I don't own digimon nor am I planning a hostile takeover.
Digimon: Twilight Chronicles
Chapter Three (The Reasons Why)
A hole opened in the area between the three digivice-bearers. A powerful wind began to blow, but to Jamie Gotaki's amazement, it didn't blow anything away nor did it suck anything into it. The voice spoke again. "Enter the gateway." Kai and Jamie hesitated, but Ariana and Tierramon stepped through without any hesitation whatsoever. Kai and Jamie glanced at each other. Kai broke the silence between the two first. "You first." he said, as he motioned towards the portal.
"No. After you." Jamie insisted.
"Fine. Then, you can stay here." Kai taunted. He ran and dived through the portal. Jamie waited a few moments before he decided to leap through the portal himself. All the lights dim and Jamie seems to become paralyzed. The view rotates around until it comes to his face, and it zooms in on his right eye. The camera seems to turn again until we are looking through his point of view. He is standing on some sort of pedestal as are Kai and Ariana. He looks around and notices that the pedestal is suspended in midair by what seems to be chains and large stairs lead up to a temple-like structure. It switches to an aerial view. The pedestal is located at the very center of the temple. From the air, the movement below looks like that of ants. Then the camera zooms back to the three children who haven't moved an inch.
Ariana lets out a loud gasp. Kai and Jamie turn and run to her.
"What is it?" Kai queried.
"Is everything alright?" Jamie inquired.
"I..I...I can see!" she gasped. "I can see!"
"You can see?"
"But how?"
A voice answered from behind them. They twisted around to make note of where it came from. It came from a young man with spiked, brown hair with a ponytail in the back and orange eyes. He wore brown robes which extended full body and tan-colored boots that were only noticeable when he walked. "All things are possible in the digital world. It is world where any wish can be granted. A world where all dreams come true."
"Huh? Who are you?"
"My name is too complicated for humans from the other realm. However, you may call me Icarus. I am the keeper of the Crystal Gate of the Neutral Realm. I would like to welcome you three to the Digital World."
"The Crystal Gate?" said Kai.
"Neutral Realm?" wondered Jamie.
"The Crystal Gate is a gateway between two worlds. Actually, it is a gateway between many worlds, but for the sake of convenience, we will simply say that it is a threshold between this world and your world. As I stated, there are many different worlds. There are worlds parallel to yours and there are some parallel to ours. This particular Digital World has five realms, one for each primary element excluding this one. There is the Realm of Fire, the Realm of Water, the Realm of Earth, and the Realm of the Skies. The fifth and final realm is the Neutral Realm. It does not take sides in the great wars that have plagued this world. You have been called here in order to end the wars and bring peace to our world. Will you assist us in saving our world?"
"Save your world? How are we supposed to do that?" Kai asked.
"You have met your allies. Swiftarimon and Tierramon."
"Yeah. What about me? I've got a digivice as well." Kai waved the device.
"Yes. Young Kai Tenrio. The most rambunctious of the group. Your partner chose to remain here. He wanted to see if you could successfully cast aside your doubts, believe in friends rather than yourself, and open the Crystal Gate."
"You passed the test, Kai." said another voice.
Kai turned and before him stood a panther-like digimon. "Are you my...?"
"Yeah, Kai. I am. My name is Panthurmon."
"Panthurmon." repeated Kai.
"So are we going to save the world together or not?" asked the panther.
Kai looked at the panther-like digimon with a fire in his eyes. "You bet!"
The group moved through the temple swiftly until they reached one of the most secretive parts of the temple. Not even the temple caretakers were allowed into this part of the temple. Icarus turned and explained the significance of this room to the tamers.
"Thousands of years ago, when the Digital World was first created, the world was at peace. There was only one-type of digimon. Then, something happened and some of the digimon data became corrupt. The dark ones became known as Virus-types, and the digimon whose data was purified became known as the Vaccine-types. There was also a third classification known as Data-types which seemed to be the neutral of the three. After a while, a war broke out between the Viruses and the Vaccines."
"Finally, after one thousand years of total war, the Harmonious Ones were forced to interfere. They ended the war in a single hour and purified the earth. They believed the peace would last, but nothing lasts forever. A new threat appeared. Dark digimon and an even darker enemy that called itself the "D-Reaper."
Jamie interrupted. "Excuse me, but did you say the 'D-Reaper'?"
"Yes." replied Icarus. "The stories of your world are true."
"So you mean to tell me that the stories of the D-Reaper were..."
"Yes, Master Jamie. They are real."
"But the government said...!"
"A lot of the things they said were lies." commented Ariana.
Jamie glanced inquisitively at her. "What do you mean?"
"When you're blind, you pay attention to things that other people...normal people, don't. When they mentioned that it was all just a big rumor and that there were no such thing as monsters, I could tell by the tone of their voices that everything they were telling us was nothing but one big lie. I could tell that they were covering up something big."
"That's quite a gift." remarked Kai.
"That depends on how you look at it." she replied.
"After the destruction of the D-Reaper three years ago, over three-hundred years have passed here." Kai was about to ask something, but Icarus already had the answer. "You see, time passes differently here in the Digital World. One hour in your world is like a day in ours. A day there is like a week here. A week...a month. A month...a year. That is simply how it goes. No one knows why, and no one cares to ask."
"Now, there is a new threat to the Digital World. He calls himself the Digimon King. No one knows who he is or how he came to be in the Digital World. There are more rumors and speculation rather than answers. However, his goals seem clear. He intends to wipe out all existence of Digimon everywhere. That means here in our world, and in your own world. Nothing is known about why he has set these goals, but it is clear that he must be stopped. That is why we have summoned you three. We want you three to put an end to the Digimon King and his evil plotting. Please, for the sake of both worlds, you must do this."
"So what's the deal with us?" asked Jamie. "I mean, I know why we're here. You explained that just now, but, more to the point of my question, is why? Why did you choose us? Why were we the ones chosen to save the Digital World?"
"A fair question. However, it is not one that I know the answer too."
"So who does?"
"Only the Temple Elder knows the answer to that."
"So, can we talk to this Elder?"
"That question brings us to why we are in this room. This room is called..."
"Wait a minute." Kai interrupted. "Can I take a guess at what it's called?"
Icarus looked at the boy strangely. "A bit unconventional, but I guess so."
"It's called the Inner Sanctum. Please, tell me it's called the Inner Sanctum."
"Umm...yes. This chamber is the Inner Sanctum."
Jamie glanced over at Kai. "How did you know that, dude?"
Kai smirked. "The Inner Sanctum is what all the sacred chambers are called."
"Let me guess. Nevada George and the Temple of Perils had an Inner Sanctum?"
"Not that I know of, J, but it's possible."
"Anyways," Icarus continued, "This room was built by the Harmonious Ones for the sole purpose of prophecy. There is a hidden data in this room that none of us could get to. However, now that you three have arrived, the data is capable of being unlocked."
"What do you mean? What data?" interrogated Ariana.
"The prophecy."
Kai sighed. "What is it?" asked Jamie.
"It seems like every story always has a prophecy."
Jamie chuckled. "It does, doesn't it?"
Icarus continued. "The data is only able to be unlocked by you three."
"Why us?" asked Jamie. "You said that the D-Reaper is real. So if the D-Reaper stories are real, then what about the Tamers who stopped it. I wish I could remember their names, but I can't. Anyways, why couldn't they unlock the prophecy's data?"
"Because you are the bearers of the D-Ring digivices. Not them."
Jamie stared down at the blue and red digivice strapped to his waist. "D-Ring?"
"The name of your digivice. It is capable of various tasks. This you know."
Jamie grabbed his D-Ring and began to fiddle with the buttons. He passed several options he had already known about and then he came to some he had never fully understood. There was Encrypt, Hack, Data Storage, and Transit. "So what is the deal with this Transit section." he inquired as he looked up at Icarus.
"The D-Ring is capable of locating and harnessing the power of Data Streams which allows transportation across the Digital World. The Hack program allows you to gain entry to various locked 'doors' that you may find in the Digital World. The Encrypt allows you to trap a defeated enemy's data, and the Data Storage section contains information on digimon that you may encounter in your journeys. The D-Ring is a very useful digivice. Right now, the D-Ring's Hack program is what is needed in order to access the prophetical data stored in this room."
"So what do we need to do?" asked Kai.
"You must access the Hack program and direct its beam to the far wall where the prophetical data is located. The D-Ring will disengage when the program hack is complete." Icarus simply explained.
Jamie flipped on his digivice's Hack program and aimed it at the wall. Kai and Ariana did the same. As they pointed their digivices at the wall, they cried "Program Hack engage!" and a beam of light shot out from the D-Ring towards the wall. The wall began to glow and various symbols appeared. After a few moments, the beams disappeared and the D-Ring's disengaged. A small computer voice from each digivice replied, "Program Complete."
Icarus looked at the three teenagers in astonishment. Never before had he seen such power. These must really be the ones, he thought to himself. The ones that are going to save our world. He looked at the glowing symbols that had appeared on the wall. He ran over to them and ran his hand over them. They were genuine.
"So, umm...what do they say?" asked the blond-headed boy known as Kai.
"They are written in Digit, the language of the ancient Digital World. I cannot fully understand it all, but I will try to translate it for you three. I believe the text reads:
"In times of peril and chaotic strife,
The Trinity appears with the power of life.
Unknown to the King who watches all,
With ancient creatures, they answer the call.
The ancients say they shall prevail.
Instead of surrender, they shall not fail.
Power and belief says they can win,
Destroy his power with theirs within.
And at the end, they disappear,
No longer allowed to remain with them here."
"Is that all it says?" Kai asked.
"That is all I am capable of translating. There is more, but I am unable to read it."
"So, what's it mean?" asked Ariana.
"I believe it speaks of you three. I also believe that it says..."
As Icarus spoke, the temple began to rumble. Stones that had been used for the ceiling crashed to the ground narrowly missing Kai's head. "What is that?" yelled Jamie over the noise. He had raced to protect Ariana from a falling boulder. He was now climbing to his feet along with Ariana Arishima.
"I do not know!" replied Icarus. "Follow me!" They raced out of the Inner Sanctum and out to the area where the three teenagers had arrived. Looking up, they saw a flying digimon with black wings outlined in a metallic covering. It appeared to have a metal muzzle around its face and its entire body was covered in scales. It had two large talons protruding from its body which could be used to rip its enemy to shreds, and it had red eyes which pierced to your very soul. Its deadening gaze could stop anything in its path. Occasionally covering parts of its body were the same metallic scales that appeared on its wings. This monster was a most intimidating sight. Standing on top of the beast was what appeared to be a knight. The armor was black and silver and from the helmet you could see crystal blue eyes. A large sword was attached to the knight's back and a cape with some sort of embroidery on it flowed in the wind.
"What is that?" queried Kai Tenrio.
"It's a Leracimon (Ler-ah-chi-mon). Its attacks are Metallic Rain and Steel Talon. The one riding upon its back is a Dark Enforcer known as Rezetamon. He is one of the King's knights, which are sent out to eliminate digimon. His attacks are Shadow Blade and Night Fist. Both of them are very formidable enemies."
The knight spoke with a deep voice. "The Crystal Gate has opened. The King demands the annihilation of this temple and its inhabitants. Prepare for destruction."
The knight unsheathed its sword and leaped down to the ground. It approached Icarus and the tamers. "All within the temple shall be eliminated." He raised his sword high and as he was bringing it down, something collided with the metal which caused him to lose his balance and fall to the ground. "Resistance is futile." he stated as he climbed to his feet. He picked up his sword and proceeded to raise it again.
Jamie smirked. "You're in the wrong business. Swiftarimon, Fire Fly!"
Swiftarimon raced towards the Dark Enforcer and the knight dropped its sword. Just before the sword would have slammed into him though, Swiftarimon dodged it. He slid behind the knight and lit himself on fire. (This didn't affect him because he was a fire-type digimon.) He raced at top speed towards the black-armored soldier and slammed into him at full force. Swiftarimon leaped into the air and prepared to use his Swiftari Stars attack. The spots on his fur began to glow torch red and then lifted off of his body. They raced like shooting stars towards the dark knight who swatted the stars away like flies.
While Jamie and Swiftarimon battled the Dark Enforcer, Kai and Panthurmon had decided to take on the flying beast known as Leracimon. Panthurmon ricocheted off one of the walls and slammed into the flying beast. It whirled in the air and Panthurmon hopped back to the ground. After regaining its composure, Leracimon gazed at Panthurmon and spread its wings. "Metallic Rain!" it cried. Instantly, it launched a barrage of metal down towards the panther-like digimon. Panthurmon was quick though and managed to dodge the steel barrage. He leaped into the air and retaliated with his Panther Claw attack. Leracimon sneered, because normally, this would be thought to be a weak attack because claws against metal make it seem like metal would win. However, Panthurmon's claws are so razor sharp that they are capable of slicing through even the strongest type of steel plating. The attack connected with ease and Leracimon roared in pain as it fell backwards into the temple. Panthurmon launched himself towards the sky digimon and used his Panther Claw attack again. This time, however, Leracimon was expecting it and rolled out of the way, flapping its way back into the air.
Down on the ground, the enforcer lifted its sword and brought it down into Swiftarimon. "Swiftarimon!" Jamie cried out. Before Jamie could do anything about it though, the cheetah climbed back to his feet just in time to dodge another blow from the knight's sword. "Swiftarimon. Use Fire Fly again!" Swiftarimon raced towards his opponent, evaded another Shadow Blade attack, and slammed his flaming body right into Rezetamon's chest. The dark foe screamed in pain. Before he could leap out of the way, though, Rezetamon brought his fist right into Swiftarimon, knocking the small cat backwards into the air. Jamie leaped into the air, grabbing his partner, and landed on the ground. The goggles Kai had given him flopped around on his neck. "Swiftarimon, are you okay?" Swiftarimon gave a short yes and climbed back to his feet.
Panthurmon leaped into the air towards Leracimon, but the flying digimon dodged his attack gracefully. "Panthurmon, use Panther Claw!" Panthurmon heard this, and as he landed, he jumped into the air again. Leracimon was not expecting this speed, and got a razor-sharp swipe to the back of his neck. Panthurmon, rather than falling back to the ground, managed to dig his claw deep enough into Leracimon's neck that he was capable of pulling himself onto the digimon's back.
"Get off of me!" roared Leracimon, tossing and turning in the air. Panthurmon swung his other claw up and managed to secure it within Leracimon's hide as well. With his claws dug deep into Leracimon's hide, Panthurmon managed to hold onto the twirling beast. Leracimon flew through the air, trying to get the grey panther to fall from his mount. Panthurmon pulled one of his claws through the flying beast's hide and ripped a chunk of the beast's flesh out. Leracimon immediately cried out in pain and came crashing down to the temple grounds.
"Kai!" growled Panthurmon. "Use the Encrypt program!"
Kai grabbed his digivice and flicked through the options until he reached the Encrypt section. He aimed the D-Ring at Leracimon's unconscious body and cried out, "D-Ring activate! Encryption Mode!" A beam of light shot out from the top of the digivice and slammed into Leracimon. After a few moments, the digimon reverted back to its digi-egg form and was no longer a threat. The egg then disappeared into thin air.
However, on the other side of the temple, Jamie and Swiftarimon continued to battle Rezetamon. "Night Punch!" grunted the dark one. His fist became surrounded by a dark energy of some sort and he aimed the melee attack at the cheetah known as Swiftarimon. Swiftarimon dodged gracefully and launched a continuous barrage of Swiftari Stars at the dark knight. They impacted and the evil digimon was thrown backwards into the ground.
Before he could retaliate, Jamie gracefully extracted his D-Ring and cried out, "D-Ring activate! Encryption Mode!" Just like with Kai, a beam of light shot out and impacted Rezetamon. The humanlike digimon cried out as he immediately began de-digivolving, turned back to his egg form, and disappeared like Leracimon's egg.
Swiftarimon padded over to Jamie and jumped into his arms. "Thanks, Jamie."
"You did good, Swiftari. You did good." Then, Swiftarimon fell into dreamland.
It took the caretakers a while to rebuild what was destroyed during the battle. Jamie and Kai had collapsed against a wall with Pyupamon (Swiftarimon's IT form) and Emon (Panthurmon's IT form), and all four had gone to sleep. Ariana stood with Tierramon. They were conversing. "Why didn't you let me fight?" asked Tierramon.
"I would have if I had thought they needed it."
"Can I fight next time, Ariana?"
"If you must, Tierramon. I promise that much."
The amber-eyed Digimon King stared through a holographic image down at the temple were the battle between his forces and the new tamers had taken place. "So they think they can just waltz in here and not abide by my rules. This is my domain. No one refuses to obey me! Especially a group of snot-nosed brats and their digimon pets."
"Shall I make them pay, my liege?" a second voice asked.
"We shall wait and see how far their luck carries them." replied the King.
Jamie yawned loudly to announce his awakening. Swiftarimon's in-training form, Pyupamon, had slept next to him and looking down the wall a little ways, he could see Kai and Panthurmon's in-training form. Jamie walked over to Ariana who stood at the edge of the stairs, looking up at the digital world's night sky. She didn't even turn around to know he was there. "Beautiful, aren't they?"
"Yeah,. I guess." shrugged Jamie Gotaki.
"It's just...it's been a while since I've seen them is all."
"I'm sorry, but this is probably going to sound insensitive. I was wondering..."
"How did I become blind?"
"Umm...yeah."
"My mother died when I was eight years old. I cried so much that I somehow lost my eyesight. The doctors said that they had never seen anything like it and that they didn't know how to treat it. It was something that hardly ever happened. I was the first case like that in the history of medicine. They were never able to tell me when I would get my sight back, if ever. I guess I showed them, huh?" she smiled at Jamie.
"Yeah." he smiled back.
"Wow..." she gasped.
"What?"
"It's sort of the first time I've ever really looked at you. You're kind of cute."
Jamie blushed. From behind them, someone cleared their throat.
"Not interrupting anything, am I?" It was the blond-headed Kai Tenrio.
Ariana and Jamie laughed in embarrassment. "Of course not." Ariana said.
"Why would you be, moocher?" Jamie stated.
"Mm-hmm." doubted Kai.
"I see the three tamers are up finally. Did you rest well?" he asked.
Without delay, Jamie addressed the monk-like person "Icarus, why were we chosen? I understand that you said you didn't know, but I have a feeling that you know a lot more than you're telling us. It's time for some explanations, Icarus. We're supposed to be saving the world, but we don't even know why we were chosen to do so." Jamie fell silent. The other two teens remained so. The monk stared at Jamie Gotaki for a long, awkward moment, as if coming to a decision in his mind, and finally sighed.
"Fine. I will take you to see Mistress Yuri. She will answer all your questions."
"Where is she?"
"She is everywhere and nowhere. She is the essence of this temple. Once the temple is rebuilt, we may call upon her in order for you to talk with her. She knows all there is to know about the digital world. If you have questions that need answering, which I know you do, she will explain them to you as best she can. It is up to you to translate what she tells you."
"When will the temple repairs be finished?"
"It should be a day or so."
Pyupamon must have awakened because he spoke up in a groggy voice. "If I digivolve into Swiftarimon, we could get it done in triple the time. After all, I am a pretty fast cat." The cheetah bounced over and into Jamie's arms. "What do you say?"
He asked as he fell back asleep. As the group talked, he silently snored. Every few minutes, he would wriggle around in Jamie's arms in order to get more comfortable.
"You know, he's right." Jamie opened up his card deck and extracted a card. It was his Sonic Boom card. "And with this card, we could get it done faster than triple the time. Swiftarimon would be the fastest digimon on the planet!"
"Don't overexert him though." commanded Ariana.
"I don't plan on it."
"You know," said Kai, extracting a Hyper Speed card of his own. "The same could be done with Panthurmon. Using my Hyper Speed and Jamie's Sonic Boom, this temple'll be done in half an hour."
Ariana held up her Mach card. "Fifteen minutes, tops."
The group woke up their digimon and slashed the cards through their D-Rings. The digimon sped through the temple at the speed of light. Fifteen minute later, the digimon had laid back down and gone to sleep. "Time to go see Mistress Yuri." stated Icarus. He led them through the temple and into a large chamber-like room. He placed his hands on a platform in the middle of the room and the wall in front of the platform slid aside. A large staircase spiraled downwards into the depths of the digital world and Icarus led them inwards. After about twenty minutes, they reached the bottom of the stairs. It was dark, so Pyupamon used his Pyro Pop attack to light their path. Icarus led them down a long hallway and eventually, the tamers came to a large brick door. "Mistress Yuri, I bring the Chosen before you!"
A female voice from inside told them to enter and the brick door swung open.
Icarus bowed down after taking a few steps through the doorway. The tamers simply stood. "You are dismissed, monk." Icarus stood up and backed out of the room. "Welcome to my domain, tamers. I am Yuri, Mistress of the Crystal Gate. You have come seeking answers. One question may be asked by each of you. You may proceed."
"What is happening with the Digital World?" asked Kai.
"Its age was coming to an end, but now the threads of fate have changed."
"How have they changed?" continued Kai.
"Ariana Arishima. What answers do you seek?"
"Why am I blind in my other world and not here?"
"The Digital World is a world of dreams, wishes, and imagination. It is a world that exists only by belief. If it isn't believed to exist, then it doesn't. Deep in your heart, you believe that there is hope for your illness, and this world harnesses that. Does that answer your question, Ms. Arishima?"
"Yes, Mistress Yuri."
She turned to Jamie Gotaki. "You were chosen because of the things that you experienced in your young age and yet, you seemed to have pushed through. Kai Tenrio believed somewhere deep in his heart that everyone hated him for being poor, yet he persevered by realizing that there are things greater than money in the world. Things like love." She turned to Ariana. "Ariana lost her mother at a young age, and in her grief, cried herself blind. However, she learned to live with her disability. She learned how to do things for herself and, though everyone else said her ailment was incurable, she believed deep in her heart that there was a way to fight through the darkness and emerge into the light. You, Jamie Gotaki, lost your twin brother at a very young age and hated the world for taking him. You learned to live without him, but deep in your heart, you still seek out the answers to his disappearance. That is why you three were chosen to be digidestined. That is the reason you were chosen and not the tamers."
"But he didn't even ask a question!" protested Tenrio.
Jamie held out his hand and silenced the blond one. "She knew what I needed answers to. I am satisfied with the answers I have received." He bowed towards Yuri and thanked her for her patience. "Thank you, Mistress Yuri."
"Now, onto your destiny." A beam of light appeared and swept the tamers back to the Crystal Gate entrance. Icarus stood at the bottom of the steps, just feet away from them. He smiled as they arrived and the beam of light disintegrated. The three catlike digimon dashed over towards their partners and jumped into their arms.
"I hope you were satisfied with the answers you received from the Mistress."
"She answered all I needed to know." Jamie rejoined.
"So you will help us save this world?"
"Yes." they all replied simultaneously.
"Then it is time for your journey together to begin."
Jamie's D-Ring beeped and he picked it up to examine it. "Something's coming!"
"It is a data stream. Use it to get where you need to in this world. Your D-Ring is capable of controlling data stream entry and exit. But I've already explained this to you all." Jamie pressed a couple buttons on his D-Ring and the digivice beeped in response. Jamie lifted the D-Ring towards the sky and waited a few moments before pressing the largest of the three buttons. Instantaneously, the data stream shot out of the sky and down into Jamie's D-Ring.
"Transit program engage! Data Stream!" The D-Ring shot the data back into the sky and Jamie along with his five companions leaped into the stream. Immediately, they began to rise upwards. The noise of the data stream made audibility almost impossible, but as they rose, they heard the voice of the Mistress Yuri wish them good luck.