The Crystal Gate

Part Four: Battles, Blood, and Love

Standard Disclaimer Thingie: Digimon, all related characters, merchandise, and money, is not mine. The plot is. Mostly. Don't steal, don't sue. Don't forget to moo.

Moo.

Takeru landed, hard in the cold watery rice fields. A few dark shadows passed over him. He could hear shouting, and thought he saw the glint of a sharp sword. He moved to dodge, but the ground was muddy and his limbs were slow to respond.

"Excalibur!" shouted a voice, and another shadow moved across his vision. When he could see clearly, Takeru saw that the second shadow belonged to his partner, Holy Angemon, and the first shadow belonged to a vicious-looking digimon with armor and the a huge sword. For a few moments he could hear grunting and the clanking of metal on metal.

"You will not defeat me!" shouted the warrior digimon, raising his sword over his head and swinging it with a powerful speed that no human could ever match.

"Excalibur!" shouted Holy Angemon again, waving his own sword and matching blows easily with the other.

Takeru struggled to his feet with some difficulty, backing up against the tall rock from which he had fallen when his partner had evolved and the crystal had come loose. He became aware then of his right hand, in which he still held a small shiny piece of rock. His hand hurt slightly, and when he looked closer, he saw that the sharp crystal had sliced his palm open. For a few moments, Takeru stared at it, the pain and the blood seeming to be far away from his own mind.

"Yahhh!" shouted the warrior digimon. "White Bird Sword!" His weapon was moving faster than the human eye could follow. Suddenly, the air seemed to shimmer – Takeru felt a strange queasiness in his stomach that he could not identify – and then another six of the same warrior digimon appeared from nowhere.

"Takeru! Get to safety!" Holy Angemon shouted, raising his sword to block a series of repetitive blows from each of the new swords.

"White Bird Sword!" shouted another of the warrior digimon, and lunged toward Takeru, who slid down into the mud at his feet, hearing the sword clank into the rock behind him as he narrowly avoided the blade.

"Takeru!" he heard another voice shouting – a distant part of his mind recognized it as Hikari – and then he saw another sharp metallic blade headed for his head. He ducked again, but it was too fast and he shut his eyes tight.

"What's this?" he heard the warrior question, and he heard the sound of metal clashing against some other impenetrable, unbreakable surface. Takeru opened his eyes and saw that some sort of white glowing barrier had formed between himself and the sword. "Damn it!" shouted the warrior digimon, and struck the barrier again and again with his sword.

"Hikari?" Takeru glanced behind him, upward, to where Hikari was arriving, by air, carried by Angewomon.

"No, Takeru," she answered, grinning. "You're doing it by yourself."

"But, I…," he protested, and then looked down at the crystal, still in his hand, still warm with power, and realized that the barrier was emanating from that rock.

Miyako had waited until the next day to find Maigo for several reasons. First, it had been night and she assumed he might be asleep at the time she'd received the message and secondly because she had been in the midst of research at the time and hadn't wanted to stop. By the time she had gone to sleep and awakened late the next morning, she'd forgotten completely about the previous night's visitor, and only remembered when she passed Yamato in the hall in the mid-afternoon.

Though she was a mage herself, Miyako had not spent much time with the mages-in-training that lived and studied at the palace – mostly because she had never spent much time there to begin with. She sought out the woman who was in charge of their training – a sorceress whose gentle demeanor belied her awesome power (which Miyako could detect, well hidden though it was). This woman directed Miyako to the room the young boy had been assigned, but he was not there. It took a significant amount of further questioning and searching before she found him in the gardens, a heavy-looking volume in his lap.

"Books," Hawkmon observed dryly. "Something about a mage seems to draw them to books. I never saw you read so much until you found magic."

Miyako ignored him as best she could and took a seat on the low stone wall beside the boy. Unsurprisingly, he did not look up immediately, and so she waited until he'd become aware of her presence.

"Lady Miyako," he remembered, getting to his feet. "I'm sorry – I didn't notice…."

"I know," she answered with a knowing smile. "I've been involved in magical books of my own lately, I know how it is. How are your studies?"

"Oh, wonderful," he said, his face nearly exploding with a smile. "I love all of it."

She grinned back. "So do I. But, that's not what I came here to talk to you about. Do you remember the last time you saw your brother?"

He frowned, studying the ground at his feet for a few moments. "It's been a few days," he said after a moment in a much more solemn tone of voice than he'd used previously. "I think maybe he's decided to leave – I don't think he was happy here."

"Oh?"

"There wasn't much to do," the boy elaborated. "He's not a mage – so he didn't want to study. He wanted to be…well, he wanted to be an adventurer – a warrior, maybe. I think he thought coming here would be much more exciting for him."

"Hmm," she answered, nodding. "Well, he did leave. He's a few days journey from here now, south and east. I got a message from Daisuke last night asking me to tell you that your brother has followed him to the Primary Village."

He blinked a few times, the words taking a few moments to sink in. When they had, his face contorted into a confused expression. "The…why would he go there?"

Miyako shook her head slowly. "I have absolutely no idea. The Piyomon who brought be the message didn't say anything about when they were planning to return, only that they were planning to travel…further east."

The moment she'd spoken the words, a realization came into her mind that she had not previously thought of. "Further east," she said aloud. "Of course…."

"What's further east?" Maigo asked innocently.

It was, as the spring had lately been, a beautiful day. A light breeze gently scattered sweet-smelling blossoms across the fields; the sun was bright and big in the middle of a clear blue sky. Sora looked upwards to see that Piyomon was flying happily through the breezes. She sighed, a contented sound.

The cart was rolling slowly south through the empty fields. There was no mission today, no pretense for this excursion away from the palace. It had been Yamato's suggestion – that Taichi take his mind from his work and enjoy the spring as he had not done yet this year. There had been reluctance, but, with Sora's help, Taichi had been persuaded. Or perhaps forced, depending upon the point of view.

"Isn't this nice?" she said, turning away from the window of the carriage. Taichi had a peaceful sort of smile on his face as he peered out the opposite window. When he sensed her attention, he frowned, pretending to be unhappy about being dragged out here. She laughed at him, and he frowned harder, pretending to sulk.

The carriage came to a stop on the edge of the woods, not far from where Sora and Mimi had been attacked by Mushmon a few weeks earlier. Having put all such memories from her mind, she left the carriage and breathed in the fresh air. Pink blossoms and small green leaves mixed in the wind as it blew past her.

Taichi was still hovering in the doorway, blinking in the sunlight as though he had not seen the outside world in quite some time. Frustrated with him, Sora turned back to the carriage and took his hand, pulling him down on to the ground before he had fully realized what she intended to do.

"Come on, silly. It's beautiful, don't you think?"

He followed, allowing himself to be dragged through the tall grasses, Agumon cheerfully half-skipping behind, sniffing at each of the flowers they passed between. "I suppose," he said begrudgingly, letting the bottoms of his shoes scrape in the dirt.

Sora was carrying a small basket in one hand, dragging Taichi with the other as she crossed the field, heading closer to the forest's edge. "I thought so when Mimi and I came here before," she continued, ignoring his dour attitude. "Yamato was right. You needed to get out and feel the sunlight. You've spent the last few weeks inside, talking to stuffy old men – you'll grow old before your time, you know."

Agumon thought this was funny enough that he stopped smelling a particularly interesting violet long enough to burst into laughter. Taichi frowned harder and glared in his partner's direction. "I won't," he retorted rather childishly. Agumon only laughed harder.

Sora giggled as though he'd said the most amusing thing. "Here," she said, finally stopping and releasing his hand. "This is perfect."

He blinked a few times in the sunlight and looked around. There was nothing there. Not too far to the south, there were trees that cast a bit of shadow on the plains. Around them were tall grasses and flowers – daisies and violets and buttercups and a hundred others that he didn't know the names for. "Perfect?" he echoed, raising one eyebrow.

"Perfect," Sora repeated, already having crouched low to the ground, unpacking the basket. "It's far enough away from everything that we won't be disturbed."

Taichi glanced around them again. Between the trees he thought he could see shadows moving. A few insects flew up from the tall grasses. One buzzed past his ears and he heard it humming as it soared higher in the sky. He looked up and could see that Piyomon was still happily circling overhead amidst a few wispy clouds. "Aren't you afraid something will attack here?" he asked.

Sora had unpacked a blanket, which she laid onto the ground and was kneeling on now while she emptied the rest of the basket. At his words, she paused, still holding a heavy-looking jug in both hands. Taichi could see that the muscles in her hands had tensed and she was breathing slowly, deliberately. "No," she said finally. "Nothing's going to attack today." She set the jug on the ground a little too forcefully and then quickly reached into the basket for another. "We're going to have a nice picnic," she placed the second jug sternly on the ground, "and you're going to enjoy it if it kills you."

Slightly alarmed at the tone of her voice, Taichi glanced around him one more time before he sat on the blanket as ordered.

The warrior digimon, all seven of them, were gone. Takeru felt an odd sort of exhaustion that he was not accustomed to, and a bit of pain in his hand.

The sun was had finished rising to the east, coloring the previously dark sky. In all directions they could see smoke rising from doused fires. The rice, thankfully, appeared largely unharmed.

They were sitting on the edge of the tall spike of rock where Takeru had found the crystal. His partner, now Patamon, was sleeping lazily in his favorite spot atop Takeru's head. Tailmon had curled into a ball on the sunny side of the rock and was also napping.

"That's a pretty nasty cut," Hikari was saying, looking at the gash the crystal had gouged in his hand. "I wish I had a bandage…a handkerchief or something…."

"It's mostly stopped bleeding," he answered distractedly, looking instead at the crystal in his other hand. "I don't understand…did the crystal do all that? Create the barrier? How did you know how to find it…how did I?"

She frowned in thought for a few moments, leaning back against the rock. "I think you found it because you were supposed to," she answered finally, looking at him with a patient sort of expression. "I think it helped you because you were the one that was supposed to find it – just as the other crystal helped Daisuke."

"Hmmm….," he said, still watching the crystal as though he expected it to do something unexpected. A long moment passed. He could feel her eyes on him, but neither said anything.

"I have this feeling," Takeru said then, breaking the silence. "I have this feeling that I need to be somewhere…not here." He pulled his eyes away from the crystal and looked toward Hikari again. "I'm not sure why…I think that this feeling is coming from this." He held up the stone in his hand.

Hikari was smiling now as though he had figured out a secret she had known all along. "Trust the feeling then," she advised. When he opened his mouth to object, she continued, saying, "Don't ask questions. Don't try to understand it, to figure it out, to analyze. You're not meant to know the answers yet."

"Do you know?" he questioned boldly.

She laughed, shaking her head. "Not a chance."

"You know more than I do, though, don't you? You always have."

Again she shook her head, but now the grin had faded to a more solemn expression. "I know far less than you do, Takeru, understand far less."

"But then, how do you know what's the right thing to do?" he wondered.

Hikari shrugged lightly. "If it feels right, do it," she answered simply. Before he could question this, she went on. "You've seen evil, Takeru. You've felt it before. Does that stone feel evil to you?"

"No," he answered instantly, shaking his head.

"Then, what it wants you to do cannot be evil, either. If you feel the stone wants you to go somewhere, then go there. It is the only way you will find out the truth."

"I suppose you're right," he answered hesitantly, and got to his feet. "Thanks. Will you come with me?"

She shook her head. "No. I have a feeling I'm needed elsewhere. I am learning to trust my feelings, too. Go. I'll take care of things here – explain to your grandmother."

"We're leaving?" Patamon mumbled sleepily. "Where - ?" The rest of that question was interrupted by a yawn.

"Not sure yet," Takeru answered. He climbed down from the rock and transferred the crystal to his other hand – the one that had been cut open. He gripped it tightly in his fist and winced as the pain returned again.

Then, in a flash of light, he was gone.

Nearly an hour later, meal finished, Sora was lying in the cool grass, eyes closed, feeling peaceful and sated with food. "It's nice, don't you think, to be able to simply…relax like this?"

"It is," Taichi agreed. He, too, was lying in the grass a short distance away, voice sounding sleepy and content. "Sora," he said after a moment, "I'm glad we came here."

"Hmm," she answered sleepily, a smile spreading across her face.

There was nothing but silence for a few moments. Sora had nearly drifted off to sleep when she heard a sound in the grass nearby and saw that Taichi had gotten up and was looking out over the fields, a far-away look in his eyes. She opened her mouth to tell him not to worry, that they wouldn't be bothered here, but the words disappeared before she could speak, and she instead sat up in the grass.

It was almost tall enough that she could barely see over it sitting down, but she wasn't looking beyond the grass. Instead, Sora's gaze was on Taichi, who was standing nearby with a curious sort of expression on his face.

"It's too quiet," he whispered, sensing her attention without looking in her direction. "Maybe I'm too used to excitement – but it's too quiet."

She didn't disagree, only frowned deeply and got to her feet. Taichi was slowly turning in all directions, eyes open and alert. Agumon was sniffing the air, searching for the scent of something other than flowers. Piyomon glanced up at her partner, waiting.

"That way," Agumon said finally, pointing east, though nothing could be seen. "Something that way."

They squinted in the sunlight across the plains, but no one could see anything. "Maybe…," Sora began hopefully, but then she caught sight of a flash of light, something glinting in the sun, and she stopped herself. "There."

"Piyomon evolve! Birdramon!"

They were in the air seconds later, the overhead vantage point allowing them to get a clean view of a bluish fire alighting the trees in the forest. Squinting, Sora could make out three blue-colored figures in the center of the flames. "Meramon?" she wondered, quickly running through her mind's recollection of digimon.

"Blue Meramon," Agumon modified, looking up toward his partner. "Go?"

"Go," Taichi agreed, letting go. Agumon fell through the air toward the center of the blue fire. A white light exploded as he fell and he could be heard, shouting out.

"Agumon evolve! Greymon! Mega Flame!"

The blue fire exploded higher and mixed with the orange blaze of the giant dinosaur's attacks. For a few moments, even in the air, Taichi and Sora couldn't see much, and the flames danced higher, closer to them.

"Let's get out of the middle of this," Taichi called over the roar of the fire, holding up one arm to shield himself from a few stray sparks. Sora and Birdramon agreed, and a few moments later, they were on the ground a short distance away from the flames.

"The blue flames," Sora realized when they flew close past them, "the blue flames are icy!"

"Blue Meramon have ice power," Birdramon informed her partner. "Greymon should have the advantage."

"It's three-on-one, though," Taichi noted with a severe frown. Beyond the blue flames, they could hear the massive dinosaur calling out "Mega Flame" and see the orangey flames of his attack.

Suddenly, the blue flames subsided and they could see one of the Blue Meramon passing through them. His face was contorted into a twisted grin. He held one arm before him, the flames dancing in his palm. "Cold Flame," said the Blue Meramon, his voice as icy and cold as his body and his attack. The flame leapt from his hand and landed on the ground before him. It leapt forward and formed a wall between the two humans, immediately solidifying into ice.

"I don't think so," Sora said, her voice a hoarse whisper, her face a stern glare. Birdramon took to the air again, soaring over the wall.

"Meteor Wing!" Birdramon called, sending fire below, causing the ice to melt almost immediately.

"Mega Flame!" shouted Greymon, emerging from the circle of icy flames. Badly damaged, the other two Blue Meramon followed him. One was limping, the other appeared to have had a portion of his outer skin removed, for a black core was visible beneath the surface of the flames.

"Cold Flame!" the two shouted in unison, sending tiny balls of flaming ice through the air. Some of them crashed into the ground, freezing the grasses, and some came dangerously close to Taichi, who dived out of the way with only seconds to spare.

"Meteor Wing!" Birdramon called, further damaging one of the Blue Meramon. It groaned in pain but did not delete. Another portion of its outer skin flaked off and fell to the grass, freezing that section of the ground.

"Cold Flame!" it called again, reforming the wall between the two humans, further encircling each of them. Immediately after, the least damaged of the Blue Meramon passed through the icy wall, lunging to attack.

"Mega Flame!" Greymon shouted, for the attack was aimed toward his partner, but he missed, the Blue Meramon having dodged quickly. The ground turned to ice beneath Taichi, and he fell to the ground, his feet slipping on the solid surface.

"Meteor Wing!" Birdramon attacked, again striking the Blue Meramon hard enough so that another section of its skin was damaged. It growled in pain, and Sora could see a black core beneath the flames.

"That thing – it's no ordinary digimon," Sora realized, unable to move her eyes from the black core within. It was blacker than night, a sinking darkness, a solid, smooth, shiny surface that glittered in the sunlight…almost like…."almost like something I've seen before," she said aloud.

"Mega Flame!" Greymon sounded angered now, furious, and another massive fireball sped through the air toward the Blue Meramon.

"Cold Flame," it answered, its voice an icy dull calmness, a shield of ice forming in its hand, blocking the flames. "Cold Flame."

"No!" Taichi shouted, struggling to pull himself to his feet off the ice. His hands felt so cold he was loosing feeling in his fingers already, and he stumbled and fell again. Pain jolted through his leg – had he scraped his knees on the ice? "Damn," he muttered.

The icy attack slammed into the massive dinosaur. Dust rose from the ground as his claws struggled to hold on to the ground beneath him and he was forced backwards. His growl of pain echoed in the empty fields.

"Meteor Wing!" Birdramon called, and her attack was the last straw that broke the already badly damaged Blue Meramon. The last bit of skin flaked off, revealing a solid black core, which disintegrated instantly and was gone. Another well-aimed attack from the fiery bird melted the icy walls that had separated Sora from the rest of the world.

The remaining two Blue Meramon were standing in the midst of the field, oblivious, for the moment, to her presence. One was battling Greymon (and seemed to be winning for the moment, despite its own damage) and the other had one arm pointed toward Taichi, who had slipped on the ice. "Cold Flame," the Blue Meramon muttered, and Sora, watching, felt her heart skip a few beats as the icy ball of fire sped through the air.

Taichi twisted himself on the ice and managed to slide, barely out of the way of the ice ball. Another large section of the grass became ice.

"No," Sora whispered, shaking her head. She glanced upward, toward her partner. "Stop them," she said, her voice clearer now, and then a fiery passion of her own appeared in her eyes and she took off at a run toward Taichi.

The Blue Meramon had a twisted sort of grin on its face – to think that it was gaining pleasure from this! Sora had lost the ability to think coherently, her thoughts merging into instinct, the rest of the world a blur of background noise that made no sense. There was a continuous high pitched noise in the back of her head. If she'd cared to notice it (which she didn't) she might have thought it signaled the beginning of a headache, which was also beginning to form in her skull. There was a strange feeling at her chest…a warmth that had never been there before…but she was scarcely aware of that either. For the moment Sora thought only of getting to Taichi.

The ice was no ordinary ice, but ice colder than that which forms in the blackest hearts, and merely being in close contact with it was enough to cause far more damage than would otherwise be expected. Taichi could no longer feel his fingers or toes, and his arms and legs were becoming numb as well. Distantly, he thought he could hear voices, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. His mind was filled with a desire for sleep.

Yes, sleep….

His eyes closed slowly and he began to sink into a dreamy sleep, resting his head on the ice.

"Birdramon evolve!"

In case you were wondering, the digimon that attack Takeru at the beginning of this chapter are Musyamon. Somehow I never managed to throw their name in there at all. Sorry!

Major action in this section, which of course makes me pretty happy.

Coming next: more Iori stuff, we'll find out where Takeru went, and, of course, the conclusion of this battle.