The Crystal Gate

Part Seventeen: Hajimaru - It Begins -

Standard Disclaimer Thingie: Digimon, all related characters, etc, are not mine. Plot is. Don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo.

As Li Tan had predicted, the storm did not follow them southward, but it was not long before the small group of flying digimon was in the midst of another. Rain began to fall heavily, and thunder sounded dangerously close. Though the tamer thought to coax his Airdramon above the clouds, each time he tried to do so a flash of lightning prevented his attempt. Iori was perched behind him, remembering with each passing moment why he much preferred to travel by land.

"It's insane!" Li Tan called over the sound of the rain and the wind. "Almost as though it's alive! If I didn't know better, I'd say the lightning was trying to hit us!"

Thankfully, the tamer and his mount were much experienced with flying through dangerous storms. Li Tan was able to guide them around the flashes of lightning, and the Airdramon was both swift and agile enough to respond quickly to commands. Iori, who could barely see through the rain and fog, hoped that Koushiro and Takeru were fairing as well.

"It might be," Iori shouted to be heard, "if it really is a magical storm."

In truth, Takeru was only a short distance behind Iori, but he could not tell that with his eyes, for the storm had rendered his vision almost completely useless. He was relying almost completely upon his partner, who thankfully was doing a fair job of navigating through winds and lightning flashes. He thought briefly of landing, but pushed the thought from his mind, hoping that they would soon be out of the storm.

The crystal in his pocket was making that strange sort of humming noise again. Despite the pounding of the rain, the crashing of thunder, and the winds rushing in his ears, Takeru heard it as clearly as he had in the mansion of Hida, in Koushiro's cluttered, borrowed office. He released his hold on his partner's neck with one hand long enough to reach for the object in his pocket. It was no easy task, for almost as soon as he had done so Pegasmon was obliged to dodge a very near lightning bolt, and Takeru was very nearly thrown off. As he had once before fallen from midair and not enjoyed it, Takeru quickly grabbed on with his free hand and waited a few moments before he tried again.

The strange humming sound was growing louder, so loud that it was nearly impossible to hear the storm, and Takeru wondered if he was going mad for thinking that the sound was in his head and not outside. Certainly hearing voices was a sign of that; would not hearing noises emanating from magical rocks be enough evidence? With great difficulty, he put these thoughts from his mind and tried again to reach the crystal in his pocket.

This time, a great gust of wind nearly toppled them both and sent them careening toward the ground. Takeru reached out with his free hand and was unable to resume his secure hold on his partner. For a moment, all thoughts left his mind and panic set in, but then even these were drowned out by the low humming of the crystal, which really was beginning to drive him crazy. Desperate for it to stop, for his head was starting to hurt, Takeru thrust his hand into his pocket and felt his fingers touch the sharp edge of the smooth, warm rock.

Immediately, the noise stopped, and then Takeru could see nothing but a white light and the distant form of his partner, growing more distant as he fell, his other hand finally having lost its grip. His mind, still in the throes of panic, thought nothing, and he was only dimly aware of the sensation of falling. Then, briefly, he thought of crying out for help, but he didn't know if anyone was near enough to get to him, or had even seen him fall. He mentally cursed the crystal and his need to silence it, and then glanced downward – or perhaps upward, it was hard to tell when falling, and saw that the crystal was glowing a pale white light.

"You're so powerful, save me!" he shouted at the rock, rather angered with it. "This is your fault!"

The white light grew brighter, and then he was no longer falling. The light had somehow made some sort of solid something beneath his feet, and though there was no sudden jolt that usually follows a fall, he was no longer moving. He held up the crystal and saw that it was still emanating a soft white light. It was humming again, but a rather different sort of hum than before. Before, the hum had been a persistent annoyance, the voice of a whining child. Now, however, it was an almost pleasant sound.

The thunder crashed even louder than before, and a few bursts of lightning flashed in the air dangerously close to where Takeru stood in midair.

"This is a magical storm," he realized, taking a step back. "It's after me...after this crystal."

"Takeru!" came the voice of his partner, and Takeru saw that Pegasmon had devolved and was now Patamon. He was flying, easily dodging the lightning thanks to his small size, with great speed, an expression of great anguish on his face, and then he crashed into Takeru at the same speed, causing him to take a few more steps back. He hoped he was not reaching the edge of whatever it was that held him in midair. The crystal was humming pleasantly though, leading him to believe there was to be no danger.

"I'm all right," he told his partner, who was obviously in a state of great distress. Before any more could be said, however, several loud crashes of thunder sounded at once, and then a flash of lightning lit up the sky.

"Not for much longer if we don't get out of this storm!" Patamon shouted over the sound of the thunder.

"I don't think it's going to be possible," Takeru told him. "I think it's after me – after the crystal."

"You think that sorceress conjured this storm to come after us?"

Another flash of lightning broke through the air not far away, and instinctively (even knowing that it would do no good) Takeru raised both arms to shield both his face and his partner. The crystal, which had been humming pleasantly, changed tones once more.

A bolt of lightning slammed into him, and Takeru was thrown backward some distance, miraculously not falling from the sky to the ground far below. He was not quite certain of what had happened or how, only of a strange sort of pain in his right arm. He forced his eyes open and saw that again the crystal was emitting a white light, forming a small barrier shield as it had done in Takaishi.

"Amazing," Patamon breathed, astonished enough by this feat to put off concern for his partner's well being, at least for a brief moment. "That's it!" he said encouragingly. "I knew you could do it!"

"Do what?" Takeru demanded. "I'm not doing anything! It's the crystal!"

The storm had begun almost as soon as the sun had risen, and even now the wind and rain battered the windows and walls. Hikari awoke before the sun rose, to see the beginning of the storm in the pre-dawn light. She rose from bed with more ease than usual, despite the late night before. Though she had not dreamt, and her mind was clear, a strange something was itching at the back of her mind, demanding to be listened to.

Tailmon showed no sign of being awake or being near to awake until her partner opened wide the window-doors leading to the veranda outside her room. A cool breeze rushed in, sending the curtains flying, twisting Hikari's nightgown and scattering a few ribbons and papers that had the misfortune of not being bolted down. Shivering, the feline digimon felt a few drops of moisture land on her fur and awoke instantly, her big blue eyes still hazy with sleep.

"Close the window," she mumbled grumpily, turning around and burying deeper in the blankets of the bed. "It's going to rain."

"It is raining," Hikari answered, stepping over the threshold with less concern than her partner for the weather. "Storm clouds, gathering in the west, in the east…in the north and the south. A four-sided attack."

"Attack?" Tailmon returned sleepily. "It's only a storm. Shut the window!"

"A storm that forms in four places at once? No, it's more than a storm," Hikari replied, shaking her head. She stepped further out on to the veranda, the cool stone damp beneath her still-bare feet. A strong, cold breeze blew the rain in her face, scattering flower-petals from the gardens below and green leaves from the trees. "What is it I'm forgetting?" she asked anything that might be listening.

Another gust of wind whipped her hair into her eyes and refused to answer her question. A clap of thunder sounded in the distant sky. To the east, where the sun should have been rising, the sky looked pale yellow, and to the west, dark as night. Directly overhead, a few stars could be seen, slowly dying in the morning, but most of the sky was filling with clouds.

It was cold, and raining. Without having found any answers, Hikari sighed and returned inside, shutting the door behind her. Tailmon was sitting up now, rubbing her eyes and yawning. "On a day like this," she complained, still grumpy, "you might have let me sleep in."

"I didn't wake you," Hikari answered absently, already beginning to dress.

Tailmon yawned widely, interrupting what might have otherwise been a rather unpleasant retort. Tired as she was, however, by the time she'd finished yawning she'd forgotten it. She filled the next few moments of her time waiting for her partner to finish dressing by smoothing the fur on her head and yawning a few more times. Then, she climbed down from the bed and wandered over to the window to inspect the day for herself.

"Nasty weather," she commented, making a face of disgust that the glass in the window reflected back at her. "I suppose you're going to tell me this is some sort of sign?"

Hikari had finished with all but her feet, which were still bare. She was rummaging through drawers, seeking a pair of stockings which were not so thick as to be winter wear but not so thin as to be summer. "I don't know," she admitted, her voice sounding tense. Tailmon turned her way and wondered if she was frustrated in her hunt for footwear or frustrated by her lack of knowledge.

"Maybe you need to concentrate," the feline digimon commented, glancing back at the window.

"I've been trying to," Hikari answered, finally locating a pair of stockings that would be suitable and yanking them forcefully from the drawer that held them. "I haven't been able to come up with anything useful, so I gave up. All the more, though, I've been thinking I'm wrong." She sat down in a stiff-backed chair and frowned thoughtfully for a moment.

"Sometimes, maybe, you should pay attention to other things," Tailmon commented cryptically. Her partner sighed heavily, pulling on her stockings.

"I'm beginning to think you're right," she admitted. "It's no good, though. No matter what I do, I can't force visions – they come of their own will. The only time I was ever able to make myself see…."

Her voice had faded off in the middle of the sentence, and Tailmon glanced back to see that Hikari had paused in the middle of pulling on one stocking. Her right leg was bent so her foot was resting on the chair she sat on, and she had pulled the stocking almost all the way to her knees, and yet seemed to have suddenly lost interest in finishing her task.

The storm had only grown in intensity as the day wore on, so that by mid-afternoon it was nearly impossible to see or hear anything over the sound of the rain pounding on the ground. It had begun to rain at almost precisely the same time as they had finished a hurried breakfast and taken the first steps on their journey.

It was nearly impossible to tell the time with the lack of sun, but it felt to Miyako as though they'd been walking for days. The rain was pouring so heavily that the dryness of the desert, once an unwanted burden, now seemed a paradise in comparison. Every few steps a flash of lightning or a crack of thunder split the sky open and made her pause, wondering if the end would be near. Miyako had no doubt now that Arachnemon was causing the storm, though she could not precisely determine why. The feel of her magic was all around now, in the very air.

The only one who seemed mostly unaffected by the continuous pouring rain was Daisuke. When the lightning illuminated the darkness for a few brief seconds every so often, she caught glimpses of the others pausing or halting instinctively, glancing up at the sky with apprehension. Only Daisuke, every time she could see him, paid no attention to the world around him and simply plodded on, his feet splashing through puddles of mud that were nearly to his knees.

Trying to stay dry was futile and cleanliness had all but disappeared after a few days of travel on foot (intermingled with a few vicious battles), but Miyako's worst problem was that her skirts, heavy with the rainwater, slowed her down and made her feel all the more tired. Arguing with Daisuke, pleading for a brief bit of rest, would be as futile an effort as trying to ring some of the water from her skirts, and so she didn't bother, but trudged on slowly, fighting to keep up.

"First no rain for days, and then two weeks' worth in an hour," Agumon complained loudly over the constant sound of rainfall. "I never thought I'd wish I was back in that desert!"

"Me either," Shijo grumbled in agreement. He could barely see his partner, who was walking along side him, and anything and anyone else was almost completely invisible. He hoped Agumon had some view of where they were going, someone to follow.

Thunder crashed loudly in the not-so-distant distance, and a flash of lightning that was far too close than should be allowed lit up the sky, showing dark clouds spreading as far as could be seen. Shijo shivered, partly in fear, partly from the cold and the rain, and then stopped short because he almost walked into Daisuke.

He, too, had stopped, but was not looking at the depressing sky. Instead, Daisuke was now peering through the rain and clouds at something in the distance. Shijo squinted through the fog beyond to try to see what was there.

"Are we here?" Miyako called over the rain. All that answered was another loud clap of thunder, and so she stepped forward, dragging her rain-soaked skirts through the puddles. "Thank heavens."

They had indeed arrived – or very nearly so, for in the distance was the familiar, longed-for sight of the palace. The edges of it were blurred by rain and fog, but it was real and no illusion. A wide path of a roadway lead up to the main gates, which even in this weather had to be guarded by a few unlucky, saturated souls.

"Well," muttered Hawkmon, only loud enough to be heard by Agumon, who was standing nearby, "it seems as though the place is still standing, after all." He was rather grumpy after a long walk in the rain, unhappy about having hurried for no apparent reason.

A clap of thunder sounded ever louder than before, and then a flash of lightning immediately afterward. For a brief moment, there was no sound but the rainfall as it pounded the ground into submission.

"She's nearby," Miyako realized, for suddenly she could sense the presence of Arachnemon as though the sorceress were standing right before her. There was a stronger, darker, more powerful quality to the magic now, which she supposed was due to the crystal's power.

Daisuke shook his head, sending a few droplets of water flying that had been gathering on the edges of his hair. "Something's wrong," he said darkly, glancing toward his partner.

This, Shijo thought grumpily, was obvious to even him. The storm was like none he had ever seen or heard of, and the fact that it had been raging for hours without diminishing in power in the slightest was a bad sign. He frowned, then shrugged, trying to make light of the situation. "Let's go and get out of the rain," he said, almost shouting to be heard over the storm.

"I agree!" Hawkmon called, waving one rain-soaked wing.

Mimi tapped lightly on the door, a strangely apprehensive feeling twisting somewhere in her stomach. There was no response at first, and so she tapped again, this time with a little more force than before. From within the room came a very quiet, almost inaudible humming sound. Curiosity overwhelming her natural inclination toward politeness, Mimi tapped again on the door and pushed it open.

Due to the lack of sunlight outside, the room was fairly dark, much darker than she had expected. A few candles were lit, resting in various spots around the room; on the floor, on an end table, on the edge of a dresser. The tall window-doors were opened slightly, enough to allow a gentle breeze to enter, causing the candle flames to dance in the wind, casting odd, moving shadows on the walls.

Hikari was sitting on the bed, legs folded underneath her, an expression of serene concentration on her face. Her hair was loosely swaying in the breezes and her eyes were shut. Within her hands she was grasping the bejeweled hilt of an oddly beautiful sword, which was almost glowing as the light of the candles reflected off the smooth metal blade. Tailmon was napping a short distance away, curled into a peaceful-looking ball nestled between some pillows.

Peering around the doorframe, long green fingers curled around, Palmon stared into the room with big green eyes. "What is she doing?" she wondered.

One hand still on the doorknob, one foot into the room, Mimi shook her head slowly. "I'm not quite sure," she answered, turning her head toward her partner. "I'm not sure if I should be afraid…."

"Should we…do something?" Palmon asked.

Mimi let go of the doorknob and stepped backward out of the room. "Yes," she replied, turning to head down the hallway in the direction from which she'd come. "We tell her brother."

The rain still fell, but the storm had lessened in intensity; the lightning and thunder having faded to once every few minutes rather than every other second. Further south, however, the skies appeared ever darker and more intense, indicating that the storm was still very powerful in that direction.

Takeru stood on the top of a rise of land overlooking a valley below, the edge of the more mountainous north. Distantly, he could see the towers of the palace, and a strange feeling of relief filled him. He had almost forgotten how long he had been away, and he had not realized how much he wished to return until that moment. The crystal was not humming now, but it felt strange in his hands, and he was almost certain that the rock (if it was possible for a rock to feel) felt the same way he did.

A sudden gust of air made him turn his head toward the north, and he saw that Li Tan's Airdramon had landed nearby. Iori was climbing down from his perch with an expression of great relief, mirrored on his partner's face.

"Good," Takeru said by way of greeting. "You made it through."

"Barely," the Airdramon tamer replied with a frown, rubbing his mount's huge neck with a tender hand. "I've never been in a storm quite like that one. You say you think it could have been a magical storm? I'm beginning to agree."

A gentle buzzing announced the wizard's arrival on the back of Kabuterimon, who de-evolved after landing, tired from the journey. It was Iori who answered, though, frowning at the dark clouds further south. "I have no doubt," he stated, and then turned his intense eyes toward Takeru. "Somehow I think you used that crystal again."

"You felt something?" Patamon questioned, peering down from his perch atop his partner's head.

Iori frowned even deeper, his eyes narrowing. "I don't know," he answered vaguely.

"I don't know," Yamato answered grumpily, head half-buried beneath a tall pile of papers. Despite the lamp burning brightly a short distance away from his head, the room was dark and dim, and his eyes glinted strangely in the light when he briefly looked up from his work. Swallowing what she believed (and hoped) to be irrational fear, Mimi didn't turn and run from the room.

"I was only asking," she told him defensively. "Hikari…."

"Is she in danger?" he demanded before the sentence was complete. Perhaps too eager for action, Yamato got to his feet, accidentally pushing aside a few papers as he did so. "What a time to wander off alone," he complained, stepping away from the desk.

"I don't think so," Mimi answered, but he didn't seem to have heard her. Already he was halfway out the door, grabbing his sword from where it rested at the edge of the desk and strapping it to his side. "She's…."

"Where?"

"Will you wait for a moment?" Palmon interrupted before Mimi could attempt another unheard statement. "She's not hurt! There's no need to bring a sword along!"

Only chastened in the slightest, Yamato finished buckling the sword belt with a slightly sheepish expression. "Well then why are you bothering me?"

"We told you already Taichi is nowhere to be found," the plant digimon replied. "We were hoping you'd know where he was."

"He's gone out," Yamato said, as he had said before. "I don't know where or for how long." He was frowning now, calling up recent but not too well retained memories. "He had a strange sort of look on his face and I didn't think it'd be wise to argue."

Mimi frowned even deeper, anxiously glancing back through the open doorway she'd come through, down the hallway, as though hoping the young king might emerge from one of the doorways. "If he does come back…," she began, but again Yamato interrupted.

"Is something wrong with Hikari?"

She sighed. "It's hard to say," she replied, absently fingering the fabric of her skirts. "It's magic, I would think. Oh, what a time for Miyako and Koushiro to both be away…and the other mages…I'm not sure I trust them as much." She gave up on her skirts, and let them fall from her fingers.

"I don't know if coming out here in the rain was the best idea," Sora said, her voice barely above a whisper, her face twisted into a rather anxious expression. She had known by the look on his face that it would be completely futile to try to stop Taichi, but that didn't stop her from occasionally dropping broad hints, most of which he'd ignored.

He'd been halfway out one of the less-used doors when she'd spotted him, half-hidden behind a cloak and hood that were perfect for keeping off the rain. He had not resisted when she'd invited herself along, for which she was glad. Each step of the journey closer to the town nearby had filled her with a strange sort of dread that had only gotten worse the second they'd entered the center square.

This was only the second time Sora had visited the growing capital village near the palace. In the last year, many new shops had been opened, as well as a few schools, and many people had come to live and work. Before long, it might become as prosperous a city as Kido, though that day might be a few years in the future. The town square was usually filled with people; shoppers, merchants, and travelers milling about. The heavy rains, however, had nearly cleared the area of most, and the only people Sora saw were those who were hurrying through the rain to shelter.

At the very center of the town was a beautiful and ancient marble fountain, only recently restored to its former beauty and glory after years of neglect. The area around it was a large, empty, circle-shaped area with several stone benches placed to allow people to sit and rest. The ground was made of a complex pattern of different shades of red bricks, and the outer sections of the circle were ordinarily patrolled by guards whose shiny boots clicked sharply on the stones. Today, it was completely empty, and the only sounds were of the rain pounding on the bricks.

Taichi paused unexpectedly at the edge of the empty circle and stared at the fountain for a few moments. He had barely spoken since they'd left the palace, and Sora had begun to fear that he had either lost his mind or embarked upon some insane mission, for this behavior was so entirely unlike him. "It's here," he said then, his voice so quiet that Sora could barely hear him over the sound of the rain.

"What's here?" she asked, looking around, for there was nothing of any great importance in the square that she could see.

I foresee (though not quite clearly yet) two, maybe three chapters left in this story. Next chapter, we'll really get into some fighting, but I don't think the conclusion to the fighting will happen until the chapter afterward. If that's the case, I like to add on an extra chapter to tie up at least a few loose ends.

As I mentioned, the next chapter will get into some major fighting. I'll finally return to Jyou, who's been largely ignored since that battle at the "end" of the last story. Sorry, Jyou. Stay tuned, it's almost over. Thanks for reading.

By the way, I've been trying to fight against it for a while, but it's fairly certain now that there'll be another story in this saga after this one. I've already got the bare bones of it swimming around in my head, begging to be written, but I'm fighting it off long enough to finish this one. Unintentionally or on purpose, I've foreshadowed enough in this story that I think I have to write the next one.