It felt rather odd to be walking on flat earth again. After days of climbing up, down, and up the sides of mountains, the warriors and their Digimon companions had at last crossed the border into the Continent of Earth, and were now strolling easily across a smooth, level road. Granted, the scenery wasn't so interesting, now that there were no more dramatic slopes to look at, but it was much easier on their legs. After the last few tiring days, everyone was grateful for anything that made their life a little easier.
"Of course, if Witchmon or any of her friends wanted to spy on us, this would be the perfect place to do it," Kouji commented, looking up at the sky. It was early morning, and the sky was pale-blue and cloudless. Without so much as a tree to block their view, and the air clear, it was easy to see for miles in all directions. It would probably be excruciatingly hot once the sun had risen, but for now, it was rather pleasant to be able to see such a wide horizon. It would certainly make things easier for anyone who wanted to spy on them.
"Lighten up," said Takuya. "We'll be harder to spot once we get into town."
"Are we almost there?" Junpei asked. "It's hard to tell. It looks just as far away as ever."
"We'll be there before lunchtime, at this rate," Bokomon assured him.
"Good," said Izumi. "And speaking of which..."
Kouichi laughed a little. "Ever notice we talk about food a lot?"
"Hey, when you don't know where your next meal is coming from..." Junpei replied. "When we're back home, all we have to do is look in the fridge."
"You're right," said Kouji. "We should give some thought to restocking our supplies. We won't get far on what we've got, especially if all the terrain we're going to cross is like this."
Takuya rolled his eyes a little, but said nothing.
They kept moving. Without landmarks to help them judge distance, it was difficult to tell just how quickly they were gaining on the town that they could dimly see ahead of them, but Takuya knew when they were getting close. It started with a smell of smoke, a scent that somehow made his spirits lift. Smoke meant fire... and civilization, and places where things were being made, and places where people were cooking breakfast for themselves and their families. It made him feel... not quite at home, but as if he were close to something that was home for someone. It felt reassuring.
Just as Bokomon had promised, they reached the outskirts of the village before the sun had reached its zenith, and were soon mingling with a crowd of assorted Digimon. The main street of the village was filled with assorted shops, and the residents were all out hawking their wares or doing their shopping. Young Digimon played tag with each other in the streets, under the watchful eyes of their parents. For a moment, the visiting humans just stood there to take it all in.
"Looks like a nice place," said Izumi. "Where do we go first?"
"Wherever we can get supplies," Kouji said. "Not just food, but anything we might need. A first-aid kit would be nice, if there is such a thing around here. And some gear for getting across this wasteland."
"Hmm," said Tomoki. "I just thought of something."
"What?" Takuya asked.
"If we really need all this stuff... what are we going to pay for it with?"
There was a pause.
"Congratulations, Kouji," said Izumi. "You finally failed to think of something we might actually need."
"Oh, come on," said Kouji, blushing a little. "Even I can't think of everything."
"Not even something that obvious?" Takuya teased.
"Well, the rest of us didn't think of it, either," said Kouichi. "I guess we're all so used to finding whatever we need just growing on a tree... I mean, everything grows on trees, out here. Even Digimon!"
"Come to think of it, some of the Digimon are trees," said Junpei.
Kouji shrugged. "Well, we're just going to have to work out some way of - oof!"
Whatever he was going to say was cut off as something walked into him. He turned around to see a large wooden crate. He looked down to see that the crate was being somewhat awkwardly carried by a Gotsumon.
"Oops! Sorry!" said the Gotsumon. "Can't see where I'm going."
"That's okay," Kouji said. He had a bit of a soft spot for Gotsumon. "Here, let me help you with that."
He scooped the crate up, and grunted as he realized how heavy it actually was. It took a moment of careful manipulating before he could finally get a good grip on it.
"Whew! What have you got in here, rocks?" he asked.
"That's right!" the Gotsumon replied. "These are uncut crystals. I'm supposed to be delivering them to the jewelers, but they're so heavy! I'm exhausted."
"How far away are the jewelers?"
"Just up the street."
"Then I'll carry it the rest of the way."
"Would you? That would be such a big help!" the Gotsumon replied. "Hey, do you want to help us out? We have a lot of boxes to move today. An extra pair of hands would make the work go a lot faster! We'd pay you, of course."
"Hey, that's not a bad idea," said Izumi. "We sure could use some money right now."
"So you want me to do all the work for you?" Kouji replied.
"Of course not! There have got to be other people in town who need some help," she replied. "We could all look for odd jobs to run and collect some cash, and meet back up here later to do the shopping."
"Good idea," said Kouichi. "I'm all for it."
Everyone agreed to this plan, so they all scattered in search of work. Kouji, Kouichi, and Junpei agreed to go help move boxes of rocks. The others, not so inclined to take on heavy labor, went in other directions to look for something less strenuous to do.
Takuya found himself wandering the unfamiliar streets, looking at the various shopfronts and wondering what he was going to do next. If he was truthful to himself, he would have had to admit that he could easily have gone with the others who had agreed to help the Gotsumon, but something had told him that he ought to look elsewhere. He prowled around, following a sense that he couldn't quite identify... not until he caught a whiff of smoke on the breeze. He turned, trying to catch it again, sniffing at the air. There! Off to his right. He trotted down a side street, round a corner, and came face to face with a squat stone building. It had a large chimney through which smoke rose in a steady stream, and he could dimly hear the sound of metal clanging against metal inside. A broad door, twice the size of what would have been necessary for a grown human, stood ajar. Takuya pushed it open and went in.
He was instantly hit by a blast of heat, and his eyes watered momentarily at the combined impact of the temperature and the smell. The air was heavy with the scents of smoke and hot metal. As his sight adjusted to the new light level, he was able to see beyond the glow of at least three assorted furnaces to pick out a number of anvils, workbenches, and collections of tools, as well as heaps of something that could have been more instruments of some kind, or just scrap metal. It took him a moment to realize he was inside something he had read about but never actually been inside: a blacksmith's forge.
The only noticeable sound besides the rush of a fire was the steady metallic sound he had noticed earlier, that of a hammer beating against a piece of metal. Now that he was seeing the cause of the sound, he began to wish he had stayed outside. Wielding the hammer was an Ogremon, a massive beast at least eight feet tall, with a wild head of shaggy hair and a great gaping mouth full of misshapen teeth. Aside from a ragged scrap of something that might have been leather wrapped around its waist, it wore nothing but its own skin, and it was covered from head to toe in soot marks and the scars of old burns. All its concentration was fixed on a strip of metal that it was beating into a shape that Takuya realized would eventually be that of a curved sword longer than his arm. The Ogremon pounded away at it for a while, eyed it critically, and then thrust it into the flames until it glowed cherry red. Then it took it out and repeated the process.
That's the Ogremon I saw in Tomoki's mirror! Takuya realized. In that case, maybe it's my destiny to be here. I'm not sure if that's good or not.
He took a deep breath to try to steady himself, inhaled a mouthful of smoke, and coughed noisily. The Ogremon looked up at him.
"Uh-oh," said Takuya.
"Who're you?" it said.
"Umm... My name's Takuya."
"What're you doin' here? D'you have a job for me?" the Ogremon grunted. "If you don't, then get outta here. I'm a busy Digimon."
"I was just looking," Takuya replied. "That is, I'm looking for work. Do you have any jobs I could do for you?"
"A scrawny kid like you? Forget it. You ain't got enough muscle on you to even fetch coal for me."
"I do so!" said Takuya indignantly. "I'm not scrawny. I'm a Legendary Warrior!"
"Huh. You don't look much like a warrior t'me. You couldn't even pick up this sword." He waved at the chunk of metal that was cooling on his work table. "Even if it wasn't too hot for a soft critter like you to touch. Ha!"
The Ogremon grabbed the heated metal barehanded and thrust it into the flames. His leathery skin didn't seem to take any damage, even when the blade-in-progress began to glow again. Takuya boggled, and the Ogremon laughed.
"Get outta here, kid," it said.
Takuya gritted his teeth.
"You've got to have something I can do," he said. "Give me a chance."
The Ogremon gave him an appraising look.
"Y'see that hammer over yonder?" he asked, pointing.
Takuya looked. There was indeed a tool leaning against the wall that would fit that description, though Takuya wouldn't have necessarily termed it a hammer. A sledgehammer, maybe. A big one. Its head was about the same size as Takuya's.
"Yeah, I see it."
"Bring it here, and we'll talk."
Takuya walked over to the hammer and gave the handle a tug. It didn't move. He pulled again, and managed to drag it a short distance from the wall. Gritting his teeth, he grabbed the handle firmly in both hands and managed to lift it a scant inch from the ground, and he began edging sideways across the floor. His hands sweated from the room's intense heat, and from the exertion, and the hammer slipped inexorably to the ground. He had to stop five times to correct his grip and lift it up again. His shoulders and arms burned from the strain, and sweat dripped from his brow, but he did not give up until he was close enough to thrust his arms out toward the Ogremon blacksmith, who mercifully relieved him of his burden. Takuya gave a sigh of exhaustion and shook out his aching arms.
"You're a stubborn one," said the Ogremon. "Okay, you win. I sold a lotta arrows this week. Now I'm all out. You wanna help, sit over there an' sharpen arrowheads for me."
He pointed to a bench on one side of the room where a large wicker basket rested, nearly overflowing with metal arrowheads. Takuya went and sat next to it, and the Ogremon shoved a grindstone towards him and showed him how to operate it. Once he was satisfied that Takuya knew what he was doing, the blacksmith shuffled over to continue his own work.
For a while, Takuya sat quietly, sharpening the blunt arrowheads and tossing them into a fresh basket as he finished them. It wasn't bad work, once he adjusted to the heat inside the forge. The grindstone he'd been given operated by a treadle, spinning around as long as he kept pressing a pedal with his foot. It made a satisfying whirring sound as it whirled round and round, nearly putting him into a trance. Grinding an edge onto the arrowheads was easy, as long as he was careful not to accidentally grind part of his hand by mistake. After a few of those accidents, he finally got the knack of it, and could let his mind wander a bit. He sat and thought contentedly of nothing in particular while he watched the Ogremon smith pound away at what was steadily looking more like a sword.
I wish I could do that. It looks interesting, he thought. I'd like to have a sword of my own. A warrior ought to have a sword. Even when I'm a Digimon, I hardly ever get to use weapons. Wolfmon has a sword; why can't I?
"How long does it take to learn to do that?" Takuya asked.
"Huh? Do what?" Ogremon asked.
"Make a sword."
"Humph. 'Bout like a day to get the idea. 'Bout a lifetime to get it right. Why? You think you're gonna knock out a few this afternoon? Don't make me laugh."
"I was just asking. Sheesh! No reason to get all touchy about it."
"You don't know anything. I'm an Ogremon. It's not my nature to be nice. We're rough on the outside and on the inside. You want nice, you go find a Prairiemon or one of those little cutesy fluffy Digimon."
"I'm sorry I asked."
"I told you I didn't need any help. It's not my fault you didn't listen."
Takuya shut his mouth and went back to grinding arrowheads. He had finished about three quarters of the basket when Ogremon called a halt, saying it was time for both of them to eat. Takuya's hand was getting tired by that point, and he was more than happy to follow the Ogremon out of the forge. He led Takuya into a side room full of assorted clutter, mostly bits of metal that looked like half-finished projects, or things that hadn't turned out quite right. A large and badly-scuffed wooden table sat in the middle of it, partly covered in more bits and scraps. Ogremon shoved some of them on the floor to make room for Takuya to eat, and hauled up a crate for him to sit on.
"You wait," he said.
Takuya waited, looking around at all the interesting old junk. Most of it looked like trash to him, but a few had the look of something that might be valuable. He was almost certain he saw a golden crown lying in a metal tub full of assorted gears, and there was an elaborately decorated shield propped in a corner, covered in significant-looking runes. A sword in a gold-inlaid scabbard was mounted proudly on the wall, protected by a glass and metal frame. He was still admiring it when Ogremon came back, carrying a huge pottery bowl full of some kind of buns.
"Food," Ogremon explained.
He grabbed a double handful and began stuffing them into his mouth. Takuya realized that he was going to have to make do without such amenities as plates and utensils, and also that he was going to have to eat fast before Ogremon got them all. He snatched up one of the pastries in each hand. They were whitish in color and powdery, as if they'd been coated in flour, and each were roughly the size of a fast-food cheeseburger. When he bit into them, he found them to be filled with a mixture of meat and spices - tasty, but strongly flavored. He was amazed that Ogremon could eat them so quickly. Takuya himself thought that he was going to have trouble getting through the two he had taken, hungry though he was.
All that smoke must have killed his sense of taste. Smell, too, probably, he thought.
He chewed his way slowly through the first bun and started in on the second one. While Ogremon was paying single-minded attention to his food, Takuya found that his attention kept being drawn to the sword on the wall.
I wonder what that's doing up there? Everything in here is thrown around like it's junk, but that sword doesn't look like junk to me. Doesn't he want it? Maybe he made it for someone and they never came to claim it...
"What's that doing up there?" he asked at last.
"Huh?" Ogremon paused in his chomping to look at what Takuya was pointing at. "Oh, you mean that sword? That's the Blade of Courage."
Takuya choked.
"The Blade of... huh? You mean... that's a Fabled Artifact?"
"Oh, so you know a little history, huh?" Ogremon said.
"Hey, one of my best buddies is a historian for the Great Angels!" said Takuya. "I know what the Blade of Courage is. How can you be so casual about it?"
"Huh. You talk like it's a big thing, having it here. That ain't so. That sword has been in this village for generations. Everybody 'round here knows it's here."
"Well, nobody told me."
"Then I know more than you do," said the Ogremon.
"So why don't you tell me?"
"'Cause I'm eating lunch, that's why," Ogremon replied. "Gimme a chance to finish first. I'll talk when my mouth ain't full."
Takuya saw that there was no point in trying to get any information out of his reluctant employer while the Digimon was still eating. He fidgeted in his seat and played with the remains of his lunch, reducing it to crumbs. His host didn't seem to notice, but simply continued eating until the dish was empty. He glared sourly at Takuya, as if suspecting him of eating more than his share. Takuya did his best to look innocent.
"Either eat that or quit playing with it," Ogremon snapped.
Takuya quicky popped the crust into his mouth.
"That's better. Now... you wanna know about the sword, I bet? I could tell you some stuff I bet your friend doesn't know."
"Please?" said Takuya, thinking he might have better luck if he was polite.
"Huh. Guess I might as well. Otherwise you'll just pester me all afternoon. 'Course, I could make you go away if you get to be too much of a pest..."
"I won't be a pest. I promise. I'll even sharpen some more of those stupid arrowheads while I listen."
"Fine. Get going."
Takuya got up and scampered back to his place at the grindstone. Ogremon followed him and sat himself on a bench nearby, and picked up a collection of wire pieces and a pair of pliers that seemed far too tiny for his massive hand. He began knitting the bits of wire into a piece of chain mesh as he talked.
"So. The sword. Blade of Courage," said Ogremon. "That sword's been here a long time. One of my ancestors found it, long time ago. He was out walking in the desert one night and saw it shining in the sand. Who knows how it got there? He brought it home with him, thinking to sell it to someone, but he never got the chance. Too dangerous, see? Soon as he touched it, something bad came over him. Turned him into a whole other Digimon, almost. We Ogremons, we ain't exactly the most sociable of Digimon, but that sword turned him into a real monster. He came roaring back to the village, attacking everything in sight. Just about burned the city to the ground before it was all over. Took the strongest warriors in the village to get him back under control and get that sword away from him. Took all night, too. He came 'round the next morning and saw what he'd done, and he swore that no one should ever touch that sword again. He built a case to put it in and hid it away, so as nobody could find it to use it. Didn't need to bother, though. Nobody in town wanted a weapon like that. Everybody was too scared to try, see. No telling what you'd do with a sword like that. Might kill your own best friend, your family, your kids. Wouldn't know or care. Something like that is no good to anybody. Nobody wanted it. My family kept it for years and years. Never touched it, never let anyone else touch it. Now it's mine, and I don't plan to let anyone touch it, either. Now you know."
"I guess so," said Takuya. "But, hey! My friends and I were sent on a mission by the Great Angels to find the Fabled Artifacts and bring them back! We've already got a bunch of them - the Star of Guidance and the Pool of Knowledge and the Light of Love, and I forget what else."
"Great. Bet your proud of yourselves."
"Yeah. So I was thinking, why don't you give that sword to us? We can take it away and give it back to the Great Angels. Your village won't be in danger from it anymore."
"Huh. You think so?"
"Well... yeah."
"Shows what you know. Look, did you miss what I just told you? If someone holds that sword for long, they go crazy. If something little holds it, they go a little crazy. If something big and powerful holds it, they go totally crazy. D'you think I'm stupid enough to give something like that to someone as powerful as a Legendary Warrior? I ain't giving it to you, and I definitely ain't giving it to any of the Great Angels."
"Hey, you don't understand! We've already found some of the corrupted artifacts. The Staff and the Light - they were messed up, too. They didn't give us any trouble. Well, the Staff does funny stuff sometimes, but Kouji's got it under control, mostly."
Ogremon snorted. "Those are different. They don't kill people."
"Well, they're still dangerous, kind of," said Takuya lamely.
"My mind is made up," said Ogremon. "My family has pledged to take care of the Blade, and that's what I'm gonna do, no ifs, ands, or buts. Wouldn't give it to you, not if Seraphimon himself turned up and asked for it. So there."
Ogremon crossed his arms and looked stubborn. Takuya felt his resolve faltering a bit. He was naturally stubborn himself, but he had the feeling that there was nothing on earth that could out-stubborn a determined Ogremon. He sighed.
"Well, fine then," he said. "At least we know where it is... and I guess it's safe enough here."
"You better believe it," said Ogremon. He set aside his wire mesh and scooped up the hammer that had given Takuya so much trouble earlier. Ogremon handled it as if it weighed no more than a chopstick; it could have been part of his arm, for all he seemed to notice it. He twirled it around a few times and brought it down on his anvil with a resounding clang to make his point. Takuya winced.
"All right, all right, I get it," he said.
"Right," said Ogremon. "Now, get back to work. I don't pay people who don't work."
Takuya decided that this was all the conversation he was going to get out of his employer, so he went back to work. Round and round went the grindstone, and the number of sharpened arrowheads steadily grew. It was boring work. All the arrowheads were the same, and the job required nothing more than to hold them fairly steady. For a while, he occupied himself with watching Ogremon do his work. He appeared to have finished what he wanted to do with the sword for today, and was now in the process of making something else that Takuya couldn't identify. He watched for a while without coming to any solid conclusions, and after he'd managed to graze his knuckles a few times due to lack of concentration, he turned his mind back to his work.
How much time had gone by since he had started? An hour? Two? More? Probably more. His hands were getting tired and stiff, and were even bleeding slightly in a few places where they'd been scuffed a few times. His eyes were beginning to feel dazzled from watching the endlessly spinning wheel. It was still oppressively hot inside the building, and his clothes were becoming soaked through with sweat. He desperately wanted something to drink, but he had no idea where to get one in this place, and leaving the building would be an open invitation to have Ogremon do something unpleasant to him. The only other option would be to ask politely and hope for the best. Gathering his courage, he stood up - carefully, to spare his stiff muscles - and walked over to where Ogremon was doing something with some chunks of silver metal. As he got up, one of his hands smacked against the side of a worktable.
"Ow!" he said, and grimaced. He took a good look at his hands. His right hand was looking more than a little scuffed, and the first knuckle of his middle finger was bleeding freely.
Maybe I ought to ask him for a bandage, too. Or some gloves. Probably not. I don't think he'd have any to fit me.
He crept as close as he dared to the Digimon and cleared his throat.
"Uh, hey," he said. "I don't mean to bother you, but..."
"What?"
Ogremon turned around suddenly, nearly hitting Takuya with his hammer as he did so. Takuya jumped backwards, waving his hands wildly as he attempted not to lose his balance. A few drops from his bleeding hand landed in a vat of melted metal.
"Watch it!" Ogremon snarled, batting away Takuya's hand. The force of the blow was enough to make his whole arm ache. Takuya staggered to stay upright, and managed mainly by running into a wall.
"You watch it!" he snapped back. "That hurt!"
Ogremon appeared unimpressed. He scowled down at the pot of liquid metal.
"You bled in it," he grumbled. "Ruined it! I can't use this, now! Whaddaya think you're doing, you clumsy idiot?"
"I didn't do it on purpose! You hit me!"
"That's it! I've had enough! Here!"
He reached for a jar sitting nearby and scooped out a handful of roughly made bronze coins.
"Here's your pay!" he said, thrusting it at Takuya. "Take it and get out of here, before you ruin something else. Beat it!"
Takuya realized at once what the only intelligent option was. He took his money and headed for the door as quickly as he could go. He escaped out into the deepening twilight. As soon as he left the forge, the evening air hit his damp clothes, making him feel as if he'd been dropped into cold water. He took deep, revitalizing breaths, imagining he could almost see the waves of heat radiating off of him. As he reached the center of town, he found a fountain and dunked his head in it, gulping down the cool water until he had chased away the last of that dry, overheated feeling, and came up with water dripping from his hair and down his back. He didn't care; he would have gladly stripped down and taken a bath right there if he had been guaranteed his privacy. As it was, several of the local Digimon were giving him odd looks, so he hurried off to the prearranged meeting spot to see if he could find his friends.
They were waiting for him at the edge of town, most of them looking almost as bedraggled as he felt, though not quite as damp.
"Hey, Takuya, where have you been?" asked Izumi. "We were just starting to wonder if we'd have to go look for you."
"Sorry," he said. "I lost track of time. What have you guys been up to? Did everyone find work?"
"I got a job in the jewelry shop!" said Izumi. "I got to put up all the new merchandise! It was really fun!"
"We hauled rocks," Junpei said. "All day. I'm bushed. Man, I am going to be too sore to move tomorrow."
Izumi poked him. "Don't try that again. You had your day off."
"He's not the only one who's going to be aching in the morning," said Kouichi, rubbing at his shoulders.
"We worked on the farm," said Tomoki. "Bokomon and Neemon and I pulled up weeds all day."
"I wasn't meant for manual labor," Bokomon complained.
"I thought it was fun!" said Neemon.
"You would," Bokomon retorted.
"So where were you all day?" asked Kouji, eyeing his friend's sodden clothing. "Did you get a job cleaning swimming pools?"
"No, but I wished I did before the day was over," Takuya said. "I took a job working in a forge, and just about melted. Wore a couple holes in my hands, too." He held them up as proof, and was gratified to get a few sympathetic looks.
"I hope it was worth it," said Kouichi.
"Oh, it was. I made a few bucks... or whatever they use for money around here," said Takuya casually. "Oh, and I found the Blade of Courage."
That got the reaction he wanted. He grinned broadly at the dumbstruck looks that surrounded him.
"You did what?" said Kouji. "Where is it?"
"On a shelf in somebody's kitchen."
"And you left it there?"
"He wouldn't give it to me!" Takuya protested. "I'm not going to argue with a guy who stands eight feet tall and has sharp teeth and horns and carries a hammer about as tall as I am."
"I guess that would be a problem," said Izumi. "Still. Kitchen?"
"I guess it was a kitchen. Cross between a kitchen and a shed. We ate lunch there. There was a whole bunch of old junk piled up in there, and in the middle of it all was this sword. I asked about it, and the Ogremon told me it was the Blade of Courage. He said his family has been guarding it for generations." He quickly explained what he knew about the sword's history.
"Well, that's interesting," said Bokomon. He was busily scribbling in his book as he listened. "I hadn't heard about that."
"So what do we do about it?" asked Tomoki. "We can't just go in and take it, can we? Not if he's so determined to keep it."
"It seems to be well protected," Izumi mused, "if it's been here safely for generations. Those Ogremons must be taking good care of it, if even word of it hasn't gotten out."
"Never quarrel with an Ogremon," said Bokomon authoritatively. "They're surly creatures, even the comparatively good ones. If you make them angry, there's no telling what they'll do."
"Sounds like the Blade of Courage is in good hands, then," Kouji mused. "Maybe we had better leave it where it is."
"What? But I thought we were supposed to be finding them all and bringing them back!" Takuya protested. "We can't just walk off and leave one behind!"
"Why not?" asked Kouichi. "It seems to be safe where it is. Obviously it's not doing any harm, and it's well protected. If it could be dangerous to us, we ought to just leave it alone."
Takuya pouted. "How can you stand just walking off knowing we left a job undone? We came all this way looking for these things, and now we're just going to say 'forget it' and leave it behind!"
Kouji cuffed him - just hard enough to hurt a little.
"What do you think this is, some kind of video game?" he said. "Do you think we won't be able to get to the bonus levels unless we collect all the treasures? Do you think we're being scored on this?"
Takuya shoved him back. "Did you somehow miss the part where the badguys are out to get us? What happens if one of Lilithmon's loonies comes after us and gets hold of that thing? Do you really think they're going to sit back and ignore something that powerful when it's just sitting out where anyone can take it? Do you really think it's safe here just because one Digimon is guarding it?"
"So you think it would be better for us to go in and steal something from someone who doesn't want to give it up?" Kouji retorted.
"If it will keep everyone safer, yes!"
"You think we'll be safer if we're carrying around a weapon that makes you go crazy and destroy everything in your path?"
"You think something like that will be safer just lying in a shed?"
The two of them went into a scuffle. Everyone watched them for a moment as they wrestled awkwardly in the dust. When it went on for a while without showing any signs of stopping, Junpei waded in and pried them apart, holding each one at arm's length.
"Easy, easy," he said. "We're in enough trouble without trying to kill each other."
The two boys simmered down, though not without shooting a few dark looks at each other. The two of them might raise their fists against each other in a brotherly scuffle, but no one in the group had ever dared to try to fight Junpei. For one thing, he was generally so willing to agree with everyone for the sake of peace that it was difficult to get properly angry at him, and even harder to have a decent fight when he didn't fight back. For another, on the rare occasions when he did get worked into a fighting fury, he turned into a juggernaut who would fight until he could fight no more, or had pounded his opponent senseless, and didn't care how much he got hurt in the process. One afternoon, he had gone to Izumi's school to walk with her to the arcade where they were all to meet that day, and he had overheard two boys discussing her in terms of what they would do with her if they could get her alone and out of everyone's sight. The resulting encounter had left the two boys with minor fractures and Junpei with a split lip and a severe scolding from the local teachers. He had gotten one from Izumi, too, and then she had gone around the rest of the week bragging about his victory to anyone who would listen. It was possible that working together, Kouji and Takuya could have taken him out, but neither of them felt like trying.
"That's better," said Tomoki. "You two shouldn't fight."
"I guess not," Kouji said, sighing. He dusted himself off a little. "Still, you aren't going to convince me that just marching up and taking the Blade of Courage is a good idea."
Takuya gave him a dark look. Tomoki set a hand on Takuya's shoulder, trying to calm him, and Kouichi went to stand next to his brother.
"Let's just agree to put it off until tomorrow, okay?" he said. "We're all tired and sore and hungry, and nobody is feeling their best. We'll be able to think more clearly once we're rested."
"There's a hotel up the street," Izumi said. "I saw it while I was looking for work. I'll bet we've got enough to stay there for the night."
The idea of rest, food, and a chance to clean himself off appealed more to Takuya than staying and fighting with Kouji here. After all, he could do that any time, and his stay in the forge had left him feeling too sweaty and gritty for him to tolerate. The others were equally enthusiastic about the idea, for one reason and another, so they agreed they could put their differences aside for the time being.
"Last one there pays for dinner!" Izumi chirped, scurrying up the street.
"What? Hey, no fair!" Takuya protested. "You're the only one who knows where it is!"
"Guess I'm not paying, then!" she shouted back.
Takuya growled and hurried to catch up to her, and the others followed. They could have fun tonight. There was nothing they would have to worry about until morning came.
It wasn't fun being left alone. Witchmon had always rather suspected this, but since her time spent with Wisemon and Lilithmon usually wasn't fun either, she had never taken the fact very seriously. These days, though, she was beginning to form vague other ideas in her mind, ideas that suggested that spending time with the right people might actually be nice, for a change. She wasn't sure what to make of these sneaking suspicions. All she was completely sure of was that she wasn't enjoying being ignored.
"I'm bored," she complained to the sympathetic Cat. "I want to do something. Lilithmon's off in her room, and Wisemon is messing with his crystals, and nobody has anything for me to do anymore."
Cat meowed encouragingly.
"Do you think I should do something on my own?" she asked. "I don't know... They usually get mad at me if I try to do anything by myself. I'd probably just do something stupid and get yelled at, and then Lilithmon will punish me. I wish I knew what it was that makes her keep punishing me. I'd stop doing it. But it's always something different every time."
Cat meowed again.
"Then again, they never really told me to stop watching the Legendary Warriors," she continued. "They just kind of stopped remembering to tell me to do it, right? So they can't get mad if I just go out and look, right? All I have to do is look. I won't talk to anyone or anything!"
Cat purred.
"You think I'm right, don't you? I ought to do it!" Witchmon decided. "I'll just go out and have a look around, and I'll come right back. They probably won't even know I'm gone. Right? Right!"
With her mind made up, she sought out her broom, taking a moment to admire its new, shiny, duct-taped surface. It really did look better this way. She couldn't fly it any better, but it was prettier to look at. She picked it up and carried it away to a place where she would have room to take off.
A few minutes later, Wisemon looked up from his crystal gazing.
"Witchmon has left the manor," he announced.
Lilithmon gave him a languid glance. "Do you believe this to be important?"
"You know how she's gotten lately. Ever since she started having encounters with these humans, she's been getting ideas. She is growing quite unmanageable," said Wisemon. "Do you want me to stop her?"
"No, let her go," said Lilithmon. "She can cause no problems. She is too weak and too foolish to do anything that would harm our cause. Not only that, but..."
"But?"
"If I am going to go out into the world again, I will need all the spare power I can muster. She can be helpful in that, don't you think?"
Wisemon allowed himself a discreet chuckle. "Quite so, my lady. I see your reasoning clearly now."
"Hmm, yes. Let her have her moment of rebelliousness. It is inconsequential. If she grows too difficult, she can be dealt with."
"True. We can always start over," said Wisemon. "But I would hate to do that, except as a last resort."
"I hope that is not a sign of weakness, Wisemon."
"No, madam. But it would be time consuming."
"Yes. Well, we will wait, then. Once I have returned to the outside world, there will be many slaves to pick from, and I will not be so dependent on her. Until then..."
"Yes?"
"She should amuse herself while she can."
"Yes."
It was comfortable in the hotel. When the proprietors realized that their guests were the same humans who had saved the world two years ago, they were more than happy to let them stay for no more than a token cost, and gave them the best rooms in the house. Takuya had a room all to himself, complete with a private bath - small, but good enough for his purposes. Now he was lying in a soft bed, tucked under warm blankets, with nothing to do but rest his weary muscles.
He wasn't sleeping.
I can't get that stupid sword off my mind, he thought irritably. Come on. You promised you'd talk it over with Kouji and everyone in the morning. Sleep now.
He flipped the pillow over and kicked off one of the blankets, trying to find a comfortable temperature. Then he decided he was too cold and yanked them back on again. They felt crooked and uncomfortable now, so he sat up and straightened them. He lay back down and closed his eyes, but the moonlight through his window bothered him. He got up and closed the shutters. Then he crawled back into bed and closed his eyes.
Sleep. Just sleep already!
It was no good; he was too restless to sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he found himself imagining one of Lilithmon's creatures finding that sword and using it to level the village, with him and his friends in it, while they slept. After all, if he could find it without even trying, how easy would it be for her watchers to find it? They already knew she had Digimon watching them wherever they went. Wouldn't she jump at the chance to snatch up an unclaimed Artifact? Witchmon wasn't much trouble to deal with, but surely she had monsters strong enough to overpower a single Ogremon... and if she did, and that monster was able to get the sword, it would be more than the Warriors could do to stop it, in their current forms.
Stupid Kouji. Why does he have to be so stubborn? Something that dangerous is safest if we know where it is. We ought to get it before someone else does.
A temptation was worming its way into his mind, and it was becoming increasingly harder to ignore. Why not just take the sword? Ogremon didn't need it; he'd be better of without it hanging over his head like a Sword of Damocles, just waiting for someone stronger than him to come along and ruin everything for him. It would be better just to take it far from here, and to give it to someone strong enough and wise enough not to fall for its tricks. Surely it wasn't really stealing, if he had an order from the rulers of the world to come back and take it? It wasn't really Ogremon's sword; it had belonged to the great ones once, and he was only looking after it until the real owners came for it. It would be all right to take it - not for himself, but for the safety of everyone.
Before he knew it, he was on his feet and creeping towards the door. Even when he thought about what he was doing, realized that he really was going to go out and take it, he still didn't hesitate even for an instant. He had probably known since he had learned exactly what the sword really was that he was going to take it; he'd just been trying to build up the courage. Courage. Of course, he had to be courageous. No one who was busy fretting and worrying about what could go wrong could take the mythical blade.
He remembered the way back to Ogremon's forge well enough, even in the darkness. The light of three moons lit everything dimly, and his nose and ears told him well enough which way he was going. Even though the stalls had closed down for the night, he could smell the heavy ripeness of the fruit market, and hear the gurgling of the fountain where he had drunk earlier. The scene of smoke and the tang of hot metal told him when he was getting close.
As he had hoped, there were no lights in the forge. There wasn't even any sign of smoke, and his sixth sense was telling him that all the fires within the building had been completely doused. Ogremon must have packed up his work for today and gone to sleep. At least, he sincerely hoped he had - otherwise, it would be a little hard to explain what he was doing here at this time of night. Very quietly, he pushed the door open enough that he could squeeze inside, and then shut it quickly behind him.
Now, where was the sword? In the next room, hanging on the wall. That meant crossing the unfamiliar workshop in almost total darkness. Takuya shuffled along, barely daring to lift his feet in case he were to trip over something, fearing that at any moment he would knock something down and bring an angry Ogremon raging down at him. Miraculously, he crossed the room without doing anything worse than stub his toe a bit on a table leg, and he was able to tiptoe into the room where he had seen the sword.
It was a bit brighter in here, as light slipped in through a tiny leaded-glass window set high on the wall. It was enough for him to see the sword where it hung glinting on the wall. Takuya shoved the crate he had been sitting on earlier over to the other side of the room, so he could stand on it to reach the glass display case. It was held shut by some crude metal fasteners, easily dealt with. They came open with quiet clicks when Takuya pressed on them, and the case swung soundlessly open. Now there was nothing between himself and the sword but empty air. He hesitated a moment, asking himself if he was really crazy enough to do this. Apparently, he was, because his hand went out and closed around the scabbard, lifting it off of its resting place. Takuya waited a moment. Nothing unpleasant seemed to be happening to him. He jumped down from his perch and scurried out of the building.
Perhaps some guilt must have been haunting him, after all, because he waited until he was well away from the forge, but not yet very close to the hotel, before he stopped to examine his prize. Takuya stopped in an empty courtyard and sat down on a bench to wait for his heart to stop hammering and have a look at the sword. The blade was about as long as his arm, from shoulder to wrist, and almost as wide. It curved up slightly at the tip. The grip was made with loops of gold wire, and the pommel was set with a pattern of rubies and amber. The scabbard was leather and had similar designs of rubies, amber, and swirls of gold. That was all that could be seen of it without removing it from its sheath.
"It doesn't seem that dangerous," he murmured, turning it over in his hands. He had been carrying it for a while now, and as of yet, he still felt no particular urge to go out and fight with anyone. That was odd, since Kouji had been affected by the Staff's strange powers almost as soon as he had touched it. Perhaps Ogremon had been wrong - maybe this wasn't really the legendary Blade, after all. Either that, or this weapon, like Junpei's Light, had lost its powers due to long years of disuse. Or maybe Ogremon had just been making up the story to awe a traveler. Whichever way he looked at it, he seemed to have picked up a beautiful weapon, nothing more.
Feeling a bit more comfortable, he closed his hand around the grip and gently slid the blade out of its scabbard. He was surprised, and mildly disappointed, to discover that there was nothing fascinating about the blade itself - it was plain metal, single-edged, with only a row of unreadable characters up one side to decorate it at all. They were the same kind of mysterious markings Takuya had seen many times in Bokomon's book, and he decided to ask Bokomon to read them for him in the morning.
"Heh, won't they all be surprised!" he thought. "I got the Blade of Courage, and none of that bad stuff Kouji thought would happen actually happened. I knew I was right. He's so cautious about everything. I'm amazed he ever got on the train to get here at all." He twirled the blade a few times, and moonlight glittered off its edge. Something glittered in his eyes, too. "Stupid Kouji, always trying to hold me back. Well, I'll show him! I'll show everybody better than to argue with me." It was amazing how easily he handled the sword; it should have been much too heavy for him to wield. "Pick a fight with me, will he? And stupid Junpei, getting in my way. I could have taken him. I'll show them. I'll show them both. I'll show them all..."
He hooked the scabbard to his belt, but left it empty. The right place for a sword was in his hands, where he could use it if anyone got in his way. Nobody was going to get in his way, anymore. Not while he had his beautiful sword.
Kouichi dreamed. All his life, he had been prone to particularly vivid, memorable dreams, but his stay in the Digital World seemed to have enhanced this aspect of his mind. Perhaps it was something to do with his soul being knocked loose from his body for so long, that made him so sensitive to dreams. Maybe it was related to the same sense that linked him to his brother, which made him more sensitive to his moods and feelings. Whatever it was, he only knew that he had dreams nearly every night, and seldom forgot them once he'd had them.
Tonight, he dreamed that he was walking through a forest of shadowy trees, strange plants with trunks like twisted sticks of charcoal and leaves the color of ash. They were thinly spaced, with only their haphazard placement to testify that they were growing wild, and not in a cultivated orchard. High above his head, he could see a deep black sky lit with many stars. They were brighter and larger than any stars he had ever seen, either on Earth or the Digital World, and each one was pure white, almost dazzling to look at. If he stared at them long enough, they seemed to form into patterns: a sword, a cloak, a wolf, a cat, and more. He stood for a moment, watching the shifting stars go by. It was a beautiful sight, that dance of light and darkness...
Wake up!
"No, I don't want to. Not yet," he murmured.
You must wake up, Kouichi.
"But I'm sleepy... and I want to look at the stars."
Your friend is in great danger, Kouichi. You must wake up, now!
"Danger?"
Kouichi sat up in bed, staring around his room. For a moment, he was not sure where he was, and whether or not he was waking or dreaming. In that instant, the hazy outline of the Warrior of Darkness caught his eye, but when he looked at it again, it had already disappeared.
"A dream?" he wondered aloud. It probably had to be a dream. It wouldn't be the first time he had dreamed something so vividly that it had taken him time to work out that it hadn't really happened. Even so, he decided it was probably better to listen to any premonitions he got in this place, where magic was actually a factor in everyday life. He walked out of his room and went to knock on the others' doors.
He was not completely surprised to find that Kouji was already up, standing in the hall and blinking sleepily.
"What are you doing up?" Kouichi asked him.
"I don't know," he said grumpily. "You tell me. I just had one of those feelings that you needed me, so I got up. So what's the problem?"
"I'm not sure yet," said Kouichi. "I just have a very bad feeling. We should check on the others and make sure they're okay."
They knocked on the doors of their other friends. Izumi came out with her hair ruffled, looking annoyed at being awakened. Tomoki bounced out of bed as soon as they called him, eager to find out what was going on. It took a while to rouse Junpei, but he finally answered the door and was puzzled why Kouichi looked so relieved. Bokomon and Neemon were disturbed by the noise and came out to see what was going on. But Takuya never answered. All they could find of him was an empty room and rumpled blankets. Kouichi groaned.
"I knew it!" he said. "I knew something was wrong!"
"Where did he go?" asked Tomoki, looking around the empty room as if he expected Takuya to be hiding behind the washstand.
"I'll tell you where he went," Kouji said grimly. "He went after that stupid sword! Argh! When I get my hands on him, I am going to throttle him! He's so irresponsible!"
"Maybe he just went out for a walk?" suggested Junpei, without much hope. Nobody gave the comment much thought.
"If we hurry, maybe we can catch him before he gets too far," Izumi said. "But we don't even know where the forge is..."
"I can help!" Tomoki piped up. He scampered into his room and returned carrying the Pool of Knowledge. He set it down in the shadow of a decorative cabinet. "Mirror, mirror, in the shade, has Takuya got the Blade?"
The mirror shimmered brightly, showing at its heart an image of Takuya standing in a courtyard, swinging a sword.
"Well, that answers that question," said Bokomon.
"Great," Kouji moaned. "Now we're in for it!"
"I knew something bad was happening," said Kouichi. "We've got to find him fast, before something crazy happens!"
They sprinted down the hall and out the doors of the hotel, following the Pool's guide. It showed the way in its reflective surface, presenting them with images of roads and alleys, always displaying what was a little bit ahead of them. At last, they reached the courtyard where Takuya had been playing with his new weapon. At the moment, he was involved with systematically hacking apart a nearby vegetable cart and making an incredible mess. He turned at the sound of approaching footsteps, and his face twisted into a sneer.
"Oh, there you are," he said. "I was wondering if you'd bother to show up."
"Takuya! What do you think you're doing?" Junpei demanded.
"You mean this? I'm just trying out my new toy," he said. His voice sounded clipped, quite unlike his usual warm, friendly voice. "Why? Are you going to stop me or something?"
"Come on, Takuya, just calm down," said Kouichi soothingly. "We don't have to fight over this."
"Sure, you just want me to drop everything and come along quietly," Takuya said. "You probably want me to give the sword back, too, don't you?"
"It's not yours to keep, Takuya," said Izumi, as gently as she could.
"Oh, so the stuff you find is yours, but anything I find, I have to leave it alone. Is that how it works? Well, I'm not listening to it! I found this sword fair and square, and it's mine!"
"So you think just stealing it is okay?" Kouji said.
Izumi shoved him. "Shut up, Kouji! That's not what he needs to hear right now!"
"I can fight my own battles," Takuya snarled. "Don't go patronizing me! I'm not letting some stupid girl fight my fights for me!"
"There's nothing to fight over," said Junpei. "Just calm down!"
"Why should I? You're just pushing me around again. I'm not going to put up with it anymore! You can't tell me what to do anymore!"
"Takuya, you've got to put down that sword!" said Tomoki. "It's messing with your mind! It's making you go crazy!"
"Ha! That's a laugh," Takuya retorted. "The only thing driving me crazy is you chumps. I'm not listening to you anymore! I'm getting rid of all of you - starting with you!"
He sprang, and there was a rush and a flash as he shifted forms from his human state to Flamon. His entire body blazed with flames, and the Blade in his hand reflected their light. Kouji was almost too stunned to move, but Kouichi reacted just fast enough to push him out of the way. Flamon crashed through the side of a storage shed, leaving a charred hole in the wall. He twitched dazedly amid a pile of packing crates.
"Move!" said Junpei, giving Izumi and Tomoki a shove. "Get out of here before he comes to!"
They began to run. Kouichi hauled Kouji to his feet and took off after them. Junpei paused just long enough to snatch up Bokomon and Neemon, and then he, too, began running away.
"Why do I always wind up carrying you guys?" he complained as he ran.
"Because you have longer legs!" said Neemon, always ready to supply obvious comments in an emergency.
The dismayed (and in Kouji's case, slightly bruised) young heroes collected themselves in an empty side street, and stopped to catch their breaths.
"Now what do we do?" asked Izumi.
"I don't know," said Kouichi. "I don't think fighting him would be a good idea at this point. It would just make him angrier, and we'd probably all wind up getting hurt... or killed." He shot an anxious glance at his brother. Kouji didn't appear to be paying attention to him.
"This is my fault," he muttered. "I knew he was going to do this. I knew it! I knew he was going to do this, and I didn't even try to stop him..."
"It's not your fault for not being able to predict the future!" said Junpei.
"It was still stupid to try to put it all off," said Kouji. "I know how stubborn he is. I should have known he wouldn't listen to me when he was so sure he was right."
"Then you were both stupid," said Izumi. "Quit whining about it and try to think of something productive we can do about it."
"What can we do?" asked Tomoki. "I don't want to hurt Takuya, but everything we say to him just makes him angrier... and if we try to evolve, we might be just as bad off as he is."
Somewhere in the distance, there was an explosive sound, and a storage shed burst into flames. Junpei watched as the sparks danced upwards. He shrugged.
"Call the fire department?"