Chapter 10

On the way to Peradium

A day passed since Zhuqiamon attacked the train. The tamers had enjoyed the ride aboard the Trident, and Axle was making sure the tamers, their digimon, and their unexpected guests Weregarurumon and Gabumon were comfortable. Without warning, the Trident began to slow down. Rika, Henry, and Takato, who had been sitting in the lounge car, stood up from their chairs and moved over to the windows. They saw a group of digimon standing in the middle of the desert, waving their hands as they blocked the Trident's way.

The train came to a stop, and a very angry Axle stuck his head out of the engines window and shouted, "Hey, what are you doing. Get out of the way."

At that moment Rika, Takato, and Henry stepped off the train and began to walk up beside the train engine. In front of the Trident stood an Angemon, a Myotismon, and several other rookie digimon of the virus and immunity type. The tamers were anxious, each grabbing onto their digivices as they stood in front of the group. Axle had leapt out of the train, and was walking up to Myotismon as he shouted, "You know it is dangerous to stand in front of a train. If I hadn't seen you and pulled the brake, you would have probably died."

Angemon lowered his hands, holding tight to his staff as he bent down and said, "Please, we are wondering where this train is going?"

Axle grumbled, crossing his arms as he said, "What business is it of yours?"

Myotismon growled, reaching down as he picked up Axle by the neck, "Listen you ignorant automaton. We want to know where this train is going, and we want to know now."

Angemon turned, raising his hands up, "Please, Myotismon, he can't tell us anything if you destroy him. Just give him a chance to answer."

Myotismon growled, dropping Axle as Rika, Takato, and Henry ran up. The other tamers and all of the digimon were just exiting the train, and running towards what looked like an ensuing fight.

While Takato and Henry helped Axle up Rika glared at Myotismon. The vampire noticed Rika's hateful glare, but choose to ignore it as the Angemon asked, "I am sorry, Myotismon tends to be a little forceful at times. Still, can you tell us where this train is going?"

Takato nodded his head as the other tamers and digimon ran up, "Yeah, it is heading towards Peradium."

Angemon smiled, going down on one knee so he could look at the tamers and other digimon eyes to eye, "Then, you would be kind enough to allow Myotismon, this rookie digimon, and I to ride with you to the jewel of the digital plains."

The other tamers and digimon stopped beside Takato, and Kazu, with a usual tone of confusion in his voice, asked, "Wait, wait, wait. Why is Angemon, an angel digimon, traveling with Myotismon, a vampire digimon. Personally, I think something smells funny, and it just isn't Guilmon's breath."

Guilmon looked over at Kazu, turning his head to one side, "What about my breath?"

Kazu looked over at the red dino digimon, "It smells of too much bread and peanut butter."

Guilmon smiled, "Really, I like bread and peanut butter."

Kazu groaned, "Dude, you are as crazy as catfish."

Henry shook his head, looking back at Angemon, "Still, Kazu's right. Why are you traveling with Myotismon?"

Angemon stood up, pointing his staff into the distance as he said, "Your right, Myotismon and I used to fight constantly. We lived on a distant level of the digital world, a home for celestial and fallen angle digimon. There, we would have daily fights with each other under the command of our kings. Seraphimon, the king of angles, and Apocalymon, lord of hatred, have been at war with each other for a very long time. It was only during the D-Reaper incident that they joined forces. After that, the war went on. That was until Zhuqiaomon came to us, demanding we help them destroy a false god."

Henry nodded his head, "I see, but that still doesn't explain why you to aren't trying to kill each other right now."

Myotismon growled a bit, his dark voice commanding, "Silence. The reason we travel together now is we are what is left of both our tribes."

The tamers jaws dropped, and Kenta managed to stager out, "Wh..WH…what?"

Angemon nodded his head, "You see, both Seraphimon and Apocalymon refused to do as the sovereign phoenix ordered. Then, in his rage, Zhuqiaomon attacked. He destroyed most of our allies. We were lucky to escape."

Takato gulped, his eyes filled with a sense of fear, "What happened to Seraphimon and Apocalymon?"

Angemon looked back, and pointed at a pair of digi-eggs some of the rookie digimon in the group were carrying. One was a pure white while the other was a deep black. The tamers quickly understood, looking up at Myotismon as he said, "That is why we wish to go to Peradium. We wonder if this "false god" that Zhuqiaomon speaks of can bring our masters back to their former glory."

The tamers looked at each other, and then back at Axle. The robot looked at them, his head shifting back and forth as he said, "What?"

Henry shrugged his shoulders, "Well, you are the conductor for the Trident. It's your call whether or not we give them a lift to Peradium."

Axel glanced up at Myotismon, who was glaring at him coldly. Axle then quickly nodded his head, smiling as he said, "All aboard the Peradium Express." Angemon and Myotismon smiled as the group of rookie digimon behind them cheered.

Jeri quickly turned, letting Calumon fly out of her arms as she walked up to Myotismon and Angemon, "Well, why don't you follow me. I don't think Axle wants to be left alone with you, so I'll take you to passenger cars on the train."

Angemon nodded his head, and the entire group of vaccine and virus type digimon began to follow her to the back of the train. Calumon followed behind them, landing on Myotismon's shoulder as he began to ask the vampire digimon a string of strange questions. It was just a good thing Angemon was there to, otherwise Myotismon might have forgotten to be nice to the tiny catalyst digimon.

Within a few minutes the train was rolling along again. The rest of the day was uneventful, but far from quite. With the whole new load of rookie digimon to play with, Calumon was flying through the air at breakneck speeds as he played both a game of tag and hide-n-go-seek at the same time. Most of the tamer's digimon had joined in, minus Renamon, and the games now took up the back five cars. This left the lounge car as a safe zone for both the tamers and Renamon. Myotismon and Angemon had also grown tired of the loud chatter, and now flew along side the train, acting as guards if Zhuqiaomon choose to attack them again.

It was the middle of the third day when Axle's voice came over the speakers in every car, "Attention, everybody needs to find a seat and quickly. We are about to make the jump to the grassy plain of the digital world." The commotion in the train reached a pinnacle then, but soon everyone was ready for the so called jump.

Outside, the light on the front of the train flickered on, and began to project its beam of light far ahead. In the distance, the shadow of night began to creep across the digital world. It soon passed the train, and began to roar on ahead. Then, just as the line between night and day pasted the end of the light beam, a large tunnel entrance appeared out of no where.

The next moment, the train roared into the tunnel. The tamers looked out the windows, and saw that they were surrounded by a rain of green ones and zeros. Then, a few seconds later, the train lurched as its wheel hit tall grass. The train left a second tunnel entrance, and entered into the grassy plains of the digital world. The tunnel disappeared a few seconds after the last car escaped it, and the train continued on its journey.

That night, while everyone else slept soundly, Renamon stepped out of the train. With graceful steps she made her way to the roof of the train, and laid down. The cold metal sent a chill down her back, but the cool night air itself felt very comforting. She looked up at the sphere in the sky that was earth. It always looked so different from the digital world, like it was just another world of data, 1s, and 0s. Renamon knew better, that the real world was made up hundreds of different things, and that it wasn't as simple as just a combination of 1s and 0s.

As Renamon laid there, her mind drifted back to the many nights she spent talking with Jason. She could almost hear his voice, echoing like a phantom in her mind. He was always so kind a proper with her. She would have never guessed she could fall in love with him. Fall in love with a human.

At that thought Renamon sighed. Her life had become much more complicated in the course of just a few months. She became a digimon partner, and made friends with her Tamer, Rika. They fought and defeated the Devas and even the terrible D-Reaper. Then, it had been through Jason's help she had been brought back to Rika. It all climaxed in the moment Jason told her his true feelings. The moment he said I love you before passing out. For a time, Renamon was terrified that Jason would die. She didn't want to loose him, and didn't want him to die before she could no if he meant what he said?

In time, Renamon learned that Jason had meant what he said, and with that she realized she returned his affections. It was proven to her in the single kiss they had shared, her very first kiss. Love, companionship, it was a rare thing to find in the digital world. She was a very rare digimon, and she had never even seen another Renamon walking around. Renamon wondered if she was one of a kind, like Guilmon. If she had been meant to be alone all her life.

Renamon's mind began to wander to a new place, one that she hadn't explored before. Even if she loved Jason and he loved her back, what did it mean? For human's, love meant marriage, a life together, and even a family. For digimon, well, Renamon didn't really know what love meant for digimon. Though digimon were usually tuned to one sex, like she would call herself more of a women then a man, the really didn't have genders. They didn't have the parts to allow them to reproduce, to have children. They just lacked the physical ability, but then again they had never needed them.

When a digimon was defeated, a few pieces of its data would return to nursery level of the digital world. There, what data remained joined together with random pieces of information to produce a digi-egg. The digi-egg would hatch, and the newly born digimon would spend the first part of its life in the comfort of the nursery world. Then, when they digivolved to rookie, they were quickly thrown from the nursery level by some strange force. They were sent to the normal digital world, and there was no way back to the comforted bliss of the nursery world.

Renamon realized that love didn't really exist in the digital world unless it was planned. It was like a Devimon could fall in love with a LadyDevimon, and that was normal. The same could be said of Angemon and Angewomon. They were the perfect couples, planned out that they would be together. Renamon, however, didn't know of any digimon that was meant to be with her, a male version that she was supposed to fall in love with. Still, the digital world was huge. Even in her longer then average digital life, she hadn't seen it all. There could be another, more masculine, version of herself walking around somewhere. Their paths had just never crossed.

Renamon shook her head, scolding herself for wondering if there was someone else to love her that was a digimon. She was in love with Jason, and his heart would be shattered if he knew she had thought about such a thing. It didn't matter if he was human and she was digimon. They were happy together, and enjoyed each others company. That was all that mattered, right?

The next morning the Trident was rolling along peacefully. In the lounge cabin the tamers were enjoying breakfast while Axle went to serve the large group of digimon that were back in the passenger car. Takato, who had finished the French toast he had gotten from Axle, was looking mindlessly out the window when he saw a shadow flying across the ground. He quickly moved over to the window, sticking his head out as he looked up. Above them, flying along faster then the train, was the celestial dragon Azulongmon.

Takato pulled his head back in the window and shouted, "Hey, everyone, look out the windows. Azulongmon is flying right above us." The others tamers and all the digimon quickly leapt out of their seats and moved over to the nearest window. They smiled, and tried to call out to the guardian of the northern sector of the digital world. Azulongmon, however, paid no attention to the tamers. He just flew across the sky, heading towards a large mountain that was slowly rising on the horizon.

An hour later, the tamers could make out what the mountain on the horizon was. It was actually a series of mountains that had formed into a C shape. They were tall, in the center of the basin created by the mountains the tamers could see several large buildings. In the mouth of the basin was a tall wall, in the center of which stood a huge set of gates. The walls were a tan color, and on top of them marched a wide variety of different digimon who seemed to be guarding the digimon-made barrier.

As Azulongmon and the Trident drew closer, the tamers and digimon on the train could hear an alarm bell ringing out from the walls. The digimon on the walls began to run, closing the gates that had been previously standing open. Azulongmon roared loudly, charging forward as the horn on his head began to glow brightly. The tamers were in shock, they had never seen Azulongmon act so beastly, so aggressive.

As the walls drew closer, Azulongmon pulled far head of the Train, his long serpent like body twisting around as he called out, "Wind Electricity." From the horn on his head, a bolt of lightning shot up into the sky, spreading out like a spider web before centering over the buildings inside the basin. The attack then prepared to drop a devastating rain of destruction, but before it could a purple mist seemed to appear out of thin air. It swirled around, forming a dome around the buildings.

As the lightning bolts arched down, they struck the barrier and just seemed to disappear. It was a shield of some sorts, and it was protecting the city from damage. Then, flying out from behind the wall, was a pair of hands. They were human hands, but each one was as big as a tank. They were disembodied, just floating in mid air with a gentle bright yellow light coming out of where they were supposed to be attached to an arm.

Azulongmon saw the hands, and charged at them as he called out, "Lightning Whip." The chains around his body began to flail out, and acting like whips began to strike at the hands. The attacks did not do any damage though, and the hands were able to catch several of the chain. Then, with a gentle twist one hand pulled Azulongmon closer while the other reared back, forming into a fist before it landed a solid punch against Azulongmon's jaw.

Azulongmon was sent sprawling, and almost crashed into the grassy plains that surrounded the strange, C shaped mountains. He managed to just skim the grass, flying back into the sky before he formed his body into a circle and yelled, "Aurora Force." A strange mystical symbol appeared inside the circle formed by Azulongmon's body before a huge beam of energy launched out at the pair of floating hands.

The right hand quickly rose up, holding up its palm to block the attack while the other flew back into the city. A few moments later, the left hand returned with a strange sphere of energy in its hand. It flew up beside the right hand. The pair switched places, and while the left hand held back Azulongmon's assault, the right through the strange orb out. It hit the ground just below Azulongmon, and the next thing the tamers knew a pink data stream appeared out of no where, pulling up Azulongmon and taking him to some other part of the digital world.

The Trident was just starting to near the city walls at that point, and the pair of hands took notice of the strange train. They turned, on scratching the other as the hands thought about what to do with the train. The pair of hands then just shrugged a bit before flying back behind the walls of the city.

A few minutes later, the Trident pulled up to the city gates. A burst of steam was released from the train's engine as everyone began to get off. At that same time, several digimon came running out of the city. Before the tamers knew it, they were surrounded by a group of very angry looking ultimate, champions, and rookies.

The leader of the group, a tower of fire digimon known as Meramon, stood in front of the tamers and said, "You are under arrest for conspiring against our lord."

The tamers eyes widened, and Takato quickly stepped forward and said, "What, but we didn't do anything."

The Meramon shook his head, "I don't care. You, the tamers, are known allies to the Sovereign digimon. There fore, you can't be trusted. They have probably called you hear because of their failures to destroy our lord."

Kazu moved forward, pointing a finger at Meramon, "Now you listen here. If you know who we are then you know what we are capable of. So, back off."

The Meramon looked down at Kazu, a glare in his eyes, "I know who those three are, not you. Besides, you can not hope to defeat us. Within the area of the city digivolution is suspended, and only our master holds the power to grant it. So, right now you are challenging me without any hope of Sakuyamon, Gallantmon, or MegaGargomon being able to help you."

Kazu gulped stepping back up beside Henry before leaning over and saying, "What do we do now?"

Henry sighed, raising his hands as he said, "Go quietly and hope someone inside the city will believe that we aren't working for Azulongmon." The other tamers sighed, raising their hands up. The Meramon smiled, motioning towards the gate as the large platoon of digimon lead the tamers and their digimon partners into the city. Angemon, Myotismon, Impmon, and the other digimon that were in the back of the train got out just in time to see the tamer being taken away. A second group of digimon soldiers quickly surrounded them, and led them into the city behind the tamers.

The inside of the city walls were amazing. There were many buildings, all of them in the style of ancient Greece. The tamers saw houses, temples, schools, hospitals, and everything else a person needed to stay happy and healthy. They even saw a university and a bath house. In the center of the city stood a huge monolith. The spire of white rose up straight into the sky, and up either side there were torches that glowed with gentle fires.

The tamers also noticed the wide variety of digimon that were walking about the streets. Many of them they recognized from the card game and the TV show. Still, there were some digimon even Rika had never seen before. All the digimon, however, seemed to be of the same size. The biggest digimon the tamers saw was a Wargreymon that was that was buying fruit from a shop on the side of the street. Otherwise, all the digimon were shorter then him, and not much wider.

Eventually, the tamers were lead to the very back of the city. There, on a plateau that was raised high above the rest of the city, they saw a strange building. It was a more of a just a wall then a building really. The stone platform was in the shape of a huge half circle. From that base several columns rose up to support a second level. In the center of the half circle was the only actual building. It was a two story square with a huge, blue flame burning inside a gently curving bowl on its roof. In front of the flame was a place for some to stand, a podium, and it could seen by anyone that was standing in the courtyard below.

The final part of the structure the caught the tamers eyes along the bottom and top of the half circle were short pillars. Each pillar supported a stone bowl of sort, and in each bowl a strange sphere of energy gently turned, suspended in mid air. There were ten spheres, with six going around the interior of the arc while the other four were up on the walls that formed the structures half circle courtyard.

The tamers thought they were going to the strange building itself, but instead the soldier digimon lead them around it to a large temple that was hidden behind it. The temple was several stories. The main part of the temple was in back, and covered by a large dark blue dome. There was a small extension in the front with just a normal slanted roof. Stairs lead up to the temples doors, and in front of those stairs stood two statues. The one on the left was of a human left hand, and the right one was of a human right hand. Finally, all of the outer walls were lined with columns that seemed to be holding up part of the roof's weight.

The guards walked the tamers and their digimon up to the temples doors. While most of the soldiers kept an eye on the tamers, the Meramon walked forward and pounded on the door. A few moments later, the door opened to reveal an Angewomon. Though it was easy to tell it was the celestial digimon, Angewomon wasn't dressed in her usual clothes. Instead she was wearing a set of long white, flowing robes with a black sash around the middle.

The Angewomon looked down at Meramon and asked, "What is it this time?"

Meramon bowed a bit before motioning towards the tamers, the digimon partners, and everyone else that had been riding the train, "Priestess, these human's and digimon are in league with the Sovereign. They came riding up inside a train, right along side Azulongmon."

Angewomon nodded her head, "Very well, just give me a moment." The Angewomon disappeared into the temple for a few minutes before retuning with a large basket filled with strange metal necklaces. Angewomon quickly placed a necklace around the tamers necks before moving to their digimon. She then went to Myotismon and Angemon, slipping the necklaces around their necks as well as the necks of all the rookies that were traveling with them.

When the Angewomon finished she looked at them all and said, "This are necklaces of binding. If you try to escape or resist the guards you will be exposed to a powerful electrical shock. You shall be brought before our lord tonight, at the altar. There, he shall decide whether or not you are truly an enemy of Peradium."

The tamers gulped, but followed as the guards lead them to a nearby prison. There were a few other prisoners, all of them wearing the same necklaces. The tamers had been placed in a cell together while their digimon partners were placed in a neighboring cell. Myotismon, Angemon, Weregarururmon, Gabumon, and all the other digimon that were on the train had been taken to a different prison. The tamers had not expected such a harsh welcome, but at least they had made it to Peradium.

As the tamers and digimon sat in the cold darkness of the cave, Jeri asked, "I wonder what will happen to us."

Henry shrugged, "I don't know. The Angewomon said we would be standing trial in front of their lord at the altar. I am guessing the altar was that huge, half circle building we saw in front of the temple."

Kenta nodded his head, "Yeah, and I bet their lord is that pair of floating hands, the ones that fought of Azulongmon."

Takato looked up from his D-Power, which he had been staring at mindlessly for the past half hour, "I wonder if those hands are a form of digimon?"

Rika shook her head, "No, I don't think they were. You saw that meteor shower it attacked Azulongmon with. It didn't call out an attack, it just did it. All digimon I have seen have to call out the name of their special attack."

Kazu groaned, getting up as he wrapped his hands around the bars of the cell, "HEY, I didn't get to hear my rights. You are supposed to tell me all the things I can have, like, the right to an attorney and the right to remain silent."

Rika groaned, "Kazu, I'll say it. You have the right to remain silent, now I suggest you exercise that right."

Kazu glared at Rika, but crossed his arms and sat back down in defeat. In the digimon's cell, things were going much better. Renamon had found the necklace canceled out her ability to shift into the shadows, and reappear anywhere. The necklaces also stopped them from using their special abilities. Guilmon was lying on the floor, his ears down as his stomach grumbled. He could really use some bread, or some peanut butter, or some peanut butter on bread, or some peanut bread with butter. Guilmon's stomach growled loudly, in response to all his thoughts about food.

Terriermon was shouting at the top of his lungs, trying to pick a fight with the guards. The tamers and other digimon had just tuned him out by that point, and his rants were falling on death ears. Guardromon was looking out the small window, MarineAngemon sitting on one shoulder and Calumon on the other. Impmon was standing in the middle of the room, pacing around as he gently twirled the keys to Behemoth around his finger. Finally, Renamon sat in the corner, lost in her meditation.

Terriermon jumped down from the cell bars, an angry look on his face as he said, "They aren't even listening to me."

Terriermon paused, but when no one responded he groaned and said, "You guys aren't even listening to me."

Impmon turned, a bored look on his face, "Did you say something rabbit?"

Terriermon growled, "Yeah, I said you aren't listening to me."

Impmon turned away, "Oh, I thought it was something important."

Terriermon puffed up a bit before he tackled Impmon. The fight provided some entertainment for the other digimon, but Renamon quickly broke it up. She was in no mood to deal with the pairs antics. She had to find Jason, and quickly.

The day went by, and soon the digital world was plunged into the embrace of the night. Outside the prison, digimon all over the city were heading to the altar. It was a rare occasion someone was tried, and it was the only time the citizens of Peradium knew there master would appear. Just an hour after night had fallen, the Tamer and their digimon were lead out of the prison. They were going to be tired that night while Myotismon, Angemon, and the others had been pushed back to the next day.

The tamers made the slow walk up to the altar, each guarded by a digimon. Renamon and the other digimon partners were also guarded, but they were each given two guards to keep them in check. The altar looked far more menacing at night. The ten strange spheres of energy glowed dimly, casting harsh shadows on the faces of all the digimon that had come to watch. They had formed a ring outside the altar, keeping the ground inside the half circle building open. The dark blue fire in the back of the altar glowed brightly, silhouetting a figure. It was the Angewomon from the temple, and she looked down at them through the metal mask over her eyes.

The tamers and digimon were pushed into the center of the courtyard, and formed into a line before the guards withdrew to the crowd. The Angewomon raised her arms up, and shouted, "Tonight we bare witness as these humans and digimon are judged. Usually, this ceremony is presided over by the High Priest, but he is attending to some matters at the hospital. In such, I have taken his place this evening. Now, I shall summon our lord. The master of Peradium and the mightiest being in the digital world."

The Angewomon turned to the large blue fire behind her. She brought a small bag out of the folds of her robes, and gently tossed it into the fire. The fire surged, turning a bright red. Then, as it turned blue again a powerful wind began to kick up. From one highest peak of the mountains surrounding Peradium, a flash of light flitted through the night. Then, from the dark peak a pair of shadows began to move towards the altar. A few seconds later the pair of hands appeared behind the flame of the altar.

The blue flame cast shadows on the hands, making them look dark and menacing. The Angewomon looked up at the hands, calling out to them, "My lord, we have brought these people for you to judge. They have been accused of conspiring against you, and working with the Sovereign digimon."

The hands bowed a bit, and the Angewomon nodded her head and said, "Yes master, they were brought to the temple by Meramon."

As Angemon continued to talk to the hands, the tamers began to wonder if she had gone crazy. She was talking to the hands, but they weren't talking back. They were making subtle motions, but there was no one else speaking back. Henry then noticed that a medallion hung around the Angewomon's neck. It was glowing brightly, and it bore the image of two hands twirling around each other. Henry guessed the medallion allowed Angewomon to hear what the hands were saying, or thinking as the case may be.

When Angewomon finished she turned, and pointed at the tamers before saying, "Now, my lord, pass your judgment on these humans and digimon."

The hands paused a second, shaking a bit before they turned to face Angewomon. Angewomon nodded her head, a little bit of confusion in her voice, "Yes master, I said that. There are humans and digimon standing before you." In an instant, the mood of the area changed. The right hand snapped its fingers, and several other torches around the altar roared to life. The area became brightly lit as the hands floated into the courtyard and faced the tamers. Even though the hands had no eyes, the tamers could feel that they were looking at them.

All of the sudden the hands clapped together, but it was in a happy way. The right hand turned, facing Angewomon while the left hand zoomed off towards another part of Peradium. Angewomon looked surprised as she listed to her masters commands, stuttering as she asked, "Are you sure?"

The hand nodded, and Angewomon returned the nod with a bow. She took flight, flying over to the tamers before she took off the necklaces that had limited their power. The right hand flew up to the tamers, gently moving Kazu to one side so it could get to Renamon. The hand floating in midair for a few seconds, looking at Renamon before gently wrapped its fingers around the vixen digimon. The tamers shouted, and Rika called out to her digimon partner as the hand rose back up into the air.

Renamon struggled against the hands grip, but the hand soon turned over and opened its palm wide. Renamon was able to stand on the right hand, a bit confused what was going on. At that moment, the left hand returned. It was in the same position as the right hand, its palm gently cupped as it held a second digimon in the air. Renamon looked over at the digimon standing in the other hand, and was surprised to see it was Tijgmon, Jason's digimon partner.