The Crystal Gate
Part Three: The Awakening of Takeru's Intuition
Standard Disclaimer Thingie: Digimon, not mine. Plot, mine. Don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.
Moo.
It was evening, the sun no more than an hour from sinking in the west, but Daisuke showed no sign of wanting to stop for the night. Shijo yawned for about the tenth time in the last hour, hoping he would get the hint, but Daisuke showed no sign of having paid any attention.
They were in the middle of the woods, some distance away from the main road, and they had traveled not only east, but some distance south as well. The trees here were nearly fully green, a sure sign that spring was almost ready to turn to summer again. In the dim light, however, the air had a chill to it. Shijo shivered and wished for a warm fire.
"Daisuke," he began for the tenth time that day. "Are we going to stop soon?"
"Almost there," came the same mumbled response as before.
"Almost where?" Shijo wondered. There was no answer. He yawned again. His stomach rumbled.
Daisuke halted his steps so suddenly that the boy nearly walked into him. They were in the middle of the woods, same as before, and at first, Shijo could see no reason why they had stopped here until he'd peered around Daisuke to see a small wooden sign jammed into the ground a few steps away. Not being a very good reader, he had only read the words 'The Village of…,' and was stumbling over the last word when a sudden strong breeze nearly blew him off his feet. His hair in his eyes, Shijo swiped it aside, hearing a noise not unlike the sound of a stampede of Monochromon – or how he assumed a stampede of Monochromon would sound, since he had never heard nor seen such a thing. When he'd managed to look, however, he saw nothing, and then the wind suddenly died.
"Finally," V-mon muttered sleepily, following his partner.
Shijo blinked, staring after them for a few moments. He stared at the last word for a few moments before he was able to discern that it was 'First.'
"First? First what?" he asked of Koromon, who shrugged. Daisuke was almost out of sight by now, and he hurried to catch up.
Only a few steps further and the scenery had changed. No longer was there hard dirt, soft grass, and crunchy leaves beneath his feet, but a soft, almost squishy sort of material that he could not identify. There were no more trees, either, but large pastel-colored boxy shapes.
"Am I dreaming?" Shijo asked aloud, again halting his steps.
"Oh! The village of firsts!" Koromon realized. "It's the Primary Village – where digimon are born."
This simple explanation actually reassured Shijo quite a bit – even he had heard of the Primary Village, though he had never known where it was located or how to get there. He hurried to catch up with Daisuke, who had been walking onward in a manner that suggested he was not surprised by his surroundings.
"Of course the Chosen would know where this place is and how to get to it," Shijo whispered to Koromon. "I wonder how many human eyes have seen this place in the last hundred years."
"Not many, I assure you," said a sudden stern voice, and Shijo stopped quickly to avoid walking into a small, rather angry looking red digimon that had sparks emanating from his back. The digimon was glaring at him so severely that the boy took a few steps back.
"Leave him be, Elecmon, he's only a boy," V-mon interrupted from his perch atop his partner's head. His voice sounded lazy, tired.
"So, you brought him here, then?" Elecmon questioned, turning sharply. "What's the meaning of this? If he harms the babies…."
"He's not going to harm anyone or anything," Daisuke said, turning around. "I give you my word. We won't be staying long. I only stopped by to see if I could borrow the services of a Piyomon and this is the best place to find one. We'll be gone first thing in the morning."
"You'd better not," the electrical digimon muttered, still glaring in the boy's direction. After a few moments he turned toward Daisuke and said, "There are a number of Piyomon who want to go into the message-delivering business and would love an excuse to fly somewhere. You want to send a message to the palace? Nothing dangerous encroaching on my doorstep again, is there? I can't handle too many refugees again. It's springtime now, and my hands are full, you know."
"Nothing dangerous," Daisuke assured him. They were interrupted then by the sound of crying coming from some distance away. "Point me in the direction of those Piyomon?"
"That way, that way," Elecmon answered, waving one claw as he hurried off to tend to his charges.
"Do we really look that untrustworthy?" Koromon questioned of his partner. Shijo shrugged.
"Don't take it personally," Daisuke advised. "He's protective of the babies."
"Very protective," V-mon agreed.
They walked for some time in the direction Elecmon had indicated, Shijo taking in the sights of hundreds of small pastel-colored eggs scattered about the ground and towers of similarly colored boxes, pondering what he witnessed. Eventually, they came to a section of small huts surrounded by Pyocomon and Piyomon, some of which looked as though they were preparing to sleep. Overhead, a few more of the bird digimon flew in circles, practicing their flying.
"Hi there," said one of the Piyomon cheerfully, waving with his wing.
"Hello," Daisuke greeted. "I was hoping one of you might be willing to take a bit of a trip for me. I have a message to send."
"A trip? A trip?" Almost immediately, they were surrounded by a flock of eager bird-digimon, each crowding around the other. "I'll go! I'll go!"
"Quiet!" shouted one voice, and the first Piyomon, apparently the leader, flew to a higher point so he might look down at the others. "Quiet!" he said again, louder. "You cannot all go!"
A collective disappointed moan came from the flock of birds. The leader peered down at them all with a stern glare and then pointed to one in particular. "Your turn."
"Yeah!" shouted the selected Piyomon, and the rest of the flock slunk away, disappointed, a few of them muttering under their breath. The selected bird digimon flew away from the departing crowd and perched on the edge of a pastel block, where he was nearly eye-level with Daisuke. "Where to, sir?"
"To the palace, if you don't mind," Daisuke answered. "I assume you know how to get there?"
"Been there and back a few times – eager to go again," the Piyomon answered cheerfully . "Do you want to write the message, or should I remember it?"
He shrugged. "I haven't got anything to write on or with, so you'll have to remember. I'll keep it short, though. I need you to find Inoue Miyako – she's a mage."
"Mage Miyako," Piyomon repeated, nodding.
Hikari and Takeru had spent nearly a week at Takaishi, and though they had spent much time visiting the villages and looking over the rice fields and traveling around the area, there had been no attacks and no sign that any attacks had recently taken place.
In the middle of a dreamless sleep, Hikari was awakened by the sound of a distant explosion, loud enough to wake everyone in Takaishi, but not close enough to damage the ornate manor house. She was awake and sitting bolt upright in the bed almost before the sound had finished.
"It's about time," Tailmon mumbled, yawning and stretching while her partner detangled herself from blankets and the curtain that surrounded the bed.
"I don't see anything," Hikari was saying, peering through the huge window. She released the curtains, letting the window close again, and hurried to find a warm robe and some shoes. She didn't bother to fully dress; there wasn't time.
Takeru was already in the hall, also having thrown on shoes and a shirt over his night clothes. "I think it's coming from the south," he said, pointing in the opposite direction of the room she'd emerged from. "It might be fastest to fly."
It was nearly midnight, and still Yamato had not gone to sleep. Since Iori had left, paperwork and files were in a shambles, and the offices dedicated to working these things out were a little overwhelmed. Although Iori had not been the only person working in such a capacity, he had been possibly the most skilled at organizing the chaos. Running a kingdom was difficult enough without paperwork and information being out of order, and so Yamato had been attempting to help straighten things out. The task was proving larger than he'd anticipated, however, and he was exhausted from the effort.
'How did Iori ever manage?' he thought to himself when he finally left piles of paperwork and stumbled down the hall in the direction of his bed.
It was a warm, pleasant night, and had been a warm, pleasant day that he had not had the opportunity to enjoy at all. Now, yawning heavily, he went into a previously empty office, walked past the piles of paperwork and books and pushed open the wide windows. Feeling the warm, sweet-smelling breeze on his skin revitalized his mind at least for the moment, and he stepped out on to the tiny veranda.
Distantly he could see a dark shape soaring beneath the stars – a small bird that he immediately assumed to be a Piyomon, delivering some message even at this late hour. A momentary chill gripped his stomach as Yamato thought of Takeru; wondered if Takaishi had been attacked and this bird was sending word. Drawn by the light of the lantern he carried, the Piyomon turned widely and arced toward the open window.
"Greetings," the Piyomon said when it had landed on the railing. It sounded a bit tired, a bit out of breath. "I hope you can help me…."
"Where do you come from?" Yamato questioned without giving the bird a chance to finish his sentence. "Takaishi? Hida?"
Piyomon shook his head. "Primary Village," he answered. "I'm looking for a mage named Miyako."
"A message for Miyako?" Gabumon questioned. "From the Primary Village? What sort of message?"
The Piyomon shrugged, and neither Yamato nor his partner pressed further, for they knew that Piyomon messengers were only supposed to relay messages to the intended recipient and no other. Relieved that the message was not likely about Takaishi or his brother, Yamato sighed.
"She's probably in the basement, in Koushiro's study," he told the Piyomon. "I'll take you there."
Once in the air, Takeru could easily see the source of the explosions he had heard. There were a great deal of flames leaping high into the air in nearly every direction spreading away from the manor house. Every house that he could see had a roof on fire, and the residents hurrying into the streams and the safety of the water. None of the rice was burning, at least not yet.
"…Everywhere…," Hikari breathed, the end of a sentence that he had not heard the beginning of. "Tyrannomon!"
When he looked closer, Takeru could see what she was talking about – that near each of the small clusters of houses was a large fiery dinosaur spreading the flames. "There's so many," he mumbled. "Damn."
"I'll head east, you head west," Hikari decided, Nefertimon already flying in that direction. Takeru hesitated for a brief second, then nodded, urging Pegasmon to head the opposite way.
They landed in the center of a cluster of houses, in the midst of the flames, right at the feet of the Tyrannomon. Takeru dismounted as quickly as he could and his partner de-evolved almost immediately, dodging the flames.
"I'll take care of him," Patamon called over the sounds of panic. "You put out the fire."
"Sounds fine to me," Takeru agreed. A bright light flooded the area, over which the sounds of his partner's evolution could be heard.
"Patamon evolve! Angemon!"
Miyako was, as Yamato had expected, where she had been spending many days and nights lately, immersed in books and magical tomes as Koushiro had always been. Like Koushiro, she did not immediately notice the arrival of Yamato, his partner, and the messenger Piyomon in the doorway, but she looked up after a few moments, her face a picture of confusion.
"Something wrong?"
"I don't know," Yamato answered. "This Piyomon came for you, from the Primary Village."
"A message from Primary Village?" Hawkmon said, looking up from his perch atop a pile of wavering books, where he had been napping. "How unusual."
"You are the mage called Inoue Miyako?" the Piyomon questioned, flying up to the edge of the table she was seated behind. When she'd nodded, he continued. "I have come from the Primary Village with a message from Motomiya Daisuke."
"Daisuke…he went to the Primary Village?" Miyako asked, staring wide eyed at the Piyomon, and then toward Yamato, who shrugged, equally clueless. "All right," she said, slowly, "What's the message?"
"You are acquainted with a mage-in-training called Maigo?" When she nodded, the Piyomon went on, "His brother, Shijo, is in the Primary Village, heading East. I have been asked to tell you to inform him of his brother's location, as it seems he left without telling him."
"Heading East?" Yamato echoed. "Why is he heading east?" The Piyomon had no answer. Miyako was shaking her head, slowly.
"I never understood why Daisuke did half the things he does," she admitted, sighing heavily. "I suppose I understand even less now." 'Though I have my theories,' she added silently.
To the Piyomon, she said, "Thank you. If you return to the Village and see him again, you can tell him that I have done as he asked."
"I will return," Piyomon answered. "I don't know that I will see him again, though." He yawned heavily and excused himself, ready to sleep.
Bucket upon bucket was filled with water, passed along a line of people carried from the streams to the houses. Takeru glanced upward as he dunked the next container into the water and passed it to the man beside him, wishing for rain. It had been a relatively dry spring so far – no rain – but that might change. He hoped it would.
"Heaven's Knuckle!" shouted Angemon above, and the fire-fighters paused long enough to see the massive angel digimon's fist connect with the Tyrannomon's long snout. It roared in pain and deleted immediately. Takeru felt a sigh of relief and he heard the cheer among the people.
"Amazing," whispered the man standing closest to him, passing back an empty bucket to be filled with water. Takeru couldn't help but grin.
"There's more to be done," Angemon called down to his partner.
"I can't leave this place to burn!" Takeru protested, but immediately the farmers and their families were disagreeing.
"The rice has been saved," said one woman. "The rice is what matters – we can rebuild our homes if we must."
"We're safe now from the Tyrannomon," said the man who had been passing the bucket to Takeru. "Go and stop the others."
"Thank heavens no one was killed here," said another woman, looking upward in thanks.
Takeru hesitated briefly, and then nodded.
"Holy Arrow!" Angewomon called, her voice echoing across the rice fields. A flash of blinding light followed, and then the Tyrannomon's roar of pain and anger, and then it was gone.
A bit of cheering could be heard below, in the center of the cluster of houses. The fire had been halted, at least momentarily.
"Hikari!" Takeru called from somewhere amidst the rice, and emerged near the previously burning house on the edge of the fields. He paused to catch his breath, leaning over and panting heavily. "Looks like all the fires are out," he said when he was able. "No sign of…."
"Of what, precisely?" interrupted a woman's voice from somewhere nearby. Both Chosen turned sharply and saw that a thin woman with long white hair was standing in the midst of the rice plants, a ferocious looking Mummymon behind her, eyes glinting in the moonlight.
"Of a crystal, perhaps?" Mummymon questioned playfully, placing one finger on his chin and staring into the sky with mock seriousness. "I'm sure you know where it is…."
"I don't know where anything is," Takeru returned shortly. "There's no crystal here. Leave this place."
"Such harsh words!" the woman said, feigning injury. Mummymon put one hand on his chest and stepped back.
"You're no mage," the mummy answered. "You have no idea."
"I know one thing. I'm not going to let you destroy this place looking for a crystal," Takeru stated. "Angemon!"
"Heaven's Knuckle!" shouted his partner, flying directly toward the two intruders, one fist poised to strike.
"Not so fast!" called Mummymon, and a shower of mini-explosions filled the air. The mummy spun in circles, sending the explosions around. Quickly, Angemon had to regroup, moving to shield his partner.
Hikari had been silent until then. Takeru turned back toward her, to make certain she was all right, and saw that her eyes were shut, an expression of concentration on her face that he was more accustomed to seeing on either Koushiro or Miyako. "Hikari?" he questioned hesitantly, his voice revealing his surprise.
"Did you think she learned nothing in the weeks she spent on a magical island?" Angewomon scolded him.
"If there is a crystal here," Hikari said, not opening her eyes, "it is you that must recover it, Takeru. You should leave these two to me."
"I don't know where to start looking!" he reminded her. "I…."
"South," she answered, interrupting him before he could find further flaws in her plan. "Head south. In the center of the rice field, there is a tall rock that points toward the sky."
"A-are you sure?" Takeru asked, hesitating. Hikari opened her eyes.
There was a brief chill in the air and then the sounds of the small explosions ended. Mummymon paused, looking at the device he had been using to cause them, and shook it a few times. "What the - ?" he wondered. "Stupid-!"
"Holy Arrow!" Angewomon shouted, and an arrow made of pure light sped toward him. It hit the ground at full force, sending waves of light backwards, throwing both the mummy and the sorceress off balance.
"Go now, Takeru, unless you want them to find the crystal before you," Hikari advised.
"How did you - ?" Takeru began, and then shook his head. "I understand less and less," he mumbled to himself, and nodded. "Right. Let's go."
"Right," Angemon agreed, and they were gone, flying above the air at a great speed. Takeru glanced back briefly and saw only flashes of light as the battle became more and more distant.
"South – in the middle of the fields," Takeru recalled, and then saw what Hikari had been referring to – a tall rock poking up from the midst of the rice. "That's it!" he shouted to his partner. "There!"
"I see it," Angemon answered, changing course. Moments later Takeru found his feet on dry land once more, though perilously steep land.
The rock on which he had landed was narrow. A small flat section of it was possible for him to stand on, and then the rest of it was steep and small. Takeru held on to the dry rock with both hands, as the section on to which his partner had deposited him was some distance from the ground.
"Do you see anything?" his partner questioned from the air where he was hovering. "Feel anything?"
"I don't feel anything but cold and slightly afraid," Takeru answered shortly. "I'm no mage!"
"No, but you're Chosen," Angemon reminded him. "If this crystal is like the one we found in Motomiya, it's somehow connected to you, and so you should have some knowledge of how to find it and use it."
"I don't think so," he muttered crossly, but felt around with one arm, searching for some part of rock that might feel different than the rest of it. A flash of light to the north distracted him and he turned his head that direction, but there was nothing to see from this far away.
"I'm not feeling anything!" Takeru shouted, voicing his frustration.
"Intuition," his partner told him in a voice so calm as to be infuriating. "Use your intuition."
"I don't know if I have any intuition," he returned loudly. "I'm not a mage!" But even as he said that he thought to move his right hand downward a little bit, and he felt something warm and smooth.
"That's it!"
He curved his fingers around the object slowly, for his hands were cold and his knuckles scraped against the rocks sharply. It seemed certain that he'd shed some sort of blood before this was over. Before long, he had a firm, though painful grip on the crystal in question.
'Come on,' he thought to the rock, momentarily silencing the barrage of questions that had been flying through his mind until that point. What did the sorceress want the crystal for? How had Hikari known it was there? Why had he chosen to move his hand to precisely the right spot? What good would it do to have the crystal anyway? Would it somehow cause his partner to merge with a different mysterious digimon, as XV-mon had? Who was that digimon? Thinking about Daisuke led to another barrage of questions that screamed to be answered.
Momentarily, they fell silent and Takeru thought, if only for an instant, that perhaps it wasn't necessary to look for answers, that all the questions would be answered eventually. Then, he felt the warm smoothness of the crystal grow even warmer until he was afraid his palms might be burned. He thought he could hear someone shouting in pain, but he wasn't sure if it was his own voice.
"Angemon evolve!" he heard distantly. "Holy Angemon!"
Finally, a bit of action, and a bit of Takeru. Go me.