Disclaimer: Not mine. The poem is "Ulalume" by Edgar Poe. The chapter titles come from the "Song of Everlasting Sorrow" by Po Chu-i.

Chapter 3: The Dagger-Tower Trail

Here once, through an alley Titanic
Of cypress, I roamed with my Soul--
Of cypress, with Psyche, my Soul.
These were days when my heart was volcanic
As the scoriac rivers that roll--
As the lavas that restlessly roll
Their sulphurous currents down Yaanek
In the ultimate climes of the pole,
that groan as they roll down Mount Yaanek
In the realms of the boreal pole.

To the surprise of no one, the underworld was not a pleasant place. The path they traveled was lined with gnarled, leafless trees. Even with the sun high in the cloudless sky, the land seemed dim, dusty, dismal.

"We're almost there," Pyromon said.

They arrived at a tall, thorny hedge that stretched as far as they could see in both directions. The path ended at a large mirror with the image of an owl carved around it, the wings serving as a frame.

"We're not allowed to go further than this," Cryomon stated. "If we go with you, you'll be stopped, possibly killed long before we find them."

"And you'll no longer be under Balaammon's influence; the region you're entering is controlled by Gruesomon. Be very careful," Pyromon warned.

Cryomon and Pyromon stayed behind as the rest approached the mirror, looking for a way to pass through.

"Open sesame?" Davis tried.

Yolei chuckled. "How about 'Mirror, mirror, on the wall...'"

Suddenly, the eyes of the owl carving opened. "The keys to opening the Gate of Wonder and Fear are the powers of Light and Dark."

"What is this, a riddle?" Tora asked. "Where are we supposed to find the power of light and dark?"

Yolei answered. "Kari is the Digidestined of Light. She has the crest of Light, so that must be her."

"But what about the power of Dark?" Izzy wondered.

"Isn't it obvious?" Ken asked. He stepped forward and held his black digivice toward the mirror. "Kari, try yours."

She pulled out her own digivice and held it up to the mirror. "Mirror...open."

Nothing happened.

"The power is in us," Ken assured her. "We just have to channel it through our digivices."

"I'm not sure how."

Ken frowned as he remembered the last time he tapped his power: opening the portal to the Dark Ocean to trap Daemon. He hadn't enjoyed the experience. It reminded him of occasions when he used his power, almost without even being aware of it and with no sense of the significance of what he did, when he was the Emperor. "Just think about what you want to do, and it will happen."

Energy burst from their digivices, uniting as it was absorbed by the mirror, which glowed for a moment, then disappeared.

"Yes! We did it!" Davis exclaimed.

The smiles disappeared when Kari and Ken lost consciousness and fell to the ground.

Our talk had been serious and sober,
But our thoughts they were palsied and sere--
Our memories were treacherous and sere,
For we knew not the month was October,
And we marked not the night of the year
(Ah, night of all nights in the year!)--
We noted not the dim lake of Aubur
(Though once we had journeyed down here)--
Remembered not the dank tarn of Auber,
Nor the ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir.

"Where are we?" Kari asked when the disorientation passed. They were in a dark place. There were no sounds, no scents, no perceivable sensations of heat or cold.

"I'm not sure," Ken answered.

Indistinct forms emerged from the dark, only to evaporate as they came within sight.

"Gatomon!" Kari gasped as one of the forms approached. As the apparition vanished without a sound, she realized it had been an image of Gatomon the first time they met. "Ken, I think this place is showing us our memories."

He nodded as he watched an image of his brother coalesce. Kari could sense the feelings of sadness, loss, and guilt that radiated from the image.

Some of the memories were blurry, others were dark and obscure, as though they were being deliberately hidden.

A picture of Yolei in the digitalworld appeared. Kari had never seen her so radiant and happy. She realized this was the way Ken saw her.

Something else began to move. It chilled Kari to her heart. It wasn't quite a memory...or maybe it was, but it was hidden in the darkness, circling like a predator stalking its prey. She backed away.

"What is it?" Ken asked.

Kari turned toward him and realized with a fresh gush of horror that he couldn't sense it; it was something from her own past, not his. "I don't know. We have to get out of here."

"I don't know how."

Distant voices echoed through the darkness. Their friends were calling them.

"Come on, guys!" Yolei yelled. "Kari, Ken, wake up!"

The others had carried their comatose companions through the mirror before the opening disappeared. To their surprise, they'd found a bright, verdant garden on the other side. The mirror had an owl sculpture facing inward as well as outward.

"The energy humans use in the digital world is an extension of themselves," Tsukiyo said quietly. "If that's the energy they used to open the mirror..."

Yolei spun around angrily. "Do not even suggest that they won't wake up!" she shrieked. "They have to!" She looked up at the silver owl sculpture. "What did you do to them? Bring them back!"

"They have been displaced from their own minds. They must find their own way back."

Yolei shook her head violently, then returned to Kari's side. "Wake up. Please. Kari, you're my best friend." She shook her by the shoulders.

Kari slowly blinked. She sat up. In spite of the garden's warmth, she felt cold. She felt like whatever had been stalking her in the dark place was still lurking around behind her. "I'm okay," she said unconvincingly.

Davis and Tsukiyo were trying to rouse Ken, but without any luck. After helping Kari to her feet, Yolei joined them. "Ken..." He was so still, she worried that he was dead. His open eyes saw nothing. She placed her hand on his cheek.

His eyes focused on her, and his hand lifted and touched hers.

Her face broke into a smile. "Ken!"

He sat up and looked over to Kari. "You okay?"

She nodded. "We're back. But I feel so strange. I feel like there are things crawling under my skin."

"I should have warned you about the effects," he said.

"You mean you've done that before?"

Ken didn't answer. Instead he stood up and looked around at their surroundings. Beyond the garden was a forest. In the distance the spires of an ancient castle rose above the trees, framed by even more distant snowcapped mountains.

"I had no idea a place like this existed in the underworld," Ken mentioned.

"It's beautiful," Kari added.

"Are we ready to go? Those two digimon, or whatever they are, are out there somewhere," Davis reminded them.

Ken and Kari nodded, and together the group set off. In the middle of the garden was an ornate fountain, beyond which the path split into four, each leading into the forest in the general direction of the castle.

"I don't think it's a good idea to split up," Davis said, but he only said it because they all knew that was what they had to do.

"Four paths, eight of us..." Izzy pointed out.

"I'm going with Opalmon," Tora announced.

"Well, obviously," Tsukiyo mumbled. "Izzy and I will take the leftmost path."

"I guess Opalmon and I will take the one furthest to the right."

"I'll go with Yolei," Kari quickly volunteered.

Davis glanced at her, suspecting she was trying to avoid being paired with him. His crush on her had worn off long ago and he wished she would realize it. "Great! Ken and I will go this way." He started down the center-left trail.

"I don't like the looks of this," said Ken. "I think we should head back here if we don't find anything by tomorrow morning."

"Good idea," Kari agreed.

Tsukiyo turned to Opalmon. "Take care of my brother."

"You don't even have to ask."

"Since when did you give a care about me?" Tora asked.

"You may be worthless, but you're the only brother I've got," she replied.

Tora made an impudent gesture, which Tsukiyo ignored. Then they all began the journey down their chosen paths.