Disclaimer: Save a few, these characters are not mine. But you already knew that, right?

*\/*

The next day, Daisuke, Miyako, Iori, Hikari, and Takeru stood in a huddle in front of the school. Then, Daisuke noticed Kyoko walking towards them. Yesterday, she had looked like a mess. Even though he had visited her in the afternoon, she had still been wearing her pajamas, and her hair had been full of tangles. Today, she was dressed in the same clean shirt and skirt that she wore every day. She had brushed her hair to look straight and shiny, like it usually did.

Mikado noticed it too. He recalled her childhood, when he had propped her in front of the mirror like a doll, making her look beautiful, making her look perfect. She was perfection. She was his perfection.

Even though she had cleaned herself up, she still didn't regain her previous facial expression. Her tone was solemn, and her eyes looked like they had been cast in pure darkness.

She approached the Digidestined, raising her head slightly to speak. "You all like to congregate in the computer lab, right?" she asked them.

"Yes," answered Takeru.

"Today, after school, please meet me there."

The looked puzzled. "Um…what?" asked Miyako.

Kyoko sighed impatiently. "It's not that complicated of a request, is it? Today, when the final bell rings, you guys will go to the computer lab. We'll all be there. Ken too."

"Ken doesn't go to this school," Daisuke pointed out.

"I know. Call him, please. Tell him to come over as quickly as possible. I need to…we need to talk. All of us. There are things that you need to know, and it concerns you all. It includes Ken, so he definitely needs to be there."

"But, why do we have to call him?" Iori asked with a tone of distrust.

Kyoko's head turned slightly towards Mikado, who stood at the other edge of the courtyard. He was staring at them out of the corner of his eyes. "Because I have other business to attend to," she replied. Daisuke noticed that her hands grasped her book bag tighter.

"Right, sure, we'll give Ken a call," Daisuke said.

Kyoko bowed. "Thank you."

Without another word to the children, she turned on her heals and sprinted over to Mikado. He looked up at her with a small nod.

"Can you come to the computer lab after school today?" she asked him.

"What for?"

"I have something to tell you…to tell everyone. I need you to hear it, but it's so long, I'd rather tell everyone at once."

"I'll come as quickly as I can."

"I suggest you do. It concerns you especially."

*\/*

Mikado was the last to arrive to the lab. The Digidestined had all gathered with their respective Digimon. They were standing before Kyoko as though she was about to give a long speech.

Kyoko's lips twitched slightly when Mikado entered the room. "For someone who is right in the building, it took you awhile to get to this room. Did you get lost?"

"I had paperwork."

She shrugged. "Fine, then."

"So, go on," Miyako said impatiently. "What did you want to tell us?"

Kyoko sighed. "I came to tell you all the story of how I woke up, and what I saw."

*\/*

Kyoko was lying in the cave. There was pain. Intense pain. Why?

"No, God, no!" she screamed. Her head hurt. Her eyes were closed. She was still half-asleep, still dreaming.

Upon realizing that the pain she was feeling was indeed real, though brief, she opened her eyes. She could see her surroundings clearly. Too clearly, in fact. It meant that she was awake, fully awake. She threw herself back onto the ground. How long had it been since she had fallen asleep?

Try as she might, she just couldn't fall back asleep. It had been so easy before.

"Damn," she muttered. With a defeated sigh, she stood up and stumbled towards the cave's entrance. The boulder she had pushed in front of it was still there. When she had first arrived at the cave, it had been so easy to push it. But now, even though she had been hibernating, storing up her energy, it took all of her strength just to move it far enough to step through.

Kyoko recoiled at the sunlight. It was a small wonder, since she hadn't seen it in so long. She was standing in front of a river. Across the river she could see a forest. She didn't have the energy left to turn into Shikumon, or she would have flown across. The air was so clean, so beautiful. How could such pain exist within this beauty? It was a pain so intense that it had woken her from the deepest slumber of her life. She needed to know what it was.

But before she could even begin her journey down the riverbank, her body collapsed. She fell to her knees, weak with hunger.

She managed to crawl over to a bush with some berries on them. They didn't look poisonous, not that it mattered. Kyoko's body was immune to poison, Vandemon had assured her that it was.

Vandemon…Daddy…where are you? she thought. But she knew where he was: nowhere. Now, more clearly than ever, she saw the vision of his death in her head. Angewomon…no, Tailmon. He had died before her very eyes, and what's more, at the hands of her only friend. Tailmon had betrayed her. Vandemon was dead. And Kyoko…Kyoko was alone. She didn't need to be reminded of this, not now.

Her stomach grumbled. It reminded her that this wasn't the time to be crying. She pulled a few berries off the bush and stuffed them in her mouth. They were sweet. She wouldn't have cared if they were dried and rotten.

She caught sight of her reflection in the water, gasping at what she saw. Her outfit was torn, because she had grown so much. Her hair had grown down to her knees. She was older. She had definitely been asleep for more than a few months.

Suddenly, from behind her, she heard a great splash. Her head jerked around. A great giant whale-like Digimon was swimming towards her.

"Ahoy, there!" it yelled.

Kyoko stood up. Her strength had been restored somewhat. "Hello," she said as politely as she could.

"You're a Digidestined, aren't you?" he asked her.

Was she? "Um…yes."

"Where's your Digimon?"

"He's…he's dead." She stumbled over her own words.

"Oh. Well, probably not."

She stared at him. "What?"

"Haven't you heard of The Village of Beginnings?"

"It sounds familiar."

"When a Digimon is destroyed, they're usually reborn there. I can take you there, if you'd like."

Would he have been reborn? It was unlikely, but it didn't hurt to look. "Ok, thanks."

"Hop on," he said. "By the way, my name's Whamon."

"I'm Kyoko," she said quickly, climbing onto his back. Directly after that, her mind ran through the possibility that in the time she had been asleep, word of her connection with Vandemon had spread. Worse still, what if more Digimon had found out that Shikumon was more than just a legend, and they knew the name of her other body?

"Kyoko, huh?" Whamon didn't sound concerned.

"Yeah."

"You look like you've been through a rough time."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, your clothes are all tattered. Plus, you've got a lot of dirt on you."

The dirt had probably come from sleeping in a cave. "Rough time. Yeah."

"Too bad."

"Yeah," she muttered. "Too bad."

For a moment, there was a silence between them. Then, Kyoko realized that she could use him to her advantage.

"You've heard of Vandemon, right?"

"Yes, of course. Gave those Digidestined quite a battle some years back."

She froze at his words. "Y-years? How many years?"

"Oh, about four, I'd say."

"Four? God…"

"Something wrong?"

"No, no. It's fine. Everything's just fine."

"Glad to hear it. Why'd you ask, anyway?"

"I don't know. I was just…just curious."

"Well, here we are." He stopped at the shore.

"Where's the village?"

"It's just through the clearing. I can't take you farther than this."

"'Course not." She climbed off. "Thanks for the ride."

"No problem. See you around."

"Yeah, see you."

The Village of Beginnings was certainly different from anything else she had ever seen. It looked like a giant playroom. The entire ground was lined with eggs and baby Digimon in tiny cradles. She wandered around, vaguely aware of the tiny eyes staring at her.

How would she recognize Vandemon's egg? Would it be black? Would it have skulls?

"Hi there!" exclaimed one of the babies, interrupting her thoughts.

She turned her head to it. It was a Botamon. "Hello," she replied.

"What's your name?"

"I'm Kyoko." She kneeled down to its level. "How are you?"

"I'm great!"

She smiled. "That's nice."

"You!" screamed a voice from behind her. A tiny Punimon was glaring at her from a few feet away. "I know you!"

"From where?"

"You work for Vandemon! You've grown, but it's definitely you!"

"I don't."

"You do so! I know it, because he trained Shikumon, but Shikumon was really Kyoko! I heard stories! They said you were dead!"

"Well, then, obviously, I must be a different Kyoko."

"No! They said she went around in a school uniform. You're her! You're definitely her!"

She stood up. "I only came to look for something. I really don't want to start anything."

"You prey on innocent Digimon for their blood!"

"Occasionally, yes, but I…"

"How do we know that you don't want to hurt us?"

"Well, I don't plan on staying long."

"Yeah, right!" the Punimon scoffed. "Help! Elecmon! Help!"

"Oh, crap…" Kyoko muttered.

Elecmon came running from the distance. "What? What is it?"

Punimon nudged itself towards Kyoko. "She's gonna hurt us!"

Elecmon turned on her. "Who are you?" he asked with distrust.

"I'm Kyoko."

"She's really Shikumon!"

"Shikumon? But Shikumon is just a legend, Punimon."

"It's not! It's not! It's really her! She said so!"

"Did you say it to them?"

She couldn't stand to lie. "Yes."

"Why would you say it?"

"Because it's true." Curse her honesty.

Elecmon's eyes grew wide with anger. "Well, then, Shikumon, if you're half as powerful as I've heard, and half as dangerous, then I'm going to have to ask you to leave…now, before I get angry."

"I'm looking for something. It will only take a moment, but I can't leave yet."

"Leave. Now."

"I can't."

His body shook with rage. "You asked for it, then! Super Thunder Strike!"

Kyoko was thrown back by his attack. This body was not built to endure that kind of attack. As she licked the blood from her lips, she felt her body turning into Shikumon. By the time she had managed to stand up, she was no longer Kyoko. "Fine then," she said softly. "If that's truly the way you want to play it. You're just lucky that I'm not in a killing mood."

She pulled the two silver razors from the pouch around her waist and threw it at Elecmon. Several bloody gashes appeared on his stomach.

"Now, then," she said, "I seem to have established the fact that you're not meant to deal with me. I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to hurt your little babies. I just want to look for something, and then I'll be gone."

"Fine," he spat. "But make it quick."

She walked around the village, unsure of what exactly it was she needed to spot. There was nothing special about any of the eggs, nothing to indicate that it was the one she wanted.

"There's nothing," she said to Elecmon. "I'm sorry I was so rash."

He glared at her, but didn't say anything.

Shikumon flew into the sky. Her clothes still fit, even though this body had definitely grown.

She didn't know where she was heading. There was no destination. In the past, she hadn't ventured much around the Digital World. Vandemon had always kept her close to his castle.

She landed in a small town that was almost literally in the middle of nowhere. She recognized it, though. The crest of the eighth child had been hidden here. It was she who had retrieved it for Vandemon. She wondered if Starmon and Revolermon were still around.

As she landed, she took the form of Kyoko once more and then walked into the saloon. Starmon stood behind the counter, polishing a glass. He looked up at her. "Hey, ain't I seen you someplace before, missy?"

"Yeah, you did."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Those clothes look mighty familiar."

"Everyone seems to recognize them. Can I get a glass of something? Anything?"

He poured her a glass of milk, but didn't take his eyes off her. Revolermon entered the saloon.

"Her, Revolermon!" shouted Starmon. "Don't she look like someone we seen before?" He pointed to Kyoko.

Revolermon put his hand on his gun. "'Course she does. That's the girl that went and stole the crest we were guarding!"

"Hey, yeah!"

"Look, I don't want any trouble. I'm sorry. Daddy…I mean, Vandemon, told me to do things and I did them. But he's gone now. I don't want to take anything. I just wanna talk."

Starmon narrowed his eyes. "'Bout what?"

"I don't know, exactly. But I missed a lot while I was in that coma."

"So, that's where you disappeared to, is it?"

"Yes."

"Well, there's that Kaiser…"

Kyoko choked on her milk. "That what?"

"The Digimon Kaiser. He had these dark rings…"

"Dark what?"

"Dark rings. He used them to control Digimon. Got a hold of me, once, he did."

"The Digimon Kaiser…what was his real name?"

"Well, I'm not exactly sure. Do you remember what it was, Revolermon?"

"Nope."

She stood up. "Was it…was it Ken?"

"You know, I think it was!"

"No. Oh, no. And he's still out there? Still terrorizing the Digital World?"

"Actually, that's what I came to tell you about, Starmon," said Revolermon. "It's over."

"Huh? Over?"

"Those Digidestined just defeated him. He's a goner."

Kyoko was stunned. "He…he's dead?"

"No, just defeated, far as I could find out."

"What about the dark rings?"

"What about 'em?"

"How did he make them?"

"Well, I don't rightly know."

"I…thanks. I have to go now." Kyoko started towards the door.

"Where you going?"

"There…there's something I need to take a look at."

"Hey, come back again and visit us sometime, right? So long as you're not trying to kill us or nothing."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll come by. Thanks for your help." She smiled faintly at the two of them and ran out the door. She turned into Shikumon while she was still running, which allowed her to fly off into the sky with incredible speed.

Now she had a destination: her old home. She managed to find her way there after several wrong turns. After all, it had been years since she had navigated her way around the Digital World.

Finally, she saw it. Although, from above, it was hardly the way she remembered it. She remembered a castle, a huge castle, in fact. It could be seen clearly from the sky. It had been magnificent, unchallenged.

Now? Now, it was a pile of rubble. An impressively large pile of rubble, to be certain, but still, a pile of rubble. Not even a shadow of what it once was.

She landed gracefully on top of it, then turned back into Kyoko. There was no need to waste her energy with Shikumon's body.

She wandered around the boulders that had made up the walls of Vandemon's castle. Tears started to well up in her eyes. Where was her room? Where was the door post where Vandemon had been measuring how tall she'd gotten? Where were the books that she used to read? Where had it all gone?

There were things buried underneath the piles, but nothing she cared about. She walked in the direction of where she thought her room had been located.

Then she saw it, buried underneath a molehill of small stones. She kicked them aside and picked up an old tattered teddy bear.

She hugged it tightly. This was all that was left, wasn't it?

No, there was more. She had seen it. She had just been too selfish to care. She would save it all. If it took her days, she would uncover anything that could be salvaged. She would find a place for them all, she would…

"So, this is the famous daughter of the dark lord, is it?"

She looked up. Before her stood a woman dressed in a tight magenta dress. Her long, gray hair hung neatly at her sides. She was smirking at Kyoko with her gloved arms crossed.

"I was told you'd be here," she said, "but I never imagined you'd be so…unimpressive. From what he told me, you'd be a fearsome creature to behold."

Kyoko scowled at the woman. "I can be. Who are you?"

"My name is Arachnemon. And may I presume that you are the child of Vandemon?"

"Don't you know my name?"

"Kyoko, was it?"

"Yes. Who's 'he?' Who sent you?"

"My boss. He told me that you had awaken, whatever that meant. He said you'd be in the rubble of your father's castle, most likely. I have heard a lot about Vandemon, to be certain, but until just recently, I never knew he had raised a child. And I found it out from Oikawa, no less. He's never even been to the Digital World. "

Kyoko's head jerked at his name. She knew him…there, in the cemetery. His friend was dead, and Oikawa…Oikawa was dying, in his own way.

"How do you know Oikawa?"

"He's my boss. I told you."

"How does he know about me?"

"No idea. But he sent me to retrieve you. He said that he may have something of interest to you."

This wasn't Oikawa. The man she remembered had been sweet, sensitive. The Digimon he had sent after her was evil, devious. He would not send this monster, not if he were the real Oikawa. No, it was the man she saw in her premonition, the man she had hoped would never come into being.

"Do you know what he wants?"

Arachnemon sighed, obviously exasperated. "No, now would you please come?"

"First, does Oikawa know about the dark rings?"

Arachnemon laughed. "Who doesn't, especially him? He created them. And Ken thinks he thought of it all by his little self. Ha! The only thing that boy was good for was building my precious control spires."

"That's wrong. Oikawa didn't think of them…"

"Oh?" she spat. "How would you know that?"

"They were daddy's," Kyoko said darkly, "and don't you dare try to say otherwise."

Arachnemon smirked. "Really?"

"I don't know what Oikawa wants with me, but if I'm going to see him, it's not going to be with you."

"Oh, dear. He told me you may not like me."

"Who was Ken to you?"

"We're back on him again? Well, all right. He was my experiment. There was a device implemented into his head to make him more…compliant. He was already easy to break, ever since his brother died."

"No…God, no…" Everything Kyoko had seen was coming true.

"Ironic isn't it, that the boy possesses the Crest of Kindness?"

"But you lost control of him, didn't you?"

"Yes. Just a few hours ago, in fact. He reformed when his Digimon was destroyed. Such pain, such sorrow."

"Pain and sorrow…she knew what it felt to lose someone so close to you. She knew the pain of watching it happen. It had been intense, a blast and then nothingness. Gone…just like that. Ken had felt that pain.

Was that the pain that woke Kyoko up?

She shivered.

Oikawa knew something. He had something, there was no doubt about that. But she couldn't find out what it was, not yet, and especially not if it meant she had to be catered there by this…thing. This was not a Digimon. This was not a human.

"What are you?"

"I told you, my name is Arachnemon."

"What are you?" she repeated the question with fierceness.

"Would you like to see?" Arachnemon asked with a taunt in her voice. Before Kyoko's eyes, she turned into a monster.

A Digimon.

She and Kyoko were the same.

For some reason, this made Kyoko very angry. She jumped, turning into Shikumon while she was still in midair. Before Arachnemon realized what was happening, Shikumon had pinned her to the ground.

"You tell Oikawa that if he wants to talk to me, it'll be on my time. In the meantime, he'd better come up with a believable story. How did you get like this?"

"Like what?" Arachnemon asked, struggling in Shikumon's tight grip.

"Why do you have a human form?"

"I don't know! That's just the way Oikawa created us!"

"Us? What do you mean, us?"

"Mummymon and I. Oikawa created us both."
"How could Oikawa create such complex creatures meant for this world, when he's never even been here?"

"I don't know! Get off me!"

"No. I'm hungry, you know. And you look awfully delicious. Now, hold still."

Arachnemon's eyes grew wide with fear. Shikumon was looking at her with fearsome hunger. She exposed her long fangs and sank them into Arachnemon's neck. The spider shrieked with pain and terror. "No! No, please!"

The more blood flowed into Shikumon's mouth, the less she wanted to release her captive. She wouldn't kill her. No, no, that would be very bad. She needed Arachnemon to tell Oikawa all those lovely, threatening things. But the blood was so delicious. She had been wandering in the desert so long without a drink, and now she wished it never stopped raining. It was raining blood.

Finally, she released Arachnemon, whose face had somewhat paled, but she would live.

Gasping and coughing, Arachnemon stood up. Shikumon kneeled before her, staring at her darkly.

"You can go to Oikawa, and you can tell him that I do remember him, but I can't see him just yet. He'll have to wait, and if he doesn't wish to do so, well, he'll have to wait anyway. I will be coming to him, make no mistake about that. Tell him what I did to you. He needs to be prepared for how…unpredictable I am."

Arachnemon was gasping for air. "A mere child!" she stammered. "The very idea!"

"You're obviously younger than me. Oikawa hadn't created you when I met him. The man I knew would never create something so vile." She spat the last word with a mixture of amusement and disgust.

Arachnemon stared at her with amazement. She reverted back to her human form, keeping one hand on her bleeding neck at all times.

"Don't forget all of the stuff I told you," Shikumon said innocently.

"I won't," Arachnemon said with anger. Then, she ran into the distance.

Shikumon continued to watch Arachnemon until she wasn't even a dot in the distance. Her face was expressionless. She turned her body around and saw the stuffed bear that she had dropped. Without so much as a blink, she threw herself onto the ground so that she could grab it. She pulled the bear close to her body and let the tears fall freely down her cheeks. But she wasn't crying.