Seth feels different, somehow. Whatever he'd just gone through with that strange Geckomon back in that... dream? his imagination? Whatever, had done something to him. He stares at the digidestined surrounding him and scrambles to look more put together, calmer. "We need to find HolyAngemon and get out of here," he says. The world is dark, and gloomy, seems endless to his gaze.

"Great," AJ says. "How're we supposed to do that then?"

Seth closes his eyes and focuses on the world around them, how the wind flows against his fingers, how the grass shifts below their feet. "Follow me," he says, a strange certainty in his words.

He can sense their frustration with him, his vagueness, but to their credit, they do follow him as he treks further into this shadowy landscape they find themselves in. After awhile, Seth stops short, stands very still, disrupting the Digidestined behind him. "Ah come on," AJ grumbles as he watches Seth breathe in and out slowly. He falls quiet, however, when Seth raises a hand for silence, lost in concentration.

There's something here, something he's sensing that he thinks he never would've been able to before. Something twisted and dark, lost among the shadows in this world. "Where are you?" he whispers into the wind. He turns sharply, staring into the distance, watching for something. He knows it when he sees it, even though he doesn't know how exactly, and he takes off at a run, the startled Digidestined not too far behind. He can tell when he finds it, stopping short once more and throwing his arms out, stopping the others from coming any closer. Barely seconds afterwards, a sharp whistle bites through the air and a scythe embeds itself in the ground at their feet.

"Oh shit!" Owens mutters, Asuka and AJ mumbling among themselves.

Seth pays none of them any mind, sneering over at the cluster of Phantomon looming before them. "So you safeguard this world for HolyAngemon, I'm guessing?"

No verbal answer is forthcoming, instead two of the Phantomon lunge forward, scythes once more at the ready, and Seth holds his digivice out, Betamon eagerly digivolving into MetalSeadramon. The Phantomon hold no chance against a digimon so much stronger than they are, and they quickly shatter into fine pieces of data that drift in the wind.

"Perhaps you will answer our questions," Seth says to the three who remain, but they merely yell out and try to retreat.

"Should we go after them?" Asuka says in her slow, searching sort of English.

"We can follow them," Seth says softly. "They'll lead us where we need to go." The group of perplexed digidestined keep up with him from here, Seth clearly in no hurry as he tracks the Phantomon's movements. This must be thanks to that Tunosama Geckomon, he decides, only giving himself a few seconds to weigh that thought before he has to move on, keep searching for HolyAngemon. They cannot stay here, and he can't think of any other way to get out of here. He reaches out and grazes the dreary, grey light that he can see directing the path the Phantomon have taken, leading the way through grass and stone, up a set of hills, and then across a rocky terrain. When they find them, they're clustered around a dilapidated village, crumbling buildings and a broken down gate revealing what may have once been a beautiful place to live for many different digimon.

Seth doesn't bother to be stealthy as he approaches the digimon, simply stands before them with a grim look on his face. They don't bother to fight or run, intimidated by the MetalSeadramon who had so easily destroyed their fellow digimon just minutes before. "What do you want?" one of the remaining Phantomon asks tensely.

"We want to know either where HolyAngemon is, or we want to know how to get out of this dimension," Seth informs them, strangely calm, almost detached, despite all of the trouble they may be in if they can't leave this world.

Phantomon looks distressed as he glances around at his fellow digimon. "We can't tell you that," he says slowly. Noticing MetalSeadramon shifting around in agitation out of the corner of his eye, he flounders and tries again, "I have no idea how to get out of here, or if there's even a way to! But HolyAngemon resides in this village. There's a... a building he considers his home base, it's in the heart of that village. You can't miss it, it's the only building that's holding up fairly well."

Seth hums. It's not everything he wanted to know, but it's a start. Motioning the others on, he and MetalSeadramon wait until they're certain the Phantomon won't ambush them from behind and slowly follow them. "I don't trust them," his partner mutters.

"I don't either," Seth says softly. "But we'll let them be for now. If we need to do something later, we will." MetalSeadramon nods and slowly follows the others through the streets, keeping an eye out for this building. They do find it fairly quickly, Asuka staring up at it as Owens and AJ approach her, Seth not far behind. "Hm," he sighs. "This seems lackluster for a digimon such as HolyAngemon, but I suppose we can stay here for awhile, make sure."

Despite it being mostly intact, it looks as rundown as other parts of the village, and it's easy to gain access within, Seth climbing through a window to get a closer look inside. He can tell HolyAngemon isn't within its walls, so he has no problem looking around more thoroughly, resting his hand on what looks like a deadened portal laying on the floor within the other clutter and debris scattered around. "Shit," he sighs, knowing that that would be too easy.

Going back outside to rejoin the others, he recounts the few things he saw within that are relevant, and the others all sigh, slumping down around him. "So I guess we wait," Owens mumbles.

"Appears so," AJ says, stroking his fingers down Modoki Betamon's sides. Turning to Seth, he quirks an eyebrow. "So what's going on with you? You've seemed stranger than usual."

Seth swallows and stares down at his hands. "I'm not sure," he says honestly. "Before, I had an interaction with a Tunosama Geckomon. He did... something to me, and I haven't felt the same since. I can... feel things now that I haven't been able to before." He stretches his fingers out and exhales. "I know where the Phantomon are, and I can tell HolyAngemon is nowhere near here. It's... disconcerting."

Owens speaks up reluctantly. "So you think HolyAngemon is in this world?"

"I do," Seth says slowly. "Somehow. Either just his essense monitors this place, or he's actually physically here, but yeah, I'm definitely sensing him. He's just not... in this area."

"Should we search or wait here?" AJ wonders.

"I feel like we should wait," Seth says quietly after a moment of thought. "There's a digiport here after all, it makes me think we're in the right spot."

"Alright," AJ says slowly. So they sit and they wait, sometimes Asuka talking, sometimes AJ responding, but for the most part, they remain silent, listening, watching. For something, anything to happen, give them a sign that they're not just wasting their time.

Then Seth's eyes slam open and he stands up. "Show yourself, HolyAngemon," he says calmly, and the others scramble to their feet, prepared to fight.

"I honestly thought you would be destroyed by my dimension long before this," HolyAngemon's voice greets them, the tall creature finally appearing before them. "There is no reason for you to have survived this far." He casts a cool look upon the building behind them. "But I suppose I am impressed that you have. It's too bad it all end shere." He lunges forward, glowing so brightly that most of the digidestined have to look away, before energy blades form in front of him and slam towards the digidestined.

"No!" MetalSeadramon roars, deflecting the worst of the attack with his tail and sending it careening away, where it crashes into one of the abandoned houses, crumbling what little is left of it into dust.

"Shit," AJ mutters, he, Owens and Asuka not stalling any longer as they turn to their partners. "DIGIVOLVE!"

HolyAngemon seems unimpressed by Stingmon, Lotusmon and Mach Gaogomon, barely looking at them before he turns his focus back onto Seth and MetalSeadramon. "There is something different about you," he murmurs. "I'm not sure what it is. Did someone gift you with some power along the way? It is as if you knew I was here the entire time. It is quite perplexing."

Seth doesn't offer up the information of his meeting with Tunosama Geckomon, instead just standing there, watching HolyAngemon. "Power up that digiport and let us out of here," he says. "You know as well as I do that we don't belong here, mixed in with the Phantomon and other digimon you have trapped here."

HolyAngemon scoffs. "I used this world to hold truly evil Digimon before."

"Before," Seth repeats. "Before you were corrupted. Is that it? You were corrupted somehow so now you force innocent digimon here, to be destroyed by the Phantomon and whatever else might be lurking in this dimension?" HolyAngemon's grin tells him all he needs to know. "You're disgusting."

He shrugs. "It works alright for me. I grew weary of being the good little Priest type digimon, constantly having to protect and safeguard everyone and everything, mostly from their own stupid decisions." He laughs a little bit. "Perhaps I should open another portal here, send you even deeper into this hell. It'd be amusing. There are layers and layers of dimensions I could send you to, each worse than the last. What do you think?"

Seth stands his ground, stares up at him. "I think it's time to end this. MetalSeadramon!"

"Oh, what do you truly think that measly little digimon will be able to do to me-" His words die down when Seth swings up and grips MetalSeadramon's massive snout, hoisting himself up to cling to the creature's back as MetalSeadramon barrels straight towards HolyAngemon. "What the-?!" HolyAngemon's words die away as Seth leaps, lunging straight for him. The impact is brutal, Seth landing hard against him, and HolyAngemon screams out, frustrated and glowing, about to attack with his energy blades again, when-

-the glow changes. Grows more etheral, burrows deep into his skin, sharp and overwhelming. "What- what is this?!" he screams, his jaw dropping as he realizes. Seth made contact alright- with his digivice pressing flush to HolyAngemon's chest, the pure energy from it slowly melting away the corruption that had twisted everything down to his very digital core. "NO!" But there's nothing he can do, his body twists and shakes as Seth's light fights through the darkness, shatters its hold on HolyAngemon.

He collapses to his knees, body slowly reverting back to its prior form, holy energy gleaming off of the walls around them. "I can't believe this," he whispers, staring at his hands. "I..." He looks up at Seth. "I've destroyed so many lives. I've caused so much harm. And you... you rescued me from it."

Seth kneels next to him, hand steady on his shoulder. "Now you can make everything right again."

HolyAngemon looks around at the dimension they're trapped in and exhales shakily. "You're right. I can." He stands up, still shaky and in awe of what's going on around him. "Starting with getting you back to where you all belong." He turns to look at the other Digidestined and closes his eyes. "How did I fall so far, so fast...?"

Seth gets to his feet and exhales. "I think it's partially due to Sakuyamon," he offers. "She seems corrupted as well. Perhaps she made you this way. Who knows, but at least you're back to normal now."

HolyAngemon nods. "Right. Well, I have some soulsearching to do, but for now. Follow me." He leads them into the building and locates the digiport where Seth had left it, gingerly lifting it up from where it lays in the rubble. Setting it carefully on a mostly in tact table nearby, he rests a hand on it and focuses, mumbling under his breath. When he opens his eyes, they're aglow with energy so bright that it's hard to stare at him for long, the others all looking away. "It's activated," HolyAngemon whispers, and the Digidestined turn once more to look, relieved to find the digiport glowing with fresh power, waiting for their command. "You can leave whenever you want now."

"What about you?" Seth asks, hand hovering over his digivice as he frowns up at the digimon. "Aren't you coming with us?"

"No," HolyAngemon says softly. "Not yet. I need to stay, absolve myself of all of the evil I've done in this world. There may yet be innocent digimon who do not belong here, if I can save even one of them, it'll be worth it."

Seth hesitates, clearly not liking this idea, even though he understands it. "Alright," he says slowly. "The others can go through and I can stay to help, if-"

"No," HolyAngemon denies immediately. "This is my responsibility to deal with, my errors to correct. You return to the Digiworld, do all you can to protect others from fates similar to mine. Once I feel I've done all I can here, I will find my way back as well. Do not worry." He smiles at Seth and the others, standing watch as they, one after the other, disappear through the digiport back to where they belong.

"Right," he sighs, once the digiport's glow eases, the digidestined safely through. "I cannot allow a digiport to remain active here, the Phantomon could do who knows what with its power." Slicing it through with one of his energy blades is one of the hardest decisions he ever has to make, understanding all too well what that means, but he goes through with it with a steady hand, knowing it's a necessary sacrifice.

-x

Things are changing. Seth can smell it in the air. Not necessarily bad, not necessarily good, just something needed. He closes his eyes and blinks slowly, absorbing the sensations, smiling faintly to himself as he curls his fingers around the feeling, clinging to it. Enjoying it. When he opens his eyes, the others are regarding him warily. His teeth gleam as he looks back at them, grin growing. "Do you feel it? That sense that we're on the cusp of something huge here? This is the beginning, my friends. Everything is going to be different from here on out."

They all exchange glances, regularly confused by his more frequently haughty speeches, his determination to be everyone's savior, the guiding light they never knew they needed. "Feel what, Seth?" Owens asks impatiently.

"Nothing," he breathes out, not surprised that they can't feel it. That they're not intuned with this world's ebb and flow the way he is, not since everything with HolyAngemon. "It's just beautiful. I'm sorry you can't sense it."

"Right," Kevin mumbles, shouldering past him and looking around. "Where exactly are we supposed to go?" He stares at his digivice and shakes his head. "There are multiple dots in this one area. So which do we pick?"

Seth allows his instincts to guide him as he points to one that is pulsing particularly fast in comparison to the others. "This one," he says. "I feel like it's the most dire out of all of them."

"Alright," Kevin mumbles, clearly not pleased with having to agree with Seth, or go along with his strange new sense. The group of them walk on quietly, even Asuka not making her usual rants in a strange mix of English and Japanese. It makes the entire situation even more unsettling.

Seth continues to walk on, his eyes closed as he feels the pressure against his skin, tingling and almost soothing in its intensity. He's never felt anything like it before in his life. He opens his eyes and looks around, smiling a little bit. It's incredible. He wonders what it all means.