVeedramon Digivolve to… Seraphimon!"

Both Digimon, while not true God Digimon like the original Seraphimon, still radiated power.  They turned their attention to Karatenmon, ready to attack.

"That's enough!" shouted Luc.  He had somehow made his way down to the ground from the cliff.  He bowed towards Pixie, Brian, and their Digimon.  "We surrender."

********

"Your battle is not over," Shiro warned Tatsu, Sakura, and Rime.  Behind them, Justimon, Magnadramon, and Vikemon stood warily.  "I was sent by the Divine Digimon to prepare you for some other, greater power, but that is all I know about it."

As their attention was focused on Shiro, the Digidestined did not notice when drops of white data fell like sap from the trees and touched them.  The humans and Digimon vanished instantly.

GrappLeomon knelt down and gently touched a flower.  Once the three trees had grown, grass and other plants had begun to sprout all over the moon.  "One day humans and Digimon may live here in harmony," he said in a rumbling, deep voice.

Shiro looked up; the Earth was still overhead.  "I just hope we all survive whatever's coming."  A shadow turned the beautiful white clouds of the Earth sky into a murky gray.  "Let's hope these Digidestined win.  Do you think they will?"  The android Digimon looked troubled and did not answer as the flowers and grass spread across the surface of the moon.

~To Be Continued…~

Chibigreen's Notes: Ah, it took me long enough to finish that… To make up for it, I'm quickly finishing the rest of the story!  It will be uploaded on Monday (making it my fastest update ever).  There should be one more chapter and an epilogue… As it's the end of the story, the characters cannot have their personality/history delved into much more… too bad.  Somehow I wish I could've focused on all the characters more…  Um, to get this chapter uploaded today, I didn't reply to reviews, but I wish to thank Tatsu-no-Houou, ChibiSora, PrincessKitty-Chan, and Red Wolf for reviewing.