The Crystal Gate
Part Fourteen: Entanglements
Standard Disclaimer Thingie: Digimon is not mine, including all characters, etc. Plot is mine. Don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.
Moo.
The sky was dark, with no stars shining. Miyako found herself standing on the edge of a stone wall, the wind whipping around her so that it was all she could do to keep her hair from obstructing her already limited vision. The air felt damp, as though a storm was about to form, and a few sparks of lightning flashed in the air, momentarily illuminating the area around her.
She was standing on the stone wall that surrounded the palace gardens. Nearby, she could make out a few shadows that were other people on the wall as well. She looked around and saw that everyone was focused on something in the center of the garden.
There was another flash of light, this time a red flash, and she felt magic – powerful magic – so strongly that she took a step backwards and teetered for a moment on the edge of the wall. She felt a pang in her chest, same as she had when she had felt the crystal, only stronger, more powerful, and she felt as though she was going to explode from the pressure within.
She awoke, breathing heavy, to find that she was still in the desert, the cold night air as dry as ever, sweat beading on her forehead. Nearby, she could hear Shijo mumbling in his sleep as he turned over, and she could see his shadow by the light of the stars and the pale half-moon.
"A dream?" she wondered aloud, startling herself with the sound of her voice in the quiet. A cool breeze drifted through the cold night, and she shivered and wrapped her cloak tighter around her.
It was soon clear that she wasn't likely to fall back to sleep, however, and she sat up, pulling the cloak around her as she did, her mind turning over the memories of the dream. It had seemed so real, so certain, that she was still wondering if it had been reality and this was a dream now.
"Can't sleep?" said a voice, startling her because she had thought she was the only one awake. She turned her head toward it and saw that Daisuke was also awake, sitting a short distance away. He didn't turn his head to face her, but was looking northwest, his eyes focused on the empty space between the sky and the horizon.
Calming her rapidly beating heart, Miyako got to her feet and moved to sit beside him, eager for something to erase the memories of the dream. It had not been frightening, and yet it left her feeling uneasy and disturbed. "You either?" she asked casually, hoping her voice wasn't shaking, hoping that tonight would be one of those times that Daisuke was in the mood for conversation.
She didn't expect that it would be, and so was surprised when he briefly glanced her way before answering, "No," with a resigned sort of sigh.
"Something's bothering you," she said, knowing it with certainty rather than speculation. "What makes you in such a hurry to get back to the palace?"
"They have a crystal now," he reminded her, not looking in her direction, but not putting any malice in his voice as she expected him to. "It don't think it'll be hard for them to get hold of the others."
"Yes," she agreed, quickly putting aside the matter of how Arachnemon and Mummymon had managed to obtain that crystal. "That's not what keeps you awake at night, though, is it?"
"Maybe," he answered, shrugging. "What is it that woke you? A dream?"
Miyako shivered, both at the memory of the dream and from a cold breeze that chose that moment to dance through the desert. "Yeah," she mumbled.
After having spent the entire day so far separating and filing and organizing, Yamato set down the last paper he'd been working on and stormed out of the office before his desire to torch the place overwhelmed him. He retrieved his favorite sword from his room and went outside into the gardens where he might relieve his frustrations on some unsuspecting shadows.
After a half-hour or so of swinging at nothing, Yamato set down his sword and sat heavily on a bench in the cool shade of the tree. The sun was slowly sinking, but still high in the sky, and it was a warm day for late spring.
"You look as though you are in need of a drink," said a voice behind him, and he turned to see that Mimi had carried a tray of drinks out. She set it on the bench and handed one to him, taking one for herself. "It's warm out here today."
He drank half the cup in a single gulp, pausing only briefly to nod in thanks. "I couldn't stay in that stifling office any longer," he said, wiping some of the sweat from his brow. "I'd like to slash the papers to bits."
"I don't see why you think it's such a difficult job," she told him. "All you need to do is pay attention to what's going on."
His eyes narrowed, and he clenched the glass rather tightly and took another gulp of his drink. The sweet taste and the cool relief distracted him from his frustration, thereby possibly saving Mimi's life.
"I don't suppose you've seen Sora today," she went on, apparently oblivious to her brush with death.
"No," he said, forgetting his anger. "Why - ?"
"I have," Mimi answered. "She seems as though she is greatly preoccupied with something, but I don't know what."
"Where is she?"
"As usual, in the gardens, staring at the flowers without seeing them," she reported. "Her mind seems preoccupied with something, but she won't tell me what."
"Maybe nothing," he pointed out. "Maybe nothing that's any of your business."
Mimi shook her head forcefully. "No, something's wrong," she insisted. "I wish I knew what."
Yamato finished his drink and set it down on the tray once more. "I'm sure if it was something horrible, Sora would talk to you about it," he said, shrugging. "Since she hasn't, it's probably nothing." He got to his feet once more. "I've got another thousand or so papers to file, so I'll leave you to it."
Mimi scowled, watching him go, but said nothing. Instead, she turned her gaze in the other direction, where she could see that Sora was wandering absently among the flowers, Piyomon flying cheerfully in the sky above.
"He might be right, you know," Palmon said, looking up from a few of the flowers she'd been speaking to nearby. "Piyomon certainly doesn't seem to be upset about anything. If something were troubling her, don't you think Piyomon would know about it?"
"I suppose you're right," Mimi admitted. "Maybe I'm overreacting. Maybe I'm expecting bad news."
"And so?" Hikari asked, frustrated because Taichi had left off the story at the most interesting point. He was absently peering down into the gardens, where nothing interesting seemed to be happening besides a few gardeners watering the tulips.
"And that was it," he answered, shrugging, managing to pull himself away from the edge of the veranda.
"That was it?" she echoed, staring at him as though he had somehow lost his mind. "You told her…."
"I told her everything," he finished, sinking into a chair with a sigh. "I told her that I'm in love with her and I want to…to get married, and that it wouldn't be easy on her and I'd understand if she didn't want to, but I'd rather marry her than one of my cousins." He leaned back and stared up at the bright, cheerful blue sky above.
"And she said…."
"And she didn't say anything. She stared at me for a long time and didn't say anything."
"And then she left?"
He shrugged. "Pretty much."
Hikari sat down in a chair a few steps away and stared at him for a long moment. "You're leaving something out," she said then.
"I'm allowed to have secrets, aren't I?" he returned, sitting up again. He let out a frustrated groan and then fell back into the seat, staring up at the sky again. "Maybe you were wrong. Maybe she doesn't…."
"No," she interrupted. "I'm sure about that part."
The previous day's torrential downpour had faded into nothing more than a faint drizzle and an endless mist, but Takeru couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. He spent a large part of the morning staring at the crystal, hoping it would give him some sort of clue or some answer to what was going on, but it remained a lifeless stone, occasionally sparkling in the dim light. Patamon slept late, yawning awake sometime around noon to convince his partner to get something to eat. Takeru left his partner with a pile of what was left over from breakfast and sought out Koushiro, taking a small piece of fruit with him as he went.
The wizard was, as always, immersed in a thick volume of something that Takeru only half understood. He didn't look up from his book when Takeru entered, and occasionally mumbled something absently under his breath or scratched a note to himself on a scrap of paper. Not wishing to disturb him, Takeru sank into a rickety, hastily built chair and ate the fruit he'd taken for his breakfast. He pulled the crystal from his pocket and set it on the edge of the desk in front of him as he ate.
Koushiro lowered the book, noticing the crystal before the one who'd set it down. Takeru took another bite of the fruit, the crunch echoing in the otherwise quiet space, the sound bouncing off the tall ceiling and the bare walls. "I've been staring at it all morning and it hasn't given me any answers," he confessed when he'd swallowed. "Do you- ?"
"It's not going to give me any answers that it doesn't give you," Koushiro answered, looking up. "I can't tell for certain, but I'd guess that it's one of those magical objects that works best with one person and not another."
Another crunch echoed in the quiet room. Takeru chewed as he thought for a moment. "You mean like…?" he began, but again Koushiro interrupted him before he could finish.
"A magical staff?" He was already turning back to his book with a frown. "Something like that. Magical objects often bond to one particular user and are rather reluctant to be used by another." He shrugged.
"But I don't know how to use magic," Takeru pointed out. Feeling as though he'd been repeating himself rather often lately, he said, "I'm not a mage."
A strange, indescribable sort of sound seemed to come from the crystal, as though it was making its own voice be heard. Takeru stared at it for a long moment and then took another bite from the fruit. This crunch sounded louder than the previous ones.
"Maybe not," Koushiro answered from behind the thick volume. "Certainly you've never shown any magical prowess before now, or someone would have realized it. However, we cannot deny that you seem to be developing a certain amount of magical sense."
Takeru took another loud bite from the apple and chewed thoughtfully. He felt a strange urge to look toward the crystal and tried to fight it, mostly out of sheer stubbornness. He could hear a strange distant hum in the back of his ears, almost as though the object were calling him. He swallowed and took another bite, but the sensation didn't stop.
Koushiro set down his book with a quiet thump, drawing Takeru's gaze back toward the desk. "It could be an innate sense, it could be because of the crystal, it could be partly a result of becoming Chosen…."
Takeru had stopped listening to him. The wizard's voice had become a distant mumble, and the distant hum in his ears had become louder, so that it became almost impossible to hear anything else. Almost without being aware of what he was doing, he leaned forward in his seat. After a moment of hesitation he took the crystal in his hand and felt the world melt away around him.
They had finally left the desert behind. Some time around midday they'd reached the edge of the forest and the cool air had been welcomed as a much needed relief from the heat and endless sun. The air here was heavy with humidity, but the sky was clear, with only soft, puffy white clouds high in the sky, and there was no hint of rain.
Miyako placed one hand on the bark of the nearest tree and breathed in the clean, moist air. She shut her eyes for a minute, feeling the cool relief of the shade of the leaves for the first time in a few days. They'd stopped near the banks of a river with clear water that was flowing through the forest and caught a few of the colorful fish that were flowing beneath. The place seemed peaceful and serene, and there was no sound but chirping insects and bubbling waters as they sat in the cool grass and ate the fish they'd caught.
When they'd finished, Shijo gathered the bones and dumped them back in the water, the tiny splashes disappearing into the silence of the area. Distantly, a leaf crunched.
Miyako turned her head in the direction of the noise, but almost immediately another sound came from the opposite direction, and then another from a completely different location. She closed her eyes, focused her concentration, and cast out with her magical senses.
"Shijo," Daisuke said in a strange sort of voice, and the boy looked up from his task with a look of innocent confusion. Seeing the serious sort of expression that matched his tone, Shijo got to his feet took a few steps back from the water.
"Miyako?" Hawkmon questioned, glancing up at his partner, who was sitting completely still, eyes shut, face the picture of concentration.
She shook her head slowly. "A bunch," she said in answer to the unspoken question. "I can't give you a number yet…."
"Should we go?" Wormmon wondered, his big blue eyes darting quickly around the space for a few moments and then up at his partner. Ken shook his head, but didn't get up from his seat.
"No good," Daisuke murmured in a soft voice. "There all around."
Ken took a long gulp of water from a freshly filled canteen. "At least ten," Miyako said, not opening her eyes. "I sense her magic, but not her…and not Mummymon, either."
"Doesn't mean they're not coming," V-mon mumbled crossly, clenching both his hands into fists. "I'm ready, right?" He glanced toward Wormmon, who nodded immediately and then glanced toward his partner with a questioning expression.
"Ten of what?" Shijo wondered, eyes wide, turning to his partner, who shrugged.
Behind them was the sound of a twig snapping, the crunch of leaves, and then the obvious sound of a dozen or so footsteps coming closer. "Twenty three," Ken said, setting down his canteen. Miyako opened her eyes.
"Every direction," she said, turning toward the stream. "Even that way."
"Twenty four," Ken said, correcting himself. He frowned, his mouth curving down even more severely.
Shijo turned sharply toward him, eyes growing even wider. He opened his mouth to ask his question again, but stopped. The footsteps sounded very close to him now. He took a step toward the fire, closer to the center of the clearing in which they'd stopped to eat. He glanced toward Daisuke, but he was focused on the line of trees. Again, the boy recalled his promise to get out of danger – but where was there to go if they were surrounded by twenty four…things?
There was a rustling in the brush nearby and the branches parted. A single Gazimon, flanked by a rather angry-looking Piyomon and a fierce Agumon, appeared in the clearing, a slight sneer on his face.
"What do you want?" V-mon demanded, taking a step forward. He raised one fist, indicating his lack of fear.
The Gazimon spread both arms wide and opened his paws, palms up, indicating lack of aggression. V-mon didn't change his position, and the furry rabbit-digimon shrugged lightly. "We don't have to fight," he remarked, his sneer fading into a gentle smirk.
"Don't we?" V-mon returned, narrowing his eyes. "Do you say that because you know you'd lose?"
"So why have you surrounded us, then?" Hawkmon questioned with much more civility. "If not to force us to fight you."
"We don't have to fight," Gazimon said again. "I was sent to talk."
V-mon almost growled. He'd clenched his teeth and his fists and he took another step forward.
"Sent, were you?" Hawkmon said in a calm-sounding voice. "I'm sure she's rather eager to discuss things."
"Talk then," V-mon said, his voice coming out as a snarl. "Say what you've come to say, and then I'll kick your…."
"We don't have to fight," Gazimon said, calmly ignoring the thinly veiled insults and threats. "All you need to do is hand over the crystal and I'll be on my way. You won't be troubled again…."
"Not happening," V-mon answered almost before the Gazimon had finished speaking. "We'll have to fight anyway."
The Gazimon shrugged, glancing toward the Piyomon and the Agumon that stood on either side of him. "So be it then," he said.
A dark aura appeared around him, so thick that it could be seen by those without magical vision. Miyako removed her spectacles, which she had been in the habit of wearing low on her nose, and put them in her pocket so she could see more clearly. The dark aura grew thicker and the Gazimon grew taller. Then, the aura spread so that it surrounded the Agumon and the Lopmon as well.
"They're not…," Hawkmon said, but let his words fade because they obviously were.
The rabbit-digimon's grin grew wider, his teeth grew longer, and then he was replaced completely by a fierce looking digimon with wild eyes and a long sword at his waist, which he removed with his heavy paws and sharp claws as he let out a roar.
"Leomon!" roared the creature that had once been a Gazimon. "Prepare to meet your defeat!" With a mighty roar, he lunged through the air toward V-mon, who leapt backwards even as a different sort of aura began to surround him.
"V-mon evolve!" he shouted, and as the light faded, he reached out with huge arms and claws to block the sword's attack. "XV-mon!"
Meanwhile, the Agumon had also grown larger, and flames began to leap from his body. When the dark aura had faded, he was no longer Agumon but a tall, fiery Meramon. He grinned with triumph and lifted one arm. "Burning fist!" he shouted, and lunged toward Hawkmon, who quickly took to the air in order to avoid the flames. Miyako dodged sideways, stepping away, and quickly raised a magical shield to protect herself from the heat.
The Piyomon, meanwhile, had been swallowed by the dark aura, which expanded as he grew in size. When the dark cloud had faded enough for him to be seen, he had become a large, thin serpent of an Airdramon. Immediately, he let out a loud screech of anger and flew toward the ground, mouth open wide, teeth bared.
Shijo stared with his eyes opened wide, suddenly finding his legs incapable of moving as the huge ferocious serpent came closer.
"Wormmon evolve!" he heard a voice shout from behind him, and then a white light momentarily blinded him. "Stingmon!" called a voice, and then a green blur slammed into the Airdramon. Someone grabbed Shijo around the waist and pulled him out of the way seconds before both of the fighting digimon crashed into the ground where he'd been standing.
"You really are going to get yourself killed, you know?" Ken said, glancing down at the boy he'd saved. Shijo glanced up toward him, eyes still huge in his small face, mouth hanging slightly open. His legs wobbled beneath him as though they were made of mud rather than bones.
"Wow," Agumon said in a soft voice, watching as the green bug digimon wrestled with the huge serpent on the ground. After a moment, the Airdramon screamed loudly and broke away from Stingmon, taking to the air. He swung around, his huge tail slamming into the smaller bug digimon and sending him flying across the clearing where he collided with a few trees, sending up a cloud of dust.
"Is he all right?" Shijo asked, staring at the cloud of dust. "He's not…."
"He'll be fine," Ken told him, and then could say no more because a ball of fire slammed into the dirt only a few steps away from him, the loud crash drowned out whatever else he was going to say. Over the flames, Shijo heard him shout, "Let's get you out of the way!"
"To where?" the boy shouted back, but didn't wait for an answer before he followed him. Glancing over his shoulder, he watched as XV-mon, having easily dodged the ball of fire, took to the air.
"X Laser!" he called, and a bright light slammed into the Meramon, who groaned in pain and was forced to take a few steps back. Without wasting time with words, the fiery digimon growled his frustration and hurled another fireball into the air. They missed XV-mon, who dodged easily in the air, but crashed into the trees beyond, setting the forest on fire.
Shijo had reached the edge of the clearing, the un-burnt forest behind him, but before he could take shelter within the trees, he saw that a few red eyes were peering at him from within the darkness. He took a step backwards, toward the center of the clearing, but a badly-aimed fireball whizzed past only a short distance from him, almost singeing the back of his shirt.
"Damn," muttered Ken, turning away from the trees.
I know you've been wanting action (I've been wanting action), so there's some action.
Bear with me through the slow parts (no matter how badly written they are, please), everything has a purpose. Or at least 99 percent of all things. Thanks for reading.